Bears in Chelsea

Cate & Sarah have the pleasure of running into bears on their everyday ventures and now thanks to the Bear Footrest so do Elizabeth and I.

From Orvis’ website : “This bear, as sweet as he is, is not a toy but a functioning footrest waiting diligently each day for you to return from work and prop up your feet. Made of a sturdy yellow pine frame, polyester fill, and acrylic bear “fur” to lend a distinct personality to every piece. USA.”

& my favorite review : “The coloring and appearance of the bear look much better than the picture on the Orvis site. Dogs and friends are always mistaking it for a real animal, it’s hilariously to see them jump in surprise. Overall an excellent bear.”

Small Victories

I bet you thought I was just kidding about there being a part two to Shark Valley, but you were wrong. Even though I left Shark Valley with skin in varying tones and enough blood loss to disqualify me from making any donations for the rest of the year, there was a second visit.

In an attempt to make the ride bearable there was a nice combo of sunscreen and bug off that had me choking on fumes, and it was great. How great? This great :

Walking up to the observation tower! We made it! The mosquitos can’t see us! It is the best day ever! The views, Oh my! The VIEWS!

Nope. Just some bushes and more flat lands, Florida sure is flat. In fear that our invisibility would run out and feeling mildly accomplished we got back on our bikes to finish the trail and head home. The crows did not manage to steal our bikes while we were sight-seeing.

But this guy stole my heart :

What’s that? You can’t see anything? Well that is just photographic evidence of me sticking to my 400 feet rule from all gators rule. Maria Moreira is proud.

After riding for a few more feet I saw what I think must be the largest snail house ever. Honestly I didn’t even know they could get this big… the shell seemed to be empty and I  was tempted to take it, but I was too scared of the possibility of a giant snail emerging later on and killing my family while we slept.

Has anyone ever seen a snail this big? Are they common? Am I insane? It was about 2 – 3 inches in circumference. If you visit Florida, and it is under 100 degrees and you want to sweat a lot and see a lot of grass for a long time, I totally recommend Shark Valley.

Kris wouldn’t properly slow down for me to photograph this Coke Zero monument that we saw on our way out and I think Elizabeth will qualify for it next week when she consumes her 1,000th can.

I think that was a good transition into the random parts of the trip, and I will continue.

I love Mangroves, this is a terrible picture, but the only one I got. My camera did not deal well with the constant change from cool to blazing hot and the intense humidity.

My mom feeds our neighborhood ducks Cheerios, they like it.

This may be one of my top cat pictures ever.

On Saturday Elizabeth and I will begin our adventure to Hudson Valley, we are excited to start this journey after so much planning. Wish us luck!