New Year - New Home!

Classes start on Wednesday and thankfully, I've finished most of the big work in getting my new house up in working order. No more trips to IKEA or Home Depot for me, thank you very much. Here's a quick photo trip through my new place:

I live with a friend also in the iSchool and we decided to embrace the easter egg colors of our walls...

Our kitchen is tiny but effective. AND we have a tea shelf. I've always wanted a tea shelf...

Our office center. And thankfully, my archive fits nicely in the front room.

Another perspective. You can really see the light from the overhead skylight on the futon here. We also have one in the kitchen and its a great addition of natural light.

My bedroom! Thankfully the bed fits and the curtains (although a pain to put up) really add to the room. Once I can turn the A/C off it'll be nice to have them down all the way.

Just a quick tour. Hopefully you'll get to see it in person on a trip through Austin!

Big Cypress

Big Cypress National Preserve is one of the five South Florida Parks that the South Florida Collection Management Center (SFCMC - this is where I work people) receives records from. So after a busy but exciting week of looking at some BICY records (that's archivist lingo for ya) I decided to take a trek up Krome Ave, along the Tamiami, and visit those Big Cypress. My two fellow archives interns Ellen and Cathy were along for the ride. Enjoy the photos:

The night before, after planning the trip, we decided to drive to Anhinga and see what was happening there at dusk. We quickly ran into this fellow on the side of the trail,

After laughing at the shock of being so close to an ALLIGATOR, we kept on strolling and then promptly ate our words when we ran into THIS FELLA,

Lets get another view, shall we...

Really, his snout was about as wide as my waist. He was hefty.

We couldn't stay much longer because the mosquitos were out in full force and Ellen was the only one who remembered her NPS issued Mosquito Burka.

First stop on the way to Big Cypress (BICY) was at the Shark Valley Tram Tour and while flashing our NPS Volunteer badges at the gate for free entrance we saw this guy,

Soft-shell Turtles will come up again later...

The tram was a great way to explore the 15 miles of "prairie" - no sharks included and look at the wildlife with a fun and friendly guide. This bird above is a red-winged black bird or a "warrior" bird. He and his cousins frequently dive bomb my car on the way to work in the mornings so I found the name appropriate...

Here's our crazy guide getting in the water...

And there go my travel companions with him...

See, another soft-shell turtle. He promptly made a bee line for the shade of our tram thus ruining our starting at him. If it got stuck underneath the tram, that would be BAD.

View from atop the lookout tower

View from below...

This is a mother alligator protecting her nest. Seriously, lets use some photoshop to help illustrate this scene of familial bliss...

Follow the red arrow to see the alligator.

Joanies! Cathy was talking this place up for awesome crab cakes...and then we got there and it was closed. We were very hungry, very tired, and eager to find some grub.

But of course we had to stop at the smallest (and most photographed) US Post Office, only a few short minutes down the road.

Finally we find some food in Everglades City and Cathy's soft shell crab is less than stellar. Certainly not as good as Joanie's.

It was the most pathetic sandwich I'd ever seen someone pay $9 for but thankfully Cathy was a sport about it. Ellen, not so much.

This sign is actually saying, "Don't jump in an alligator's mouth, you fool!"

Alligator observing, from a safe distance (yes, I'm in the car). Again, photoshop will help for those of you unable to see our animal star...

Alligator.

Turkeys vs. Alligator. He was creeping up on them so lets demonstrate once again...

Creeping underwater alligator

Two just chilling by the side of the road.

After some animal perusing we headed onto a nice relaxing boardwalk for the BICY speciality. This really was the highlight of the trip. It was cool under all the trees and really beautiful. The pictures didn't do it justice and it reminded me somewhat of the majesty of the Redwoods...only on a smaller scale.

Cruisin'

I've been really lucky down here to fall in with some interesting people. Second day here I met some guys who quickly asked, "Want to go snake cruising with us tonight?" I laughed and said "no thanks" but to my overall benefit they insisted and this is what happened:

I found myself in the back of a beat up Jeep Cherokee. The A/C only worked on full blast and the radio was stuck on the Top 40s radio station. Thankfully, snakes seem to like the music of Lady Gaga.

