Driving to Florida

Now with better photos!

This post has been a little while in coming, but I finally am posting some of our pictures from our drive from Sunderland to Florida. On the first day we stopped and went to Gettysburg, which was a great place to see. We had a ranger guided tour that was fantastic. The second day we drove to Charlotte, NC. On the way we stopped in Buena Vista, Virginia (where my brother and his wife went to school), where we stretched our legs and walked around the campus (the big red building). We stayed the night in Charlotte, and went to Church there on Sunday morning, then we drove to my Aunt's house in Newnan, GA. The next day we went to the Margaret Mitchell house and MLK Jr. historic sites in Atlanta. Next we drove to Orlando and spent two nights there. While there we drove through my hometown of Saint Cloud, went on an airboat ride on Lake Tohopekaliga, and kayaked at DisneyWorld.



This is us posing at the center of the Rebel line looking across towards the Union line about a mile away.


Suzy loading the cannon on Cemetery Hill, a Union position.


This is the monument in the Gettysburg Cemetery.


This is the Virginia Monument looking across the field towards the Union line on Cemetery Ridge.


This is Devils Den looking up at LIttle Round Top at Gettysburg, the site of some of the fiercest fighting on the second day, July 2, 1863.


This is the Old Main of Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, VA.


Suzy in the doorway from Gone with the Wind movie, in the Margaret Mitchell/Gone with the Wind museum.


Suzy outside the Margaret Mitchell house in downtown Atlanta, GA.


MLK Jr's grave site.


Casey on the beach at East Lake in Saint Cloud


Suzy on the beach of East Lake in Saint Cloud.


Suzy during our airboat ride on Lake Toho, in Kissimmee, FL.


Kodak moment.


Pretending to drive the airboat.


Beautiful Florida. This is Shingle Creek, the headwaters of the Everglades.


Kayaking at DisneyWorld.


The rather large gator we saw on the airboat ride, estimated to be about 10-12 feet long.


Kayaking at Disney.


Kayaking at Disney, I had to lean back to be in the shot.

Yeah for Florida!

Among all the other good things I like about Florida - beaches, gators, warm weather - I have to admit one of my favorites is the fact that my allergies have disappeared here.  In Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, I had horrible allergies.  I have been taking Zyrtec which has helped a little, but it doesn't completely get rid of them and I get so tired when I take it.  When we got to Florida, they were magically gone.  I haven't been this free of tissues in a very long time.  I don't know if it was just that the time of year had passed, or that whatever I'm allergic to doesn't grow here.  I'm just happy to be free of sneezing and itchy eyes and throat.

Gator-Spotting

I don't want to overshadow Suzy's post below, but I had to explain Suzy's new favorite activity - Gator-spotting. When we first arrived in Florida we went on an airboat ride and saw a rather large gator in the lake we were on (picture in a future post). Suzy has really enjoyed the abundance of wildlife encounters here in Florida but especially the alligators, cause they are cool. Anyway, there is a small river, the Braden River, that is near our house. A few nights ago we decided to go down to the river where there is a wooden pier that overlooks the river. We went because the gators come out to hunt at night, and dusk is the best time to see them. That night we saw one quite large gator (probably 12 foot or so) and a smaller medium sized one (4-5 foot). Last night we decided to go check it out again, with a camera this time. We were lucky again, this time spotting three gators, with the help of a flashlight (their eyes glow when you shine the light across the water). One small gator swam right up close to the pier we were on. Below is the picture of the small gator and the sign on the pier.
Make sure to read about our trip to New Hampshire and Maine below.

New England Trip

My whole family came for a visit in May and it was great fun to see them all. We decided to try to see a lot of New England so we stayed a few days in the White Mountains in New Hampshire and then almost a week in Maine at Acadia National Park and then a few days back in Massachusetts. It was fun for us to be able to see new things as well as spend time with the family. Our nephews are getting big so it was fun to see how they've grown since we've last seen them. Here are a few pictures of the trip.

In the White Mountains there are lots of hiking trails that have these beautiful boulder waterfalls. They basically go down the whole mountain like this.

This is the water at Acadia. It is really this blue, we didn't photoshop it or anything. It was really beautiful, but very cold for May.

We biked around Acadia which was a fun way to see some more of the park.

Casey and Collin on a log.

We went on a lobster boat where they showed us how they catch lobster and also all the other things they catch in their traps. It was really interesting to learn about all the wildlife in those cold waters. They even let us hold them.

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. For so long it seemed like there was nothing to post, and now there is a lot since we have moved. We like Florida a lot so far. It is much different than New England, so its fun to be able to see both sides of the East Coast.

Happy Birthday!

We're still in Georgia, but I wanted to send a Happy Birthday to my Honey.  Happy Birthday Casey!  You're playing Wii Tennis right now, and don't know I'm writing this, but I love you and I'm so glad you were born.

On the road...

We're on the road right now. We have a lot to post about, so we'll get to it when we get to Florida. We just had a week and a half trip with my family to New Hampshire and Maine. We also moved all of our stuff to a storage unit for the summer. Now we're on our way to Florida. We stopped in Gettysburg and Charlotte and now we're in Georgia. We'll update more and post pictures when we get there.