Vivian's RV Vignettes

I want to catch you up on my last week, but first a disclaimer.

As I’ve been working on this blog, I’ve given some careful thought to what I share. Do I just share the positive, fun stuff? The great adventures? The great misadventures that make dramatic/ funny stories afterwards? How about the boring, frustrating times that come with travel? The stress of trying to juggle a full workload of consulting services and unpredictable deadlines with pre-determined checkout dates, travel days, and excursion reservations? The fantastic, inspirational people I meet? How about the annoying, discouraging ones? The good I see in the world, or its injustices and problems? The controversial takes that might make some of my readers angry?

I know what an INCREDIBLE privilege it is that I’m getting to do what I’m doing. I want to steward that well. In my own mind, I try to focus on the best parts of it and let the rest go. In my writing, I generally highlight the parts that my readers will most enjoy. But I want to be honest and keep it real. I don’t want to create a false “Instagram effect” picture that I’m on a carefree six-month vacation with no problems and day after day of perfect enjoyment. I *am* enjoying myself a lot, but even if I weren’t busy keeping my business going, RVing is a lot of work with a hefty share of chores, and travel itself comes with its own frustrations and “down” times. Traveling alone can also be lonely at times. Part of my reason for blogging and Facebooking is so that I have people to share my experiences with, even if you aren’t here in the flesh.

All that to say, I hope my readers can enjoy following along with me and vicariously enjoying my adventures without becoming discontent with their own different life situations and gifts from God. If you find yourself falling into envy from an unrealistic picture of my life, just envision me emptying out my sewer tanks, catching and releasing the giant spider in my bedroom, stressing over how I’m going to get a package from Amazon delivered somewhere I can pick it up along my route, or having to rearrange my campground reservations because I absolutely MUST sit still long enough to finish a grant for a client. Hopefully that will help bring some balance.

Ok, enough of that. On to a travel update. 🙂

I really enjoyed my time at Peace River. They have an amazing network of trails through palm and cypress woodlands, and I went for long walks just about every evening. The most prolific wildlife that I saw were the little chameleons that made an almost constant pattering sound in the branches and litter of the forest floor, but I also saw wading birds, a couple of deer, and alligators in the river. (I was just as glad not to see any snakes.)

On Friday, I made the long drive down to Fiesta Key, just east of Long Key in the middle of the “Key Chain.”

I finished up listening to Eric Berger’s book “Liftoff” on the first half of the drive (a fascinating look at the inner workings of SpaceX, and just how close it came to failure before it succeeded). For the second half, I switched to an audio guide I purchased on the Guide Along app (formerly Gypsy Guide) on my phone. Margaret introduced us to Gypsy Guide last summer for our trip to Yellowstone/ Teton/ The Grand Canyon/ Petrified Forest. The audio guides download to your phone (so they work even if you lose cell signal) and they use the phone’s GPS to know where you are and play the appropriate commentary for that spot on the route. The narrator, Dave Pettitt, gives off all kinds of interesting facts about local history, culture, geology, and ecology, along with helpful travel tips and specific “turn here” driving directions, in an unhurried, calm, friendly voice. It really does start to feel like you have a knowledgeable local in the car with you. I did find myself wondering if he had in fact been to all the places he was talking about or if he was just reading convincingly from a script written by someone who had, but in this Miami-to-Key-West guide he actually talked about his personal (terrifying) experience of surviving Hurricane Andrew, so I guess he really has been here. (I looked it up later, and it seems he lives now in British Columbia.) Thanks to his advice, for lunch today I tried a local delicacy, conch fritters. Not bad.

On arrival in Fiesta Key, I got set up in my campsite, and took the evening to unwind. I went to the “beach” area first. This little island (which is entirely taken up by the campground) is raised a couple of feet above sea level with a little sea wall around it, so there’s no gentle sloping sand beach. Instead, there’s a sandy/gravel area with an open-air restaurant, a bunch of lounge chairs and umbrellas overlooking the water, a swimming pool built into a one-story-high deck, hot tubs, a picnic area, and a marina. To actually get into the ocean, you walk down metal stairs into a curved inlet in the sea wall where there is a roped-off swimming area. The water is immediately out of my depth and the waves tend to be a little choppy instead of the smooth combers I’m used to from Galveston beaches. They slosh back and forth between the rock walls, making swimming a more athletic experience. Truthfully, I didn’t stay in very long before retreating to the calmer waters of the pool and then the hot tub. There I met three generations of a nice Spanish-speaking family (originally from Cuba and Venezuela) and explained my travel plans bilingually to an interested audience. Afterwards, I wandered over to the marina and watched a spectacular sunset, where the sun was a solid orange ball sinking perceptibly into the water and creating a distorted pool of light as if it were melting. (I didn’t have my phone with me since I’d been in the water, so no pictures except in my head.)

Yesterday (Saturday) I had booked a three-in-one tour from a company in Miami Beach. I don’t usually do a lot of package tours… I prefer to wander at my own pace. But sometimes they are the only way to get access to special things, or the most efficient and affordable way to see the best of a place. This one included something I really wanted to do, an airboat ride in the Everglades. Realistically, in trying to visit 34 national parks and assorted other attractions in such a short time period, I will only get a little bit of time to spend in each place, so I am trying to capture the most “quintessential” experience of each. And when I think of the Everglades, the picture in my mind is of an airboat. So I saw this tour offering an airboat ride plus a bus tour of Miami plus a boat ride in Biscayne Bay for a very reasonable price, and I decided to give it a try.

