Randle goes Stateside

18:00 |

Hey Y'all

How's it goin'? So where did we leave off?

Oh yeah so I was still at the Ranch with my family. We made the most of our last few days there. I carried on spending time with my two new favourites, Colonel and Ornan, including find and moving some missing cows....talk about working towards fulfilling a childhood dream :)
Here's a few pics for you.

I even managed to squeeze in a bit a of beach time with my mum...not bad eh?

All too soon it was time to set out for Gainesville so Randle and I packed up our stuff once more, said goodbye to the beautiful Amistad Ranch at sunrise.

After 3 hours we made it to Gainesville, I must admit I was extremely nervous as I'd only seen the apartment on the internet and had no way of knowing whether it would be as nice as it looked in the pictures.....the good news is it is - YAY! It's what is classed as a Townhouse Condominium, so we don't have any neighbours above or below us, only either side. It's called Bivens Forest.

Here's Randle posing outside our new front door and a little glimpse of the pool you'll get to swim in if you come to visit!

So Randle and I are officially alone in Gainesville, I'm not going to lie, it's been pretty tough at times so far. The apartment is lovely, it's close to the University but pretty far from anything else and the air conditioning isn't working properly so we don't get any real break from the heat. Randle seems to be struggling a little bit more with the heat here than down on the ranch, especially with no lake to cool off in, he has found a way to help cool down tho.....

Rules here are pretty weird, dogs are only allowed off the lead at special dog parks, some of which you have to buy a memebership for?! There is one about a mile and 1/2 from us so we went to check it out - it's not a patch on Highbury but it was nice and there were lots of dogs so I think we will give another go when we sort out our transport issues as it was a bit too far to walk in the heat (for those of you not on facebook pets aren't allowed on public transport here!)

Don't worry it's not all bad -

Across the street is a lovely leafy neighbourhood where I have been walking Randle, there are lots of amazing big houses, I seem to have developed a new hobby and that is Postbox spotting, some of them are amazing!

I've spent a bit of time exploring whilst Randle is home sheltering from the 35 degree heat. So far I've been to lake Alice, this lake is actually on the campus and check out one of the inhabitants.....

I had a quick look downtown and managed to find a little slice of home in the form of a cafe called Mauds Classic Cafe, it's like the Gainesville version of Cherry Reds Cafe , they sell AMAZING iced coffee and have a painting of Ronnie Wood on the door! it's like my very own room of requirement (only fellow HP geeks will get that reference)

On Monday I started Orientation Week at the University, so basically learning about my role as a Graduate Assistant, it's been pretty dull so far - lots of processes and protocols but the university really is beautiful so that's helped :)

I must say that the people here and down by the ranch, are some of the nicest and most welcoming people I have ever met. When they tell you to have a nice day, they really mean it! We've not had all that much contact with humans so far (my roommate works ALL THE TIME) but we have been lucky enough to meet Madeline, she's a girl I looked at sharing an apartment with but unfortunately it was little bit too far out for someone without a car. We stayed in touch because her and her boyfriend Reggie have 2 dogs, a Pit Bull called Hoss and a Pug called Charlie so were are hoping to have a puppy play date (hilarious photos are guaranteed). She's been lovely, helping me over come language barriers, answering numerous questions and last night we met in person for the first time and she came armed with a "Welcome to Florida" gift for Randle and I.
Just so nice :)