observations from the road, part 2

khary was made for beaches and the ocean. he was so at home in the keys, i feel bad bringing him back to landlocked kc.

khalil detests sand for the most part. he will play in it, but it is not welcome in his shoes or on his hands. it's hard to believe he and khary are brothers.

if one were to live in florida, nearly every other water feature in the world would be boring. mountains and such, sure. but there are so many different gorgeous areas and features here.

a working knowledge of spanish would be a very handy thing to possess.

alligators only life in fresh water, and only in the southeastern US.

american crocodiles are coming back from endangerment and live in saltwater.

florida may as well be a different country when it comes to wildlife--all of the species and habitat are so completely different, i couldn't begin to answer all of khary's questions about them.

khary knew as many bird species as i did (thanks, diego).

that boy is lucky to survive every day, given how many times he runs into random *stationary* objects.

we will be coming back to the keys at least every other year, possibly looking for a rental home/timeshare near big pine key. (know anyone? ;) )

digital cameras don't like saltwater.

the rice trick doesn't work for digital cameras (or at least it doesn't work within 24 hours).

micro-SD cards are awesome in a pinch.

so are camera phones.

i wish i had the palm pre and/or dawud had the samsung moment on this trip already. they have nicer cameras.

even on vacation, i'm incapable of reading any of my books.

i-75 is very dark despite passing by so many metro areas.

if one had unlimited time, a nice boat, and adequate seafaring abilities, one could spend considerable time hopping from island to island all around the florida peninsula.

it's not very far from florida to the bahamas. but you can't drive to the bahamas.

bahia honda is the most fantastic beach ever. or at least it's the most fantastic beach in my very limited experience.

canadians are everywhere in florida. and they are all as nice as reputed.

i'm either allergic to saltwater or some of my sunblock(s).

you would think that a population under direct threat of climate change and which is directly dependent upon eco tourism would be more environmentally savvy and aware than those living in the keys actually are.

lady gaga is on at least one radio station within range at any given moment.

i actually like lady gaga. (i'm just as surprised as anyone)

khary is fearless. he donned his diving mask and life jacket and swam out over a spanish shipwreck with dawud this afternoon to explore it. even *i* was too chicken to do that!

khalil's favorite beach pastime is napping. or crying. but i'm guessing if he had to choose, he'd pick napping.

khary can make friends with anyone in the blink of an eye.

he can hold his own playing pirates or aliens with kids twice his age and more.