Everglades NP revisited

After a quick stop at Walgreen's for mosquito repellent, we headed off to the Everglades. We've been to the park at least four times over the years, but when in the neighborhood you have to check it out! This time we started at a lesser known unit called Shark Valley, up on Rt 41. We didn't think we'd ever been there. While there we took a tram ride down the 7 mile road to the observation tower. Lots of people were making the trip on rented bikes. Interestingly, the reason this road even exists is from oil exploration that went on in that area 50 years ago.

We had some great wildlife sightings on that tram ride. Lots of alligators and interesting birds. The water level is unusually high due to heavy rains in January. As a result, there far fewer birds and land mammals than one would normally see - they hate high water - the 'gators love it! It was a little chilly, only in the low 60s.

Everglades is an interesting place. No place like it in the world. A great place to learn about ecology and the effects of climate change and pollution. Not to compare it other national parks, but its not very "spectacular" in the normal sense. I'm sure some folks would find this park very un-interesting.

From Shark Valley we went back through Florida City and then on down to the main park area. The first stop is the always popular Anhinga Trail boardwalk. Not like we remembered it! We concluded that it was because the water level was so high that what we recalled as a smallish pool was now a big lake. We were disappointed that we couldn't see multitudes of fish, like gar, because they had so much more room to disperse.

From there we drove the 35 miles on down to Flamingo, the marina on Florida Bay. We remembered being there many years ago and staying at the park lodge, with the swimming pool covered in mosquito netting. Unfortunately, hurricane Wilma in 2005 destroyed the Flamingo Lodge and the National Park Service decided not to rebuild it. Now there is a good sized marina with boat tours and rentals. We had our supper at a minimal cafe by the visitor center which was actually quite good enough!

On the way through Florida City we had stopped at a South Florida landmark called "Robert is Here" farm stand. It was awesome! All kinds of heretofor unheard of fruits and vegetables. By the way, the best time to visit Homestead Florida is mid-late summer. There are thousands of acres of vegetable truck farms. The Florida Farmers Market is here.

Back to the Best Western by 8:00. Tomorrow we head down Route 1 to Marathon.

Best Western Florida City

Missed the sign in the way in, got it on the way out

Didn't see any! They are becoming a serious problem - they eat everything!

A Very Long Day!

The first day of this one week Florida adventure was a long one! We left home at 4:15AM (that's the 4:15 that's in the middle of the night). Our cab failed to show up so we drove ourselves to the airport. Oh well, no big deal.

We left for LAX, arriving there with a long layover so we had plenty of time to get some breakfast. Then the five hour flight across the country to Miami, uneventfully. We watched "Pixels" on the plane.

The Miami airport is quite an adventure. To get to the car rental place one has to navigate miles of moving sidewalks and a fairly lengthy tram ride to the Car Rental Center. We picked up a dark blue Hyundai Sonata, found our way out of the airport in the dark, and drove the 30 miles or so to Florida City and our Best Western hotel. Arrived at about 7:30PM our body time.

We'll spend tomorrow in The Everglades.

Note on why we're here: Last summer I was in Denver for a Rotary event and got bumped off  a Delta flight in return for a $1,000 Delta credit! Since it would expire, we had to use it. So, given the desire for  a winter break, what's the farthest one can go from Boise on a $1,000 Delta ticket? Turns out to be Miami.