Trip to the Gulf of Mexico!

OK, I feel like such a heel......We went on a mini-vacation to the Gulf and Mom wouldn't let me take my laptop. OK, I think I've worked through my blame now. Moving right along!

We started down to the Gulf on Friday. Mom was sick that morning, so we didn't leave at the time we had planned. But we went anyway because Mom started feeling better. The gulf was about 5 or so hours away, so we all settled down for the trip. We did our best at not talking or looking like the pitiful wimps our family has become. Because churches are so close together here, we are not used to driving double triple the amount that it would take us to get down to the coast. So about maybe half-way there, Dad stopped and let Mom talk on the phone in the van and took us kids into the Tractor Supply Co. and we saw the adorable little chicks and ducklings there were in the store. Also, Dad and the boys looked at boots, while I looked at some of the funny shirts that were there in the store. I think my favorite one was the one that said: "My wife said that it was either her or fishing; I am sure gonna' miss her." :-)

When we finally got close to the gulf and also about ten minutes out from Florida, we stopped at a place called Alligator Alley. It was very neat to see the alligators. There were hundreds of alligators there, put don't worry! It was cold out but the sun was shining. Most of the alligators did not move, but were sunning themselves on the bank. We got to feed the alligators, it was alot of fun watching the alligators eat the food. There was one alligator, that knew that we had food, and he was ready for it!!! When we walked to him, he lifted his head up high, his teeth glistening in the light. Very cool. But that is not even the best part! Here is the best part:

Cool, huh? This alligator is a two year old gator. He was not very happy at the thought of being held. He sure did hiss alot. At first, I did not want to touch that ugly thing, but when ever would I get a chance to hold an alligator ever again!!! The lady taped it's mouth shut thankfully, so that he would not bite. The feel of his back was very different from the feel of his stomach, The stomach was very soft, while the back was hard and rough. Another highlight of Alligator Alley was Captain Crunch, probably one of the biggest alligators in the swamp.(it really was a swamp):

He was lazy too. For dinner Friday night we went to Lambert's Cafe. Soooooo cool!! They had old signs and everything! But the best part about it, was that when you put your hand up, the employees will throw you a huge hot roll from across the room. They need to make the rolls smaller so that people can eat and catch more of them. The one that I caught was so huge, I couldn't even eat it all. Also, the cups for drinks were 3/4 of a gallon cups. They were HUGE! And so were the portions! We ate so much on Friday night. After that we went to the hotel and swam in the indoor pool which was sooooooo much fun because we never get in pools except for camp. We watched the end of National Treasure 1 and we had a good nights sleep. We woke up yesterday morning and found that the Rifleman Best Outlaw Marathon was on so we watched a few Rifleman episodes, our new favorite western. We stopped at a beach while driving around because it was cold so no one was there except for one lady bundled up good walking her dog, who didn't mind the cold and jumped in the water. We had alot of fun collecting shells and watching the water roll in on the soft, welcoming sand. After that we waited for the Ferry to come for about thirty minutes. When the ferry finally got there, we drove our car onto it and went across Mobile Bay to Daufin Island. It was very cool because hundreds of storks and sea gulls were following the boat. Sometimes, you can see dolphins in the water and sometimes even swim with them from Daufin Island. I think that a black person might have named it intending for it to sound like "dolphin," but it came out "daufin." Huh. For dinner we went to Bayou la Batre to a place called DJ's DINER. We ate there, and the food was actually OK, but the picture of DJ on the sign kind of freaked me out. After that we had a good visit with the Johnsons, members of the church down there near the gulf. We stayed in a hotel that night and ate pizza while we watched the TV. We ate breakfast this morning, and found that we were three hours or more from any of our churches. So we had Sunday School in the hotel room and made our trip back home. Hey! Speaking of Sunday School, I have finished my first Leader of Clay: Bro Strong:

Cute, huh? Oh well. That  is it for today! And again, comment! :-)