January 28, 2005

Into Florida City to take the computer in (back about 10 miles from the entrance of the Everglades) and to be back to the campground so that we could do the “Wet Walk” by 2:00. – Easy right – not.

There were no small computer repair shops visible in any of the stores and malls (and of course the phone book is about 4 inches thick and covers all the way to Miami and therefore makes it difficult to find anything. There were lots of retail stores that sold computers – Retail Radio Shack, Office Depot, Office Max – but none of them did service. (As one guy stated we don’t fix ‘puters – real scary). They recommended the nearest place – which was a Best Buy – 30 miles down Hwy 1 (Dixie Hwy). This highway runs though a continually populated area – which changes from one town to the next on some seemingly invisible lines. On both sides of the highways were malls, gas stations, restaurants, and hotels – but no where in these malls could you find a computer store (in our country you would find one every couple of miles – however down here it seems that the big boys have run most of the little operators out of business on the sales side of things – and what service there is either through the manufacturer or at one of the big place – or on a call out basis – primarily for businesses).

Into Best Buy – where they would try to get to it quickly – and as the Air Card drivers appeared to be corrupted would have to get a new set of drivers install from the Web site. Therefore after a while of them playing with it and only having temporary success – decided to leave it with them and pick it up the next day. Hurried back to the campground with just enough time to buy tickets, change and drive to Royal Palm for the start of the “Wet Walk”. (The walk required that you wear long pants – because of the saw grass, as it could cut up your legs pretty bad, and tie on shoes so that they didn’t slip off in the mud. This proved to be a challenge for Dad who had been in sandals for the past month and had to go digging for a pair of lace up shoes.)

We were met at the Royal Palm by a Ranger (Frankie) and about ten other people who had bought tickets (and signed off liability waivers) for the walk. The Ranger provided long wooden walking sticks and some Everglade embossed Water bottles which we got to keep. After some history and watchful look to the skies – (the walk could not proceed if it was raining hard or lightening) we proceed to follow the ranger in a convoy to a starting point 13 miles away. Frankie seemed to be somewhat concerned about how the boys would handle the walk and cope with the water and was keeping a watchful eye on them. As we drove there passed a sign that indicated Rock Reef Pass – Elevation 3 feet – which made us all laugh.

The Wet Walk was to take us into 2 Cypress Domes (the first of which was untouched since hurricane Andrew and the second that was cleaned up after the hurricane). Parked at the side of the road and started to walk towards a clump of Bald Cypress trees. Initially we were going through Saw grass that’s stalk is triangular in shape and very sharp. The deer have learned to eat from the bottom up – because if you move your hand down the stalk you will end up with a fairly deep cut. The bottom core of the stalk – once pulled out, is edible – and was used by local people to stave off thirst.

Initially the ground was dry and stubbly – and it is hard to imagine what it would be like during the wet season when it is under 4 feet of water. However soon the ground become spongier – and there were “knees” of individual cypress trees starting to appear (Knees are a supplemental root that comes out of the ground up to 20 feet away which are believed to help the trees breath with all the water in the wet season). Then the ground started to be covered with a thin layer of water and some fuzzy green hot dog shaped growths called Periphyton (Keeper of the Flame). The Periphyton is an algae mat that absorbs water during the wet season and retains it to provide life giving moisture during the dry season. You can squeeze these slimy things and get about a cup of water out of each of them. (The algae apparently forms around any twig or piece of saw grass and starts to grow from there).

Next we started to enter the Cypress Dome itself – and were soon into water up to our knees. Once you were over the initial shock – it was really quite nice. The place was magical – filled with trees covered in Bromeliads, (air plants), orchids, and ferns. Some of the air plants were just coming into bloom and they had large red flowers appearing. As this Dome was not cleaned up after the hurricane – there were lots of trees and debris down that we had to climb over – and Frankie said that we were only the second group in here in the 15 years since the hurricane. Frankie also indicated that the Solution Hole in this one used to be a lot deeper before Andrew – and they used to use it for swimming – but the trees and debris had now filled it in and it was no more than about 2 feet deep.

