Florida Birds

Here are a few more photos from our recent trip to Florida:

Sandhill Cranes were a common sight on the Word of Life Conference Center grounds.

This heron was begging food from a fisherman on the causeway leading to Fred Howard County Park.

Notice the focused look in his eye.

Pelicans are certainly unusual looking birds but surprisingly graceful in flight.

Another pelican, immediately after he surfaced from a dive. It was a treat to see this bird repeatedly dive into the water, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch the dive itself.

This gull looked as proud as if he were sporting peacock feathers.

Florida in February

We just returned from Florida, where we spent a week enjoying sunshine and warm temperatures while visiting friends and attending a conference at Word of Life Florida. Even though it's been a pretty mild winter here in Indiana, it can't compare to the beautiful weather we enjoyed during our week in the Sunshine State.

Our friends, Dean and Marilyn, had taken their new 5th-wheel RV down there to spend a couple of months at the RV park on the Word of Life conference grounds.

Above is a photo of Marilyn, Dean, and Doug relaxing outside the RV.

There were no rooms available at Word of Life for the week we were there, and no RVs available for rent in the RV park; so Doug and I were staying in a hotel about 10 miles away. We ate some of our meals with Dean and Marilyn in their trailer, some at restaurants, and some in the Word of Life dining room.

Doug and I did a little exploring one afternoon when there were no speaking sessions at the Word of Life conference center, and we found the delightful beach that was featured in my Florida Sunset post. Following are some other photos from that day.

The beautiful white sand beach at the Fred Howard County Park near Tarpon Springs

This gull was enjoying splashing in the water at the shoreline.

This bird (a sandpiper, perhaps?) was digging furiously in the sand, with little regard for the humans who were sitting so close.

A dolphin swimming past the beach, just off shore

The following two pictures are of the view to the east as the sun sank slowly into the west.

Florida Sunset

Since we couldn't have the carpet reinstalled in the no-longer-sunken living room until the cement fully dried, and since we didn't particularly enjoy living in the mess, Doug and I decided to make a short visit to Florida.

The main purpose of the trip was to visit some friends who were spending a couple of months in the RV Park at Word of Life Conference Center in Hudson, Florida. But the conference didn't take up all our time, leaving us some opportunities to explore the area.

Beautiful beaches aren't as common as you might think, at least not in this particular part of Florida; but one day we found a spectacular one at the Fred Howard County Park. We spent the afternoon there and were rewarded with a lovely sunset that evening.