A Break from the Gloom of Winter

Winter in the north can leave us all longing for the sunny days of summer. Luckily we had a chance to get away for a week to sunny Florida.  What a treat to sit outside and swim in a warm pool under the warmth of the January sun.  We had an early flight to Orlando from O'hare airport on Saturday January 14, the day after my Dad's 70th birthday.  It has been a busy month for the England family, my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on December 29 and Dad began his 8th decade of life two weeks later. It was nice to spend time with my family and celebrate both Christmas and the golden anniversary. 

Mom & Dad

Our trip on United Airlines to Orlando was unfortunately marred by the diversion of my suitcase to Jacksonville Florida.  There are no direct flights from Jacksonville to Orlando, so it took about 36 hours for my bag to catch up with me.  We had a great room at the Gaylord Palms and got to enjoy a balcony into the atrium, with views of tropical plants and the waterfall.  Geordan and I spent time staring into the koi pond and selecting our favorite varieties for our future pond at Peckerwood. The conference was fantastic as always, with many educational opportunities to improve my skills as a veterinarian.  The best part of the conference was catching up with my classmates and friends. Bruce, Kris, Chris, Mary and Matt were all in attendance.  What a great time we had spending our evenings catching up on our lives and dining at some great restaurants.  One of our favorites was Cafe Tutu Tango, a small plates tapas menu and good sangria made the meal very memorable. http://www.cafetututango.com/( Check it out if you are in Orlando)

Sandhill Crane at Orlando Airport

We also got a chance to go birding when in Orlando.  We visited a great county park with a large wetland area. We viewed a large variety of birds including some new species for me.  Wood storks were abundant as well as many members of the heron family. I got some great photos of a bittern, which are notoriously difficult to photograph.  Additionally, we saw a huge flock of fish crows that had gathered in a stand of trees along the edge of the lake.

American Bittern

After the conference concluded we packed up our bags and moved to the Sheraton Vistana Lakes.  We were joined by Anne, Brian and Devin to enjoy a few days of sunshine and Disney.  Our trip to the Magic Kingdom was fantastic. We had a full day of rides, parades and junk food. What a great time. We also visited the Animal Kingdom park on Saturday, which proved just as fun and the weather couldn't have been any more perfect.  I think the highlight of the trip for Devin was spending time in the pools at the resort.  The water was perfectly warm and the pool was a great place to hang out between all the busy park hopping and dining.

Cinderella's Castle

Alas, our time in Orlando came to an end and we had to return to Chicago.  The flight home transported us from bright sunshine and warmth to an overcast and snow covered world.  While our winter has not been particularly cold or snowy, a getaway for some sunshine therapy and vitamin D production makes the winter seem bearable.  The plans for garden planting and springtime projects can resume. More importantly, we have many Peckerwood tasks to undertake in preparation for the warmth and sunshine to arrive back to Southwest Michigan.

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