Moved down to the second Cypress Dome – and this one had seen much more visitors. We were asked not to walk in single file, as we did not want to create pathways that would essentially become canals during the wet season. This Cypress dome was just as pretty – but had a far deeper hole in the middle – 4- 5 feet in spots. Some people walked right out to the middle to get their picture taken – just to say that they could. These holes are also known as Gator Holes as the Alligators use them when they are travelling across country from one wet area to another. They do not usually end up staying to long as there is not enough of a food supply. Deb asked Frankie how he could know that there were no Gators in the hole right now (which made everyone look nervous). Frankie indicated that they usually don’t hang out in holes like this so close to the road – and that most gators were down in the more permanent waterways during the dry season – and would have passed this way several months ago. Besides which he indicated that he has not lost a tourist yet … We did however notice that he was not the first to reach the deep solution holes – allowing the tourists the opportunity to “discover” it for themselves – and always remained at the edge. (It didn’t help when we found a shoe with no foot attached floating in the water).

Made our way back to the road – wet but happy. Mom states that this has to rate up there with one of the highlights of the trip so far for her. Ranger Frankie – made a special point of letting the boys know how well they had done – and how attentive they were and much enthusiasm they had slogging through the water.

Headed back to the campground for a feed of Mangrove Snapper (something that we will not be able to get back home) that Dad had picked up fresh in town. The fish was wonderful even if chef dad does say so himself and we quickly devoured 2 1/2 pounds and could have easily had more.

Mom and the boys went off on a twilight talk about snakes that was somewhat dry and apparently was continually being interrupted by some unruly kids. They did get one update on the “new” pythons to the area – as apparently there was a stand off between a large python and large alligator on Anhinga Trail earlier in the year. Apparently the battle over territory and who was going to be lunch went on for about 20 minutes before both combatants decided to slither off their separate ways.

When the kids got back they discovered a whole host of wildlife in bathroom area (5 green tree frogs; 3 brown tree frogs; 8 Ashy Geckos; and one large toad). Keelan had a little green tree frog jump off wall and sit right on his eye – good for a startle and laugh. Dad even had the privilege of having a small Ashy Gecko sit on his knee while he went to the bathroom (Ah to commune with nature).

January 29, 2005

Today is a move day – and also the day that we are going in to pick up the computer. Therefore we decided to break camp and move the RV out to the picnic area and then pick it up on our way back this afternoon and move the new campground – 35 miles further down the road at Flamingo. Got everything done and headed off in the Suzuki – deciding to take in the trails around the Royal Palm on our way.

The first trail that we did was the Gumbo Limbo through a large Hammock and a number of solution holes. Gumbo Limbo is a tree that has red flaking bark. It is believed that the gum of the tree may have been an ingredient in the original “gumbos”. The variety of plant life and tree species that grew in the hammock was just incredible. (Frankie had pointed out that the tree and plant growth in a hammock, was primarily determined by the birds that stop by as many of the seeds are carried in their scat).

From there we went down the Anhinga Trail and boardwalk – named after black diving bird that needs to dry its feathers in the sun as they do not have the protective oil of other birds. The trail was teaming with wildlife – and the boys counted 65 separate Alligators (including a couple of very big ones and some small yearlings), 3 turtles, and a great many birds – blue herons, egrets, and anhingas. Watched in amusement as a gator tried to sneak up on a little bird who was fishing – only to be thwarted when the bird hopped up to a higher branch when the gator got close.

Made it to Best Buy – and although the drivers were re-installed – after the profile was entered – the drivers would become corrupted – and a number of other windows drivers would then also disconnect. Tech support indicated that it was probably a Windows problem and therefore the only way to solve the problem was to reformat the computer and re-install the operating system and start over. This meant losing all computer programs loaded on it – however the shop would be able to back up most of the data. This was very disappointing to Dad as he did not have originals of some disks with him on the trip to re-load the software – and therefore would have to go without some of his mapping, programs and MS office until he got home. It was hoped that the Web log program and entries could be saved, etc. The computer would be left for a couple of days while they performed a backup of the data – and then wipe the machine clean and re-installed Windows and started over.

