T Minus Ten

I leave for Russia in ten days and I am still feeling horribly unprepared. I'm a bit obsessive with packing for trips, and normally I am packed by now. I've started packing.... right now I have a bulging suitcase that doesn't zip shut, piles of stuff on top of it (which really ought to be inside the suitcase, for proper shipping and all), and I have a wonderful backpack (thank you, Frank!), which is so heavy that I had to do back exercises after having it on for about five minutes. For the longest time moving to Vladimir has been this long-term goal, something that was going to happen "in two years" or "in a year" - suddenly it's in ten days and I'm not ready. I've no excuse. I really have been preparing for this for over two years. Of course, in the interest of continuing to remain unprepared, what do you think I did today? Did I go to Wal-Mart to purchase the various items I neglected to get yesterday? Did I go through my suitcase and perform the ritual pre-trip-packing-triage? Did I study my English grammar handbook for ESL teachers? Nope. Mom and I went to the nearby Okefenokee Swamp Park.

I was somewhat hesitant about going, what with my rather uncomfortable heat-induced, um, problem... But today was rather overcast, and therefore not as unbearably hot as it has been recently. Not that I wasn't drenched in sweat at the end of the trip, but at least I didn't develop any further heat related problems. (Okay, so I'm being a bit vague, but this one's a bit personal, even for me!) The Okefenokee Swamp Park is one of several access points to the Okefenokee Swamp, and is the main source of tourism to the Waycross, GA area. It is rather expensive to enter ($12/person, plus an extra $4 if you want to take a boat ride... and you seriously cannot visit the Okefenokee Swamp without taking a boat ride!), and while I do feel that the price is a bit steep given what the park offers, I was glad we went. (I may take Adam there when he comes this weekend. He's never seen an alligator in the wild before - something those of us from the GA/FL corner of the world view as commonplace - and this was definitely the spot for viewing alligators.)

I took a lot of photos at the park, and they can be viewed by clicking here. (I am currently cross-posting between this blog, and my original blog, the daily blah. While I am thrilled to no end that blogger has finally added it's own picture hosting server, it's rather tedious. And I'm tired, and have already uploaded them already. Sorry for the inconvenience. Enjoy!