Charlottesville in the Fall

Jason and I had the opportunity to pop back up to Charlottesville recently to see some old friends and reminisce about our former home. We also got a chance to meet Grant (left) and Lilly (right), the newest addition to Danton and Allison's family. Here I am with the twins on the Lawn, in front of the famed Rotunda.
And here's a picture of the happy mom with her two 5 month old angels. Well, they're pretty close, anyhow! :-)

My First Brush with a Presidential Candidate

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Barack Obama speak at NCCU, so I showed up last Thursday for his address. The marching band kept the crowd's energy level high before Obama arrived.

I was actually in the second row of people standing (there were others seated behind us). Here's a shot from my camera without any zoom. This is really how close I was to him for the entire speech. What you can't see is all of the Secret Service people with binoculars and concealed weapons. I have a much greater appreciation for the security required for presidential candidates after watching "Bobby," the movie about RFK's assassination. I have included several close-up shots below that I took during the speech.


I actually did get to shake Barack's hand! Here he is working his way down the line.

Cary's Visit to the Land of Old People and Endless Sunshine

Turns out all of Florida isn't like this house we drove by. But it did make for a great shot as we got lost in the Everglades.

The whole reason for the trip was to visit my cousin Peter. We had a fantastic time catching up, exploring the Everglades, spending time with the dogs and visiting local parks.

Here is Jenna (person), Nala (dog on left), Peter (person) and Rowdy (dog on right).

Peter makes a new friend (thankfully, not still alive).

We rode around the Everglades in an air boat like this (which Peter insisted on calling a "fan boat"). Ours was a little bigger but tons of fun. We only sank down 1 inch into the water so we could go straight through most of the marshy areas.

From what I saw, the Everglades are chock-full of mangrove trees.

This was one of the marshy-ier parts we passed through. The water is only 1.5 feet deep in most of the Everglades.

Our guide caught some blue crabs in a trap and took them out to show us. I was amazed to see how truly blue they are!

This is another of my favorite shots from the Everglades.

Here is some native wildlife. Unfortunately, I can't for the life of me remember whether it's a heron or an egret. Still so pretty!