Gulf Coast

The Gulf Coast

Our trip	Are we there yet?	Mississippi, again.	Almost there.
Alabama	Is that Florida?	The Sunshine State!
Discover Florida’s Springs Rising up from deep within an aquifer, cool clear water flows from hundreds of springs that dot the Florida landscape. Florida springs are natural wonders to treasure. Experience the magic of Florida springs and learn about threats to their future and how to protect nature's gems. Daddy wanted to swim in them. So, off we go.. http://www.floridasprings.org
Wakulla Springs	Lots of Spanish moss.		Marla is playing a game where she has to avoid stepping on the cracks.
			The water was a little cold, but since it was so hot out it felt very refreshing. The water was also crystal clear.
		They have a diving platform...	and some other platforms.
		Mark jumped off of the top of the diving platform. Marla thought that was just great. She was very excited when she saw him go past us. We stood on the lower level so that we would see him.
Just a rest stop for lunch.
Birds of a feather..	flock together.
Daddy wanted to go to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg - http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/

Marla bought this grasshopper.


			Everyone should go to this museum and take the tour. The man was incredible. The docents tell you very interesting things about the paintings. For example, because of an incident when he was young he feared grasshoppers. So he used them to represent fear and death in his paintings.
Mommy wanted to go on an airboat around the Everglades.
So I found Gator Park.	They do tours, animal shows and have an RV park. Everything we wanted in one convevient place.		Marla decided she needed two hats today to keep the sun out of her eyes.
Stuffed gators.			The airboat.
Marla has to wear a life jacket.	Our guide.	The first part of the tour went past patches of dry land called hammocks. That's where the alligators live.
Our first gator sighting.			Turtles.
	Swamp apple. Don't eat these - they're toxic.		I loved this. It was so fun when we went fast. Our guide went over grass to make the boat bounce. It was great!!
When we went fast it got very noisy. They gave us earplugs, but I went to the coach and got the earphones for Marla. She's used them before and her ears are too small for earplugs.
Then we stopped for a while to learn more about the Everglades.	There are usually no alligators out here, but there are snakes in the grassy areas.	The guide said you're safest bet if you were stranded out here would be to stay in the water which is only 8 inches deep but has about 6 feet of squishy mud under it.	It looks so flat everwhere you look when you are out here.

Mark really enjoyed the tour, too.	Marla is pointing at the alligators behind the fence and telling Mark all about them.	Marla spotted the alligator in the pen where the show will be.	A huge scorpion.
A toad.	He explained how frogs and toads are different. He did an interesting show. I really enjoyed it.	A skunk.	Marla was enthralled by the show.
Reuben the alligator.		Tom, our showman, kept scaring this group of girls and women in the front. He sprayed them with water when he was explaining about how skunks spray enemies and he "accidentally" tripped and dropped the toad right by their feet. Every time they would squeal and cringe away. I (Adrienne) almost fell off the bench I was laughing so hard.	This is a crocodile. They are not afraid of humans like alligators are. It's eyes are creepy.
		Clyde. When you paid for the picture you gave the money to him and he put it in the jar.	Marla found the whole show fascinating.
I was the first adult in the audience to hold Larry the alligator. He is much softer than he looks. I was really excited about it.	He is trying to get Marla to touch the tail, but she won't go near it.	Eventually, everyone held him. But some of them were really funny about it. This lady was fine, but her friend had to work up her nerve to touch him.	Back to the coach.

		Finally, Key West.	Our beautiful spot at Mike's house.