Travelled back towards the campground and stopped at a Pizza restaurant (CiCi’s) that advertised a pizza buffet for 3.99. Although it was an economical buffet – it had great service with 20 types of pizza constantly being replenished – and salad bar. Great deal and we all stuffed ourselves and groaned most of the way back to the RV.

Picked up the Motor Home at Long Pine Picnic Area and moved up the road to Flamingo Campground – 35 miles down the road and on the coast. When we pulled into the campground to register, they have a mosquito rating sign (similar to a fire hazard warning). The rating were 1 – Carefree; 2- Tolerable, 3 – Annoying, 4- Aggravating; 5- Blood Sponge; and 6 – Total Bedlam. Currently the mosquito stinger is sitting at annoying. Got set up – and if this is only annoying I would hate to see it when it got worse. (We have heard stories about people who have been chased out of this campground because the mosquitoes were so bad – and the only thing that seems to help is a breeze off the ocean – so we are praying for wind). The store here even has blood donor stickers with a mosquito on it indicating that you had donated at the Everglades.

January 30, 2005 –

Up this morning to clear skies and no wind. Initially the mosquitoes were challenging but as it warmed up they went to hide in the shade. Turkey vultures circled overhead (very ominous) – quickly swooping down on campsites that were being vacated – checking for scraps.

Got up to 28.5 in the shade – and over 40 degree in the sun – way too hot for the Dad – but the Mom seemed to be in her element. Decided to bike over to the visitor centre (couple of miles away) – and the kids picked an exercise book in order to get their junior ranger badge.

On the way back did the Eco Trail – which is a trail round a pond that is the final stage of the water treatment plant they have here – to show how efficiently and eco-friendly they can do things. There were a number of soft-shelled turtles, and many egrets. The boys were excited to see a lizard shedding its skin – and a small hawk pop up from the grass after catching a snake.

On the way into the campground – there was an osprey sitting on top of a sign eating a fish. He very smugly tore apart the fish while people came by and took pictures. He seemed to like the attention as we have seen him there on subsequent days with other fish basking in the photo taking and attention that was being paid to him.

Back to the campground for schoolwork for some and a lazy day in the heat for others. When it finally started to cool down enough to be bearable – the mosquitoes came out in force and chased us inside. Hope that things cool down a bit tomorrow – or the wind picks up – as it could get really hot.

January 31, 2005

While Dad was up today and off to pick up his computer – Mom and the kids did some schoolwork. The boys then completed the Junior Ranger program for the Everglades Park and went and got their certificate. They also had time to take in a great presentation on Manatees.

When Dad got back the kids busily rattled off a whole bunch of Manatee facts – such as the Manatee’s lungs have the ability to compress air, which is why they can stay under water for up to 30 minutes. Manatees tend to follow a pattern of sleeping for 2 hours, eating for 2 hours and then travelling for 2 hours. That Manatees seemed to nurse forever as adults while nurse from other adults – when asked why it was felt that it had something to do with bonding and Mickey thought it would keep their bones strong as they would not get much calcium from the grasses they eat (Dad wonders if it could be a possible cure for osteoporosis) The manatee teeth are progressive in growth with back ones moving forward to replace the ones up front that wear down.

The ranger indicated that a young injured manatee was returned to the glades with a radio transmitter on it. It was immediately taken on by a larger female manatee – and they quickly did two complete trips through the about 600 miles of main canals in the Everglades (ranger speculating to give the young one an orientation to the area) and the radio transmitter was lost on the third time into the mangrove forest.

The kids also learned that for the most part they had only seen alligators – but that there was the odd crocodile around – but that there is usually one that can be found hanging out by the marina as dusk sets in. Crocodiles have the longer narrower snouts that they use to feed on fish – and usually lay on the bottom in a semi-dormant state – with their mouth open and wait for the fish to swim in (new definition of drive through?). We will have to see if we can don the bug suits and go down to the marina some evening in order to see if we can see him.

