out of the river all ugly and green, came the uggliest ole alligator I've ever seen.....

Before I get behind in blogging again I will post at least a part of our day yesterday. We left early in the morning and headed to Homosassa Wildlife Refuge. The first thing we did is hop on this boat with our very knowledgeable and charming guide.

The trip down the Pepper River reminded me of going down the Dora Canal....

As you can see, this was just "Salt's thing!

Wildlife was all around us. Fortunately it was too cold for Water Moccasins ....

Lots of Blue Herons...

And the whole gang minus me....I really need to start setting up the camera and getting into the group shots....

The main attraction is the manatees....these guys were HUGE!

This is Lu....born in 1960 and weighs 6,300 pounds. That is a lot of hippo!

Flamingos all over.....

The colors are so bright on these flamingos, they almost look artificial.

The beautiful Bald Eagles.....

Doesn't this guy just look so proud and royal???

I love this picture of a river otter....it is very difficult to capture a picture as they are so fast.

These alligators looked like statues....One of the park attendants said they are in semi hibernation. They don't eat during the winter months...well, at least they don't feed them December through February.

This little girl was swimming with the manatees....It made me very nervous knowing there are both alligators and snakes in the vicinity....

Ride back after a long nature walk.....A little trivia I was not aware of; the armadillo is the ONLY animal that can give a human leprosy. It can be transferred by undercooked meat. Not a worry for me....I don't plan on eating Armadillo any time soon.

C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E

More Chocolate....

and MORE chocolate!!

And last but not least....dinner at the Cracker Barrel...