Slippery Snakes and Everglades Adventure!

Hey you know some days click, and some days just don't click right? Today clicked, yesterday did not click! I had a great day yesterday but last night I still did not sleep just right because the day just was not in sync. But TODAY was in SYNC. I had a WONDERFUL Everglades Adventure with a group of folks that made me realize that I have the best job in the WORLD!

To be honest with you I did not sleep all that well last night and found myself up at 3:30 this morning looking at infomercials about losing weight. Well I don't really consider myself "overweight" by any means, but frankly after that slim lady with the tight abs and nice little butt told me that she once weighed 7000 pounds and all she did to lose the weight was eat anything she wanted to and spend 4.2 minutes a day on the "glutamous minimus" machine where she lost all but the last 98 pounds, I DECIDED TO CHANGE MY LIFE! So today I decided to run 412 miles a day, do 897 setups, and 293 pull ups, as well as eat the juice from the "miracle juicer" which costs you $29 for a glass of crappy tasting stuff that in most places they feed to pigs! Now here's the deal. If I don't like it they will refund my money! So what do I have to lose? I am like 10 pounds overweight unless you look at the insurance charts which say that I should weigh, for one who is vertically challenged like me, a mere 112 pounds. And now I am at 177 lbs. So what the hell! I may as well pretend that I am flying a lunar module in space to collect dust! So instead of biting off on the crappy sales pitch, I go to the fridge at 4:00am and grab a cold diet coke and 4 slices of cheese and then eat a potato roll before going back to bed for the final two hours of sleep!

Let me say to you that I had WONDERFUL dreams but due to the graphic nature I am not at liberty to share with you except to let you know that "Little Bo Peep" was present.

OK so now I transition to my day in the Everglades! We got a good break in the weather and did not see any rain until I was returning to Cristina's at the end of the day. In fact, I had a great day, void of any discomforts until the last part of being at Corey Billies where me and Denny ventured out for a snake hunt and walked the parameter of the lake behind the Chickee!

Now Denny is a sophomore in high school and is training to take over for his daddy Gary as the chief airboat pilot for us at Corey's! Frankly, I think hes gonna do good! However, he has size 32 shoes, so as we tramped around in the grass around the lake he sounded like a herd of elephants running through Kruger National Park in Africa. So, the four snakes that I COULD have photographed, were scared to death that they would be trampled by that large pachyderm and they quickly departed the view of my camera lens. Just kidding, Denny! You are not that loud! At least no one puts on hearing protection when you give the alligator show! Your daddy can't say that when he takes them out on the airboat ride!

We had a great day, saw lots of wildlife including birds of all kinds and lots of gators. I truly appreciate when customers express an interest in the health and welfare of our Everglades. This crew was wonderful and I was happy to share with them the tale of this "river of grass".

I picked one family up from the Mango Street Inn, a marvelous little B&B owned by good friends Tree and Dan Andre. What a wonderful place they have and what wonderful people! The Island of Ft. Myers Beach has been "improved" by these folks and also by my employers Mike and Cristina of Good Time Charters and Everglades Adventure. It is wonderful to see people in business that truly love what they do and share that love with others.

The ride down the loop road was full of surprises as we witnessed all of the normal species of Everglades birds hanging out in the cypress trees, and the alligators did not let me down either, which gave my guests an early view of my favorite animal of all times.

After a brief stop at the Ochopee Post Office, the smallest Post Office in America, we headed to see Rick at Shealy's, the Skunk Ape Museum. We visited with the alligators, snakes, birds and turtles and then moved on to the Turner River Canal which, frankly, is my best stop of the day since I am an alligator freak--hence the nickname, GATOR D! This is the best time of year to view the gators because they love to lay out in the sun to energize their cold bodies. Winter is tough on tropical plants and animals of all kinds. However, seeing the gators sun on the shore of the river is a blessing. As my customers enjoyed the surroundings of the river and its alligator population, I silently counted about 112 gators within a 3 mile stretch of the access road. That is a lot of gators!

As we moved on to lunch at the Seafood Depot in Everglades City, I gave a brief history and tour of the island and identified the diverse nature of the business of the people who lived on the island. Crabbing pots, lobster pots, fishing boats and airboats made up the livelihood of this island people.

