On this expedition to the Everglades we went to Picnic key, Lulu island, and a small portion of the Gulf of Mexico. Our first couple days were full of excitement and confusion. On the first day we traveled 8 hours in the car. Luckily I had my ipod. Alex and I were both listening to it. I think that had none of us had our ipods, it would have been a much more hectic day.
Then the next day our trailer decided to blow a fuse to the brake lights and we spent hours trying to find a way to fix it. In the end, we just drove with our hazards on for a while. Then Judson and me went looking for a place to get the lights fixed. First, we went to the ford dealership. But for some odd unexplainable reason, they did not know how to fix it. Then we went to an auto shop. They said they could “look at it”, but they said they wouldn’t be able to for at least an hour. We were not going to wait that long so Judson said, “I have a last resort.” So we went to a car upgrade shop. While Judson was talking to the man who worked there, I had better things to do. I went over to the mechanic and struck up a conversation. I can just imagine my parents saying, “Well, this will keep him occupied for at least two days.” I was talking with him and I was able to gather that he has had Ferraris, Dodge Vipers, Porsches, and other high-end vehicles come in to be worked on and he fixed them all. I also learned that the manager of the company, the man at the front desk, owned a Dodge viper and races it frequently.
In the end we got our trailer fixed and we returned to everyone else triumphant.
The next day we traveled the last 6 hours to the Everglades and we camped in a KOA campground. That night we got a couple unexpected visitors. The raccoons that inhabited this area were very inquisitive of us and of all of our food. And the weird thing was that they came right up to us and were coming down from the trees. I was going close to them to get a better look at them and to see if they were friendly. But then one of them started shifting over to me and at that time I started to get the feeling that I would be in a very weird situation that could have possibly ended up with me wanting to keep the friendly animal. So I booked it back to our campground.
The next day we went to the Everglades ranger station and dock. There we unloaded our canoes, paddles, and Personal Flotation Devices. We put our small vessels in the water and paddled a little ways out into the water. At that time I noticed that we were right next to the end of an airport runway and I had hopes for later. Then we practiced how to deal with flipping our canoe and turning back over and how to get back into it without having people have a good laugh at our failing attempts. Then we practiced paddle strokes for a little and then we started to head back to shore. But before we left, remember how I had hopes about the runway, I got my wish. Suddenly I heard a humming noise that was quickly getting louder and nearer. Everyone else started to quickly recognize that it was there as well. I started to say a profanity that started with the term, “Oh Shiiii$#$%%^$$%%!!!!!!!” Then a huge turbo-prop airplane screamed over our heads. It was only about 10 or 15 feet above us! Then more and more started whizzing over our heads. Then we headed to shore and headed back to our campground. That night we went fishing in the little lake that was at the KOA.
I hate mullet. They are vegetarian fish. It just doesn’t make sense to me that they had to be created like that. That night they were everywhere, jumping and flailing every five seconds as if either they were each having simultaneous seizures, or if they were trying to get on our nerves by taunting us. I really wish I had my cast net at that time. Then I could say “ who's the boss now?” We didn’t catch anything though. I slept and dreamed of catching each and every one of those stupid ignorant mullet.
The next day we headed out to sea. Our first stop was Picnic Key. We traveled about seven miles to get there. During that time I was very excited that we had many dolphin escorts on our trip. When we finally got to the island I was the first one done and immediately grabbed my fishing rod and threw a line in. on the first cast I caught a foot and a half long Goliath Grouper!!!!! Then James caught about five fish including four Spotted Sea trout and a Ladyfish.
We had a very good nights sleep that night. The next morning we woke up and right after all of my schoolwork was done, started fishing. That day Harris caught Jonathan, a Sea trout. We nicknamed him Dinner. We ate him and he tasted very good. The next day we went to Lulu Island. Just as we were pulling in I noticed some people on the other end of the island. I looked a little closer to see what they looked like. I was then very surprised that they had no clothes clothing on. And to make matters worse, they were both at least 50 years old. I was right then and there traumatized for life on the spot. I quickly went ahead and made myself busy with other things. We did not stay there for long. After that we went back to Picnic Key. When we got there I decided to finally let Nolan use my fly rod. I was then very surprised when Nolan started yelling, “ I got a fish! I got a fish!” we named it dinner as its real name because we were going to eat it but then I drew my attention to my fly-rod and quickly recognized that the tip of it had broken in half. I crossed out the idea that the piddly little fish had broken it because the fish was barely a foot and a half long and that it was less than 2 pounds. I also crossed out the idea that Nolan had broken it because he did nothing wrong with it like bending it hard, twisting it, shaking it, or anything else. So my best guess is that either the rod just broke for some odd reason, or that it bent possibly in just the wrong way and broke because fly rods can take a lot of abuse.
The next day we started the 7-mile trip back to the civilization. When we stopped for lunch we had a very unlucky situation that happened to us. What happened was we stopped in this little alcove that was shouldered out on both ends, so when a big boat went by the wake from it was focused right at us and two of our boats filled completely with water and debris. But after getting battered by waves for at least 5 minutes, Judson decided to haul our butts out of that disaster area. We kept going and finally stopped at a big sandbar and ate lunch. Then we paddled in to shore, we packed up and changed out of our sweaty, smelly, testosterone filled, clothing, and then headed home.
This has been one of the greatest expeditions or trips I have ever had in my entire life and I will never forget it.
