May Florida Canoe Trip

Okay, so my bossy little sister (heh, heh) gave me an assignment; I am required to put a post on this blog, due by the end of the weekend! I'll admit, I've been a complete slacker when it comes to this blog of ours. It's been, like three years now? So I formally apologize to those readers of voguevigilante, for my negligence. I definitely do not get the perfect attendance award (sorry, Max Fisher). Anyhoo, here it is... Tom and I spent a little over a month visiting friends and family in Atlanta, GA, central Florida and South Carolina recently. During the Florida stint we took a great canoe trip along the Silver River. We dragged Tom's dad along with us, who was pretty tentative about the whole thing. He thinks we're a little too spontaneous, sometimes. It ended up taking nearly a full day to canoe the whole river, then turn around and paddle back. Swimming and Fishing were prohibited, and we soon discovered why. There were alligators, loads of alligators, and some were quite large. We felt safe settled in the canoe paddling along the tranquil river until a few hours passed and we all desperately needed a break. Our buns had gone numb! Fortunately we found a shallow cove of sorts where we climbed out and very attentively stood next to our boat for about 10-15 minutes, watching out for sneaky gators. Though I would probably choose a shorter run next time, it ended up being a wonderful adventure with amazing views of Florida wildlife including cypress trees, egrets, turtles, alligators, beautiful iridescent fish and the most exciting sighting.... well, you'll just have to watch the video!  I'm still trying to get the hang of using a video camera as well as editing software, but I hope you enjoy this little taste of what Florida may have been like before the onslaught of suburbs, amusement parks and shopping malls. Oh, and it wasn't easy keeping the camera still in a bobbing canoe, not to mention hearing some of my father-in-laws comments! --Sister L