A brief venture back into the USA for some family time

Erica contemplates the Everglades

After our stay in Panama City, we took a quick flight to Florida, saying goodbye to Central America for a while.  We had decided to set up a family reunion in the Sunshine State after discovering it was actually much cheaper to fly to Florida and then to South America than it was to fly from Central America to South America directly.  Which makes absolutely no sense.  As my sisters, their families and my parents were all coming from the typically cold midwest, we figured that south Florida would offer a reprieve for them from a weather perspective.  For us, it was a bit cooler than Panama City and much welcomed.  The weather did not disappoint.

There were many geocaches found by our crews, occasionally protected by alligators.

On the hunt on Christmas day

One of the highlights of our visit to the Gulf Coast was a trip to the Ringling Museum (http://www.ringling.org/), an immense and stunning museum complex dedicated to the Ringling family of circus fame.  We'd never heard of this unique complex but were quite impressed with the grounds and the circus museums.  We had no time to even set foot in the supposedly excellent art museum.

Massive scale model of the traveling circus years ago

Circus life in miniature

Madeleine and her grandparents at the Ringling Mansion

A calmer moment for the Jones family circus

Twins?  Or Madeleine and her Aunt Anastasia?

Happy parents

Boy cousins will be boys

A relaxing adult moment

Good times with Grandpa

No caption needed

During our travels over the next year, we are hoping to be able to reconnect with many friends we haven't seen in a long time.  In Florida, we were fortunate to be able to spend some time with two of Erica's college friends from a few years back and their families too.

Erica and Suzanne

With Tal

For us it was an interesting time briefly readjusting to the US while at the same time readying ourselves for extended travel in South America.  The week together was a special time for our close family.  We said our goodbyes, handed off our lone remaining suitcase to my folks for transport back to Ohio, packed up our backpacks and headed to the airport to begin the next phase of our adventure:  Peru.

Traveling lightly