Amelia woke us up at about 6:30 am this morning. She was awake for a bit last night, stirring a bit and going back to sleep a couple times between 12-12:45 am.
We all had breakfast and then we loaded up the truck and drove to the pond that we could see from our campsite.
(Stupidly?) DJ and I both briefly kayaked on a pond inside Everglades National Park. It was intense to say the least.
I went first and it was eerie. You could see the bottom for quite awhile. The water was crystal clear… then it got deeper and darker so you couldn’t. Definitely nerve racking to say the least after seeing “Fred,” the 15 foot alligator last night in a different area of the National Park.
I wasn’t on the water super long, I went straight out to the island in front of me and came straight back.
DJ went next and even tho we didn’t see anything during our brief paddles, it was definitely an adrenaline rush.
Awkwardly, after we got done with our short kayaking excursions, a Park Ranger pulled up behind us. He didn’t seem to care we had just been kayaking. Park ranger asked if we had camped last night where we were parked (we only had the truck and no camper with). Nope.
He moved onto the rental “Cruise America” drivable RV in front of us and asked them the same. I’m not sure their answer, but he talked to them longer than us.
Kayaking and canoe trips is a thing people do tho in the Everglades. There are even dock-style campsites available to paddle too, which would be intense! (See link below)
https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/canoe-and-kayak-trails.htm
After our short kayaking adventure, we went back to the camper and finished packing up to head down to the Florida Keys.
I had prepped lunch and had it ready in the camper before we left our Everglades NP campsite. The boys got tuna sandwiches and I had some celery with peanut butter, an apple, a cutie, and some chile and garlic cashews from Trader Joe’s. It was a great truck meal and I was able to jump out after DJ pulled over for a second and grab it from the camper fridge while we were sitting in some construction traffic.
We finally made it! Holy wow driving the Keys is gorgeous and no joke takes forever. We are glad we are done driving for the rest of the day.
I mean seriously, this place exists?
Our campsite for the next 2 nights! Isn’t she gorgeous? And right off the water!
The best part, the camp host lead us to our spot and directed DJ when to stop. Camp host unknowingly got us pretty much perfectly level from left to right without trying. Winning.
We don’t have hook ups here. We got our solar panels out to recharge our Jackery power bank which is powering our IceCo freezer.
Then we all got our feet wet. DJ actually went all the way in today. I’m sure the rest of us will actually swim tomorrow.
DJ and Jackson out on the kayaks. The kayaks have now been used 3 times this trip already and we aren’t done yet!
Impressively, the kayaks have been used in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, Everglades NP, Yellowstone NP, several lakes in Minnesota, a random lake in South Dakota nearby Mount Rushmore, Fort Collins in Colorado, Texas at Caddo Lake, Big Bear Lake in California, a random lake we drove by in Wyoming, and probably more I’m forgetting…
Dinner tonight was vegetarian tacos in a bag. They were yummy! Our taco “meat” is a packet of taco seasoning, a can of lentils, and a handful of walnuts finely chopped up. Easy and delicious.
The boys are currently showering. After they get back I’m going to do some laundry (Messi wants to help) and enjoy our evening view.
Goodnight!
Adventuring with Amelia 