Patricia Schmid: Hot Enough

I finally got to see manatees in the wild, as well as dolphins and alligators. I was able to take a few days off last week and to travel around a little bit. This was really great - especially because we are having one of the hottest Junes in Florida in years. I never thought I would say this, but it is sometimes even too hot in the shade. The only thing you can do then is to go inside and enjoy the air conditioning.

I travelled to Captiva, a small island on the coast of southwest Florida. Actually, Captiva is one of the islands that is literally made up of shells, and is considered one of the best in the world for shelling. Taking a walk on the beach means always keeping your head down to find all the shell treasures in the sand.

The island has also preserved its charm—there are no big hotels or chain stores on Captiva. And it is perfect for nature lovers.  You will see a lot of birds and other animals at the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel.

I also drove down the Keys to Key West, which is a bit of a driving, but already the trip over the many bridges is worth seeing. As the former GROW participant Anna Essling has already wrote in her blog, it has a special leisure atmosphere and it is also a party area.

On the other famous Key—Key Largo—there is another nature park: The John Pennenkamp Reef State Park. It's mainly an undersea park and it's amazing to snorkel there because the reef is so close to the surface. I bought an underwater camera for that trip but I haven't been able to develop the photographs yet, so it will be interesting to see how the pictures turned out.

Coming back to work, I realized I have a little more than 5 weeks left—time is really running. I really have to think now, what else I want to experience and learn at work and of the country.