The downside of my chosen tour was that it started from Miami Beach, a good two hours from my campsite. I had to get up before dawn, and I still almost missed the bus because they didn’t warn me I’d have to find a place to park. But I made it and got to go to Sawgrass Recreation Park (which is in the Everglades but not within Everglades National Park… the Everglades extend far beyond the national park boundaries).

You’ve probably seen airboats on TV shows about swampy areas. They are very shallow-bottomed boats driven by an enormous propeller fan on the back. They’re great for swamps because they basically skim over the top of the water without damaging plants and animals below. I was amazed at how we plowed through thick stands of grass, higher than our heads, and it just bent over to accommodate us and then popped right back up behind us, where a speed boat propeller would have torn up the vegetation and gotten hopelessly fouled in minutes.

I was lucky enough to get a seat in the front left-hand corner of the boat, which gave me a great view. I will admit, though, that it was a little intimidating when we started going at speed through the thicker areas of grass. I kept flinching, expecting a head-on collision. We had been warned not to stick out our hands because the vegetation is sharp (after all, it’s called SAWgrass). But actually the shape of the boat was very effective at bending grasses not only forward, but away from us to the side. I only got smacked a couple of times, and I can’t say it was really painful.

Ride video: https://www.facebook.com/502000295/videos/pcb.10167762824915296/6254311311326355

I asked afterwards, and our captain said that the boats might be capable of going as fast as 80 miles per hour in open water, but the “speed limit” in the area is 45, and we probably only went 30-35. It felt incredibly fast, though, in an open boat with no windshield. And it feels a bit surreal to plunge into “solid” walls of grass at that speed. But in the open areas, it was exhilarating. I may have done a little bit of whooping.

Our captain made a point of looking for alligators. We spotted two of them, and he stopped each time so that we could take pictures.

After the boat ride, we got some time to look at the “Alligator Show” from the small conservation operation on site. They have two big gators, Cannibal (an 800 lb. male) and Crystal (a 300 lb. female).

Apparently Cannibal was born on an alligator farm and put it out of business by eating the females he was supposed to be breeding with. Crystal was wild-born, but she entered captivity when she insisted on living in someone’s back yard (probably after being fed by humans) and got kicked out of other rescue facilities for fighting with all the other alligators. When she arrived at this rescue, they very nervously put her in with Cannibal to see what would happen. She walked right up to him and bit him in the face, and it was apparently “love at first bite” because they’ve been a breeding pair for 15 years now. I got a chance to pet one of their babies.

The staff member who told us all this actually did so from inside their cage. He walked in there with just a stick (like a rake handle) for protection, and the gators tolerated his presence very equitably. He had a great sense of humor about the whole thing. I happened to be sitting nearest the gate where he entered, and he told me very seriously, “It’s your job to come in and help if something goes wrong.” I replied just as seriously, “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.” He taught us a lot about alligators and their habits. Unlike crocodiles, which consider humans fair prey, alligators can’t actually eat people. We’re too salty for them and give them kidney failure. When alligators attack humans, it’s either because they feel threatened (especially mothers guarding eggs or young) or because humans have fed them and they associate us with food. In other words, they’re a lot like black bears. Crystal is “pregnant” with eggs right now. The staff guy said that it will be his job to retrieve the eggs once they are laid (because he’s the most nimble person there) and Crystal won’t like it, but it’s necessary because the enclosure isn’t big enough to give Crystal the separation she would need from Cannibal to feel comfortable raising her young there. They’ll be cared for by humans instead.

After the Alligator Show, we took the bus back to Miami Beach and I had an excellent lunch at a Cuban restaurant there. The second and third tours of the day were, unfortunately, less enjoyable. (See above about the downsides of travel.) I was hot, tired, not very interested in what we were seeing, and my inner introvert was done with being herded around with a bunch of other people. I offered some suggestions for improvement to the tour operators: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34439-d8066098-r889361298-Miami_Double_Decker-Miami_Beach_Florida.html

In Little Havana, the most Cuba-like thing I found was a park full of old men playing dominoes very seriously.

I got some nice pics of the Miami skyline and the Biggest Cruise Ship In The World, though.

On the last bus of the day, going back to the start point, we got stuck in an epic Miami traffic jam (probably related to the Heat-Knicks game, the Formula 1 race in town, and the sudden rain storm that sent us scurrying from the open top deck of the bus to crowded shelter below). By the time I got back to my RV, it was after 11pm and I was exhausted.

Today, Sunday, I decided to take things easy. I watched video church in bed and walked over to the on-site beach restaurant for lunch (where, as I said, I tried fried conchs, as well as lobster tail).

Ah, island life. I followed it up with an afternoon nap, and then went back out to a very windy evening and walked around the marina a little bit.

I loved having a leisurely day today after yesterday’s busyness, but I do need one more “busy” day this week if I actually want to see my targets, Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park, before I move on to Key West and Dry Tortugas on Thursday/ Friday. I’ve got business meetings tomorrow, so I’ll have to do those on Tuesday or Wednesday. That’s a pathetically short time to spend on two major parks; I’m sure I will barely scratch the surface, but that’s the reality of doing what I’m trying to do in a six-month tour. I look at this as an advance scouting mission to hit the highlight of each park and survey which parks I’d most like to return to in the future for a more in-depth visit.