Payne's Prairie

Last week my Mom and my aunt Lisa came to visit. Ahh, I love visitors. We decided that this trip we should try to do/see things that we haven't done before, since who knows how long we'll live in Florida (I hope forever...haha). Anyhoo, we had so much fun.

First we went to Payne's Prairie. It is an area in southeast Gainesville that houses many types of wildlife.....particularly alligators. It was a hot day, but we braved it in the middle of the day. We learned that since it was really hot out, that many of the animals wouldn't be out. So we went and explored anyway.

We did a lot of exploring. Saw no wildlife, except for a falcon. We kept on, crossed a little boardwalk, when HELLO!

We saw a gator! He was just chillin'. Wish I would have had my zoom lens! Dang! After this we decided to drive to another part of the park. We came upon this amazing tree. Lisa and I were captivated and didn't realize its enormity until we saw how tiny we looked underneath it!

I love the Florida live oak trees!

We came upon a marshy swampy area and again, HELLO!

Again, wishing I had my zoomy lens because this guy was huge. We didn't know if he was alive until he swished his tail a few times. His tail looked just like a black, blown out tire you'd see along the freeway!

Here is the 2nd gator stretching his, well, mouth I guess.

Here is a little game for you. If you can click on this last picture to enlarge, there are 3 alligators. See if you can find them....

Since we've seen these gators, it really is mind boggling to me that there are actual alligators that live in my very city. I mean, I guess it's hit me that this university's mascot was given for a legit reason! Haha!

And then, if you know me, you know that I can't resist a trip to the Magic Kingdom. I just love it. We didn't get the camera out much at all except when we found Jessie and Woody!

Yee Haw!