February 12, 2012

The high temperature around Daytona, FL was 47 degrees with a great wind. The only good thing that was good about that it was 20 degrees warmer than at home and there is no snow on the ground. Temperatures are to go up tomorrow. The other good thing with the wind is that there were nice waves on the ocean today. This is the Atlantic Ocean.

We also saw a lot of seagulls. Guess why the seagulls are all standing facing the same direction? The wind was blowing very hard and if they faced into the wind, it didn't ruffle their feathers.

There were also several brown pelicans.

At the Canaveral National Seashore, south of New Smyrna Beach, FL, we toured a restored 1913 house that was part of a small town that is no longer there. We walked up a huge mound called a midden, which means it is made of turtle shells and oyster shells. It's official name is Turtle Mound. We saw oak trees that have large trunks but the branches are very gnarly.

Aaron, do you recognize this?

Right, a prickly pear cactus.

We also saw a couple of animals we don't usually see. This is in the same family as a chamelion or a geiko. I was disappointed; it didn't talk to me.

The following animal was the most exciting to see. We had never seen any in the wild, only in zoos. There were about 3 of them swimming and playing in the bay. Sarah and Katie, what animal is this?

Correct, they were bottle-nosed dolphins. Even if it was cold, we had a good time seeing things that we don't get to see at home.