First night in Miami-just caught the sunset, and had the entire beach to myself.
Early spring in Miami, still had large waves ...this was Miami Beach
The hotels were hudge and very expensive, I just stayed in a hostel, which was still close to 100$US/night. Until Laura joined me...
The various painted life guard houses along the beach.
The main shopping district in Miami Beach was very rich and beautiful stone buildings...including old Pleistocene reef Limestones....
This was the little hostel I stayed at, only one block to the beach, and was close to all the shopping and really neat cafe district.
At night the hostel had a little bistro at the base that came to life...I sat by myself and wrote in my journal. I had two guys buy me a mohito...which was nice, until I drank a sip. A combo of mint and lemonade? Not my cup of tea...
My first feet in the ocean
The various restaurants and many chic places that I could not afford to eat or stay...I loved this place
When Laura arrived, we took up residency at the little hostel up the road. She loved the accommodations.....love is a strong work.....liked...was not in complete dislike.
He waisted no time in the hot sun, taking pictures to mark the occasion...
I was sporting a newly picked flower from a guy who picked flowers from local hotel gardens and tried selling them to people at restaurants....carnations.
Laura sported a new little hood-ee that she claimed was not to fit into to Miami and its money, but to keep the sun from her face....
We needed to eat breakfast, and this place had its selection....this menu is to scale!
We also had many nice (dress me up) dinners and with both us babes making good coin, we treated ourselves to lifes little luxaries....
Chicken......and hot stuff....and I think that has veggies in there somewhere.
We also took a little road trip. We took the rental and drove the Florida Keys to Key West (very tip of the islands). Apparently these islands are old remnant coral reefs (Pleistocene in age). Which would explain all the great coral stone fronts in Miami and area.
So this is what most of the keys looked like...a road, under construction, bouncing from one island to the next..not much to stop and visit, until we got to Key West.
The most southern part of the United States ...was in Key West
The buildings were really old, and this place was colonized before Miami...
We were really tired from eating only chips and crap on the road trip, so we stopped at the first hotel and Laura decided to slurge on a room for us....wow what a room that was.
The view out the bay...
The courtyard systems....with so much character.
and the bathtub....we will have to play in this later.
Don't worry Laura did manage to make it out of the tub...
Loved the bathroom overall....
bedroom
the nightlife...
the bay at which our hotel was located, and we got to see some spectacular sunsets in Florida, but this was even nicer....boats just sailing by....
We even met a local Canadian there, who was in the performing arts...only tossing chainsaws and other dangerous objects....he picked me out of the crowd to help .
After the nail and me walking on this poor guy (I think I weighed more than he thought), the holes in his back were not too bad....no blood.
After a bit of walking around we ventured back to enjoy our hotel and room with some of the local KeyLime Pie. In the tub!!!
I have not taken a bath with Laura in over 25 years!!! It was fun though.
We then headed out to the pool and with my underwater camera, took a few good shots...
We also managed to walk around more and see the sights of old Key West....
Laura liked this one enought to pose with them...
Back at our hotel, after a good nights sleep and all the room we could want...it was check out time..ON the road again-this time off to the EVERGLADES!
we headed down the the town of Flamingo, where there were many tourist stops to see the different faces of the Everglades. Only when we got to Flamingo, the town was pretty much abandoned due to a large hurricane in 2005, which flattened the area.
There was all sorts of vegitation changes in the park. With only elevation changes of 1.2m. The changes were all associated with small changes in elevation to sea level. With the rising ocean levels, this area will be most devistated by the rise, and 80% will be underwater in the next 10's of years....
Laura and I took in the sites taking all the precautions from the sun....ok, that hat is not from the Rice patties in China...she bought it in Miami...
we even had the thrill of meeting our first up close Alligator....Laura took the long way around.
he was just starting to sun bath on the path that us people had to walk on....biggest one we saw all morning...and someone said in the park near here.
small amounts of vegetation sitting on the limestone bedrock...
Km's of flat grassy like vegetation. This was from a lookout.
Also many boardwalks that took us around the mangrove swamps of the southern parts of the Everglades.
This is what they call the forest of the Everglades, only on small elevated parts of the Everglades at 1.2m above sea level do these things grow...highlands!
foamy water of the mangrove forests.TURKS AND CAICOS-Providencials (Turtle Cove)
Turtle cove beach.
