FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA

This last week I had the opportunity to go to a National Neonatal Nursing Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. My Work sent me, and they picked up the bill, so it was extra nice!!! I flew into florida on wednesday the 24 of sept. and I flew home on sunday the 28 of sept. Short and sweet, but fun filled. I was able to attend several classes, and talk with nurses from all over the country who work with severly premature, and sick infants. It was an experience I won't forget.

This is me with my friend Molly. I worked with Molly when we lived in New Mexico, and Molly pretty much taught me what I know about neonatal nursing.

We usually always had the same schedule, and we lived about 5 minutes from each other so we car pooled along with another nurse. The three of us always had a good time on the way home, and managed to keep each other awake for the drive. This picture was taken in front of a fountain by the convention center where the convention was held.

This is taken in front of the beautiful Atlantic. The tide was coming in, and there was record tides the entire time we were there because of a hurricane hitting the carolinas. Notice the overcast sky, yup it stayed that way, and rained a little bit too. However, it was still hot, and very humid. The ocean was warm too. It was even warmer than the pool at the hotel. I swam out past the breakers, and that was my favorite part of the trip. I loved swimming in the ocean.

We walked down the beach and looked at all the shore front stores, and restaurants. We ate at Bubba Gump shrimp company. It was pretty good shrimp. In true tourist fashion I took a picture of the store sign.

This is the beach, I promised Jenna that I would take pictures of the palm trees. It was beautiful!!

This is looking out into the atlantic, there was a big tanker ship out at sea.

We also made it out to the Everglades!! We went on a swamp boat ride, and got real up close and personal with same alligators.
At one point there were 6 alligators all around our boat. The guide kept saying to watch for fights, because of how territorial alligators are, and how many were in such a small place. However, we did not see an alligator fights.
We also went to the Hard Rock cafe, which was actually in Hollywood, Florida. This Hard Rock is one of the few restaurants that is actually part of a casino. My friend Molly won 20 bucks, and then quickly cashed out her winnings.
I had a blast in Florida, and I loved getting to see Molly. It was a perfect girls weekend away!!! It is always good to get home to your family though. In the end there is no substitute for your own bed, and family. We were both anxious to get home in the end.