Greetings from Club Fred (and Ethel)

Before we set out on our happy little voyage, we decided we’d just wing it and make camping reservations as we went along. That means living with some uncertainty as we pick places to stay, but hey—this is an adventure. So far we’ve had some very nice parks, a very nice house, and a Motel 6. Then we arrived at “The Heart of the Everglades”—Chokoloskee Island Park and Marina. Definitely a unique camping experience for all of us. (Pulling in I noticed a pickup with a bumper sticker that reads "Chokoloskee Island Park and Marina -- A Drinking Community with a Fishing Problem.") A combination of closely situated mobile homes and large RV’s, this is a hotbed of senior snowbirds who spend 4-6 months a year here hanging out, fishing, and…“cavorting” well into the early evening hours. For example, last night, one feller seemed to get a charge out of scaring a few of the ladies who were chatting away in the dark, and when he’d jump out and shout “boo” he’d elicit a blue-streak from one lady that would make a marine take notes. Each time, after the laughter and cursing died down on went the chatting. We’re crammed in here like sardines, with each camper/mobile home maybe 6 feet on either side from the next, so it wasn’t hard to follow their conversation. My favorite moment was when a couple of the ladies started loudly saying “PAR-TEE, PAR-TEE!” You’ve got to admire that kind of enthusiasm before 8pm.

With that introduction, it may surprise you to hear that I just went over to the office and asked to extend our stay a couple of nights. Rather than three nights, we’re going to stay five. While they may be a loud group at night, they’re a very friendly group during the day. We’ve had a bunch of fun conversations so far, talking with people from Montana and Michigan and Ontario and New Jersey and Florida... The couple from Germany on the site next to us is especially interesting. They sat in lawn chairs just a few feet away as we backed in and set up, narrating in German about our progress, and he’s sitting in the same lawn chair literally looking at me now as I type. Their home-on-wheels is a self-refurbished 45+-year-old truck that used to be an ambulance. For years they’ve been shipping it from continent to continent as they travel the world. In it they’ve been through Europe, Africa, South America, Central America, and now much of North America. It seems they’re retired and just plain love to travel. In talking about the US, they said they’ve been impressed with the diversity and beauty they’ve found, but they’ve also been disappointed to find that some of the European stereotypes of Americans seem to be true. Things like we’re loud, we watch endless TV that’s worthless and full of commercials, and we’re self-centered and don’t know or care much about the rest of the world… I wanted to shout at her that she was wrong, but it was time for Law & Order and I didn’t want to miss it. Plus, who cares what foreign people think of Americans?

But seriously, folks. It’s hard to argue with them. We really do watch a lot of bad TV that’s filled with commercials, and as the welcome-wagon demonstrated here, we really are quite loud. When Nan and I were in Ireland a number of years ago we were surprised at how easy it was to identify Americans. So many of us really ARE loud and all but announce ourselves as we enter public places. “Look at me! I’m here!” And most of us don’t tend to know or care much about the rest of the world. Hopefully Kerby and Joelle were listening to and learning from the conversation as we talked, but it’s hard to tell… I will say—the guy has taken some amazing pictures as they’ve traveled. I hope we get even a few that are as good.

So we’re hanging in the “Heart of the Everglades,” squeezed into what seems to be a nice little community of mostly fishing/boating people who clearly enjoy themselves and are glad to be here. As I type, it’s exactly 80 degrees, the sun is shining through the palm trees, and there’s a beautiful breeze blowing through. THIS is what we expected when we headed to Florida nearly two weeks ago! Over the next few days, we’re going looking for alligators and other wildlife, seeing what we can see.

And finally, we’re definitely keeping a close eye on the catastrophe in Haiti. From our short time there, it’s easy to see how an earthquake would shake down so many of the buildings and create so much harm. We’ve heard that New Life Link (the orphanage where Joelle was living) is Ok and Kerby’s family appears to be Ok as well, so that’s good news. Keep the area in your prayers and if you find an opportunity to help, please do….