Thanksgiving Round 1

Thanksgiving was a lot different for me this year.  Instead of being at home, surrounded by family, laughing about the ridiculousness of most of the dog show, attempting to finish a puzzle, and watching football, I was here, in Sarasota.  I was not too thrilled about being away from home for a holiday for the first time, but I did make the most of it.  Here are some of my adventures...

 

I started off by waking up at 5:45 in the morning in an attempt to run a 10 mile race, only to get there and find absolutely NO ONE in the parking lot.  I later realized the link was from 3 years ago...oops.  Since I was already up and ready to run, I went back to a park to run.  This is part of one of the loops there, and yes, that is sand I was running on.

A beautiful pond with lily ponds.

 The murky pond with beautiful yellow flowers.

Me.  Still smiling.  ELEVEN MILES later.  Amazing start to my day.

 

After the run I walked around for a while.  This is the observation deck at the park.

Yes, my Thanksgiving day race run consisted of palm trees this year.

Later that day, right outside of the Cabanas.

At the beach.  First time I had seen someone windsurfing!

Gecko, one of the trillions around.

 Other views of the Cabanas.  On the left you can see the side of one, they're kind of like garages only they have a bathroom, kitchen sink, changing room, and usually couches and chairs in them.  One the right is a view of the open area between the two rows of them.  It was absolutely gorgeous that day.

 Outside Julia's apartment/condo.  Nothing like having a palm tree and bright flowers welcome you back in November.

After the beach I got to Skype my family for a while.  It was great getting to see them but not so great knowing we were all in different states, and Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same this year.

 For Thanksgiving dinner, I went to my Supervisor's house.  There, I was greeted by nearly 20 Chihuahuas (not exaggerating).  There were 9 puppies about a month old and I believe like 8 adults. 

Yes, we did wear Pilgrim hats the ENTIRE meal.  We were also told we were not allowed to get off of the Mayflower until 6:00.

 

I'm not sure why this picture refuses to line up with the rest of them, but after dinner we headed out to the fire.  This was definitely the first time I have had Smores on Thanksgiving.

Although the day was not the same without my family, I do think it turned into quite the adventure.  Now off to my Mentor Teacher's house tonight for Round 2 of Thanksgiving 2012.