Dad was not as fortunate with the computer. Although everything had been erased and windows re-installed the Air Card still did not work. Dad ended up sitting on the floor of the repair shop at Best Buy – talking to the technician from Rogers on the telephone for about 2 hours – and he or the Best Buy tech doing a variety of checks – until he determined that it must have been the card itself that was faulty. (Would have been nice to know that before they had us re-install windows and loose all of the programs on the computer). They then transferred Dad to customer service where they indicated that they would be happy to send him a replacement card – to any Canadian address – as their distributor would not ship to the United States. At this point Dad indicated his displeasure and stated that he would have to make arrangements as to where to send the card. The Tech from Best Buy then took him out to wireless communication section and talked to the manager there to see if some sort of deal could be arrived at to either get a card cheap or without contract – or get a cell phone that could be used as a modem hook-up. Nothing seemed to work out easily – but it was felt that maybe one of the ISP that had numerous dial-up locations around the country may be a good alternative (EarthLink, etc.) – so they provided some promotional software for those.

Put on our bug suits tonight and did a long night walk through the campground and out to the ocean shore. The kids thought that they looked like walking lighted garbage bags – but it made walking extremely comfortable. The light from the stars to the south was extremely bright – as there was nothing out there but ocean to pollute the light. The number of fish jumping (due to our headlights) and the waves slapping against the limestone banks made for a symphony of sounds. Mickey and Dad did an extended walk and were able to see a couple of raccoons scurrying out of the campground after checking out someone’s food supply. (Later that night both Mom and Dad had to get up to chase the opossums away from the barbeque as they were trying to get to the pan underneath with the grease drippings – determined little suckers and make all sorts of interesting slipping noises trying to keep a grip on the curved surfaces of the metal barbeque).

February 1, 2005

The boys were up early this morning and started on their schoolwork, while Dad tried to restore those programs on the computer he had with him. Thankfully – we had been able to back up all of our photographs – and travel log entries – but most everything else was gone. We still have some rudimentary word processing capacity and other basic reference tools for the kids but none of the rest of our programs. Between Dad having to sit in the Suzuki to power the batteries (these are no service sites) – and the raising temperatures and mosquitoes – this was not the most agreeable task.

Decided to go down to the marina and launch the Port-a-Bote and cruise up the canal through the closer part of the glades. After packing up a lunch – and a big bottle of mosquito repellent – we put the boat in the water and tried to get the motor started. Dad’s run of poor luck was still holding up – and the motor would not run for more than a few minutes at a time. Went back into shore – drained the gas, changed the fuel filter, and put in fresh gas – but still couldn’t get it to run. After two hours of trying everything dad could think of and some other ideas from mom we gave up, hot, tired and more than a little frustrated. Looks likes we will need to take it in for a proper service – but what do you expect from a 1978 Evenrude.

With boating not being an option – drove out to Nine Mile Lake for lunch and then on to Mahogany Hammock to walk around the boardwalk which had many trees that were covered in large Bromeliads in various stages of bloom. Although the boardwalk area was spectacular in its scenery – it just could not compare to the “wild” beauty of the “Wet Walk”. Just as we were finishing the trail – Frankie the ranger – showed up preparing to lead a group of people around the Hammock. He was really pleased to see the kids again, and just beamed when he saw that they were carrying their own walking sticks. The kids told Frankie that although things were nice in the Mahogany Hammock – they would much rather do the “Wet Walk” anytime. As we headed off – we could hear the Ranger explaining to some of the other people what the “Wet Walk” was and how great and enthusiastic the kids had been.

