We spent the whole day today taking pictures.
This is because we spent the afternoon at the Tallahassee Museum. I wasn't sure what kind of museum it would be. (Temporary Librarian said it would feature stuffed bats.) It turned out to be a lot of different things -- historic buildings, a reconstructed Old Florida farm -- but we spent all of our time in the wildlife park area. A boardwalk takes you on a hike through forests, marshes, and cypress swamps, where you get to see Florida wildlife in their native habitats.
This screech owl is the smallest owl I have ever seen, about the size of my hand. He glared at me when I took his picture. Then he fluffed up his feathers and made tiny creaking noises like a furious little Muppet. Another owl poked its head out from behind him, then went back in the box. I couldn't tell whether they were nesting or just sleeping in there.
All of the animals in the wildlife park are rescued and unable to return to the wild for some reason. Perky the duck, for example, was shot by a hunter, retrieved by his dog, and put into his refrigerator. Two days later, his wife opened the refrigerator to find a live, flapping duck.
Further down the trail, we found wild turkeys.
And then, looking through the cypress trees, we saw some beautiful birds: a great blue heron and a wood stork.
They weren't residents of the park; they had just flown in from the nearby lake to fish in the marsh.
So rare and spectacular.
Next we came across a pond with a pair of river otters.
But the otter we saw was more interested in rolling around on her back and trying to catch her tail.
And doing back flips.
The red wolves were not as eager to show off. Or maybe they were just hard to see because they are almost exactly the same color as the forest floor. We heard them howling in the distance, and it made the hairs on my neck stand on end.
A sign said that the bobcat would also be shy and elusive. But it wasn't.
The big attraction of the Tallahassee Museum is the Florida panthers.
They have all kinds of toys, perches, and what looks like an enormous cat tree. This panther acted like any cat with a jingly ball: batting it, chasing it around, then hugging it and rolling on it.
At the end of the trail, the boardwalk loops around in this gorgeous cypress-filled wetland on the edge of the lake.
Here they have black bears, gray and red foxes, and skunks, but we only got a picture of a white squirrel. Squirrels and fish crows were everywhere in the park, cackling and barking from the trees and stealing food from the park animals.
These ibis weren't official park animals either.
Just visitors like us.
We sat on a bench with our binoculars and watched this little flock of ibis for a long time.
David and I are in the middle of a big summer trip -- the longest one we've ever taken together. We started by driving to Hillsville to see David's family.
We made them a gluten-free meal, and we all ate the same food at the same table for the first time in years. I used this recipe for the crust of the mushroom and spinach quiches.
And for dessert, Eton Mess with homemade meringues.
We've been doing a lot of cooking on this trip. These are the ultimate summer sandwiches that Ann and I made with soy bacon.
We spent a week in Hillsville, then drove to Bloomington.
Where I tried out a magical recipe for instant chocolate cake. It's made of stuff you probably have in your pantry right now, it cooks for two minutes in the microwave, and it's amazing.
We've had lots of things to do in Bloomington so far. Mom took me out to visit her horse on this incredible farm, for example.
And we went to the Farmer's Market.
And walked the B-Line Trail through downtown Bloomington.
Through a gorgeous garden of fragrant roses.
And other lovely flowers.
We drank coffee at cafes.
We did a lot of shopping.
We found some treasures.
Yesterday, we got to see Will and Brenda.
And they brought me an Egyptian hedgehog figurine, which is the coolest thing EVER.
David and I cooked our second gluten-free meal.
It involved garlic-and-basil breadsticks made with rice, potato, and tapioca flours.
And gluten-free lasagna. 
So far, this trip has been busy, and that's the way we wanted it. We're trying to fill the trip with as much visiting of friends and family as we possibly can. I hope that the second half of our vacation is exactly like the first. 
