It’s been an interesting week in our little camper, out on the edge of the ocean. We left Chokoloskee, Florida, on Tuesday, after spending Monday paddling two rented canoes with the kind of devotion usually found in Olympic hopefuls. Our canoeing excursion started with a chat with the rangers at Everglades National Park, after which we went downstairs and rented two canoes, one for me and Joelle, the other for Nan and Kerby. A look at the tidal charts showed the tide coming in around 4:30, and there was a light breeze blowing. With this in mind, we opted for what was described as the more leisurely route. Leaving the park headquarters on the Gulf coast, we paddled around a point, under a bridge, and across a lake before heading into a channel that eventually became a beautiful mangrove tunnel. As the sky disappeared overhead in a ceiling of branches, one’s thoughts turned to the wonder of creation and the reports of 24-foot reticulated pythons in the area, the latter easily ignored as rumors until passing through a web of overhead mangrove branches. Just the same, we maintained our courage and paddled on, eventually turning around and heading back toward the park headquarters. Right away we noticed that the wind had picked up considerably, blowing directly up the channel and in our faces. This presented a small challenge in the channel, and a big challenge as we headed back across the lake. Moving a foot for every three or four strokes on the open water, it was slow going…until we got closer to the bridge and saw that the combination of wind in our faces and tide coming in---squeezing through the gaps between the bridge pilings---had literally become rushing whitewater moving directly at us. Paddling turned from intense to preposterous, as a small but appreciative crowd (appreciating it was us and not them in the canoes) watched us struggle to inch our way to, then under, then past the bridge. Moving a foot for every twenty strokes, we paddled and paddled and paddled and paddled—slowly oozing through and YES! We made it! Of course, that just got us back to the gulf coast, meaning we had to fight the full force of the wind around the point to the park, doing all we could to keep from being blown into the rocks and trees along the shoreline. When we reached the park headquarters and flopped out of the canoes onto the shore, the guy who rented us the canoes asked if we’d seen him among the crowd members on the bridge. We hadn’t noticed, which isn’t surprising since it’s hard to make out faces in a crowd when you’re sweating like a pig and paddling for your lives. He said he drove over just to see if we’d make it through. He said they have to go and bring back a lot of people by boat. I said, “You could have come and gotten us in a boat? Why didn’t you mention that before we left?” He just smiled. It seems the locals have their ways of enjoying the tourists…
Anyway, we lived, and once we could move our arms again we decided it was time to say goodbye to our friends at Chokoloskee Island RV Park and Marina. We took a couple of interesting detours along our four-hour drive from Chokoloskee to the Homosassa Springs area where we’re currently camping, turning four driving hours into seven with surprisingly little arguing along the way. The campground here is decent, with armadillos making their way along in the woods just a few feet away, though the crowd (of campers) isn’t as friendly as we’ve experienced in our last few stays. The confederate flags hanging at several of the sites and on some nearby homes might be enough to make a Minnesota Yankee with two children of color wonder if he and his family are entirely welcome here, but so far people have been polite if distant. We spent yesterday at the local state park seeing manatees and bears and birds galore. All over down here you see Ibis birds—so many that after a while you quit looking. At some point, because I couldn’t help myself I started calling them Don Ibus birds just to be annoying, a tactic that seems to be working on Nan who’s taken to heavy sighing and eye rolling whenever I mention seeing some.
The most impressive event thus far on our trip was today’s swimming with the manatees. We donned wet-suits and snorkels, took a boat ride up the river and on into the Homosassa Springs where the water is (sort of) warm, and had a truly surreal time. Some of the manatees literally swim right up and look you in your mask, no doubt wondering what odd sort of creature this is with its strange colors, flat face, and periscope-snout that sticks up out of the water. We scratched bellies and touched noses and had an amazing time I’m sure none of us will ever forget. We were especially glad the local alligator population chose not to join us. “Ahh, we don’t worry much about gators around here” the lady at the rental place said. “That’s probably because you stay in the boat” I said. She just smiled. Just like our boat “captain,” who said they don’t see gators in the springs very often, and smiled. I suspect the locals here also have their ways of enjoying the tourists. (As long as the gators aren’t enjoying us, I’m fine with that…) I carried a disposable under-water camera and took some pictures. Not sure if they’ll turn out—and they involve actual film development (remember that?) so it’ll be a while before we can post anything.
We’re moving on tomorrow, heading first (tune-stuck-in-head alert) “way down upon the Suwannee River” for two nights before heading up to Atlanta for a few days with Nan’s sister and family. We’ve been slower getting out of Florida than we expected, but truth is, there’s a lot to see down here and we could easily stay longer. (Nan actually suggested we spend the rest of our time in Chokoloskee, but I told her she’d have to wait until we retire to hang with the snowbirds.) We haven’t really done the Florida beaches, and there’s much more to do in general, but we’re ready to continue the adventure and mosey along. We’re looking forward to a few days in Atlanta with family before we head west.
(Yes, I forgot to put a headline on it again before I downloaded the picture box... Pretend not to notice.)
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