Road Trip July 5

Since there isn't anything to do in Perry FL, we got up and got on the road early. Well early for us...we were going by 11 am. That has been the best part of this trip. No hurrying. We drove down to Tampa by small back roads. We went through every small town, but again...we weren't in a hurry. We came across this street. I totally want to live on this road.



Then we were stuck in traffic for a while next to this motorcycle. First we noticed it was painted like a parrot, then we noticed the parrot going for a ride. How fun is that, to take your parrot around with you.


Finally we got to our hotel. Our room wasn't ready so we sat in the lobby for a while. The kids and I got tired of waiting so we went to get some dinner while Mark worked. We got our room just as we finished dinner. And what a room it was. We are in the Residence Inn on the beach. A brand new hotel, we have a two bedroom suite. Plenty of room for all of us. It's a great place to hang out for a few days.

We immediately got on our swimsuits and went down to the beach. It wasn't near as pretty as the last beach...but so much better. Not crowded...the sand was softer, the water warmer. It was the perfect beach for us. The boys got tired after a little while...but Mellie, Jill and I stayed and played til after sunset.

We found this amazing sand sculpture. This part was an octopus.
And this was a really cool alligator. It had a person's foot in it's mouth and they even made the blood. It was really amazing. I wonder how long it's been there.
Ryan wanted to look like he was being eaten by the alligator, unfortunately his photographer kinda stinks and he didn't get the desired effect. I'm thinking she needs to be fired!!

Jill asked me to take a picture of her holding the setting sun and amazingly I was able to do it right the first time. I love how this came out. Perhaps our photographer does have a little value after all ;-)
After the boys left Jill & Mellie spent over an hour making a sand turtle. They did a really great job. I'm excited to go down to the beach again tonight and see if it's still there.


I felt like this picture summed up our beach experience. How great is your day when your feet are all tan and sandy. It was an amazing evening at the beach. I'm so glad we got to enjoy it together.