On to Chokoloskee and Ted Smallwoods Trading post where we discovered the treasures and resources of early 1900 inhabitants of the 10,000 Island area. Thanks to Ted, these early settlers had an avenue to purchase or order things that they needed to survive in this wilderness.

After we spent a little bit of time exploring the museum we moved on to Corey Billies for our airboat ride. The weather cooperated and the ride was wonderful according to our customers and we even had an "AWESOME!" from our great friend from England, Mrs. Newton! Awesome works for me!

Well, all good things must come to an end so after a safe and enjoyable ride with Captain Gary, we loaded up the "swamp buggy" (what I call the 15 passenger van) and headed back home. Some days when I am out in the 'Glades I HATE to end the day. Today was one of those days. Thanks to my new found friends who shared this day with me in another South Florida Adventure!

Good Weather AGAIN!

Headed to the Everglades today with 9 folks for an airboat ride and BOY was there good weather FINALLY! I actually went out searching for snakes while my group was out on the airboat (didn't find any) and worked up a pretty good sweat trudging through the trails around Corey Billies. I did run across a 7 foot gator that I got a pretty good pic of and also a great shot of a couple of ibises and egrets.

The group went out with Captain Robbie and boy did they get a surprise when a peregrine falcon flew down and pounced on an egret. This is one of the only birds of prey that will actually kill just for sport. It is a gruesome site to some but just a piece of nature that occurs from time to time that we have to look at as instinct and natural. Nature does not know or understand cruelty. Only instinct.
I had a great time on the tour today and my guests were inquisitive and fun.

We were able to see a couple of small gators in the pond in front of the Chickee at Corey's and also a larger gator in the lake behind the Chickee.

I also saw still another victim of the cold spell on the back side of the lake when I ventured out on my snake hunt. There caught up in the mangroves was a 5 foot tarpon. I had to search around a little for the source of the stench but it was so overwhelming I quickly located the huge fish. Well, hopefully the dead will filter through and we will begin to see new life as the fish begin to spawn again. It will take a couple of years I think to see some return such as the snook.

As I made my way back to the dock from my snake hunt I was able to photograph a wood stork as it flew over the marsh and I was reminded how lucky I am to be here to witness the return of this magnificent bird from the brink of extinction. In fact, the alligator, the wood stork, and many of the birds I have photographed this very day were on the way out due to habitat loss and "over-hunting" during the times when the bird plumage trade was making poor people a lot of money. Yes I'm lucky to see this but I am so looking forward to the day I have confidence that my grandchildren and their children will be able to view these creatures in this vast wilderness known as the Everglades!

Thank you for sharing yet another South Florida Adventure with me!

Ahhh the sun is out!

What a wonderful day in South Florida! The sun is bright and the wind is calm and almost balmy! Well, no, not balmy, really, but just saying "balmy" makes me feel warmer.

Knowing that my first assignment was a 3:00pm Dolphin Watch today, I packed up my kayak and fishing gear and headed to Hell Peckney Bay, a shallow water bight (bay within a bay) which is in Estero Bay. This popular fishing location is a magnet for all kinds of fishing boats. However, only small craft such as skiffs and kayaks or canoes can navigate a lot of the inner waters because they are so shallow. Even I have to get out and drag my kayak across the mud flats at times, which is FUN, FUN, FUN 'cause I can feel all kinds of little critters with my toes as they sink in the mud! No wonder the ibises and roseate spoonbills love that stuff! Its a smorgasbord!

I did not really do a lot of fishing, although the fish were biting, but to be honest I was enjoying my paddle way too much to interfere with it. I did make a few casts but each time I stopped and put the anchor pin in the sand a great blue heron or some other bird would fly by or a boater who had no clue how shallow the water was would begin cussing loudly because they ran their prop up on an oyster bar. Hey, its all good! I have been there and done that, but I just wanted to find some peaceful place where it was just me and nature. I caught a good view of a yellow crowned night heron peering at me through the mangrove leaves. A beautiful bird she was. Glad to be in her world.

The dolphins were great today, and we got some wonderful views of them frolicking away in the cool waters. The water temp has risen to as high as 64 degrees today and that is much much better than a week ago. I would say that temps are normal again, but not all things are normal. Still seeing some dead fish floating so the effects of the cold are still visible.

