Gatorland

It's been a while since my last post, but things have been a bit busy and we just got back from a week long vacation in Orlando, FL. We went back to visit my wife's family and friends we had there. I also had the opportunity to speak to several classes at the school I attended. One of the real highlights of the trip though was the day we spent at Gatorland. My wife grew up going there and has great memories of holding snakes, watching the alligators feed and seeing the gator wrasslin'.


With 72% humidity and a heat index of 114 degrees, the kids were looking for a way to cool off.



We took a walk along the boardwalk that winds through the 10 acre alligator breeding marsh.


There are about 130 gators in the marsh and they are next to, under and all around the boardwalk.




After our little walk, we went over to check out the gator feedin'.




We spent the last part of our day on a "Swamp Walk" through a cypress swamp.

Santa Monica Pier

A few days ago I had the urge to visit the Santa Monica Pier. I've lived here for almost 12 years and I've never driven down there and checked it out. It's actually really close to our favorite restaurant in town. Anywho, I decided today was the day so I drove down about 6 o'clock this evening.





I had such an awesome time down there. It was so cool to be under the pier with the waves crashing in and water sweeping up. I felt my creative juices flowing with all that motion and energy, pushing me to look at things in new and exciting ways.

The one image I had in mind when I went down there materialized about 45 minutes after sunset.


And for a bit of perspective.


It was a beautiful evening and I'm glad that I have some images to remember it by.