Another NXL event and that means another road trip. If you noticed, I don't really like flying. It might have something to do with being freakishly tall. Although I did find out I fit decently in Jet Blue seats, so I might fly with them a bit more if I'm not flying with bags. My trip started out with a pretty direct route to Austin, where we  went to check out The Contemporary Art Exhibit at Laguna Gloria.

The dam for Lady bird lake had its spillways open so we went to give that peek.

I also found out how serious they take kickball out there... and of course I gotta take a photo of the dog that made it way on to the field. 

It was time for me to start making my way east to Florida for the event. I hit some national parks along the way like Cane River Creole Historical Park and Natchez National Historical Park. One thing I learned about at the Oakland Plantation at Cane River Creole was pigeonnières. Basically pigeon coops that were popular in France, made to match the architecture of the house and used for raising the birds for food. I always thought when you saw people eating "squab" it was because it was a wild animal, don't know why I didn't think people would raise them. I made my way through Biloxi, Mississippi so I could catch the sunrise at the Biloxi Lighthouse overlooking the Gulf Coast. 

I ended up getting to Florida a little bit earlier than I needed to, so I made my way down to the Everglades National Park and camped at Flamingo Campground. It's basically the tip of Florida. Which made for some pretty cool opportunities of seeing the sun rise and set over the water from the same point. I did try to shoot some star trails, and even though some cars and clouds tried to ruin the shots, I think they came out decent. There is some awesome wildlife there, I didn't get to see any flamingos (in a part of the park named Flamingo... Go figure) but I did get to see a few Manatee in the harbor before I left the park. 

As I said in the start, I found out that I fit fairly decently on Jet Blue. That's because I thought it was a good idea to drive solo, from Orlando to San Diego, after an event, in three days, to shooting a wedding. Needless to say, after the first day of driving, I bought a ticket to fly home from Austin, where I left my car. I did have a blast shooting the Ebert's wedding, so the struggles were worth it. 

After my flight, the trip home was pretty uneventful as I wanted to make it home for Thanksgiving. I did try to camp at the Cinder Hills OHV area but it got a little cold for me and I wussed out and got a motel.

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