Good news!  Gorgeous sun all day, laid down a lot of miles, and best of all:  I’m taking another three days off from work for this trip.  That should ensure that I’m able to do a thorough job of FL and maybe by some miracle grab some things on the way home as well.

I didn’t get a lot of blog photos since a good chunk of the day was taken up with getting across the everglades.  I did see some interesting, heron-like birds and a few gators but didn’t stop to photo them.  Highway 41 is less profitable photo-wise than Route 1.  There sure are a lot of look-alike malls and chain stores.  Also, ate up a bit of time at various dog parks & beaches.  But tomorrow should be much higher SPH (shots per hour) since I’ll be in some big cities and backroads in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area.

Before leaving Miami Beach, I found these nice mosaic murals at a Wachovia Bank.  There were also representations of Abraham Lincoln, Betsy Ross and a cityscape.

While not politically correct, this place in Miami had a great sign with each figure outlined in neon:

The dogs got sun, sand & surf at the Lovers Key Dog Beach in Bonita Springs and Paw Park in Venice. Both were absolutely wonderful.  Warm, crystal clear water and white sand.  Although neither was fenced, the beach concept seems to hold Grem’s attention which is a lot easier on my nerves.  There were big waves in Venice which I think Nik really enjoys.  It increases the challenge of getting to his blue dino.  The two seniors, Grip & Fix, seem content to just mill about — sniffing and munching on what I’m not sure.

When I was here in FL several years ago, I posed my dogs with the giant shell at the Shell Factory.  So I wanted to update the photo (different pack members now).  The passing tourists are always shocked that my dogs will stay up there while I shoot.  They are about 6′ off the ground and the shell is curved and slippery.  I have to put each one up there and then carefully take each one down (harder).  It’s not easy getting all four of them to a) look at the camera and/or b) look like they want to be there for these posed photos.  Here are a couple of particularly bad outtakes where everybody has goofy and/or tired expressions.