After supper – got into our bug gear and went down to the Marina Store for Ice Cream. The plan was that Dad was going to use the only payphone in the area to contact Roger’s and Mom and the boys were going to walk back to the campsite along the coast trail. As with many things this week – it did not go as planned. Dad was told that they would not be able to ship the Air Card to our permanent address – a post office box – (to then be forwarded to the States) – so had to find another location with a street address to send it to. Secondly, the option of setting up with EarthLink was working out well – until it came to payment options – and they would not accept credit cards that did not originate from the United States Bank (it didn’t matter where we lived only where we got our credit???). Mom and the kids only got a little ways down the path – before they had to turn back. They encountered a pair of raccoons – who had obviously learned that human’s meant food – and came bounding towards them in the dark – with their eyes glowing in the kid’s headlamps. Mom and the kids had earlier read a sign warning that the Raccoons in the park may have rabies – and to be careful with any encounters. The raccoons would not yield the path and continued to advance on them – so they figured that it was best to turn around and come back and get a ride with Dad. This definitely was not our best day.

February 2, 2005

Again started off the morning with getting some school work done while it was still “cool” and the mosquitoes were not too bad. After lunch decided that we would head off on a hike – and were trying to decide where to go. The options were Snake Bight – (out across a Coastal Prairie meadow and on to the shallow bay) – or Bear Lake Trail – (a trip along an old homesteader’s canal to Bear Lake). Dad’s logic was that the heat would probably be too great going across the Coastal Prairie and therefore we decided to go out to Bear Lake (this would again prove to be a poor decision on his part). So we started off on our bikes to the Bear Lake trailhead (about 3 1/2 miles away). Just after arriving the trailhead – the derailleur on Dad’s bike got driven up into the rear wheel by a stick – and bent it beyond repair (yah dad’s luck is still holding up). Therefore a decision had to be made as to who was going to go on the trail with the boys – and who was going to ride back and get the Suzuki in order to bring back the bike. Mom decided to ride back to the campground and Dad went on the hike with the boys (This would prove to be his second bad choice).

When we were riding to the trailhead – we apparently had been going fast enough down the main canal that the mosquitoes could not keep up with us. However, once we started on the trail we were well within their flying speed. Although Dad and the boys had applied liberal amounts of mosquito repellent – and re-applied it several times during the walk – it did not seem to do much good. (The kids even thought at one point that someone had filled the bottle with sugar water just to attract them). Although we were moving briskly for the boys, the mosquitoes were able to keep up and were so vicious – that we thought of renaming the hike Blood Donor trail. However, after getting part way down the trail – completing the hike became a mission for us – so we continued on (beside which if we turned back we would just have to wait around at the trailhead for Mom and the last thing that we wanted was to be standing around in these mosquitoes). So in 80 minutes – we walked in to Bear Lake (1-3/4 mile) looked around the lake for a few minutes and walked back out. Mom met us about 10 minutes from the end of the trail – and couldn’t believe that we had continued on – as she was fanning herself with a Palmetto Leaf to keep the bugs away. By the next day – the bumps had come out and it was a toss up as to who had more bites – Keelan’s legs or Dad’s back.

Dad and the boys ended up riding back to the Campground via the Marina – while Mom’s took the broken bike back to the campground to start preparing supper. While at the marina – the boys were lucky enough to see the Crocodile – lying by the side of the canal and allowing us to get close enough for a good look – so we could see the difference between crocodiles and alligators.

We had a campfire tonight and cooked steaks over the fire – which proved to be very tasty. We also started packing up things around the campground, as we will be heading off tomorrow. Followed this up with another late night walk around the campground and down to the bay as our way of saying goodbye to Flamingo (and partially to get the boys over their raccoon encounter) the previous day.

February 3, 2005

Left Flamingo early this morning and headed off back across the Everglades. As we had no reservations for where we were going to stay tonight – we thought it was important to get an early start. Decided that we would make a stop at Biscayne National Park – with a brief detour into the Wal-Mart in Florida City to pick up a cheap ($35.00) screen tent for any future mosquito filled campsites. The boys had completed most of the exercises and questions for their Junior Ranger program at Biscayne before arriving – so in a few minutes were able to hand in their books – and were sworn in as Junior Rangers (complete with hats and a full ceremony by the Ranger on Duty).

