CRAZY MARLINS: Everglades

Thursday November 19- It's moving day, and we are going to a place we've never been....exciting. The weatherman is calling for rain today so we wanted to get out of here before the rain showed up. It did rain last night so our stuff was wet, but we had hardly anything out. We had some issues to start, our water pump lost its prime again. Then I closed the door and the plastic we put over the screen fell out. Jeff had to fix both of those before we left. We were on the road by 8:15 and since its so close to the interstate no problem there. We have about 250 miles to travel today with most of it on the interstate. There was lots of road construction going on. We followed the GPS and it took us on a toll road that cost us $9.00 for about 20 miles, so moral of the story check your route...we could have very easily avoided that. We took I-75fto 29 to 41 but 75 to 29 is a toll road. If you are just in a car its only $3.00. We made it to Midway Campground, boy we are out in the middle of no where. We had to swing around because there are no water spigots on site. We filled up with water and made it to our site #18. The sites are blacktop and the service is 50 amp. Our internet and phone service is not happening. If I go out on the main road I can sometimes make a call. It is really hot and humid here. They are calling for rain the next 2 days which isn't good. We are only staying 3 nights. Hopefully the weatherman will be wrong again.

Friday November 20-Up really early and its already hot. Jeff wanted to get an early start. We really needed to get fuel, we are down really low. Well we had talked to the campground host and he told us where to get fuel. It was about 30 miles away but we had to go that way anyhow to get to our next destination. Well when we got to the gas station a man was outside saying no gas. So we got on our gas buddy to find another spot. It took us into a town that was busy and very congested...yuck. We got our truck filled up and then we headed to Shark Valley. Jeff had researched and wanted to take the tram tour there. We timed it just right because we caught the 9:30 tour and didn't have to wait at all.

There was only 4 people plus Jeff and I on this tram. Our guide Dave was very full of knowledge and our driver Carlos kept his eyes peeled for wildlife. At Shark Valley the wildlife-viewing tram tour through saw grass prairie includes a stop at a 65 foot tower for spectacular views. Birding and alligator viewing rank among the parks best here.

We stopped at the tower for about 15 minutes. Then we got back on to the tram and headed back. Had a bit of a problem....we ran out of gas. That was very unexpected, should have probably planned better. We made it back but not before we saw lots more critters.

They even pointed out an old alligator nest, never saw one of them before. They made the trip very enjoyable and we learned lots about the everglades. The weatherman was wrong, no rain today. We made it back to the campground and just hung around here the rest of the day. I did give Belle a haircut. Supper and bed. Our grandson is in Minnesota playing hockey and they won there 1st game tonight 7-0...go Riders.

Saturday November 21- Happy Birthday to our future daughter-in-law. It's pretty cloudy out there this morning but looks like the rains going to hold off until this afternoon. We loaded up the truck and headed the other direction to Everglades City and 10,000 Islands. We put in the kayaks and grabbed our fishing poles and away we went. We kept a close eye on the sky.

We did some exploring but didn't want to get too far out just in case. We both caught fish but nothing to keep. It was nice to be out on the water again, the fish were a bonus.

The sky's started to get dark so we paddled in. It was nice because they had a hose there to rinse everything off. We loaded up and headed towards home. We ran into some heavy rain on our way. It quit when we got there but not for long. The rest of the day was rain. It rained most of the night too. We were really lucky to get to do the 2 things we had planned. We are heading to the keys tomorrow. We cant wait. Ashton's hockey team won again tonight 13-0. They are really playing good, keep it up.