So, we’re camping in Chokoloskee, FL. It’s an island beyond Everglades City. The Smallwood Store is here & we haven’t made it there yet. It’s been raining a lot. My awning fell down again & so did the tent! I put it up on Sunday & it rained & got all wet inside! Good thing I didn’t put the coffee maker in there & set it up this time! I swept it all out & was about to set it up again, but it poured again & this time the awning pole gave way again (same one) and the whole thing fell down, tent and all! Ugh! I don’t think it’s ever going to dry out! I think I’ll need to put Oliv@ in the garage on the other side so I can dry out the awning. Double ugh! So lesson learned….don’t camp in the summer in The Everglades! However, we did get a few things done. We went to Wooten’s Airboat rides.
This is our Airboat Driver……JR
He was a great driver. Gave us a thrilling ride. We saw alligators in the wild. He spun us around! That was pretty cool. But he was a bit “angry”. Pretty unhappy with politics of the time. Was brought up 2 miles from Wooten’s. I didn’t realize they owned all the land out here for these rides. He said that they started doing these rides in the 40’s.
Then we walked across the street & took a swamp buggy ride with Jimbo. Now this guy was really nice & he had a lot of knowledge. He had made his living by eliminating the invasive plantings in the Everglades. Here he is:
I liked this ride better than the Airboat ride, but it was cooler on the water.
We also did this:
John’s been a good sport too…..
So I’ve been enjoying Olivi@. I’m pleasantly surprised that the bugs have been practically non existent. Jimbo said that the hurricane blew all the larvae out to sea, which eliminated the mosquitos to hatch. There are just a few along with no see ums at sunset. We felt them the first night, but not since.
This was the first nights’ sunset:
Then today this was happening. I thought at first that we weren’t going to get rain, but then this:
Lots of rain in this neck of the woods! We went to Camilla Street Grill. A storm blew in & we got stuck there for a while! The food was pretty good. But then we came back after that & it hadn’t rained at camp at all. So grateful!
I guess that’s about it for now. Time to get to bed. See you next time. Thanks for visiting!