The black vultures are having a feast still. I suppose there is a good side to everything. They will be talking about the abundance of food in the winter of 2010 for a long time.

Today's highlight for me was the sunset. I think between Sonja and I there are 10,000 photographs of sunsets on disks and on our computer. However, I cannot get enough of this wonderful site. I continue to be in awe of the wonderful color, depth and magnitude of that orange and red globe as it sinks down over the horizon each evening. So I share this marvel with you today and hope that where ever you are that you too enjoy my South Florida Adventure!

Walking on the Beach!

My day started with me preparing to head to the Everglades with a couple of folks on a half-day tour. I put new wiper blades on the van and gassed it up before heading to the first pick-up (we pick folks up at their hotel or prearranged locations and haul them to the Everglades for an airboat ride on our half day adventure or a full day of fun and adventure on the full day tour).

I arrived at the point of pickup about 10 minutes early, which is normal for me, where I set up my iPhone to play some good music to get us in the mood for the day's journey. Today I selected James Taylor. So I waited. And I waited. I made a phone call to the phone number on the info sheet that Cristina gives me, and no one answered. So I waited again. About 25 minutes after the pickup time passed I received a call from the owner and we discussed the situation and decided to cancel. We never would have made our 10:30am airboat ride anyway. Later I found out that one of our guests had a medical issue at the last minute and they had to cancel. Although it is always nice to get advanced warning on stuff like this so that time and resources are not wasted, it certainly is understandable and it made my time seem unimportant in the scheme of things.

Since I now had some free time on my hands, seeing that 4 hours of my day had just been freed up, I headed home, switched into a pair of zip -off Columbia fishing pants (the kind that the lower legs zip off to make shorts if you so desire), of which I elected to turn into shorts, and took off, camera in hand, for a walk on the beach. You see, our home on Estero Island is right on the Gulf of Mexico, so a walk on the beach starts in my back yard.

It was a little cool but before my 4 mile hike was over I had my shirt off and was soaking in some rays. I had plenty of photo ops today. The "wrack line" was full of good stuff. For those of you who do not know the terminology of beach living, the wrack line is that line of "junk" along a beach that is where the high water mark of high tide washes up all kinds of stuff on the beach. In general its mostly natural things. However, it is also where you will find man trash. You know what I mean by "man trash". Bottles, cans, six-pack plastic thingies, and all kinds of discarded items that man (the monster) throws out in nature. Anyway, the wrack line is actually a little eco-system, full of things that attract all kinds of birds, crabs, raccoons, and other wildlife that feed on things that float in with the "junk". In addition to these visible predators, there are tons of microscopic things that feed on the junk too. So, it is really a wonderful environment teaming with life.

I completed my walk, satisfied that I had absorbed enough sun, sand, and seashells for now (its like coffee you can get enough NOW but tomorrow you will need more!). Sonja texted me and said she was headed to Subway to get lunch and so I walked across the street and joined her for tuna fish sandwiches. OK, so tuna, after seeing and smelling all the treasures in the wrack line may give you the impression that fish, especially tuna, would not be my first choice for food today, but R-O-N-G, WRONG! I actually LOVE tuna and it will take a little more than rotting tube-worms, dead and decaying sponges and coral, putrid smelling dead fish, nasty, slimy, dead horseshoe crabs, and stinky feet to keep me from eating tuna. Well, OK, maybe stinky feet would.

The afternoon was filled with two boat tours including a 3:00pm Dolphin Watch and a 5:15pm Sunset Cruise. I am including many different photos tonight. Hope there are not to many, but I had a lot of good things from my adventures today that I thought you may want to see.

All in all, dolphins treated me right today and the sunset was absolutely MARVELOUS! I love living here on this beach and feel certain that there is not anyone in the world with a better job than I have. Enjoy the photos, tell me how you like them.

Phone Troubles and Dolphins!

OK, well then, today started off on a bad note for me in that my relatively new Apple iPhone in which I have become extremely attached to died on me! Yesterday I was successful at getting some wonderful videos of my journey up the Estero River and sometime in the afternoon my phone battery passed away. I put it on the charger and it gave me NO RESPONSE. Nothing. I even tried different receptacles in the house AND even took it to the truck to use the DC adapter. Nothing. Niltch. Nada! Geeze, we become so dependent on technology that when it DOESN'T work, we panic.

