Florida

I have to say that the time I spent in Florida was really kind of, well, interestingly nice? I landed in Florida around 9:00pm. After 8 hour in the air the only thing I really wanted was a nice soft bed. What I got was nice, soft chicken wings. Jason saw fit to introduce me to the local Hooter's wait staff. I have to admit the wings are pretty good even if the locals have no idea what hot-n-spicy is. I really didn't mind the view of the Orlando Airport either. Really, I was watching the planes the whole time. I did discover that they have this strange thing called alcohol in the beer down there. Unfortunately I found this out after I had downed an entire pitcher by myself. Strange how the legs get a mind of their own. After Hooter's we hit a club in the area. Now, I enjoy Industrial music, I can even manage to listen to Gothic now and again, but to throw both at me in large sums after long plane flights and way too much to drink, and I go into sensory overload. I wasn't sure but I think that if I had half way sober I might have had sense enough to be scared. Since I wasn't, I ended up overly amused. I still think that they were pumping nox or helium through the air-conditioning but since I can't prove that I will just say the air had that, just~sucked~way~too~much~helium~from~my~little~brother's~ballon, feel to it. That and people were talking really fast and I know that beer tends to make things slow down not speed up.

I managed to get even with Jason the next day though. I wake up a bit early usually, since I was in Florida the sun was kind enough to match my wake up hour perfectly, and as Connie will tell you all, the sun is up...I'm up. I got a nice and early start to the day. I got fresh squeezed grapefruit juice for the grapefruit off the tree in his Mom's backyard. Then I forced Jason on to a bike to take a ride around the area and see some of the local nature parks. We got to go up and over the one bump in the entire state. There were no hills there so riding was a cakewalk for me. The lower altitude helped out quite a bit also. We went hiking around in a couple of different areas. It was actually neat. I got some cool pictures of the one real tree in the state. It's a Cyprus tree the size of my Japanese Maple in the back yard but it's a big deal for the Floridian's. Then even have it in a park of it's own. In all fairness the tree is 3500 years old. Kinda cool huh? After that we headed back to his parents and I took a dip in the pool. Jason took a nap. Once I decided Jason had rested enough I made him get up and we took the dog for a walk. Came back. Ate dinner with the parent's then headed out for Jason's apartment down in Lakeland. They call it that cause there are so many little lakes :).

The next morning we were off and running more. Got the tour of the apartment complex, which is a city in and of it's self. They have 3 little lakes and river running through the complex. You can go fishing in the lake right outside your back door if you want. It was awesome. During the night's you can walk around listening to cricket's whirl (they don't chirp in Florida) and bullfrog's croak. It was a really nice atmosphere.

Friday we drove up to Tallahassee to see our friends and my Florida namesake (you know I can't be all bad if people name there kid's after me). It was great to finally meet Sarah and Theo in person. Little Taryn Grace is absolutely beautiful. Big brown eyes. She kind reminds me of the Pepsi girl. She could almost be her double. Anyway, we spent the whole weekend with them. Saturday I went out fishing with "my boy's". I caught a nice sunburn in that one area of my back I couldn't reach to put the sunscreen on and a bunch of blue gills. They call then pan fish down there. I think that's because you have to fill an entire pan for it to equal one fish. I still had a blast out on the river though. That night we went to an oyster bar in St. Mark's Bay. The food was excellent and the company even better. I had grouper for the first time. Jason has oysters for the first time. They gave us a side of lima beans with our meal. Oh my, these things were the size of quarters. I have come to the conclusion the stuff we get here is definitely not ripe if they can get that big. Oh and they tasted incredible and I hate lima bean's. Sunday was Sarah's birthday so Theo and I got up early and went to the store to get the stuff to make Sarah breakfast in bed. She of course woke up and ruined the in bed part of the whole thing, but what are you going to do about that? After stuffing our face's we got dressed and went down to the local Fun Dome. Played video games, bashed each other in bumper boats, made fools of ourselves on the minigolf course, and raced around a formula one track. All in all it was great. That night we took Sarah to dinner at a Japanese Steak House, ironically called the Japanese Steak House then out for fondue. I went to bed happy and full.

Monday we left Tallahassee and headed down the coast to Crystal Water's near Tampa in the Gulf. I had no idea that those pictures of the Gulf were real. I thought they had been doctored to look that blue. I was magnificent. The water was as warm as bath water. Except for the incident of having strange thing's swim out from under my feet it was great. I got to go the local aquarium and see all sorts of things. It was small but cute. They are sorely under funded there. It was kinda sad to see that, but the staff was really nice and uber sweet. We would have watched the sun set over the gulf but the clouds got in the way. It was still a nice attempt at it though.

Tuesday Jason had to go back to work so I spent the day checking out things on my own and put things together so I could fly out on Wednesday. I really enjoyed the day. Walked around the complex chasing strange bugs with two sets of wings. One set for the front half of the body one set for the back half. At first I thought every fly in the state was mating but I was wrong, they really have two sets of wings. Went fishing in the lakes and laid out by the pool. That night we went in to Lakeland city. It's frightening to know that there is a city that shut's down more completely than Salt Lake at night. That place was all locked up by 6:00pm except for the city bar, it stays open until 11:00pm. Scary huh? Jason showed me around and showed me just what it is an Ordinance Enforcer in Florida does. They put baskets in rain gutters to catch garbage and keep it out of the local lakes. It really is a good idea and I suppose someone has to do it. Jason seems to really like his job. He's really big into the environment so it appears to be perfect for him.

Wednesday we got up at 3:00am Utah time to get me back up to the Orlando Airport in time for my flight. I got to see an incredible sunrise on the drive up. The Orlando Airport is one I could stand to live in. They have 44 shops, 40 restaurants, and a hotel all in the main terminal area. I really could live there. The one time Airport Security stopped me it was because they saw my piece of granite I was bringing home on the x-ray and didn't know what it was until I showed them. I still carried it on the plane with me and it could have been a nice weapon if they had thought about it at all. It's heavy and it's in the shape of a triangle so it had a point. I guess because I was this sweet and innocent looking lady from Utah they figured they were ok. I should have smuggled out that pot. Hindsight.

The flight home was not too bad. Southwest had us stretching and doing flight aerobics so we wouldn't get cramped up on our way to Phoenix. Then on the flight from Phoenix to Salt Lake I got to fly with a bunch of Mormon Women on their way to a Conference in Provo. I was happy. Anytime I get to be around beautiful women I am happy. I was also real excited to be going home so they got the city-by-city announcement of location on the flight.

I am not sure what happened after the bags were claimed and food was put in my tummy, but somehow I made it home, got myself unpacked, talked to my brother for 45 minutes, fed the animals, and crashed hard. I did manage to work the next morning right on time.

I had a great time. Learned to be grateful for and tolerate Wayne on a whole new level. Experienced a whole new culture. Enjoyed the sun, the beach, and the babes I mean baby alligator's (which I never saw even one of outside a cage). Grew a bit closer to Jason (not close enough for his liking). Just had fun.