Getting ready for the really hot weather...all bathing suite and skirts
Laura still on her Blackberry....this was the only contact to home...no computer.
The view from the canals that reach inland from the ocean, this brings oceanfront property to more people, and if really common here in Providentials.
Laura and I taking in our first sunset in our Turtle cove restaurant.
The local beer here, both light and a dark beer.
Laura posing for the camera in her hat and on the endless beach in Turtle Cove.
I took the second day I was there to get going out for a Scuba dive. They took me for my first 100ft dive, which was at the Northwest point of Providentials, and was home to the great walls of the platforms.
Me at 100ft.
A hudge sea turtle who small by us near the platform wall.
I was trying to pose with the turtle, but he left!
These are species of coral and sponges that only like to grow at deeper depths, and tend to get a lot less light down here at 100ft.TURKS AND CAICOS SEMINAR-the reason I was down here......some of my closer friends on the trip.
The boat that took us to all the shallow places.
The boat and its people....the group!The local lighthouse, that has stood up some pretty big hurricanes.
I am not sure what this is....but it had two eyes and was still alive...
We visited many a places around the four major islands of Turks and Caicos. We snorkled almost 4 times a day...and in the later part of the trip, walked a whole heck of a lot too. This is what these Geology field trips are like....tough being a geologist....
we walked around tidal channels and inlets. these are dwarf mangroves.
Algae and mud make these.
Small channels to cross, which were very muddy and tricky to cross. Hope our shoes were on tight, otherwise the mud sucks them off.
Looking south from the Island of Providentials. Tidal channels.
Showing us where we were going on the satellite photos map.
Me in the middle of the ocean (only about 6ft deep water), on the platform of Turks and Caicos. This sand spit was Amergus Island.
the beautiful blue in the water, was from the fines in the water and the shallow white bottoms...
we often just sat around and talked about what kind of rock this would be in the rock record.
This was in the middle of a larger tidal channel. Snorkled in one lately?
When we got to the southern islands, near that other sand spit...was this oaisis. Some of the nicest places I have seen.
the beach had little channels cut across the low parts of the island.
beautiful place for a picture.
This was further back, where the island had been wet, and now was dryer...
There were often many beautiful clouds that formed in the sky and eventually we had some really great rainfall/storms. One that took out a Haitian immigrant boat, and killed a hudge number of people just off the coast 10kms, They ran ashore and many were eaten by sharks and most got to the island and got lost in the crowds....illegially.
The sea birds who would fly by hoping for some handouts.
Corals during a snorkling event.
OOIDs, these are tiny really spherical grains that make up most of the beaches around here. They feel really cool when soaked in water here. Like marbles, mini marbles...
We also got to see many coral and beach environments in the rock record. similar to Miami and the Keys....
Tongues and grove structures due to wave action and the currents.
Us looking at geology stuff.
Baracuda which was one of the boatmans catch of the day, while we were doing Geology things.Old pirate coves that were be places for ambush on the open seas, when vessels would go by, the pirates would pull out of these coves and attach.
The views from the one of the beaches.
We get a lesson on Geology while sitting in really warm water.
I tucked into a tidal hole in the rock hoping to get splashed by the open ocean. I was lucky after 5 hours of extreem heat, that a big wave doused me in ocean cool water....an old wall was built by the early settlers (Yanki camp)
We also were lucky to do a flyover. Around the islands which we visited by boat. A birdeye view.
A blue hole...these can me hundreds of meters deep...
AFTERNOON OFF. Beach time.
Andrew, Matt and I rented scooters and went to some of the finest resorts along the main beach. All beaches are public, so it really wasn't sneaking....
BACK TO WORK....continue with the geology thing.
Looking at rock by boat...Then we went to WEst Caicos and visited some of the Salina's (salty waters) where there used to be rail line cutting the island in two...a little unkept...
This is where we were hoping to see Flamingo's nests or even the bird...
Sink holes where fresh water would percolate up....and create small caverns, and sometimes larger ones, we did not walk over them...just in case. Otherwise these were the coolest things I ever saw in a salt water body of water....really salty. "Hypersaline"
The vegetation was often very picturesque.
We ended the day with a last hike along the north side of the island...this was really pretty too. You could see the sharks swimming along the beach in the shallow water.
Large Offspray nest at the top of this mound....using all sorts of things (including thick boat rope), for a nest.
The last day sitting and getting the final lecture....
