Panama City

We decided to stay here for a few days and ended up here for a week. We are right on the beach with a large patio. We have loved walking on the beach, going to the dog races, sitting in the hot tub. I have loved feeding the birds. These are Ibis and they run around like pigeons.

The hot tub is heavenly, it overlooks the ocean. A great place to watch the sun set.... which we didn't get to do too much here as it has been pretty cloudy.

We had a great time at the dog races

we had no idea what we were doing,

but it was a lot of fun trying to guess

which would win. Bry had the poop theory.... he thought if they pooped on the way out they could run faster as they would be lighter.... Kinda sick theory!

Tomorrow we are heading home. We are going to do 2- 400 mile days so we can be in Arlington by friday. See you soon.

On the Road again!

One last goodbye to the beautiful birds of the Everglades. This is an Annihinga drying her wings.

Below is a tree full of Comorants. They acted like they were posing for us... didn't even try to fly off.

Well here we go, we're off to Miami to see our friends the Arriettas. We are planning on going to church with them on Sunday and then we will stay overnight a couple of nights. We were staying in Florida city, which is just south of Miami. I guess it isn't a really great area, but we felt very safe. We were right next to a Walmart and a Golden Corral. Bry doesn't think it can get any better than that! Our room was upstairs, with no elevator so we hated hauling all our junk up and down the stairs. Our room was clean if not a 4 star... it was barely a 2 star actually.

When we went to church it was mostly latins. In Gulf port it was mostly blacks. I told Carmita that I had never been hugged and kissed that much in church in my life! Everyone we met had kiss and a hug for us. Carmita says it is a latin thing. It was kinda nice. No one would ever feel left out, as I didn't see anyone that escaped! jAfter church we went to their home for the most delicious dinner! Black beans over rice that was so yummy I could hardly get enough even though I was stuffed. Then they had a pork roast, cuban bread, a cuban salad, Avocados that were larger than softballs, peeled and cubed then covered in salt, vinegar and olive oil. Then the most delicous rice pudding. They cooked fried plantains that were incredible aslo. I got recipes for everything. Then we went out on their pier and talked and fished. Bry caught several big cat fish, that they just released. This is a picture of us with them and their son Leo who is just leaving for a mission.

In Maimi we went to the acquarium and then were going to find a beach. The traffic was so horrific that we decided to bag the beach, and bag the keys, and bag Miami. I was a little fearful on the bike with all that traffic. They have 3 million people in Miami, and everyone of them has a car and was on the road that day! We left and were very glad to have Miami and her traffic behind us. We were planning on stopping at the Orlando temple, but the traffic there looked as bad as Miami, so we decided to skip that one. We would stop again at Baton Rouge. A much easier stop. We stopped for the night near Ocala, then were off for our next stop of Panama City. When we got here we loved it so much we extended our stay for 3 nights. Right on the beach.

A new adventure

Hi everyone! Well we have had one of our dreams come true. We have always wanted to take off on the motor cycle in the dead of winter and go somewhere warm and stay for a month.

We were finally able to do it. Bry took off on Christmas morning with his new GPS christmas present that we couldn't have lived without... it has saved a lot of cussing! The trailer was heavy, but his spirit was light! He went to Dallas and spent a few days with Nick. They went to 6 flags a couple of days and just had a good time. He then took off for Houston and met me at the airport a week after he left. It was raining when I landed, but it was just a really light mist and pretty fun to ride in. We went to the Houston temple the next day. It was a very special experience. Then we were off again for Baton Rouge for another temple session . That was one of the smaller temples so we had to have reservations. It was really nice. We took off again. We were going to go to NEw Orleans, but the Mardi Gras had just started. Bry said the only way to tolerate a bunch of drunks is to be one so we didn't go!


We went to Gulf Port Mississippi next. We kept calling hotels, and kept getting a recording. We couldn't figure out why until we got there.... they were all GONE! KAtrina wiped them all out. The one hotel we stayed at was the only one not completely destroyed. They had just barely reopened it and it was very beautiful. Walking down the street was hard, as most of the homes were still boarded up and smelled of mold so bad. Debris such as mattresses, hangers etc was all over the beautiful beaches. This was from a year and 1/2 ago. For us Katrina is just a memory, for them it is still a very stark reality, and they are still trying to put their lives back in order. We went to church there, and it was very interesting.



We stopped at a Cajun village that was reconstructed. The cajuns were french immigrants that were kicked out of Canada when the English took possession. They were sent to Louisana. They didn't know the climate, the customs, the weather or anything. They were amazing people who adapted to a harsh climate they weren't used to with no resources other than theirself. They had restored one of their villages on the Bayou and had people showing how they made thread from cotton, made cloth, cooked etc. HEre is a sweet old cajun man who told us stories and played for us.

Our next stop was Florida. We took this picture below as were went for a walk on the beach in the morning before we left to get to the everglades. The beach looked like someone had dumped powdered sugar out for sand. I have never seen sand so white.





We went through the Everglades where we would stay for the next 3 days. It wasn't enough time to see all of the wonders there. A million and 1/2 acres of untouched wilderness. It was amazing. We went on a platoon boat ride through the Mongrove forests, and then the next day we went Canoeing through the everglades. What a thrill that was. This is what it looked like when we got there early in the morning to head out. There were 3 canoes and a guide. I was in front and Bry in the rear. He was in charge of steering, and we almost hit the largest Crocodile known in the everglades! We asked the guide if we could go closer and he told us to go ahead. We started paddling, and couldn't stop, the wind was blowing us straight towards him. He looked up at us like we were crazy, and then came toward us and slipped in the water right next to us... I about had a heart attack. We were withing a yard of him. He isn't the one in the picture. He was about 3 ft. larger than this one. There are only approx 500 Crocodiles left in the world, they are endangered. There are over a million alligators. That is a alligator below. They are darker in color, their eyes lower, and you can only see their top teeth. Crocs you can see both top and bottom.





The birds were amazing! Flocks of Ibis, HErons, (above) egrets, comorants, (below) wood storks... they were as common as our sparrows. Well we have loved sharing our adventure with you. We will write more later. We about 1/2 through our vacation time.... Really glad we are missing the cold spell back home. We will write more later. Love to you all.