Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, Florida
But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?… Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?”… Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. ~ Genesis 12:17-20 Consequences. Even on the innocent. It was only God’s protection that saved them all from Pharaoh’s wrath, as Abram is exposed as a liar. He lost any credibility he may have had with Pharaoh to speak about and demonstrate the One True God.
It was a gorgeous foggy morning, but unfortunately, for some unknown, strange, weird and frustrating reason, the laptop refuses to accept the two pictures we took. One was of the fog-laden area in front of our coach, the other was of a cute, furry visitor. A bunny was right outside our window, and we got a great picture. Truly!
We’ve had a 3# pork roast in our freezer since November because at the time we needed one to cook up for my brother David, the store only had a 6-pounder! Anyway, I went in search of a recipe for it because I already have pork and sauerkraut in my freezer, and we didn’t want pulled pork again. I was looking in Pinterest and found a recipe for carnitas – a Mexican version of pulled pork. At least that’s what the woman to shared the recipe called it. It sounded yummy, and we’ve tried carnitas meat at Chipotle before, so we decided to give it a try. Plus, it cooks in the crockpot for 7-10 hours (depending on the temperature), so we could leave it all day.
We began our walk at the Rye Preserve around 10:30am and enjoyed our miles of walking round and round and up and down. We saw a few picture-worthy things and even accidently discovered the cemetery their brochure talked about, but they gave no directions to.
This guy was enjoying a feast 
just as we were entering the Park.
Maybe so people would see it?
Can you guess what it is?
That’s right! A saw palmetto frond!
Don’t want to come across the wrong end of a shot gun for trespassing! : )
We found out later that this area also hosts a Sherriff’s Youth Camp. : )
We don’t want to turn around, we’ve come too far!
We didn’t take any, but there were quite a few open pods lying on the ground here.
Outside of walking through the river, this was our only option.
He made it look so simple!
Not so for me! 
Blaine had to lend me his hand to get up. : )
By the time we returned home, it had stopped.
It was a good day, and we burned enough calories to warrant our delicious dinner! Along with the carnitas (I put mine on soft tortillas, Blaine dumped everything into a bowl and ate it with Scoops), we also had refried beans, and tried out Old El Paso rice, which was very good. Highly recommend this recipe!
And a gorgeous sunset conceived and presented by the Lord Almighty Himself!
Carnitas
4# pork shoulder, boneless
2 ½ t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1 C. onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, deseeded, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
¾ c. orange juice
1 T. oregano
2 t. ground cumin
1 T. olive oil
soft tortilla shells
tomatoes, chopped
cabbage, shredded
Monterey jack and/or cheddar cheese, shredded
Rinse and dry the pork, rub all over with the salt and pepper. Combine the oregano, cumin and oil, then rub all over the pork. Place the pork in a slow cooker (fat cap up). Top with the onion, jalapeno, garlic – don’t worry about spreading it. Pour juice over top.
Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 7. Once tender enough to shred, remove from the cooker and shred using two forks. Return to cooker and juice while you prepare the rest of your dinner and heat a medium-sized frying pan to medium-high heat. Add enough shredded meat to cover the bottom of the skillet. (this should be enough for 5-6 tacos). Drizzle some of the juice over the top and heat until the meat is browning and crisping and the juice is evaporated. Turn and cook the other side a bit as well. Not too much though, you still want the meat to be juicy.
Just before serving, drizzle more juice over top. Assemble like a taco, or make a bowl and eat with chips.
Serve with rice and refried beans on the side.