Up at a little after 7:00, showered and started getting things ready to get on the road. After stopping at the dump station we were on the road by 9:00. My turn to drive. Arrived at Lazy Lakes on Sugarloaf Key by 12:00. It’s great to be back in the turquoise waters of the Keys. Got set up with no problems It’s 83 here today but supposed to rain tomorrow and cool down. There’s a boat parade in Key West tonight, but opted to hit the nearest tiki bar for a couple of drinks and some dinner.

Spider Lily - Pa-Hay-Okee Trail

Fri, 12/14/07

Everglades: Drove over to Biscayne National Park this morning. This park preserves the mangrove shore line from Miami to just north of Key Largo. It also protects several reefs and the uninhabited northern keys. But most of the park is under water. Would be a great place to snorkel. And, they’ll take you out to one of the uninhabited keys and let you camp there. We may do that next year. On the drive over there I saw a HUGE snake. All black and it was coiled up and its flattened head rose up in the center of the coils—like a cobra. Probably my imagination, but they did lose a bunch of cobras in this area during one of the hurricanes. And they’ve been reproducing. We had lunch at the Mutineer Restaurant in Florida City. Back in the Everglades park and we drove over to Pa-Hay-Okee trail and overlook. Another beautiful day—mid 80s again. Sprinkled off and on.

Thu, 12/13/07

Everglades: Topped off the water tank this morning after our showers and then relaxed and read for a while. Early afternoon we went into Homestead and did the laundry and then had an early dinner at the same Mexican restaurant. Topped off the gas tank in the truck and then headed back to the campground. We were hoping to see some wildlife on the way back—but nothing. We did see a couple of deer as we were leaving the campground a couple of days ago. First time we’d seen deer. Started raining after dark. Rained hard for a while. This area needs it badly. Another beautiful day though--in the mid-80s.

Salt Water Croc - Buttonwood Canal

Osprey--Flamingo Marina

Wed, 12/12/07

Everglades: Topped off the water tank this morning after we took our showers and then headed over to the alligator/snake farm. We went there solely for the air boat ride, but the gator and snake show was entertaining. The air boat ride was wild. Every time our driver would hit open water he would do a 360 and FAST. Water would spray up everywhere and the bottom of the boat would fill up with water. There was a family there with little kids and they were all terrified. Air boats are very loud anyway and would scare kids, but when he would spin it around I’m sure it scared them even more. When he slowed down you could remove your ear plugs. I had to put mine back in because those kids were screaming so loud. Pretty funny. Not for the kids though. Stopped and had lunch at a little place just outside the park. Then we stopped at a fruit/vegetable market and picked up some stuff. They had the most exotic things in there. Back to the park and stopped at the Anhinga trail and walked around to see what was happening. Another beautiful day—mid-80s.

Snake Bight Trail

Tue, 12/11/07

Everglades: Drove back to Flamingo this morning and took the 10:00 a.m. boat tour. Saw our first salt water crocs. Went through the mangroves to Coot Bay and through another set of mangroves to White Water Bay and then back. White Water Bay is a huge body of water that provides access to the back country and the 10,000 islands. Interesting tour. On the way back to the campground we walked the Snake Bight trail which was beautiful. Right through the mangroves next to a slough about 20 feet wide. The trail was covered in a canopy of various trees and other vegetation. Vegetation so thick you could only see the water in glimpses. I kept getting the feeling I’d turn around and the trail would have completely grown over behind us. Guess I’ve been reading too many Steven King books. We did see a big gator (12 ft or so) sunning himself. I wore my snake gaiters for the first time. Thought they would be uncomfortable, but they weren’t bad at all. Mike let me lead the way of course. Back to our campsite and something cool to drink. Got pretty sweaty walking the trail. By the way, got talking to the tour guide about the pythons. If you people up north think you’re safe, you’d better think again. They figure by about 2025 they’ll be as far north as Long Island! There’s just no stopping them I guess. Yikes!