I embarked on a trip that required me to drive from Tampa to Miami and I wasn't necessarily planning on documenting the trip - I've made it every year since I left Miami 6 years ago - but then I saw a Bald Eagle and I thought it would be fun to document it based on the wildlife that I spotted along the way. Here's the Tweets for the trip as they unfolded.
4:26 p.m. - Feb 25, 2013 @artandrhinos Bald Eagle - mile marker 194.3, I-75
4:36 p.m. - Feb 25, 2013 @artandrhinos Ron Paul 2012 sign - mile marker 183.3, I-75; also, Highway 4, racoons 0
4:26 p.m. - Feb 25, 2013 @artandrhinos Bald Eagle - mile marker 194.3, I-75
4:36 p.m. - Feb 25, 2013 @artandrhinos Ron Paul 2012 sign - mile marker 183.3, I-75; also, Highway 4, racoons 0
I stopped at a rest stop and found a lot more to smile about than I expected:
Ladybug - Rest Stop exit 131, I-75
Also, as I pulled out to leave I spotted an EASTERN BLUEBIRD! Here it is eating a mole cricket. I love these guys and they're quire rare. I did a little dance in my car when I saw it...then scrambled to get my camera.
Ladybug - Rest Stop exit 131, I-75
Also, as I pulled out to leave I spotted an EASTERN BLUEBIRD! Here it is eating a mole cricket. I love these guys and they're quire rare. I did a little dance in my car when I saw it...then scrambled to get my camera.
In addition to the ladybug crawling on my car, I then found this little spider.
 | It had personality and I wonder what happened to it as I pulled back onto the highway and reached 70mph. Here it is doing a little dance, as spiders are wont to do. |
  | Rest Areas have a unique feel. Here's some pictures that I think represent my experience pulling off the highway, parking in the car parking lot (not the huge Semi parking spaces), walking towards the set of structures standing alone in a field, looking for the giant "WOMEN" sign and then completing the business that pulled me from the highway.  |
 officially passing onto Alligator Alley! SunPass lane for the win!  | The sunset in my rear view mirror.   |
6:30 p.m. - Feb 25, 2013 @artandrhinos Belted Kingfisher! - mile marker 74, I-75, sunset, Alligator Alley.
And the sun set beautifully behind me. Then, quite unexpectedly, I witnessed one of the best moonrises I've ever seen. This red orb rose from the dusky horizon. I was fortunate that a rest area came up quickly. I pulled over and was able to get some wonderful shots.
It was a beautiful sunset/moonrise on Alligator Alley.
And the sun set beautifully behind me. Then, quite unexpectedly, I witnessed one of the best moonrises I've ever seen. This red orb rose from the dusky horizon. I was fortunate that a rest area came up quickly. I pulled over and was able to get some wonderful shots.
It was a beautiful sunset/moonrise on Alligator Alley.
       |    |
I drove the rest of the way in darkness, watching the glow of Miami grow on the horizon as I drew closer. It's always an odd experience returning to this city. I grip the steering wheel a little tighter. Both from having to adjust to the extremely aggressive driving style required to navigate the roads, but also from the memories of an old life creeping back with the ghostly familiarity of the streets and landmarks.
I pass a Muvico - I saw all 3 midnight showings of the Lord of the Rings movies there. Good times. Great movies. I went with my boyfriend, then fiance, then husband. I took the day off work the next day just to see them.
I pass FIU (Florida International University) - I took a few classes there, an aborted start to a Masters in Education.
I pass the off ramp that would lead to the University of Miami, more memories.
I pass the road where I grew up, off of where I lived the first six years of my life. These last memories are almost primordial. Bird Road, 40th, and Tropical Park - my memories are deep and almost stylized, they've been replayed over and over and over with each remembering. Emotions run deep, but details are almost overexposed, hard to picture exactly.
I exit the freeway and pass Baptist Hospital, - this is where I was born. It's grown and changed and sits in a much busier city now, but it is still there, passing to my left, my origin, my first breaths.
And then... I'm past it. I'm turning left again, driving into a beautiful, quiet, somewhat upscale neighborhood. I'm there. I relax for a moment, enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of this city.
The next few days will undoubtedly be filled with far more stress than I'd like. Sharks, and cats, and good food, and endless figures and numbers and questions I do not have the answer to - but that is the nature of this yearly trip. I look forward to the drive back - the voyage home.
(ugg, gag, did I really just get that cheesy? At least it's the descriptor of the 4th Star Trek movie, the one with the whales. I liked that one.)
I pass a Muvico - I saw all 3 midnight showings of the Lord of the Rings movies there. Good times. Great movies. I went with my boyfriend, then fiance, then husband. I took the day off work the next day just to see them.
I pass FIU (Florida International University) - I took a few classes there, an aborted start to a Masters in Education.
I pass the off ramp that would lead to the University of Miami, more memories.
I pass the road where I grew up, off of where I lived the first six years of my life. These last memories are almost primordial. Bird Road, 40th, and Tropical Park - my memories are deep and almost stylized, they've been replayed over and over and over with each remembering. Emotions run deep, but details are almost overexposed, hard to picture exactly.
I exit the freeway and pass Baptist Hospital, - this is where I was born. It's grown and changed and sits in a much busier city now, but it is still there, passing to my left, my origin, my first breaths.
And then... I'm past it. I'm turning left again, driving into a beautiful, quiet, somewhat upscale neighborhood. I'm there. I relax for a moment, enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of this city.
The next few days will undoubtedly be filled with far more stress than I'd like. Sharks, and cats, and good food, and endless figures and numbers and questions I do not have the answer to - but that is the nature of this yearly trip. I look forward to the drive back - the voyage home.
(ugg, gag, did I really just get that cheesy? At least it's the descriptor of the 4th Star Trek movie, the one with the whales. I liked that one.)
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