I made a road trip to Florida from Chicago in June with my kids. I love driving to Florida. I know the way by heart. Whenever we drive, we always swear we're going to take it slow and stop on the way to see interesting sights, but it almost never happens. We did a little better this time, but only because we stopped at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

I'm kind of a nut for sunrises over the Atlantic. You'd think, being on vacation, that I'd sleep late. But I'm always up at the crack of dawn. Well, a little prior to the crack. Sunrises always seem to be most spectacular when there are some clouds or haze in the sky. Something to catch the light, I suppose. 

There was a beautiful moonrise a couple of nights. If I remember correctly, it was a special kind of moon, but my memory doesn't seem to be holding on to what it was. It was in early June, so maybe you know. It seemed almost as bright as the sun, and the photo really doesn't do it justice.

Whenever I'm down there, I have to take a drive through The Loop, a scenic drive that leads from A1A through the intercoastal waterway and then through the Tomoka State Park. There's an amazing tree in there, The Fairchild Oak.

If I'm not waiting for the sunrise, I'm half-wishing for a storm. You'll usually find me standing on the beach walk taking photos of the cloud formations, as the beach police drive up and down telling everyone to go the hell inside.

Here's another sunrise. Pretty intense. I may have been saying oooh! and aaah! out loud to myself as it unfolded before me.

I took hundreds of photos during this trip. I think I'll need to make a part 2 or this page will never load.