They seem to have a perpetual rush hour

There were three Nike missile batteries here in South Florida as the central first line defenses during the Cuban Missile crisis. One of those batteries was on land that is now part of the Everglades national Park. We went on a guided tour and it was fantastic. I don’t think I actually remember much from that time but more from history class. Our tour guide, Leon is a retired Coast Guard officer with a real feel for the hearts and minds of fellow service men, an avid historian and a man with a flare for story telling. He gave just the right amount of background and context and lots of tidbits from first hand accounts. It gave us a feel for what it might have been like for the guys stationed here during that time. It is certainly one the best Park run history talks I have been to. Don’t miss it if you are out here.

A slog through a slough. I experienced the untamed Everglades, at least for a little while. I joined a Ranger led hike through saw grass prairie and the cypress domes. It was kind of dirty and a bit muggy and lots of scratchy stuff to wind our way through but it was a lot of fun. There was muck deeper than knee deep. I managed to limit my experience to about mid-shin deep. Airplants are in bloom with red, purple and yellow flowers much like the tropical bird of paradise. Woodstorks soared over head. Tiny frogs hurried away from our boots. White, spiny balls that are the blooms of the buttonwood bounced on boughs above my shoulders. Apple snail shells littered the ground where the kites and waders had dropped them. We explored a gator wallow, no gators were home but lots of fish and frogs and bugs appreciated the gator’s handiwork. My shoes went straight to the garbage but it was well worth it. It was a unique perspective and an adventure I would surely recommend.

We took the bikes out for the day for the first real ride since last fall. We started with 6.8 bumpy miles through the woods then on to the road to check out various sites in the park. By the end of the day we had covered just at 20 miles. We ended with some creaky knees and sore backsides. We need to work up to those kinds of days after the winter off!

We have been skipping the junk food but, today after our hike through the “glades” a cold root beer and a bag of potato chips just seemed right. Just outside the Marina store is a good place to watch the crocodiles troll the waters so we took our chips and root beer out to watch. I was watching the croc and nibbling when a gull came down from behind and attacked the chip in my hand. He got part of it by breaking it off on the fly. That was all of mine he got but, I have no doubt he moved on to the next unsuspecting mark. Clever little devil.

It seems that there are now 10s of thousands of Burmese Pythons in the everglades. Among other unsettling results, that is why we haven’t seen a single marsh hare while we have been here. So far they are still being satisfied by small mammals. All this mess because some folks just HAD TO HAVE that attention getting pet that they then release into the wild when it gets too big or too mean or just too much trouble. Never mind that it is the top predator in the food chain in its native habitat!

Does it seem like a good idea to allow folks to rent a canoe in gator country when they can’t even keep it off the banks? By mid afternoon nearly every group of canoe paddlers we met was bouncing off the mangroves on both sides of the canal. Pretty entertaining!