Our first day we started from Thaxton Baptist at about 6:30 after loading the van with all our luggage and snacks (a must with us, we only eat about 6 times a day). We drove about 700 miles that day, ending up in a sketchy little suburb outside Kissimmee, FL. We passed over the various Motel 666es, and stayed at the best hotel in town at $59 a night, and us girls kept Paul's spare gun on top of the Gideon Bible, just in case. We had a great supper at Buffalo Wild Wings though! It was only my second time to eat there. I was recommended the mild boneless wings, since I'm not a spicy food person, and they were great!
Day 2 we drove down to to the Everglades. First we stopped at Gator Park for an airboat ride! We were super excited about that, plus the chance of seeing alligators, but it started pouring rain the minute we started our ride. And wouldn't you know it, it didn't stop until we docked again? FYI when you're going really fast, rain kinda stings! We got out and went to the next thing, a wildlife show. We had a ton of fun with that, since our guide had the most awfully funny voice imaginable. And he made Ashley kiss a toad, then kiss Thomas (how romantic). I liked him a lot less when he held a scorpion (named Esmarelda) in my face! Not funny then!
We decided after that to stop for the day, since we were all soggy and nasty. We stopped in a MUCH nicer hotel in Florida City and camped out for the night. Debo had a migraine, so the rest of us piled in one room and watched tv and talked until bedtime. Oh, and played chiropractor/masseuse on Paul's neck crick!
The next day we hit Everglades National Park. Started out cool, but quickly turned into the biggest mistake ever! We got out at the first trail area and took the first one, a boardwalk trail through some open water and a little marsh. Saw tons of huge alligators, birds, a few turtles, and one snake. We enjoyed that so much, we decided to take the next trail, a wooded one. We didn't step three feet into the woods before billions of Mosquitos attacked us. Now, keep in mind we had been smart and all sprayed down with Off beforehand. We were covered with the things. You literally couldn't keep them off! Me and Ashley McGee didn't make it 100 yards in before we turned tail and ran for the van! The others didn't make it much farther. We got out twice more, each time reapplying the bug spray, and each time attracting more mosquitos in less time. The last place I think we might have made it...ten steps? Those bugs actually LIKE the spray, I think! Our poor van was full of dead mosquitos from where we madly rushed to kill them before they ate us in our own territory every time we got back on the bus.
Finally, that afternoon we hit the Keys! There are quite a few more than I thought. We ate lunch at a place on Key Largo that had actually been featured on Food Network a few times before, the Conch House.
We stopped at KMart in Marathon and us gals lucked in on some amazing swimsuit deals (decent onepieces for $10, tankini 2 pieces for $20!). We arrived at First Baptist Church Big Pine Key late that afternoon, and were happy to finally have made it! We were 8 absolutely tired persons!
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