Day 1 in Florida: Animals

I arrived in Florida yesterday about 5:45 pm, and I just happened to survive my first flight ever. I was a little lightheaded when we first took off, and I had a headache by the time we landed, but it was worth it to see the clouds looking all fluffly and big. It was worth it to see the ground with its tiny plots of land and streets and shiny cars that looked like nothing more than specs of glitter. The best part beside the clouds was when we finally reached Florida, and I got to see all these different sized bodies of water. I couldn't believe how much water one state could hold, but it does make sense, and all I kept picturing with each one was sharks and gators.

So when we got off the plane, claimed our luggage, and headed outside to wait for our ride, I noticed a white dove just randomly sitting in the corner watching people. I've never seen such a white dove before, and this baby was super white.

When we got to Wendy's to have a little dinner, I spotted a tiny lizard skittering under the car. It was really cute, and my first instinct was to point at it and say, "hey a lizard," and then chase after it and try to catch it, the way a kid would. Seeing it reminded me of a time when I spent the weekend at Porter beach in Indiana and saw a lizard quickly skitter away from the porch steps we were walking up. I had no idea Indiana had lizards, so I shouldn't have been shocked to see one in Florida, but I was anyways.

On the drive home, it was getting to dark out to see, but I kept my eyes on the grass on both sides of the road to make sure I didn't miss any gators. There weren't any, but I did spot a horse in a pasture with cows, and it was standing up to its knees in marshy water, drinking like there was no tomorrow. In Indiana, horses rarely have the opportunity to stand in water, and most of them are too afraid to get in water because they aren't used to it. It took a lot of coaxing when I took my pony Sparky to the park and wanted to cross the only little stream of water the park had.

Last but not least, when we reached our destination, we almost ran over a baby gator with the car because it was just sitting in the middle of the road, probably keeping warm on the blacktop. It was just small enough to fit between the tires, so it did not get hurt, but it was still quite the experience to see my first gator in the wild.

I am wondering what other creatures I might come across while being in Florida, but for now, I'll just kick back and enjoy the scenery. Day two has only just begun.