Florida Photos

My daughter and I are still in Florida...I haven't been away from home this long in just about forever.

We had a fun little adventure the other day, though: we visited a little state park and went on a short hike. As we paid the entrance fee, I said to the attendant, "Let me ask you a tourist-y question: Are there alligators in this park?" He assured me that there were, and we did see this warning sign. However, we did not see any alligators on our walk.

We did see other creatures, though. There were some very healthy-looking squirrels; I suspect they have been fed by human visitors to the park despite the admonitions not to do so. 

And we also saw armadillos! I had never seen one "in the wild" before, and since we didn't even know we might see them, my daughter and I were both surprised. Later, when we stopped at an ice cream parlor, and the server asked if we'd been doing anything interesting, I said, "We saw armadillos!" My daughter quickly clarified that we are from Oregon; the waitress said, "No armadillos in Oregon?!" She was surprised we don't have alligators too...hmm. Anyway, apparently armadillos are not viewed by native Floridians with the same sense of surprise and wonder we experienced.

"They walk across the road and get run over a lot," said our waitress.

We saw a lot of little lizards, too, and a kind of butterfly I've never seen before:

Here are a few more pretty pictures of our hike. God's creation is so grand!

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!