Disney, Trailers, and Gators

Last week Steph and I hitched up the trailer and headed down to sunny Florida to pick up a horse in Ocala. We drove through Memphis first, which was the dirtiest American city that I have seen in recent memory (I apologize to all persons who read this blog and live in or grew up in Memphis, but it's the truth), then headed down to Birmingham and passed through Tallahassee and Gainseville before reaching Ocala. We stayed with Chuck and Carol, the owners of the horse we were buying. Carol, one of the niceset persons I have met, prepared a very nice guest room for us and was more than a gracious host. I'm still enjoying some of the cookies she bought for us.

Ocala is a unique place. It is basically one horse farm after another. After seeing a few of Carol's horses we headed down to the lake to go airboating and see some alligators. Too bad it wasn't August or we would have hunted and ate alligator meat that evening. I had never been airboating before, but I recommend it to anyone who hasn't had the opportunity. Chuck took us to places that reminded me of the movie The Water Boy (Adam Sandler as a football player) and I was even amazed to drive on a dirt road for a moment with the airboat.

Because of a winter storm we stayed an extra day and visited the Liljenquist's in Oviedo. I learned right off the bat that it's pronounced Ovi-do and not Ovi-a-do. I blame my mispronunciation on the Spanish language. While we visited, Steph was able to help make bite-sized cupcakes, do a dancing abs workout with Nicole, and get a little bit of sun. We had lunch at Disney near Pleasure Island and took a few pictures next to the Lego statues and the Disney Princesses.

And even though we had some pretty crazy weather we had a great time being together.