HOWEVER, this morning after I dropped my wife off at work I headed to AT&T and was greeted by a nice man who took some time to tell me that there is something wrong my phone. He also told me that he thought it was the battery. Hmmmmm. Smart man. Glad he took that troubleshooting course through his employer. So, after about an hour he finally said there was nothing he could do, the phone was crashed, I needed to make an appointment with APPLE. So, he gave me a number and told me to call. DUH, I have no cell phone! He said I could borrow his so I did and made an appointment for 11:15am, and it was already 11:00 and I was 15 minutes away from Apple and the girl said "Don't be late or you will have to reschedule." I got there at 11:16am but frankly I got lucky cause I was met by Mark, a great dude willing to overlook my sin of lateness.

Mark took a look at my phone and told me that he thought it was broke. Now I must say that Mark appeared to be pretty bright. After telling me it was broke he said he was gonna take a closer look at it so he hooked it up to his computer, took out one of those little gadgets that the doctor looks into your nose and ears with and began to examine my iPhone. I was very, very impressed at the attention to detail and the thoroughness that this young man, obviously much more informed and educated than me on the fine art of technology, performed his tasks with. After about 15 minutes Mark called me over and said, Mr. Locke, I think your phone is broke!! I thanked Mark for his evaluation and asked him how I would proceed at getting it "unbroken". He said that I couldn't get it "unbroken". I said, OK Mark, I'm in need of a phone, can you help me? He said "Sure how 'bout I give you another one?!" YAY!! Now this made me happy. GIVE is a good word for me. I'm poor. I'm broke. I don't have means to do more than get something GIVE to me. So, it took Mark 2 minutes to program and have me sign for my new phone and I was out the door headed back for my dolphin cruise.

Now, forgive me for saying this, but the first question that the guy at AT&T asked me was "Whats wrong with your phone?" Guess what I said? You got it! I said "IT'S BROKE!" The one thing I know is that if Mike and Cristina ever let me go from Good Time Charters, I will be able to get a job with AT&T or Apple! Now if I have offended any of my readers because you are currently an employee of either of these great companys, I will apologize now. I'm sorry. Its like a ballgame. You're not out until the umpire calls you out. Even if you are flat on your face 10 feet away from the base and the defensive player is standing on the base with the ball in his glove wondering if you are ever gonna make it that final 10 feet, YOU ARE NOT OUT YET! So, my phone was NOT broke until these guys SAID it was BROKE!

Now I feel better!

I had a wonderful group of people on my 3:00pm dolphin tour and we had some great times with our friends the Atlantic Bottle Nose Dolphin. We got into some almost immediately, but as the tour went on we got into a great pod of them and enjoyed their company for awhile.

I did not have the same luck on my Sunset Cruise and I felt a little bad, as always when we don't get a show, but like I always tell folks, these guys don't know they are in show business and they don't keep a schedule. So we take what we can get and we move on.

We also saw a sea turtle today, rear end stuck up in the air and at first we thought maybe he was injured. We never figured out what he was doing but he did surface a couple of times and show us his head. Eventually, as I tried to get close to see if he was OK, he darted away from us and made us believe that he was fine.

The sunset was wonderful tonight although it was a bit on the chilly side still. Oh well, the ladies from England said it was snowing big in England and the reports from Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois were not that much better.

It's winter here too, we just sometimes forget that or ignore it and hope for the best. All I know is I did not have to wear my stocking cap and gloves tonight, and that I was thankful for. Besides, I hate my hair looking like a "cone head" after I take that stupid stocking cap off!

Folks, I am a little tired tonight. I am not use to getting so much education on the evaluation and assessment of a broke phone. So I bid you Adieu! Keep looking "beneath the surface" and check in with me from time to time to see what else is happening in my South Florida Adventure!

Kayak Adventure!

We woke up to a torrential downpour today, with high winds and even some thunder here and there. I did not have any assignments today with Goodtime Charters or Everglades Adventure so I decided to head out on a kayak adventure. I checked out the weather radar and it looked like it was going to pass through by early afternoon so I went ahead and did my morning chores and got them out of the way.

