Leaving once more

I was home from our trip to Ohio just in time to spend the week with my parents and now I'm leaving again for a long weekend in LA.

My parents spent time with me and the boys on the days when I was working, and I even took them to my church and introduced them to my new friends there. We also drove south to Lake Trafford and took an airboat ride to spot the birds and alligators that live there. It was pretty cool. I now know the difference between an alligator and a crocodile... here's a picture of the baby ones:

baby alligator (green, square snout, friendlier, likes all florida weather, only top teeth show when mouth closed)



baby crocodile (brownish/yellow, pointy snout, meaner, only likes really warm florida weather, top & bottom teeth show)



here's a big alligator... one of them splashed me with his tail as we were speeding through the little waterways.


and this is kind of what the edge of the lake looked like...

Then, we drove north and visited the island where the Bush's(politicians) and the Busch's(beer makers) have houses. Its called Gasparilla Island and the city is Boca Grande, but the local pronunciation(as with most of the names here) only vaguely resembles the original spanish.


After that, we spent the evening in Punta Gorda and went to the little shops by the Peace River, took a river tour and then had dinner by the river:




this is the river view of the road bridges across the major rivers here. They're really fun to drive over... and under, I guess.

My parents left yesterday and it was harder for me than usual to see them go... as it was harder for me to leave home this time. But on Wednesday I'll be flying to my second home in LA. My dear friend Stephanie is getting married and I'm gonna tag along with the wedding party for the weekend. Since I won't have a car, I won't get to visit all of my people down there... including some family, some friends from my childhood, and all my college buddies who still live down there, but that's okay... I'm going to a wedding.

Things are great here in Florida. The weather is less fierce (from the heat, humidity & hurricanes) and its been great to meet new kids my age. Unfortuntaly since I'll be in LA, I'm gonna miss 20's group this week, but I'll be back soon enough.