As it turned out, our first trip into the Everglades the other day was actually just a scouting excursion. Found the visitor center. Got the stamp. This time, however, we continued into the park for a much closer look-see.
At
the first hike stop, we had to cover our car with tarps provided by the park
service. Why? The sign said that vultures liked to eat
windshield wipers. Sure. But wait.
We didn’t believe it either, until we saw one going after a brand new
jeep. Got two tarps and covered our poor
little Equinox in record time.
At
that stop we saw some of their resident famous birds. Big critters called Anahingas. We also heard what sounded like a sick cat coming
from behind some bushes. We asked a
Ranger. She said it was the unmistakable
cry of a blue heron.
We
saw a baby gator. Then we saw a bigger
one swimming around. Then we saw a
really big one sunning. Then we saw the
monstrosity of them all under water with just his head sticking out. His head was as long as the boardwalk was
wide. Yikes.
We
drove into the park further and tried to see the Nike Hercules Missile Site. It was installed during the Cold War shortly
after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Supposed
to all still be there. We couldn’t get
beyond the sign pointing “that way.”
We
then decided to head back so we could get on the road to Key West. We stopped at the visitor station on the way
out and found out that had we driven another thirty or forty minutes further,
we might have possibly seen a manatee.
Sure.
Instead
we headed into the Keys. After driving
an average of 10 or 11 miles an hour for … ever … we got to Robbie’s on
Islamorada. Wild and crazy people but
the food was great. Nobody has served
alligator yet, though. Chris found a place
that for sure serves it for when we come out of the Keys. Guess I’ll wait. Meanwhile, we got to watch people feed
tarpons from the deck of the restaurant.
Big tarpons. Like 5 feet
long. Problem was, the pelicans wanted
their share as well. At one point I had
to save a toddler’s life. He was
squatted down with his mom, holding a bait fish. Unbeknownst to them, a pelican was creeping
up from behind. Suddenly he made a dash
for the kid. I saw it just in time to
jump between the two, sacrificing my body.
Actually, the pelican stepped on the brakes and skidded to a stop. He didn’t fly away, though. Not afraid of humans, these pelicans.
The
final hour and a half or so to Key West was filled with spottings of little
alligators and big lizards off on the side of the road. We finally arrived in time to see one of the local
wildlife favorites … a chicken. Chickens
are free to roam the city around here.
Not sure why. But …
chickens. Welcome to Key West.
1
Corinthians 13:7 says, “It <love> always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.”
Father,
thank you for getting Steve and Susan on their plane back to Texas. And thank you for getting us all the way down
here to Key West. Amen.
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