We went to Florida for Thanksgiving

When Eric and Tanya announced they were moving to the Miami area for six months, we immediately invited ourselves to visit them for Thanksgiving. Allison and Tate went to Las Vegas and Paige and Chris are in Germany. So, it seemed natural for us to simply fly to Aventura, Florida to be with Eric and Tayna. We were only there for three full days and one of them was Thanksgiving so we had to pack in a lot of adventure into just two days.

On Tuesday, we went to the Florida Everglades to Shark Valley, a park run by the Department of Interior. I have no idea why they call it Shark Valley because it wasn't even near the ocean and the main attraction, as you will see, are the plentiful alligators that call Shark Valley their home. We rented bikes and rode along a 15 mile loop trail.

We saw about 5 or 6 of these beauties. We were told to not get closer than 15 feet away. Since I didn't bring my measuring tape, I'm sure we ended up getting much closer than that. It was just a little bit scary but oh, so fun to see these crazy creatures up close and personal.

At the half way point on the trail, we climbed up the observation tower and got a great view of the Everglades.

After riding the 15 mile loop, we were hot, sweaty, tired, and hungry. So we drove to Miami Beach to one of Eric and Tanya's favorite hamburger places, Shake Shack.  

We strolled around South Beach and I loved looking at all of the amazing Art Deco architecture. I've never seen so many beautiful people in one place. I felt like we were in another country altogether. Eric drove us all the way up Collins Avenue where we saw amazing old and new high-rise apartments and hotels. It was fascinating!

On Wednesday, we decided to drive up to Cape Canaveral and visit the Kennedy Space Center. Google Maps said it was a 3 hour drive. We didn't think much about that but, as we came to realize, three hours is a LONG time to drive. Tanya was the official music selector and we had a nice time listening to great music along the way.

Tom was hesitant about going to KSC because he's been there several times and he doesn't like repeating things. But we found a tour called "Then and Now" that took us to some of the places where some of the first rocket launches took place. Miraculously, he really enjoyed our three hour tour and he actually learned a thing or two. The rest of us learned much more.

We ended up staying at the Kennedy Space Center until it closed at 5:00. Then, we made the 3 hour trek back to Aventura, stopping at Five Guys Burgers on the way. We got back to Eric and Tanya's apartment feeling very tired but happy that we'd had a good day. We watched Hunger Games and I fell asleep before it was over.

On Thursday morning, Eric drove me and Tom to a beach and dropped us off. We strolled along the beach for a while and enjoyed perfectly blue skies and comfortable temperatures. While we were walking along, I got a video phone call from Paige. I'm still amazed that modern technology can let me see and talk to my daughter and grandkids in Germany--while strolling along the beach. Even though I cried once we hung up because I miss them so much, I still feel very lucky and very thankful that I was able to see my grandbabies and talk to Paige.

It took all morning and half of the afternoon to make our Thanksgiving dinner and it took MAYBE seven minutes to eat it. After dinner, we walked to a park and played frisbee. Thursday night, we went to the Aventura Mall and saw Disney's Frozen (I gave it an A-).

We woke up bright and early on Friday morning and Eric and Tanya drove us to the Fort Lauderdale airport.  We flew from Fort Lauderdale to Houston, from Houston to Las Vegas, and from Las Vegas to Seattle. The only two perks were flying over the Grand Canyon and being in the same city as Allison and Tate--even if we didn't get off the plane.

It was a really fun but short trip. I really needed a change of scenery and this totally did the trick. Now, the Christmas holiday is officially upon us and I'm looking forward to what's to come next.  I might even blog about it!