Aki Visits Florida

Aki and I had a ticket voucher and decided to go visit great grandma in Florida. The weather was still a little hot even in late September but we had a wonderful time visiting with great grandma and enjoying some great swimming and boating opportunities out on the coast and along the river and springs of central Florida.

Aki with his Great Grandma.

A highlight of the place where great grandma lives were the frogs which came out every evening and dozens of lizards which could be found on the outside walls throughout the day.

We spent two days along the western edge of the Ocala National Forest with a trip that started out on the Silver River and then continued on to the Ocklawaha River where we spent the night. We saw plenty of gators, a plethora of bird life, and all sorts of fish.

We went up to Gainesville for a day and got out on the Santa Fe River with our friend Jamie.

Jamie and Aki snorkelin in Ichetucknee Springs.

The Alexander River emerges from Alexander Springs and flows through a wilderness area in Ocala National Forest. It has some of the best fish viewing of any place we went.

Aki snorkeling in Alexander Spring.

After a week on the rivers we went out to the beach at St. Augustine. Aki had a great time watching the fish in the surf zone.

Aki at the beech in St. Augustine.

Playing in the waves.

Aki making friends and playing in the sand at St. Augustine.

Of course we had to stop in at the fort for the canon firing demonstration which was a big hit with Aki.

Our trip back to Seattle was quite the adventure as our plane was delayed several hours out of Jacksonville which meant we missed our flight out of Dulles resulting in a very long day.