First Anniversary

So last week Natalie and I had our first anniversary. We wanted to do a Caribbean cruise or go to the Bahamas since we have been talking about that for a long time and it's so close, but due to the move we decided to spend less and save that for next year. Ended up being a good decision too because now with Natalie being pregnant it would have been a huge waste of money doing a cruise or going to Atlantis. So that's hopefully on next years agenda.

Anyways this year we decided to go to Marco Island. The southernmost city on Florida's gulf coast. We have been talking about this for a while as well but hadn't done it. I like driving across alligator alley because along with all the other scenary you can see alligators while driving. We both like the gulf coast a lot more than Miami. It's quieter, it's more country with trees everywhere instead of a concrete jungle, and people are so much nicer over there. People are pissed off in Miami for some reason.

So we left Friday morning and first we went to my favorite trail in South Florida, Corkscrew Swamp, in Naples. It's a 2.5 mile boardwalk through cypress swamp, pineland, and a prairie. The trees in each area depend on the elevation. A couple feet of elevation difference will determine whether you're seeing cypress which like the swamp or pine and palms which like the higher/drier elevation and even limestone hammocks. It's like a whole different world there. People are respectful and quiet and even with hundreds of people around. Everyone whispers on the trail like they are in a library so they don't disturb all the wildlife. I still haven't been in the wet season, maybe next year. I'd like to see it when the prarie is flooded out and the cypress knees are covered in water. We did get a couple inches of rain the day before though so it wasn't as dry as it could have been. I didn't see a single alligator there this time.

A couple minutes into our walk on the trail there were a lot of people standing on the trail looking at a red shouldered hawk about 150 yards out and high up in the trees. Everyone had out their binoculars and some crazy cameras with foot long lenses. I got bored really quick and walked past them. About 15 feet past them I heard a rustling in the bushes and I could hear something flying in there so I stopped. Out of the bushes comes another red shoulder hawk flying right at me with a crayfish in it's claws. It lands about 15 feet in front of me, ten feet high in a tree and starts eating the crawfish. It was really cool. I've seen them fly with snakes in their claws but they usually fly away from me. I've never seen them eat a crayfish and I've never seen them stop right in front of me and put on a show while it eating. It didn't take long until everyone else caught on to what was going on and everyone came over to watch.

We got through the boardwalk really fast, much faster than expected because I drank too much soda before getting there and couldn't hold it. I though Natalie would be the one that had to hit the bano being pregnant and all but it was me. So we got through the boardwalk in about an hour then headed over to Marco Island. We got in our room, 9th floor, gulf view, just in time for a really cool sunset. We stayed at the Hilton.

We pretty much just sat around Saturday and Sunday. We went to the beach for a little bit but Natalie is a real wimp with what she calls cold water. The water was about 78, a good 8-10 degrees warmer than the water in San Diego at it's peak in summer. So I didn't hesitate at taking a swim. The beach has nice white sand and tons of shell. I think that is actually where the white sand comes from, broken up shells. I like the white sand beaches because the sand isn't dirty and doesn't stick to me. I hate dirty sticky sand.


When we left I had a note on my truck that I found amusing. I have a bumper sticker,

At work people are always telling me how funny this bumper sticker is. I noticed people behind me laughing and taking pictures of my bumper sticker all the time while I'm in traffic. Well as we're leaving I notice a note on my truck so I read it. I have some other amusing ones but I know the note was referring to this one. It says "we love your bumper stickers except it needs to say free Cuba next". It was signed by Adriana, I assume she's Cuban. The funny thing is three days earlier at Thanksgiving we decided if the baby is a girl her middle name is going to be Adriana. For all the white people reading this it's not A-Dree-Anna, it's Ahh-Dree-Awe-Na.

Anyways here are pictures.

The cypress forest. You can't even see the cypress from the beginning of the trail. Then after coming around a corner, bam, there it is. It doesn't even look real, it's like a painting.