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2004
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2007:
Epcot
Key West
Daves 30th
Suwannee
Matt's Homecoming
Austin TX
Family History Fair
Magic Kingdom
MGM
Kenny's Wedding
Christmas in FL
Jeff's
Homecoming
Misc 2007 |
Letter
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Special |
Fort Family
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e-SCRAPBOOK |
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Key West We drove down 5 hours down to
Key West with several other young adults from our church. Three of us
ate at a Braza Leņa, a churrascaria (Brazilian BBQ). They had all the
meat that Dave could eat, and a million new foods for me to try.
Expensive, but perfect.
The sky was hazy Friday from the fires in the Everglades. That red
light is the sun over seven mile bridge. We stayed in a local hotel and
split the cost. Lexi and I had it pretty good with our own room. The
other 7 gentlemen squished in the other one. |
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The next morning, we went on a catamaran for a 2-stop, 2 hour snorkeling
trip. At the dock, from left: Dave, Mark Prisbry, Lexi Poirier, Justin
Elkins, Chris Johnson, Jayson Burtoft, Dustin Vore, and Jon Haase.
The water around the keys is a national marine sanctuary, and has the
3rd largest barrier reef in the world. Wow... |
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Group pictures are a little trickier underwater. Above is my first
attempt. The pink spots are my air bubbles. The scenery isn't bad,
though! Left are Lexi and (I think) Jayson, Chris, and Dustin. The
only annoying part of snorkeling were the tiny stings; Dave guesses they
were jellyfish polyps. They're like underwater mosquitos or ants. You
can't see them, and the sting hurts for a bit, but goes away. |
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Proof that I was there.
The boat captain said that this was the worst he had seen the water
in years, due to the fires. (I guess it's bluer without smoke in front
of the sun.) The pictures on this page are the best from several
different cameras, contrast and color enhanced. |
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The water was like blue Koolaid, and from 5 to 25 feet deep, with ocean
life everywhere. It was like swimming in an aquarium. And fish aren't
spooked like most wild animals. They keep a distance, but you can swim
quite close and they don't scurry away.
Some of the guys were really good at diving, and could dive upside
down to get pictures of animals under rocks. |
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The animals were amazing. This is a French angel fish. We probably saw
100 different fish: a few lone barracuda, queen angel fish, lots of
colorful and "stoplight" parrot fish, who bite coral with beak-like
jaws. Sergeant-majors look like underwater bumble-bees; they're yellow
and white with black bars, and they don't hide in the rocks. Besides
fish, there are lots of sea fans, sea grasses, and corals, the only one
I knew was brain coral--yes--because they look like brains. |
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I spotted the sea turtle, but this is Jon's picture. It was about 2 feet
long. It put up with our small crowd for a while, but then found a
hideout. Mark also saw a shark, about 8 feet, which swam away pretty
quick. We all saw a pair of giant Florida lobsters. They're speckled,
not red, and don't have claws like Main lobsters. They look like
gigantic ocean insects, yuck! |
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A school of blue tangs (like Dori from Finding Nemo.) They were
easy to follow, kind of grazing on coral like cows graze on grass. We
took turns getting pictures with them, like tourists. The tangs are the
size of your hand, but they hung out with some bigger blue and black
fish. I put more underwater pictures on the
Florida Fauna page. Also, visit our
friend Mark's photo
album page. |
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We walked around Key West in the afternoon. Pictured here is the old
customs house, with a giant statue of an old-fashioned dancing couple.
Someone in the Keys has a steady income from making giant fiberglass
statues of dolphins, pirates, and fish.
We ate a B.O's for lunch, a shack that locals directed us to by
saying "It looks like it was hit by a hurricane," and they were right.
They, like all of Key West, charged us an arm and a leg for ambiance. |
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The major shopping area is along Duval street. We only walked half of it
before getting tired. It's the usual T-shirt & trinket shops mixed in
with bars. Everyone was patient with me while I took pictures and bought
jewelry.
We found a great shop that sold frozen Key Lime Pie, dipped in
chocolate on a stick, yummy! Jon bought his first pair of sandals, and
we all found out our family crest. Everyone in the party were the funny
and easy-going type, so we had a good time. |
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We swam a little more and finished driving around the island (it takes
about 20 minutes). We found the "Southernmost Point in the US" marker.
Dave was so exhausted that we waved at it and said "good enough."
The others stayed to watch the sunset celebration performers, but we
headed home. We all were good LDS kids, and made it home for church and
Mother's Day the next day. I can't wait to go back! |
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Dave and Liz Robertson
Family
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