April 24, 2011 - New Orleans, Louisiana

It's getting towards the end of April, and I still keep feeling the cold blow through the doors from all the winter weather here in Kearns. Time for another trip, it's Spring Break! 

I have been just itching to get out of Utah and go see some more great places.  I was browsing online again on my silver laptop. I wanted to go somewhere with lots of water, fun, and enough humidity for my comfort.  What I came up with was Louisiana. Surprised? So was I. It wasn't till I started researching Louisiana that I found out why my search had led me there.  Very humid climate, with one of the largest rivers in the world, and a town known for its fun and parties. New Orleans here I come!

 

First thing I wanted to try out was the historical and famous boats skimming the surface of the Mississippi river.  Would you believe they still have steamboats running up and down the Mississippi?! It's like right out of Huckleberry Finn!  Being a literary addict, I was thrilled to ride on the helm of the wonderful boat!

After a wonderful afternoon riding the high seas... or rivers in this case, I decided it was time to try out some of that Cajun cooking I'd

read about. Nothing prepared me for the wonderfully spicy food I would taste. 

Now I'm sure you humans reading this may love that spice, but I'll stick to crickets! And what would you know? They have Cajun crickets as well!  I tried 12 before my mouth actually lit on fire from the spice and I had to dunk myself in the water glass of the gentleman beside me. (I never could figure out why he asked the waiter for a different glass after that...)

    

After the delicious food, I headed out for a night on the New Orleans town. I had no idea what to expect! The music was coming from every restaurant. It was as tasty as the food! The world was a bright as if the sun was still up, and I couldn't help but dance a little myself.

I was having so much fun I didn't realize I had wandered back out onto the river.  The river called out to me and I dove in for a late night swim. As I was swimming, something large paddled toward me in the water.  Terrified, I practically ran across the top of the water to the shore.  Good thing I did. No sooner did I get to land, I ran up a tree and a giant American Alligator chomped at the tree trunk below me! I'd never seen a lizard so huge! He must eat 10,000 crickets a day to get that big! Or maybe it's something in that Cajun cookin'?

 It was time to go home to my safe terrarium where there is no such thing as giant lizards trying to eat me!

I headed home, taking another steamboat ride up the river of course, till I reached St. Louis.  From there, I hitched a flight home and scurried to my safe haven. I got home, took a long nap of course... my little legs were tired after such a scare. Then I logged on my Facbook to check on my friends. 

Next trip, I'm going somewhere where I don't have to run from predators! Travel is fun, but not when you're only covering turf cause someone's gonna eat you if you don't!

April 2, 2011 - Palm Beach, Florida

April 2, 2011

Being a small reptile who lives in a library, and having the unique reptilian ability to read and surf the internet, I had recently found myself aching to visit some of the wonderful places I had seen and read about. 

I almost lost my wanderlust when we experienced an unusually warm, summer day as April began.  But true to the strange weather of this desert state, the ground was soon covered in a blanket of winter snow. I left as soon as I felt the chill coming down from the north and scurried onto a plane headed for the warmest state that first came to my mind; Florida!

First time I read about Florida, I fell in love. Palm Beach, to be exact, and it seemed just the perfect place for a little guy who loves warm, humid climates with lots of places to sunbathe and play water polo.

Right as I got off the plane, I knew I’d made the right choice.

I had dreamed about staying in the Ritz-Carlton and get a place with my own private balcony, but it turns out the Ritz does not have rooms for scaly critters like myself… that and I had failed to bring money with me.  Not that a lizard would have money, but the cashier was unimpressed with my empty pockets.

I moved on to the one place I’d wanted to visit when I first learned of Palm Beach, the Calypso Bay Waterpark!  I almost jumped in the air when I saw the wonderful waterslides and all around wetness in the park.  After spending most of the day moving from basking in the sun and racing through waterslides, I was a very tired little dragon and needed a place to rest.  I found that place in the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary. 

 I entered the park and was met with the wonderful array of animal sounds that reminded me of my birthplace in Brazil.  As I heard the sound of a large bird of prey, I quickly remembered that in a place like this, a little lizard like me is no longer a tourist and I scurried under a nice warm rock and went straight to sleep.

After enjoying all of the wonderful sights of Palm Beach, I found that it was time to go home. I climbed up into a plane heading back to Salt Lake and fell asleep immediately as the plane took off.  (Those who know me, may know that I am very fond of my sleep)  I arrived in Salt Lake and was met with a burst of cold air.  Oh well, at least my house is perfectly comfortable.  And I hurried back to my comfy habitat and to my computer to catch up on all the FB news that I’d missed while on my trip.