{2004-05-24}
Lions and tigers and gators? oh my?

This past weekend I went to Houston and while in Houston went to a Texas State Park. At this Houston state park there are a lot of swampy areas and they are filled with alligators. RML and I went to this park to get some excercise and so that I could see the alligators. I counted 25 that I could see and the rest were lurking I'm sure. They say there are some 200 there. Anyway, I saw all the huge gators lurking in the water looking like a log, sunbathing on the river bank and laying in the lily pads. Aparently they like to enjoy the sun.

On the way back to the car RML stopped me and said "don't move" ... right next to us in the brush by the edge of the swamp on the path was a little alligator. I got scared even though the entire time I saw some at least 6 feet long and quite wide. Instead I was scared of a baby gator that was maybe 3 feet and not so big but oh so scary. He had this runners stance and I could just imagine him running at me and taking a bit out of my leg for a snack. After I got the heck away from it I realized how silly I was to have been so afraid of such a little gator. So, I overcame my fears and asked to go back and see it. So we went back to where he was and he was gone. It had only been about 5 minutes too .. so maybe he did actually cross the path. Anyway, all in all a very fun day with some good exercise. However, even though I know it will happen I forget to wear sunscreen when the warm weather begins and of course burned my head and got some lovely t-shirt lines - geez shoulda worn a tank top. Dah!