Are we nuts?!

We are only 2 weeks away from our most ambitious and exciting trip yet.  After a lot of research and discussion we decided that our trip to Denver and Rocky Mountain National Park was not going to be what we were looking for.  So we turned our sight back to Texas and planned a 9 day camping trip around the state.  We will trip about 1100 miles and hit all 4 directions.  We will see the Gulf of Mexico and the salt marshes.  We will explore the piney woods of east Texas, the rolling hills of the prairies and lakes region near Waco.  We will see the second largest canyon in the US and the desert mountains of West Texas.  We will explore Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, swim in a desert oasis, and experience a "star party" in one of the darkest spots in the US looking through one of the biggest telescopes.  We will ride a car ferry, a surrey, and a horse.  2 adults, 2 kids, 1 small car, 9 days, 1100 miles, and less than $1000 for it all.
For the trip we have purchased new dry sacks and a roof bag for all of the pillows and towels and things to ride on the top of the car.  Shawn is making a fishing pole carrier out of pvc that will also ride on the roof.  We will be stopping halfway to do laundry and buy more food.  We will need ice and firewood at each location.  We will each bring 5 sets of clothes, 1 pillow and sleep on sheets instead of sleeping bags.  Each stop holds a new experience and a new state park for us to explore.  I will write about each park separately.  We are getting very excited!

A little bit of Florida

We went on vacation to Florida for 2 weeks to visit with family and friends and play tourist for awhile.  We made a couple of trips to the beach and spent some time at the springs and lake.  We went to New Smyrna beach and the Canaveral National Seashore.  The National Seashore is beautiful and reminds us of visiting Padre National Seashore.  With a view of the launch pads and Vehicle Assembly Building in the distance, it makes for lots of good scenery.  The weather was not the best the day we were there.  The wind blew too hard for an umbrella and it was drizzly.  We found lots of shells and 2 coconuts to bring home.  We saw quite a few pelicans and sandpipers. 
We also made it to Rock Springs, a natural spring near my parents house.  The water was shallow enough for Natalie to touch the whole way.  We wore our water shoes and Patrick used his mask to check out the fish.  We floated down a couple times and saw a heron.   An unexpected fun hour was spent near the shore of Lake Apopka.  Right now my Florida friends reading this are laughing because Lake Apopka has a reputation for being quite polluted.  They are about 10 years into a 25 year environmental restoration project to clean up fertilizer and other waste from farms along the shores of the once very popular bass fishing lake.  We saw a blue heron, iris's, pond chickens (yes that is their real name), and a stilt along the shore.  We saw bear tracks by the lake, 2 alligators, and a couple turtles.  We didn't camp anywhere on this trip, but we still got in some time with nature.  Only 3 more weeks till our big 10 day trip.  I will be posting a lot more about that very soon!