Thanks given

For full(er) coverage of this year's Thanksgiving see Stephanie's blog. Here are a few pics stolen from her blog, ones Dad took, since I didn't pull out my camera the entire time I was there! It was SO nice to have Ryan home for an entire week and nice to see both of our families thanks to their close proximity to each other.

2nd Florida pilgrimage

I enjoyed being with Ryan, Papaw, and Gramma for another long weekend. On Thursday while Ryan was in classes I took a walk at Uptown Altamonte with the grandparents and fed some ibis.


They were pretty competitive. It seems strange to be somewhere that these birds are so common you can feed them bread in a park!

The big gnarly trees with Spanish moss reminded me of when we used to live in South Carolina.

I spent Friday with Ryan at the school watching his classes and going to chapel. We also had some time to sneak away and go shopping for a few hours.

On Friday night we enjoyed supper at Uncle Andy and Aunt Vicki's along with a picture show from Zach's recent trip to the Congo. Then we got to see the shuttle launch, my first and last. We watched it blast off on the TV and then ran out to watch it come out above the trees. We watched it level off and speed out towards the horizon until the boosters dropped off. Its amazing to me that you can see the bright burning rockets even though they are many miles away! This launch was scheduled to be the last ever night shuttle launch since the shuttle program is set to end in a few years.

This is the backyard at Papaw and Gramma's. On Sabbath afternoon Papaw spotted a big bird down on the dock (you can barely see it in this picture) but it was odd because its legs weren't long enough for a heron. We got out the binoculars and realized it was a heron but it was sitting down on its "elbows" so-to-speak with his legs laid out in front of it. None of us had ever seen a big shore bird rest like this. While I was watching it through the binoculars, I noticed a head peek over the edge of the dock - it was an otter! It climbed on the dock and started rolling around playing. It was so fun to watch. Sadly by the time I ran back to get my camera a pontoon boat had come along and scared it away.

So I got to see some really neat FIRSTS this weekend: a shuttle launch and a wild otter!

PS: I wished I'd had some shorts like Ryan - it was 86 one of the days I was there! Now I'm back to TN in the mid 40's and it feels strangely wonderful! 86 just didn't feel like fall or almost Thanksgiving.

A walk in the Alabama woods

Sabbath afternoon trip to Little River Canyon National Preserve

Northern Alabama is so beautiful - I think I could stand to live there!

Land of lakes and gators

On Wednesday I finally got to fly down to see Ryan. It was so nice to be together again after 2 1/2 weeks of separation. It doesn't sound like a long time but it sure is tough!

On Thursday I went to FLA with Ryan and watched him work with Jay R. and the freshmen PE class on volleyball serves. They certainly have a nice gymnasium. Ryan's classes were done by 9 AM so we had the rest of the day free!

That afternoon we went to the Prime Outlets in Orlando and left emptyhanded. Then we went to the Altamonte mall and watched Fireproof - what an excellent movie. I agree with the general consensus of those who told me that every married couple should watch it. Then we met up with Papaw and Gramma for some Positano's Italian. In the evenings we liked playing Rummikub with them too.

Ryan had the day off on Friday for FLA's fall break. He wanted to show me Gatorland since I'd never been there.

Most of the aligators and crocodiles there were big nasty bruisers who looked like they could eat a human whole - definitely not something you'd want to tangle with in a Florida swamp.



We got to see them quite up close and personal - I never really knew what their feet looked like!

This guy was laying right next to the trail around the lake part of the park!

We saw a few missing toes and other signs of violent behavior...

But they actually looked pretty docile. (It was probably the "cool" weather.) There were herons and egrets everywhere right next to the gators, pecking at them, and stealing the "gator dogs" people threw in to feed them. The keepers said that in the summertime when the gators are feeling frisky they will sometimes go after the birds but in the winter they just let them do whatever they want.

They may be pretty but they were just crafty conniving little birds waiting to steal from a monster 50 x's their size.

Carrie called while we were in the swamp part of the park and we got to wave to her on the webcam from this tower. There were so many birds and other wildlife it was neat to watch and listen to them.

Alligator hatchery

We also had some fun with the "kids" parts of the park.






Ryan made some goat friends. One of them loved getting a back rub.

This tortoise was so big you had to see him to believe him. This little girl was nervous about feeding him a carrot.

I had never seen a porcupine without their quills standing on end - and I didn't realize they had such a long tail! Kinda cute eh?

I felt so sorry for this Sandhill crane - vultures were all over the park, probably to get some of the alligator food too - but they had totally taken over the crane pen. They kept bothering this poor bird and its mate while they were trying to rest.

On the way to the airport today, two wild sandhill cranes walked across and exit ramp in front of the car. They are some of the most beautiful birds I've seen up close, such a soft gray color.

Our favorite show as the "Gatorwrestling." The poor gator would get pulled out of the water by its tail...



pounced on and have its jaw held firmly shut...

then get put to sleep by being flipped over on its back...

then have its jaws pried open for everyone to see...
and if that's not enough, then they taped its schnoz shut so people could pay $10 to sit on its back and have a picture taken.

Yes, he's feeding him a whole chicken. Does this make you wonder what kind of wavers the employees have to sign to work here?
Ryan says the gators used to come much farther out of the water when he came here as a kid. They had a hard time getting them to even take the bait for us. I think they were cold or not very hungry. After all, it was in the high 50s to low 60s at night and they were still warming up...

I was home today by 11 AM. No matter how many times I fly, I'll never lose my sense of wonder at being above the clouds...

In 1.5 weeks I'll make the trip back to the land of many lakes - Florida looks like it is dotted with puddles from the air. It appears as though the whole state would flood very easily! On to a week full of work-work-work and more work.