Time for my winter pilgrimage to the tropics :) This was going to be an unusual vacation for me because it was structured. Every night was booked in advance. Hotel rooms averaged about $50 per night more this year than last because the wh-flu kept a lot of people away last year.
I picked up my son at the Miami airport and we had time to head into the swamp like I did last year in March and April for some freshwater fishing. He left OH that morning when it was 9*. It was in the low 70's, but there was a northerly wind which shuts down the fishing back home. Looks like it does here, too. We caught about 6 in 2 or so hours. The next day we only caught about 20. Last year I averaged about upwards of 300 per day.
Let's head down into Everglades National Park for the day! I last went here on my honeymoon in 1975.
There are multiple boardwalks we could walk to experience this vast wetlands. One had these huge mahogany trees, the last place I'd expect to see them.
It's hard to really photograph this National Park because so much of what you're looking at is either so close or so far away. There are so many islands of trees with the land only being a few feet above the rest of the area. It creates moats that protect the islands from fires. If the trees grown to a certain height if the land is 2' above the rest of the area, they can grow to triple the height if the soil is 2' even higher on the same island. It's just cool!
These trees all looked dead, but they're not. They actually look like they're covered in frost. I didn't take a pic of the plaque that says the name of these pine trees that shed their needles. They were unique to one section of the park we traveled thru.
What we didn't see while walking thru all of this were the alligators. We saw plenty in Big Cypress!
We're looking forward to the ride from Miami and the FL Keys all the way to Key West. Wayne's never been to SO FL and I havn't been to Key West since I rode my motorcycle there after Christmas in 1977. Lots to see! I didn't expect it to be the same after almost 45 years, but I knew it would still be beautiful! Oh, and expensive LOL
I picked up my son at the Miami airport and we had time to head into the swamp like I did last year in March and April for some freshwater fishing. He left OH that morning when it was 9*. It was in the low 70's, but there was a northerly wind which shuts down the fishing back home. Looks like it does here, too. We caught about 6 in 2 or so hours. The next day we only caught about 20. Last year I averaged about upwards of 300 per day.
Let's head down into Everglades National Park for the day! I last went here on my honeymoon in 1975.
There are multiple boardwalks we could walk to experience this vast wetlands. One had these huge mahogany trees, the last place I'd expect to see them.
It's hard to really photograph this National Park because so much of what you're looking at is either so close or so far away. There are so many islands of trees with the land only being a few feet above the rest of the area. It creates moats that protect the islands from fires. If the trees grown to a certain height if the land is 2' above the rest of the area, they can grow to triple the height if the soil is 2' even higher on the same island. It's just cool!
These trees all looked dead, but they're not. They actually look like they're covered in frost. I didn't take a pic of the plaque that says the name of these pine trees that shed their needles. They were unique to one section of the park we traveled thru.
What we didn't see while walking thru all of this were the alligators. We saw plenty in Big Cypress!
We're looking forward to the ride from Miami and the FL Keys all the way to Key West. Wayne's never been to SO FL and I havn't been to Key West since I rode my motorcycle there after Christmas in 1977. Lots to see! I didn't expect it to be the same after almost 45 years, but I knew it would still be beautiful! Oh, and expensive LOL
