Since today was another Everglades tour, we had to get up a little earlier again. This entrance was closer, though, so we left the hotel at around 8:40 for our 9:30 tour!
I may have mentioned several times that we are not the smartest of people. We did sunscreen before we left, but what we failed to prepare for, much like last time, was the mosquitoes. We arrived about 5 minutes early for the tour and were consistently spraying ourselves throughout that time. Our naturalist, Isa, was lovely and provided me and Gideon with mosquito jackets and extra bugspray. First, she took us on a little nature walk! It was quite sunny and hot, as is expected for Florida in July, but we did get to see some lovely things. My favorite sight was a baby alligator taking a nap in the mud. What a cutie!
We stopped at the nearby giftshop for some cold water and gatorade after that one! There was a little break while Isa drove us to the next activity. You might think it was relaxing, but you would be wrong. These mosquitoes attacked in throngs and clouds. And there was one in the car. WE spent the whole time practicing for that rhythm band I was talking about earlier, with a new addition! Isa had an electric fly swatter that made a nice little jap, so we added snare to our band! The next stop was another smaller mosquito infested walk to a beautiful look-out. Definately worth it!
The last stop, if it goes correctly, is undeniably the coolest part of this tour. The issue is, they are doing maintenance on these facilities, so sometimes you don't get to see even a drop of what you would normally see. But not today. If you didn't know, there is an old Nike Missile site within the boundaries of Everglades National Park. We were allowed on the grounds, saw the original warning signs and were allowed into one of their garages for missiles! There was even a refurbished model missile in there! It was undeniably sick.
With that, we had quite overstayed our welcome, so Isa drove us back to the visitor center and we started our way back to the hotel. Mom had a client meeting at 3:30 so we were really supposed to head straight there. But it was 1:30 and we were starving, so we decided Chilis was a good idea. In and out, but food that we all love. It was definitely worth it, the bartender even put the blackberry syrup I love in lemonade so I could match Mom's margarita.
We really did have to head back to the hotel after that, which was fine with me because my sweat was cooling on my skin and I was so so cold. When we got back to the room I was very excited for my nice warm shower. It hit the spot. Until, laying in bed warm and cozy after, I scratched my back and this elastic-like substance came off. Gross. Guess I'm peeling now! I put aloe on the skin underneath afterwards… let's just say I was dancing around and Gideon was really confused on what was bothering me. Aloe should not hurt that bad.
At this point me and Gid were pretty exhausted and curled up in our dark and cool room to write blogs and watch The Big Bang Theory. Great afteroon, truly.
We ordered Papa John's for dinner and switched blog writing locations to Mom and Dad's room until bedtime and by then I was very ready to hit the hay!
Nice deed of the day: I think we have run out of steam.