Great to be back together with the wife here in Jacksonville. Today knocked off a couple of the items that have been lingering on our bucket list. In the afternoon, we went for a bike ride around the lake and ponds behind the campground hoping to be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of an alligator. We weren’t disappointed. There was a pair of the dinosaurs sunning themselves on a log in the larger pond. It was cool to see how much the gators enjoy sharing their space with the ubiquitous turtles that inhabit the wetlands.

From there we pedaled over to the darker, swampier small pond nearer the lake. In the back of the bog sat an even larger alligator on a stump poking out of the water. He appeared to be sleeping through the warm sunny afternoon. A little to his left was a smaller cousin sharing a log with a crew of his turtle pals. We were stoked to finally catch a few of the giant reptiles out in the open.

There was still plenty of daylight left, so we made our way over to the beach and took off our shoes to wade around in the surfline looking for the ever elusive shark tooth. It was a gorgeous afternoon with a light breeze from the south. After about twenty minutes, PJ came running over all excited to show me the tooth she had found in the shallows by the dredge pipe. A good omen to go with other good news we received today. We looked a bit longer then satisfied with our day of good fortune we headed back to camp to take Cali for a stroll. She’s had a bout of diarrhea these past few days but it seems like she is finally started to get over it. A quiet evening in our peaceful little forest rounded out the day.