Alligator Alley

This lovely stretch of pavement is referred to as Alligator Alley. Brett and I enjoyed driving it today--twice. I scheduled a photo shoot for Brett with an awesome photographer who was filling in her empty time slots for free 'modeling sessions.' We get the rights to one image for free. You know me and a deal. I couldn't find a catch here, other than her trying to sell you more photos, so I bit. The only unfortunate thing was that it was in Fort Lauderdale. Okay, I said to the lady on the phone. How far could it be if it's in south Florida? I wasn't really even intimidated when I looked on map quest to see that it is two hours and nine minutes away--on the opposite coast. I just didn't realize that more than half of the time would be spent driving through the Everglades.

I don't recall ever seeing one of those "Last Gas for 50 miles" signs until today. There were a couple of rest stops. Lucky for me, the one I chose was totally out of water. (i.e. no restrooms) Many of you know what an ordeal it is to get a baby out of the car, put him in a stroller and 'run' to the restroom. I am just learning these fun facts, and was thrilled to have done it all for nothing.

If someone had told me about how long and empty the road was, I would have decided not to make the trip alone with a 7 month old baby. But Brett was a dream! He didn't have a meltdown cry the whole day! He slept most of the drive, and I chunked toys back to him the rest of the time--which he promptly chunked to the floorboard.

I hardly noticed the natural wonder I was driving through on the way to our appointment. On the Naples side, there are many more trees, and you can't see such a great expanse of . . . whatever it is that makes up the Everglades. (I need to polish up on my south Florida nature knowledge.) But on the return trip, I saw these great views! You can see the diaper bag reflecting in the window in one shot. Brett was asleep, so I didn't dare roll down the window and risk waking him up for a better shot. My favorite thing is the sky. I've only lived here for two and a half months, and I've already gotten used to seeing clouds for miles and miles. It's so beautiful!!! I love God's creation!

Bless his little heart. He's just changed sizes, so we had to play dress up yesterday to see what would fit for the photos!

Somebody just woke up from a nap.

As soon as he was fully awake, he was off. The above pictures were the only ones I could catch him sitting in. He creeps (or scoots) ALL over the place now!

This picture was taken tonight just after bath time. Such a sleepy boy!