Jacksonville Florida

Yes, we made it.  We are at another Passport America Park called Pecan Park RV Resort.  It is a nice park, close to shopping and the Jacksonville Zoo.  It is also close to the airport....so there are a couple of times during the day when the planes are a bit loud, but nothing too bad.  You are also right next to a flea market.....don't waste your time there...yuck!

Here is our site....all concrete and nice spacing between neighbors, plus all are pull throughs.  Our only problem is the concrete table and benches.  Although nice to have....really not enough room...we are going to need to be very careful when we pull out.
Ok, enough about the site on to the Zoo!  I loved it!  Lots of green space....clean and well maintained.  It definitely caters more to young families then some.  Train rides, carousel, and large playground area.  But all but the train ride is contained in one loop...the rest is all dedicated to the animals and some beautiful garden areas.  

Speaking of flowers.....didn't pay attention to what these were called, but they are stunning!

 Here is a catfish lounging around on a bed of fallen fall leaves....yes, he is underwater!

 Here is another underwater guest!

 A Florida Panther....catching some zzzzzz's!  Not the best photo as I had to shoot through glass....which does add a bit of distortion and fuzz.

 I think this is a Jaguar......very cool!

This guy is a black leopard, again the photo is taken through glass so not the best.  What I wish you could see from the photo, is that the "leopard spots" are still there...very faint, but still there.
I spent the entire day at the zoo....I was so tired last night that I was in bed before 8pm.  Today I gave the furballs a bath and we made plans to head for Mount Dora, Florida tomorrow.  One of my brothers lives close by and there is a really quaint downtown shopping area that I enjoy.
 

Special Day

Today is one very special day......Happy Birthday Daddy!  I hope you have a great one! 

We did manage to get our shower back together.  Unfortunately, there is no way to totally prevent water from finding its way back in.  Poor design....it happens where the pole goes into the holder that attaches it to the shower wall.  There is no way to seal it.  We did use a stainless steel screw this time and the JB Weld will offer some protection against rust as well.  Just one of those things we will have to watch till we decide to replace it completely.
Only 4 days to go till blast off.....still have a few projects to get done like bathing the furballs and organizing the basement.  Nothing too taxing...LOL!  The weather turned a bit chilly, but tolerable.  The fall colors are still beautiful and our drive down into Kentucky should be spectacular!

Trip to the County Clerk

Our time here in Indiana is growing short.  We plan on leaving sometime the week of the 24th and heading down to Kentucky to visit my Aunt and Uncle for a few days.  Then we will continue our journey south....that's about all we have planned at this point.  We have been busy trying to get all those "little" things done before we go.  One of those was to obtain a certified marriage certificate.  As many of you know, we need to get our South Dakota driver's license renewed next year.  You now need two IDs to prove your identity and if you are a married woman, one of those may need to be a "certified" marriage certificate.  For that, we had to go down to our Tippecanoe county courthouse.  Upon our arrival to the courthouse...once through the "strip search"....LOL....security check point!  We headed to the county clerk's office and were directed to this dark and dingy little room.  A nice woman sat behind the desk and ask our year of marriage....while I stammered trying to remember...Billy...to my surprise quickly responded with 1979.  Well, ain't that special...a guy who actually remembers the year he was married!  While the clerk was busily entering the info, my eyes were scanning around the depressing little room the poor lady is trapped in.....when, to my surprise, I spy a familiar poster up on the wall.  It is a poster of "painted pigs"....a fundraiser some 8 or 10 years ago I participated in.  Giant fiberglass pigs were given to area artist and other groups to paint and then those pigs were eventually put up at auction.  I walked over to the poster for a closer look and sure enough there was "Petunia" and right under her photo was my name.  I, of course, pointed out this little find to the clerk....informing her she has a "celebrity" sitting in the room.....LOL!  Thought you guys might want a look at my "claim to fame".....

Wish I had better photos, but I did the best I could with my little camera at the time.  Seeing the poster brought back some happy memories of "Petunia", she did very well at auction....made her "mama" proud!

Travel Plans and more Zoo Pics

I took a little time off from "blog land" this past week....really hadn't plan too, but that is how it turned out.  We have made our departure plans and we will be pulling out this Saturday and heading over to Vegas for a 3 night stay. I made our reservations at Sam's Town.  The price was not bad and they have a shuttle service to downtown Vegas that runs every 15 minutes.  That way we can come and go as we please and don't have to worry about parking or traffic.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the inside of some of those casinos....and the lights!  We don't gamble, so we will just be enjoying all the sights and sounds.  
Last Monday, I made another trip to the zoo.  I got there around 7am....nice thing about the membership we bought, I can get into the zoo 2 hours before they officially open to the public.  That was so nice.  It was a beautiful morning and I practically had the whole place to myself.  Here are just a few photos.....

 I have no idea...but those ears are way cute!

 I'm not sure, but I think this wild dog is thinking "breakfast"?  Hope the fence holds.

 Gotta love that face!

 Good morning, Sunshine!

Oops!  I don't think he is a morning person....he! he!

I have taken over 1000 zoo photos....love my new camera, thanks Billy!  Lots of inspiration for new paintings!