1-12-07 Laura, Hank, and ALLIGATORS!

The kids finally arrived! Gene and I got up REALLY early and drove from our campground in Marathon to the Fort Lauderdale airport to pick them up. It was wonderful to see them and to have company. They flew on the red-eye but didn’t seem any sleepier than we were…and as soon as we headed towards the Everglades we all woke up. We crossed the top of the National Parks, and through Big Cyprus National Refuge along a road they call Alligator Highway. I thought it was just a name, but they weren’t kidding! The road is bordered by the Everglades on both sides and there were alligators sleeping in the sun all along the opposite banks. They weren’t walking across the road or anything, but they could have! We shot hundreds of photos as we drove along. Gene and I had chatted with some folks from Alabama while we were wandering in Flamingo the other day who had recommended several interesting spots to stop along this road and boy were they right. At the first little pull out you can walk ½ mile to an “alligator hole”. Evidently alligators choose a spot and clear it out to make a hole, kind of like a nest. No sticks or anything but it was definitely a wide spot in glades. They do it to make hunting easier I think. The hole was full of fish, and they of course attracted birds. The hole was about 40 feet across and was teeming with life. At first all we saw was one sleeping alligator on the bank and 3 babies sleeping on a log in the sunshine. After awhile the fish started jumping like crazy and bubbles rose from the bottom—then up came an alligator. Totally cool. Eventually the babies woke up and went swimming too. The gator got pretty close to the little dock we were standing on. More photos of course…and unfortunately when you look at my pictures the baby alligators who were about 18 inches long and less look exactly like the huge ones. Nothing in the photos to use as a reference for size except a few leaves.
Hank and Laura had made reservations for us at Captain Doug’s Airboat Adventures. We found it (huge billboards made it impossible to miss) and the ride was just as good as advertised. The airboat looked just like on TV—and the captain took us on a wild ride through the Everglades. You wear big earphones to protect your ears as it’s a pretty loud machine. In one of the clearings we spotted an alligator in the water and got quite close. Another boat (from another company) swung by too and their captain threw a marshmallow into the water right beside his boat…it is illegal to feed the gators but evidently he didn’t care. The gator acted like he did this all the time because he jetted over to him and grabbed it. The guy was crazy—he put his hand in the water and pulled the alligator’s head up part way into the boat. I got a picture of this goofball. We didn’t let Hank try this trick although I think he was willing.
We had a couple more interesting stops, but the last one of the day was really amazing. We hopped out at a visitor center called Shark Valley (no sharks—its on the Shark River which feeds into the Gulf of Mexico and sharks are attracted to the water as it meets the river outflow). You’re supposed to walk down an asphalt path that looks like the Sammamish River Trail. Well, there were alligators sleeping all over it which made walking a bit difficult to say the least. They probably weren’t even noticing us, but we were a bit nervous walking so close. Hank wanted to pet one…LJ wasn’t having any of it! It was an amazing day. We didn’t get back to the rig until late and Elsie was waiting with a full bladder. What a dog—no accidents after a 14 ½ hour stay by herself. I was thrilled to arrive home with all Hanks fingers and toes!