Our Trip Blog

Events of Monday, January 17, 2011

                We awoke this morning to find the empty grassy lot not so empty anymore. Over the course of the night, under cover of darkness, a dozen other RVs, pick-ups and vans had become our neighbors. However, despite the hum of the nearby freeway, it was a dark and quiet night and we all slept better than we had in days. Jim awoke early and went on his walk. Lindsey was the first of the kids to wake up on her own, put in her contacts and begin her quiet time. Wakened by Lindsey’s rustling, I too began my quiet time and gradually heard the rest of the kids awaken and start getting ready for our day. Our morning routine was unremarkable. However, just before bringing in the slide-outs, we did some clothing shifting. Encountering much warmer weather in Florida, many of our winter accoutrements are no longer necessary and were stored away under the bed. To make room under there we also dug out shorts and short sleeve shirts for our next few days basking in the tropics. However, search as we might, we couldn’t find several articles of Jim’s clothing. After essentially unpacking and repacking everything under the bed, we closed up the RV and headed out to begin our day.

                Yesterday, Jim had made reservations for a ranger led canoeing adventure in Biscayne National Park. It was to be the maiden voyage of this particular ranger program and the ranger Jim spoke to could scarcely contain her excitement on the phone. However, as we pulled out of the empty lot it began to rain. The rain was fairly steady when we arrived at Biscayne National Park and the realization that our canoe trip might be canceled surfaced in our minds. Upon entering the visitor center, our fears were confirmed. The trip had been canceled, not due to wind or rain, but due to lightning in the forecast from late morning until early afternoon. The volunteer ranger at the desk who gave us the news, asked where we were from and if we were planning on hanging around a few days. We weren’t planning on staying in the area past today, but after hearing we were from California, he became determined to get us on a canoe trip. He told us of another canoe trip, Tuesday, tomorrow, from 9 until noon. Then he confirmed that it would take us 3 hours to travel from Biscayne NP to Key West, our destination for Tuesday evening. Realizing that we could canoe until noon and still make it to Key West in time for its famous sunset  we decided to sign up for the tour.

                After signing up, we took in the exhibits while we waited for the park film to begin. We watched a film, Spectrum of Light, about the formation of Biscayne National Park and the four distinct areas that comprise it. After that we requested the movie that documented Hurricane Andrew’s impact on the park. The radar imaging showed the eye of the storm passing directly over Biscayne National Park. It devastated the mangrove tree shoreline, the guardians of the park. It broke off the tips of elkhorn coral located in the shallow waters of the bay. And it destroyed many of the parks buildings, restrooms and trails. Yet there were areas completely unscathed despite being directly in the eye of the storm. It was a very interesting video.

                As we exited the theater, Caitlin came back to tell us that a ranger wanted to speak to the Taylor family. As we approached the desk, we found a very animated ranger explaining to Abby that as much as she wanted to make this maiden voyage happen, she couldn’t risk our lives due to the lightning. As Ranger Moira Reagan continued to speak, she started to share with us all that we would have done and experienced on the canoe trip. Not wanting to make us feel bad, she grabbed a laminated map of lower Florida, invited us to sit in a circle of chairs about her, and proceeded to share about the delicate balance of the water system that defines Biscayne NP and the Everglades. She spoke of the special interest groups and how money talks to get a certain idea across. Yet her presentation was very even keel, assigning no blame, but seeking to illustrate how each decision impacted the lives and livelihood of plants, animals and people. To further illustrate her point she asked each child, if they had their druthers, what they would like for dinner tonight. As each answer differed she commented that while no answer was better than the others, it demonstrated how special interest groups work and how often their ideas come into conflict.

                Upon the conclusion of her presentation she asked if there were any questions. Since Biscayne National Park is known for its manatees and dolphins, we asked if there was anywhere we might go to view these creatures. The dolphins, she said, often follow the boat wakes. However, the manatee were currently congregating by the cooling towers of a nearby nuclear power plant, outside of the national park boundaries. This area is off limits to tourists given the nature of the power plant. Satisfied that we weren’t missing seeing what we had hoped to see, we ran out in the rain to continue on our day.

