Trip to Lake Okeechobee

The edges of Lake Okeechobee are swampy, with lots of floating plants and wildlife, but it is pretty in a different way.

We walked out on the dock in the background. The area between is the really swampy area!

These are pelicans, just skimming the water. They were really pretty.

We were standing out on the dock area (about 1/4 mile out into the Lake.) There is a channel just in front of the dock, then more vegetation the lake as far as you can see.

A few miles north of the town of Okeechobee, we passed cattle and dairy farms/ranches! Not the scenery we associate with Florida! It was really open (Florida is FLAT) with trees way back on the horizon.

These are dairy cows that we passed. This was taken right across the road from the last picture.

Cattle and palm trees. . . What else is there to say? Not what we expected. We decided Florida is a land of contrasts. In this part of the state from the east coast you have beaches, islands, the intercoastal waterway, commercial and shopping, houses, the interstate, orange groves, and finally the large cattle and diary ranches in the interior. It's fun to go on drives, because we never quite know what to expect! On Tuesday, we're going to go south to the everglades to go on a swamp buggy ride and see some alligator shows. We'll go with Koby & Dean & Di & Rick so it should be fun!

Christmas at the Prescott's

As we celebrated the birth of our Savior, we enjoyed the joy of children at Christmas. It's been four years since we got to spend Christmas with the Prescott's so this was an extra special day getting to see their family traditions and the boys joy and ENERGY on Christmas day. We missed seeing Grayson, Karson, Kate, Claire and our three other children, but we did get to call and talk to them on the telephone. Rick's checking out Koby's tool belt while Di and Dean watch Grandpa open his "Florida" shirts.

Wow, I got a horse AND a cap gun!!! He had lots of fun with both toys all day Christmas day. Koby has lots of energy and he was SO excited he was just fun to watch!!

Got a new tool belt with real, minature tools. Now he can really help Daddy in his shop. Koby also had lots of fun with the tools all day.

Ride 'em horsey! Dean liked his horse, but his feet didn't quite reach the floor, so he didn't move as good as Koby's horse did. He was just cute and two all day!

Trying to get on his horse again and just looking cute. We had a great day. The boys couldn't go outside in the morning because it was raining, but the skys cleared by afternoon so the boys could tear around outside and help Daddy and Grandpa barbarque dinner. Rick marinated and barbarqued shrimp, steak, chicken, vegetable kabobs, and corn on the cob while we fixed potatoes and salads. We had lots of great food and lots of fun. We went home exhausted and very content. It was a great day!

Civil War Reenactment

For our anniversary today we went to a Civil War Reenactment in Fort Pierce. It was pretty cool and very loud. (The Confederate Army won, after all this is Florida!) This is the Union Army.

This is the Confederate Army formed and ready for battle.

This was taken in the middle of the battle.

This is smoke from all the gun powder. The cannons really spread the smoke.

After the reenactment, all the players fired to salute the audience. I was taking a picture just as the announcer said "aim," but with my camera delay I got the shot just as they fired so I got flair from the end of the muzzle loaders. It was a cool experience. After this was over we went out to dinner in Port Saint Lucie. What a fun day!

A good day for pictures

We went to the manatee observation tower again today because it was another cold day (only got up to 65 today). We were told there was a mama manatee and two babies in the water just below the tower. We think the was the mama. If you look really close there is a smaller shadow just below and a bit behind her. Just after she went down the baby came up.

The baby manatee. They are 10 feet long and over 1000 pounds. They are very slow moving and really facinating to watch.

When I went to take this crane's picture, it decided to fly off.

There is a jetty between the river and the ocean in the distance. There were pelicans gliding in the wind all over this area. After watching a few minutes we discovered they were fishing.

Getting ready to dive . . . We're having a great time discovering this area. When we go west of our campsite, we get into farm land. We drove out yesterday and picked strawberries! They are so much better right off the vine. The tomatoes aren't quite ready yet, but the orange harvest is in full swing all around us.

Pelican Dive