Airboat Ride in the Everglades

Tuesday the 5th

A very quiet morning. Everybody is sleeping in except the kids, they want to go out. It is looking like a nice day but chilly so I decided to get the laundry done before we do anything. After walking the dogs and giving them their breakfast, they head back to the bedroom for their their post breakfast snooze with Tina while I put the laundry in the car.

Since it's early and I need quarters, I headed over to Joe's Diner for a relaxing breakfast with the morning newspaper. After a delightfully relaxed meal the waitress gives me my check and I get some change for the laundry. We normally do a load or two every day in the coach, undies and light loads with a big load of jeans, towels and bedding once a week. So I returned to Rock Creek and started the laundry. By the time everything was washed, dryed and folded it was nearly 11:00 AM.

Returning to the coach, the girls were up and relaxing after their breakfast. Tina and I put the laundry away and we made plans for the day. With lunch done by 1:00 PM we headed down US 41 towards Everglades City to go for an AirBoat Ride with Everglades Private Airboat Tours (http://www.epat.cc/) located near Everglades City arriving about twenty minutes before our trip.

After signing in and getting our assigned trip time we went out on the porch where Laura spotted a big alligator hauled out on a hummock, trying to get warm in the weak sunlight. With the wind blowing and the low temperature, it was probably about 53 degrees out, so it was a challenge for the gators and us too!

We met Captain Jack who recommended everybody grab one of the cammo rain jackets to protect against the wind and spray. Laura and Tina got theirs and we went down to the dock where we took our seats on the airboat. After a brief safety talk, Captain Jack took us out into the Everglades. Out to the mangrove swamps, through the mangrove tunnels and on into the sea of grass where we spotted several alligators trying to get war. Gliding across the water, sliding around and across grassy hummocks, spray from the bow swept back and chilled our faces! But what a rush!

It was a really nice adventure going through places just wide enough for the boat to slide through we visited an alligator nest that had been in use for the last three years and spotted large flocks of egrets, several great blue herons, ibis and several small falcons. After an hour of travel with stops for Captain Jack to talk about the alligators and other wildlife we returned to the dock where Laura got to hold a young four foot gator.

Getting back to the car we headed back towards Naples making a stop at the Big Cypress Boardwalk for a quick foray into the swamp. At the end of the .6 mile walk we got to the observation platform where a ten foot gator was hiding in the brush. Even though we didn't see many other birds it was a nice walk after our boat ride.

Returning home we had dinner and went to see the movie, "It's Complicated", which was really good and worth seeing. That pretty much concluded our day as we took the dogs for their last walk and called it a night.

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