Florida trip: Days 6-9

Day 6
Today's activity: Lion Country Safari! I had not been there since I was about 10 or 11, so it was all new to all the Ms. Uncle T and (Great) Aunt J were able to join us again today, and though they had both been there more recently, they also commented things were not exactly as they remembered. I get the definite impression LC is an ever-growing, ever-improving venue.

It was a hot day, and the kids were not ready to sit still in a car again, so I'm not sure they fully appreciated the "safari" part of the trip. But the not-so-wee among us really did! At one point, a couple of roving ostriches spread their wings and trotted along in the wake of our vehicle. T glanced back and commented we must look like we were in a scene from Jurassic Park. That cracked me up--it was true!

My pictures were even worse than usual since they were taken through my very dirty car windows, but I did manage to get a couple of fun ones.

Big, bossy, arrogant ostriches everywhere. Funny to see these big heavy bodies on top of skinny stick legs!

There were many different kinds of antelope and elands. Wish I could have gotten a close-up of some of their pretty twisted horns.

Good picture...

...and trick picture! I didn't mean to make a two-headed zebra.

...or a two-headed rhino, either. The rhinos look impossible close. Their color and texture makes it seem they're carved out of stone.

It's hard to make out through the streaks on the windows, but the wildebeests were quite handsome with their stripes, curved horns, and shaggy beards.

See what I mean about dirty windows? There's a white chimpanzee showing off in there somewhere.

There was a group of silky-looking lionesses dozing in the shade, and two of them were comically posed on their backs with their feet in the air. Then a couple of lionesses got up, stretched, and strolled up close for what would have been a great picture, too, if I'd been ready to shoot. By the time the camera warmed up, they both had gone back to the shade to nap some more. The lions, though, didn't present any photo opportunities. They stayed perched high on the shelters, far from the road, and usually with their big maned faces turned the other way.

Once the drive-through safari was done, we went into the walk-around part of the park where big and little observers alike found exciting things to see and do.

Boy 2 got excited when he saw some others of his favorite animals--including alligators and flamingos--up close.

Huge old alligator and yes, that's a moss-covered turtle to the left. Neat camouflage, or poor hygiene? It's anyone's guess.

Boy 1 was scared but also very eager to try feeding and brushing goats in the petting zoo. He had to try three or four goats before this one stood patiently still and let Boy 1 slowly get over his intimidation.

Boy 2 preferred chasing the goats to petting them, but Aunt J persuaded him to try the nice way once or twice.

Girlie pointed at all the critters and grinned and babbled all through the park from her birds' eye view on top of Dada's shoulders.

We all were fascinated by the gentle face of the giraffe we saw up super-close.

Boy 1 and Boy 2 can now brag that they've actually FED a giraffe! (Surprise, surprise...the mystery giraffe food was none other than Romaine lettuce.)

Girlie got over her Dada-clinginess long enough to get close to this scene.The giraffes look too soft to resist.

Even after all that excitement and a long-ish drive back home, the kids weren't worn out. After supper, it was once again Attack Uncle T time.

Don't feel sorry for ol' Unk. He loved this!

Day 7
On our final day, we'd planned to take a leisurely trip to Morikami Gardens. Unfortunately, we were not in top form once again after all the heat and excitement of Lion Country as well as lingering effects of the virus...which struck again, this time hitting Aunt J so hard she didn't want to risk the drive. (I didn't have any sign of it yet, but overnight, just in time for the drive home, Round 2 would hit me, too.)

The kids got up kind of irritable, and we didn't think they'd take well to a serene, quiet walk through Morikami if they didn't let off some steam first. So after breakfast we headed out to a nearby neighborhood park. Despite the map on the Deerfield website, we never found the park or even signs pointing to it from the major road. (Dad told me later that was because it no longer existed--alas, something only a local could have known.)


So we went back to Sugar Sand Park and spent an hour climbing and exploring in the playhouse. It was a hot day and we were all in need of a long, cold drink afterward, but it was just the kind of activity the kids needed.

You get a sense of the height of the playhouse here, if not the whole scope.

Girlie following (backward) footsteps leading through one part of the structure. The prints switch randomly from human to various animals.

And she found a new set of bells today!

From the second floor, Boy 2 and Boy 1 pilot a submarine (right out of the hands of another family, in Boy 2's case).

Good attitudes back in place, we returned to the E home. We were disappointed J couldn't make it, but we regrouped and went ahead with our trip to Morikami. Although we started out late in the day and were not able to give it nearly the attention or time it deserved, I was truly impressed. It's not just *a* Japanese garden but a collection of many lovely and thoughtful themed gardens; a bonsai collection; a museum; and an interactive kids' exhibit showing scenes from daily life in Japan. My camera batteries gave out before we'd gotten very far, but the shots I got are better than usual. Even a rotten photographer can't miss in surroundings like these.

Dad, T, and the kids watch and listen to a waterfall.

Looking down to a stream through flowering plants from a footbridge

Even the trees arching out over the lake are trimmed and trained into interesting bonsai forms. How the gardeners do this, I can't imagine!

Coming back to the Es' afterward was kind of a sad drive. We were tired and hot, but also we were realizing we'd just about reached the end of our visit. But once we got to the house, we comfortably unwound and enjoyed our last chat and supper together. Rather suddenly, the kids got overly wild and then grumpy, and we realized it was long past time for them to call it a night--not to mention us, as the first 450 miles of return trip awaited in the morning.

Quick goodbyes are easier than long tearful ones anyway, right?


Day 8
Back on I-95 again. Once past the Palm Beach area, traffic thinned. We ran into some oddball weather that turned the sky really black, produced a brief rain shower, then cleared just as suddenly. The remainder of our drive was, weatherwise, completely clear.


We'd passed near Daytona on the trip down, but today I was ready with the camera--on the day of 2012's Daytona 500, no less (or so it would have been if not for the rain delay that would push it more than one full day late...but of course we didn't know that during our drive).

The highway is too far off to get a clear shot of the racetrack itself, but I caught a bit of proof that we were in the area.

Here's the exit...

...and you can just make out one end of the famous speedway's grandstands here.

In the course of our 900-mile drive, we passed near several other notable spots for NASCAR fans, but Daytona, however tangent, was the most exciting. This was not the year to include attending an actual race in our trip. But maybe one day?

Only one other spot made the camera today, a rest stop near the Georgia border.

I thought this sign was too amusing to miss though apparently my human subjects were not impressed enough to hold still and pose.

Home again, for one night anyway, to Hardeeville. We were in not just the same hotel but the exact same hotel room. Familiar is good. Once they dropped off, the three youngest Ms slept like rocks.


Day 9
On the road again...and now that we're on the downest downside of vacation, today's road felt long. Still, I can't complain. The weather was clear and cool, and the drive was largely uneventful (with the notable exception of a close shave with one reckless lane changer).

I already mentioned passing some NASCAR sites. Today, we also shared the road with a portion of at least one race team.

We never did figure out which Richard Childress equipment this trailer was carrying.

We had left a little earlier today, so we were home and had our considerable post-vacation car cleaning and laundry well underway before supper. And guess what? Pumpkin even greeted us--ALL of us, including the grabby little ones--like he'd missed us.

Clearly, a few days' vacation is good for even a 4-legged M!