We were listening to "Telephone" when we drove by this guy...

This is a cottonmouth. They are poisonous. I've decided to stay very far away unless one is trapped in this box like contraption.

Again, measuring the poisonous cottonmouth.

Scarlet snake...looks like a coral, sort of, but not poisonous so whew, he's okay to have in the car.

But so the overall goal is to get the PYTHONS that are in the park. To catch them and track them and get an sense of their movement, etc. They're an exotic, invasive species so bad news for the locals. Did I really think about the idea of a python riding in the back with me? No, after two rides we'd seen mostly garter snakes so I felt comfortable that the third night would be much the same.

Oh wait:

Please note the lack of footwear during this capture...I can't explain.

She's so pretty, right? I'll take his word for it.

So this snake got to sit in a bag in the back of the Jeep for the rest of the trip. But it got bored and decided to sneak out of the bag and just curl up underneath the back seat...much to my surprise when we stopped driving and saw the stupid thing!

I will be leaving the cruisin' to the crazies from now on.

House Pe(s)t

We have some house pets, Everglades style, that I thought I'd share with you:

This guy likes to hang out on the screen of our front porch, right by the door to go in, always scaring me half to death when I come home at night. Let's take a closer look...

This guy also hangs out on our screened in porch...but sometimes he's inside the screen. And sometimes he's on the outside....

A little closer:

These guys I can live with and don't mind hanging around because the alternative is much worse! Gotta love South Florida. It's making the bugs I had to deal with in New York and Texas look like a joke. Haha!

Inside the Park

Welcome to Everglades National Park! You've made it past the horrible Florida drivers and the ugly pavement wasteland that is US Rt 1, not to mention Homestead "We-Love-Fast-Food" Florida, and now it's time to enjoy the beauty and bounty of South Florida. So again, welcome:

Quickly after entering the park you will see some helpful signs to ensure you're safety on this adventure of yours:

But today we're going on the leisurely Anhinga Trail, located at the Royal Palm Visitor's Center, only a few miles into the park.

More helpful signs, creatively designed to translate for all our non-English speaking visitors. Do you need me to explain further?

Those aforementioned vultures, chillin':

And a baby alligator! So cute...but where's mommy? Eek...

The Anhinga trail is pretty relaxing, despite the heat, and for some reason the plank walkways remind me of Cape Cod. Weird, I know, but it was a beautiful day when I went so I decided to indulge in some landscape photography:

Please notice the dragonflies in the left upper corner of this image (double click to enlarge). Dragonflies are your best friends in the Everglades because they are plentiful and keep the nasty mosquitos away.
Could be in the Cape, no?

Oh wait, swamp instead of sand...

But still pretty.
A bird. At this point, I'm getting desperate for some interesting wildlife to show you all up North (and yes, at this point, you're all up North from where I'm currently located).

Still pretty, but give me something good Everglades! I need to show the folks...BAM!
An alligator! Right below my feet!

I decided to follow him, all stealthy, on the boardwalk. Thankfully no one else was around cause I was creeping like a mad Pink Panther movie...

He was on the move...

Sorry, I got a little carried away with my following.

So here I am all excited to have found some up close alligator action for ya, when a family of four rounds the corner complaining about not seeing any alligators:

Me: Look! There's one!

Mom: Look honey...

Dad: *Stupid alligator call*

Kid 1: One? There's only one...there were like 200 of them here last month. *gives me a look that says my enthusiasm is pathetic*

Kid 2: Yea.

Dad: *Stupid alligator call*

I decided to continue on my way...and so did the alligator.

While walking back I spotted this funny looking bird, name to be determined. He was eating:

And the poor fish tried to get away but to no avail.

And then, I think this might be the coolest thing I saw all day...swam away! Looking for some more food.

So, that was my little walk. Thanks for coming along with me. More to come including my wild night of python cruising in the Everglades, snorkeling off of Key Largo, sunset kayaking and much more!