A group of manatees under the tree.

A good time, until the bugs found us. They were relentless after that. Never visit Florida without a trunk full of bug spray, and trip's over when you run out. She distinctly told me "not" to cross the fence. I told her, "If they were serous, there would be a sign." : ) I was going to climb out onto the tree, but her noises drew a crowd of people worried about the "old guy" in danger. Way to go for the ego, kiddo.

That Feeling when your Dad takes his pants off in public and looks confused about what he did wrong. Next year, light wetsuits. 1mm should be enough.

Sunset at 37,000 feet.

I found a huge ant colony, stretching further than I could see. The individual mounds were connected by cleared areas that served as highways for the workers. Some sort of spider had built a web bridging across the top of the highway in places, where it could reach down and scoop a meal at will. Small lizards patrolled the ant highways, on the lookout for an easy meal.

Off the beaten path, but easy to get to. Check the hours before you go, it gets locked up because there's something wrong with half the population. If you only have time for one site, this one ranks high.

I had taken a walk down a trail further than I should have while recovering from surgery. The walk back up was a struggle with pain. An older couple stopped to see if I needed help, I told them, "No I'm fine, just limping back up to the car, now. I promised my wife I wouldn't do anything stupid while I'm recovering from surgery." The man just looked at me and said, "heh, and yet here you are." His wife swatted him with a muttered, "Tom!" He was right, though. : )

Fun off road drive, though. Making Enterprise regret giving me a 4x4, although an awd with high clearance would do just fine. At every site, the rangers all noted my mobility issues and subtly kept an eye on me. It's reassuring to know they are observant. I've never had so many of them cross my path before.

I'll never understand people who can close the window and watch a movie. I paid for this view. Leaving Norfolk.

sometimes, we have completely opposite reactions to a thing that is, in fact, very cool.