For the final two weeks of our adventure, we hosted our good friends, Scott, Dianne, Kaleigh and Madyson from British Columbia. We began in the Keys and enjoyed a day trip to Key West, some beach time and a snorkeling trip to Looe Key. The highlight of the snorkel trip was watching two sharks (one 8 feet long) swim below us!
Next, we travelled to Everglades National Park and took in an airboat ride through the "river of grass." We tried fried alligator and frog legs for lunch (thumbs up on the alligator, thumbs down on frog legs!). Lastly, we biked 15 miles at the Shark Valley Visitor Center with alligators galore grinning at us all along the path. Lots of baby alligators this time of year. The birds were diverse and beautiful.
Dianne had to head back to work, so we took Scott and the girls to the Gulf side of Florida. We stayed on Pine Island and enjoyed day trips to Venice Beach (where we beach-combed for fossilized shark teeth), Sanibel Island (for shells and sun) and an overnight camping trip to Cayo Costa State Park. Unfortunately, the wind was whippin' and chilly at Cayo Costa. However, it is an undeveloped, beautiful beach with more shells than we've ever seen and we will definitely be back! The kids enjoyed setting up stores and trading treasures.
Always fun to spend time with friends. As Jackson commented, he was glad we got to see people along the way because "it might have been lonely" otherwise. So fortunately, after our goodbyes to Scott and the girls, we had the pleasure of meeting more friends! We joined Brenda, her daughter Kelli, and her two sons, Gannon and Carter at Disney's Boardwalk. They are former PA neighbors of Jerry and were visiting from California. It was great to catch up and meet the boys.
For the final two weeks of our adventure, we hosted our good friends, Scott, Dianne, Kaleigh and Madyson from British Columbia. We began in the Keys and enjoyed a day trip to Key West, some beach time and a snorkeling trip to Looe Key. The highlight of the snorkel trip was watching two sharks (one 8 feet long) swim below us!
Next, we travelled to Everglades National Park and took in an airboat ride through the "river of grass." We tried fried alligator and frog legs for lunch (thumbs up on the alligator, thumbs down on frog legs!). Lastly, we biked 15 miles at the Shark Valley Visitor Center with alligators galore grinning at us all along the path. Lots of baby alligators this time of year. The birds were diverse and beautiful. 
Dianne had to head back to work, so we took Scott and the girls to the Gulf side of Florida. We stayed on Pine Island and enjoyed day trips to Venice Beach (where we beach-combed for fossilized shark teeth), Sanibel Island (for shells and sun) and an overnight camping trip to Cayo Costa State Park. Unfortunately, the wind was whippin' and chilly at Cayo Costa. However, it is an undeveloped, beautiful beach with more shells than we've ever seen and we will definitely be back! The kids enjoyed setting up stores and trading treasures.
Always fun to spend time with friends. As Jackson commented, he was glad we got to see people along the way because "it might have been lonely" otherwise. So fortunately, after our goodbyes to Scott and the girls, we had the pleasure of meeting more friends! We joined Brenda, her daughter Kelli, and her two sons, Gannon and Carter at Disney's Boardwalk. They are former PA neighbors of Jerry and were visiting from California. It was great to catch up and meet the boys.