Yesterday after we got settled in our camp site we discovered the guy next to us is from River Falls, WI., Gary Grimm. His son has a dairy farm near River Falls. Ellie's brother, Tom, lives in River Falls. We talked to Gary again this morning before he headed out. Gary said he met a couple who lives here who is also from River Falls. Before we left Betty Spears stopped to tell us her husband knows Ellie's brother, Tom. She invited us over for coffee and her husband, Gary Spears, got back from his bike ride so he could tell us how he knew Tom. Gary had the Tru-Value store and Tom was a regular customer. Once again, SMALL world.
Our first stop was at Doug's Air Boat rides. We took a 45 minutes ride through the mangroves, sometimes very slow and sometimes at a very fast speed.
It was quite an experience. It is also amazing that the driver knew which way to go.
There were ao many twists and turns.
Next stop was a H. P. Williams Wildlife Station. We finally saw our first alligators....four on them.
Before we left two gals approached us and asked us how we liked our Roadtrek. So we talked to them 15 minutes or more. Found out they were from Madison, WI. and worked for the State of WI. So does Ellie's sister, Kathy.
Next stop, Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park. We are using our Senior Pass for National Park....free entrance after our initial purchase last year for $10. As we park we see a familiar vehicle. Sure enough, Gary Grimm. He went on the tram ride at Shark Valley and said it was great. But we decided to bike the trail. We were too late to go on the bike ride so we headed out to get our campsite. Fellow Roadtrekers and the Shark Valley volunteer told us of Pinecrest Campgrounds.
After getting our campsite we went for a bike ride but Phil's bike had a flat so he didn't get very far. Ellie got a good ride in. She went to where campers said there was an alligator. Sure enough, as they said, at first glance, it looked like a tire in the road. BUT, it was an alligator. Ellie did NOT go close, nor have the camera. So just a visual memory...missed the photo op.
There were 7 campers that night. Four RV's and three in cars or vans. The price was right. Zero. We ran the generator in the evening to give us electricity. We made baked potatoes and chicken. Because we should run the generator for two hours at a time, we brewed coffee for the morning.
We finally finished a movie that took us three nights to finish. (Started it 2-9. This traveling....gets us to bed by 8 or 9 pm!
P.S. Often we are in areas with no 3G or WiFi so our postings are several days late. We are traveling in the open air country.
Location:Everglades National Park, FL.
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