                One of the “must do” experiences of southern Florida is to take an airboat ride through the sea of grass that makes up the Everglades. Most boat tours cost more than what we spent for a five day pass to Disney World and last only a couple of hours. However, some diligent searching by Jim found us Gator Park, an airboat tour of the Everglades that included a wildlife show featuring alligator wrestling for only $20. As we exited the park, we called to see if these airboat tours still happened in the rain. They did. It was only later that we found out we had asked the wrong question. We should have asked if the alligators were out in the rain. As we drove, Jim tried to take advantage of this being the last week of “dead-season” in Florida, and find us an inexpensive hotel room. Having no luck, he found us a nice campground halfway between the Gator Park and Biscayne NP.  

                Upon arriving at the Gator Park, we stopped to have lunch. Just as we were finishing lunch, the skies opened up and the downpour commenced. We searched for our Niagara Falls ponchos without success and ran through the drops to the ticket stand. There we found that the prices were much more expensive than what we had found online. When informed that it was cheaper to order online, Jim went back out to the RV and did just that. While he did that, Lindsey and I, umbrella in hand, searched the compartments and finally located and retrieved the ponchos. Returning inside, Jim found that because he had used PayPal to purchase the tickets, they needed a copy of his credit card. No problem, but Jim had left his wallet in the RV, so it was back outside through the rain to retrieve it. A few trips to the bathroom later, we were being loaded on to the airboat. Donning our ponchos and rain pants kept our backsides dry from the wet benches and steadily falling rain. We had been given earplugs as well and put those in as we pulled away from the dock.

                For those of you who don’t know, an airboat uses air to propel itself just as a motorboat uses a motor. Since the water of the Everglades is so shallow and full of sea grass, a conventional motor would drag in the mud and shut down entangled by sea grass. An airboat is a wide flat bottomed boat with an airplane propeller mounted on the back. The propeller is encased in a large mesh cage making it look like a giant fan. The boat moves along by the wind blown out by the propeller; a loud, noisy contraption that made us thankful for the earplugs. As we headed down a passageway our tour guide explained that we may not see many alligators. (Great! Now he tells us.) First, the noise of the propeller scares them away and secondly, they don’t like the rain as their nostrils are on the top of their snout and they don’t like the rain falling in their nose.

                As we moseyed along down the first passageway, looking for gators, our guide pointed out a wide variety of plants and birds. The birds are simply gorgeous. It is the dry season right now for southern Florida, and we saw the water markings on the trees showing how high the water typically is. Once out of the passageway, we were warned to put in our earplugs and hold onto our hats, he was going to open up the throttle. And open it he did. We were soon zooming along at speeds around 30 mph, slip sliding sideways around turns and generally having a blast. He took us to one portion of the park where the water is between one and a half to six inches deep. Spinning us around effortlessly, we could see the bottom and the muddy sandbars nearby. It was great to feel the wind and the rain in our faces and speed through the sea of grass. All too soon it was over and we were headed back. However, as we returned we spied a gator that our tour guide identified as “Lucy”. After throwing some bread in the water to get her to respond to the splash, Lucy began to swim toward our boat. The utter magnificence of her gliding movement in the water was only marred by our guide’s gratingly improper grammar, “Here her comes. Come on baby. Here her comes.”

                Upon disembarking, we were directed to the “Wildlife Show”. The property is home to dozens of large rooster and hens, peacocks and peahens. At the Wildlife Show we were introduced to a scorpion who, much to Caitlin’s disgust, was brought much too close. The scorpion was followed by a toad and the photo op to kiss it was refused by all the girls except me. But since I already have my Prince Charming, nothing happened. Then we were introduced to the gator in the fenced in area and were taught the proper way to subdue a gator. Later a lemur and cockatiel were exhibited, mostly to get them used to an audience so they could be used in school shows. Finally we were introduced to a baby crocodile which we could hold and have a picture taken with…..for $3. Ben was quick to pass on this “opportunity” saying that he had already experienced holding alligators with my Cousin Dan. Returning to the RV we headed to our campsite for the night.