Florida

Kevin and I just got back from a week in Florida. We started out in the Tampa area, where his parents live. We visited the Lowry Park Zoo and met this guy--he ate a cracker right out of my hand!
And then we socialized with these little lorakeets--they drink nectar from cups. I don't think Kevin was as excited as I was to have tiny bird feet scuttling all over his hand.

See, I have a much bigger smile on my face! The lorakeets and I are posing with Kevin's parents, Maria and George. (As you can see, we are dressed for chilly weather--it was about 60 degrees that day, and the native Floridians were panicky about the cold! I laughed so hard when I saw a sign at McDonald's that said, "Brrr, it's cold out there! Warm up with some hot chocolate!")

We also went to Homosassa Springs Park, where they rescue injured manatees. There were some gorgeous flamingos. I wouldn't want a plastic one in my front yard, but wow, the real ones are amazing!

I had never seen an ibis before, and was really excited to snap this guy's photo. Later, as we had to stop our car to let a flock of ibis walk across the street, and as I shooed them away at various picnic areas, I realized that they're probably about as common as pigeons in Florida. Still, they're very cute!

After leaving Tampa, Kevin and I drove on Rt. 41 towards Ft. Lauderdale to see my aunt and uncle. We stopped several times to look for alligators. Unfortunately, because the weather wasn't very warm, we didn't see any gators basking in the sun. We did spot a few floating in the water, and when we looked closer, we realized that there were also a bunch of manatees--they're hard to see, but they look like big potatoes floating under the surface of the water. You can make out their little noses coming up for air.

It is really hard to get a good photo of a manatee! Even in the best of conditions, like at Homasassas Springs, where they're lined up at the salad bar, they're not so photogenic.

The best shot I got of one was in the underwater viewing area.

Oh well, I'm still thrilled that I got to see them out in the wild, even if it does look like I just took a picture of some underwater rocks!

We went through some beautiful swamps on our drive on Rt. 41.

And more swampy goodness:We did spot a few gators swimming around, but again, it's hard to get good photos of submerged animals!

It was much easier to get a good photo at the park! Those are some brave little turtles!

After a wonderful dinner with my aunt and uncle in Fort Lauderdale, we drove down to Islamorada. This is the view from our hotel room:

We took a walk on the beach and found this little guy swimming in the shallows right by our feet!

We also went snorkeling, but I have no photos of that. It's too bad, because we saw some amazingly beautiful fish. It was our first time out, and I definitely learned a lot about what not to do! I get seasick, really, really seasick, but more than anything, I wanted to go snorkeling. I probably overdosed on Dramamine because I was so determined not to get nauseous. My plan worked--even though the water was choppy, and we had to ride on a boat for 30 minutes to get out to the coral reef, I felt fine. I got my flippers and wetsuit on, adjusted my mask and snorkel, and I started swimming. It was awesome, and I was so thrilled to see so many amazing fish--striped ones, spotted ones, spiny ones, every color of the rainbow. I don't know if it was because of Dramamine-induced drowsiness, or if I'm just an idiot, but I would see something, get super excited, forget I had a snorkel in my mouth, and try to tell Kevin to "Look over there!" and get a ton of seawater in my mouth. Or I'd see something, get super excited, and try to get a better look by lowering my head, and get a ton of seawater down my snorkel. All the Dramamine in the world can't save you from a belly full of salt water, so I spent the last 5 minutes of our snorkel trip gagging and retching in the water--I'm so much fun to vacation with!

The sunsets are gorgeous in the Keys, so we made sure to eat dinner on the Gulf side every night.

Another extreme sport I really want to try--kiteboarding! I chose to just watch this time.

We also went kayaking through the mangroves.

We saw lots of egrets, herons and ibis, tons of fish, and this guy:

Iguanas are actually an invasive species, and DNR traps them and euthanizes them, but we decided to let this one hang out in the mangroves in peace!
On Saturday morning, we had a long drive from Islamorada all the way back to the Tampa airport. We got up at the crack of dawn (which was very painful after the fruity drinks we had the night before!) and started driving. We made a quick stop at the Shy Wolf Sanctuary in Naples. A friend from New York who winters in Florida volunteers there, so we stopped by to say hello and to meet some wolves. Like this guy:

The first time a wolf put his mouth right up to my face, I was a little worried that maybe he would bite my nose off or something, but he just licked me. The wolves, wolf hybrids, coyotes and foxes at the sanctuary are so sweet and gentle with people, and I loved petting them.

At the same time, it infuriates me that this sanctuary needs to exist. These are wild animals who should never have been kept as pets. Unfortunately, a lot of the southern states don't have many regulations about owning wolves and other wild animals, so people buy them, get them home, and realize that they can't be trained like dogs, or that they're destructive and dig and chew, and so they get rid of them. The lucky ones end up in sanctuaries. They're too tame to be released into the wild, but too wild to live in a home.

Anyway, I'm very glad I got the chance to see them, it was definitely an experience to remember. I'm sure that the poor guy who had to sit next to me on the plane will definitely remember too--the wolves smell kind of wild, and after petting and hugging several of them, I'm sure I did as well!

We had such a great time, and definitely hope to make a tropical escape part of our winter routine!