Headed west across the north side of Everglades National Park and into the Big Cypress National Wildlife Reserve. Along the sides of the roads, were canals and swamp where alligators and turtles were easily visible from the windows of the RV at highway speed – and the Anhingas seemed to be sitting on every power line. Throughout out the area there were places advertising swamp buggy and airboat tours, Alligator wrestling, etc.

Made a stop at the Visitor Information Centre in Big Cypress – and the boys completed their Junior Ranger program there – and so are now entitled to send in for a patch for completing all three parks in the everglade network. (The boys have picked up some really interesting rucksacks – and have slowly started collecting patches from places on their trip to sew on them – such as mosquito badges from Flamingo).   Also Mom was able to get some suggestions as to where we could camp for the night – at a place called Burns Lake – about a further 30 minutes down the road. As this was just an overnight stop – we were not really concerned what it looked like – so decided to check it out.

Pulled into Burns Lake – which is a free campsite operated by Big Cypress. It basically consists of a road around a lake with a series of wide spots – and a number of porta-potties. (Reminded us a lot of Horseshoe Lake back home – only the water is deeper and you can’t swim in it – due to the alligators). The “volunteer” ranger came over and greeted us and told us when quiet time was – and that we wanted to be careful – as not only did they have alligators, but there were also some poisonous snakes as well as fire ants in the area. The people that were camping here seemed to be an interesting group of characters – and Dad was feeling out of place as his hair was both shorter and not as grey as most of the men around – nor did he have the long beard that most of them seemed to be sporting. This seemed to be a different group of people from what we were used to at fancy RV resorts.

Set up camp and unloaded the Suzuki and headed into Everglade City – about 15 miles away. They were in the process of setting up for their annual charity Seafood Festival that was to occur over the next couple of days. It appears to be a big thing – and most of the grassy areas in the town are roped off for RV parking – as there is not enough accommodation to hold the number of people that they expect. There were probably already 200 big Motor Homes already set up in town – with many more expected to arrive. Part of the main street was blocked off and they were setting up a Carnival and midway.

Drove out to the National Park and stopped by a number of businesses – but more people were interested in getting things set up for the Festival than conducting business. Ended up stopping by a little store, bait shop and bar. In front of the Store was an old Cadillac – all decked out with an Elvis One licence plate and painted up in colours of the “king”. The bar was simply a screened in patio area that had Hotel California blasting away on the speakers, and a couple of the local ladies up dancing on the tables at 4:30 in the afternoon. Mom was invited in for a sunset margarita by a local gentleman – apparently some sort of local tradition – but opted instead to buy four pounds of Stone Crab Claws and a Key Lime Pie and take it back for supper.

As we needed to thoroughly rinse the crabs in fresh water before eating them – Mom had planned to stop at a roadside rest area and use their facilities to rinse them (as there was no running water at the campsite). However the rest area only had porta-potties and therefore we needed to look for another alternative. Ended up stopping by a little store, trailer park and campground that was only a couple of miles from Burns Lake. The Store claimed to be the Skunk Ape Research Centre and had a number of animals running around within an enclosure behind it. The man at the store (Jack) was big, bald, and going around in bare feet with his pants rolled up. He was eating fresh oysters off the barbeque – and more than willingly let Mom use the hose to clean off the crabs. During the course of conversation it was discovered that he had WiFi that he would turn on for us in the morning – so that we could post the journal, etc. – so we made arrangements to come back the next day.

Returned to Burns Lake – and to the boys delight, found a praying mantis bug in the motor home (must have come in on one of the loads of stuff we brought in). The boys were content to watch it for quite awhile – before we took it out side to be released. We ending up having a big feed of stone crab – but Mom seemed to be the only one that really enjoyed them – as they were a lot of work for what you got.   After supper we went for a brief walk after dark partway around the lake – during which time Dad got bit by a fire ant – that ended up swelling up real nice for awhile. And yes folks they do burn like a son-of-a-gun for a while. You sure wouldn’t want to get bitten by a lot of them … The burning of the bite was outweighed by watching the mom and boys getting excited over seeing their first “fireflies” of the trip.