Truckin' and travelin' with BadAss Barb!

 

I learned to drive this truck at the local community college in January and passed the test to get my commercial truck driver's license. Well, I flunked it the first time because I couldn't get it parallel parked (who knew?)...but the 2nd time was a charm! Now I feel comfortable and safe driving our grain trucks for farming! 

We visited Karen and Joel in February in Gainesville, FL. They are expecting a baby in May!! Here we are on a hike at a state park. Below is a picture of them with their cat on the back porch. 

Mark and Diane Kerber have a great place in Ft. Myers Beach. It is a 2 block walk to the beach, and a short walk to the downtown area. They ride bikes all over the island. We really enjoyed our visit!

A former Illinois State student of mine, Alex Harrison, works at Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida. He invited us to Gator Hook trail for a swamp walk. We didn't see any alligators on our walk, but we saw them everywhere else in the preserve. Alex said they usually stay out of sight if they hear or sense intruders in the area. At one point we were up to our chests in the swamp! Tom asked Alex how often he takes people on this walk, to which Alex replied, "um, we don't usually take tourists on this walk." 

Next we traveled to Key West to visit Tom and Carol, and Kelly and Thomas! We rode bikes, drank beer on Sunset Pier, and ate wonderful food prepared by Chef Carol.