Since Valdosta is just too boring, the kids and I trucked down to Gainesville for the day. It’s a fun town with the University of Florida…and a ton of bike trails, parks, museums, and fun. You know a town with it’s priorities straight. Anyway, it’s just under 2 hours away if that tells you how desperate I’ve become for some time away from this place….for a variety of reasons….not to get totally off topic, but those reasons may include the lack of southern hospitality, poor service skills, a dryer situation, traffic, and boredom.
Moving on. The drive was fine and we were at the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail in no time. I got our trailer hooked up on my new comfort-slash-commuter bike and we were off. Zoe rode in the kid seat while Avi took a nap in the trailer. It was nice to bike somewhere with a bit of hills and curves. We did 8 miles out and back. Zoe talked incessantly the entire time; about trees and Canada and doggy and leaves and how I should go faster. It was quite fun.
After some lunch we went to the UFL Natural History Museum which is always a highlight of our Gainesville trips. They have a new kiddo hands-on section, plus the great old standby exhibits that still enthrall the kids…a walk-through cave, giant fish, Native American statues, and (of course) skeletons of long gone beasts. Zoe LOVED the fossils as always, but also found the wind tunnel in the kids area to be fascinating. We likened it to trash on the freeway – a good lesson in litter. Avi LOVED all the low-down creatures and animals in the tidelands part of the Calusa’s recreated home.
Trip home was uneventful – two sleeping kids and a bottle of Pepsi Max.