I packed the truck with all my gear and decided to head to the Estero River for a nice paddle up the protected old Florida tributary to Estero Bay. I love this river, especially if the weather is not so good because it is pretty well protected against the wind and even on days when we have 15 or 20 mph blows I can still have a nice quiet paddle. That is what I was in the mood for today.

I have two good options for places to put in. One at Estero River Outfitters which is just at the bridge over the river at U.S. 41, and the other is the Koreshan State Park boat ramp just down the street. I chose the park simply because I like the put-in there although it cost $4 to get into the park but it is worth it for the ease of getting the boats in and out of the water.

It only took me about 5 minutes to get the kayak in the water and get underway after I backed the truck down the ramp and unloaded the gear. My goal was to maybe get some good photos or a river gator or two but I was not successful. I did however see several turtles, a nice little blue heron, and a green night heron. One of the most fascinating things about Estero River to me is the "old" live oak trees with the spanish moss growing on them. We can also see the Bamboo growing thick and strong all over the park. When the wind blows, the bamboo rubs against each other and makes an erie sound. Every time I head up that river, for some reason I think about Mark Twain and those old Mississippi River trees, however, I know this is Florida and these trees have a rich history here.

My paddle only t00k me about 5 or 6 miles but I always take it slow so that I can really take in the sites and explore the banks to find turtles and birds who may be lurking in the shadows. It takes a keen eye to really find some of the jewels tucked away under the red mangrove roots or in the limestone rocks that make up the banks of the river. I absolutely love the ferns and the plants along the river. I cannot express how beautiful they are and photos cannot capture the beauty. You have to experience them for yourself!

Occasionally along this waterway I can see snakes, alligators, bobcats, hawks, eagles, and a plethera of other wildlife but today I was not so lucky. Thats ok, I did get to see a canoe tip over and the two girls in it panicked for a moment until they realized that the water was about a foot deep. I did not have the heart to tell them that there were alligators in these waters. It just did not seem right in light of things.

The only drawback to the Estero River is the fact that so many people can be on it at any given time because of Estero River Outfitters' rental program. Just like all "renters" they can be loud and obnoxcious and scare a lot of the animals away before you get a chance to enjoy them but today it was not that way. I only saw one canoe and two other groups of kayakers and for the most part they were quiet so I was able to take some decent photos.

The weather held and I even had sun for a good part of my journey. The river was relatively high and I was able to go quite far up it before turning around and heading back. A lovely day on a lovely river. Just in case anyone is interested in the type of kayak I use, it is a "sit-on-top", Ocean Kayak, Caper model, eleven feet long, and weighs in at about 38 lbs. We chose this model because of its lightness, and ability to steer in and out of tight places. Sonja and I are avid kayakers and we are always exploring. Plus, we have rod holders installed so that we can also fish from these wonderful kayaks.

On the way home as I returned to Ft. Myers Beach, I saw an American Bald Eagle flying over me on Bonita Beach Road just before I entered New Pass. I grabbed my camera and clicked off a few shots. They weren't good enough to post, but boy am I happy I get to see bald eagles!

As a kayak guide and kayak instructor, this is my favorite way of seeing wildlife. If you ever get a chance to come to Southern Florida, check in with Cristina at Good Time Charters and set up a kayak trip! This is one heck of a place to be on the water enjoying another South Florida Adventure!

Day off!

Well today my post will be a little different. However, I will still attempt to inform and entertain!

As I write this I am sitting by the pool at the Holiday Inn on Ft. Myers Beach. It's a breezy day, both Sonja and I have a day off TOGETHER, which is a rarity these days, so here we are at one of our favorite places in the tropics. We are regulars here and season has not quite exploded to the point that we compete with regular paying customers, not that we are not regular paying customers. Off season we congregate here quite regularly, well maybe daily, to enjoy the tropical breezes, tiki bar friendships, and after duty libations and sustenance!

Our good friends, Mike and Cristina, owners of Good Time Charters and Everglades Adventure, showed up at the pool to join us on our day off. Mike and Cristina also happen to be my bosses so I am really having to watch my behavior, even though I am not working! Haha! Mike is so full of energy and always on the move (see photo below). I, being a much older man, have a tough time keeping up with him!

It's a tough life living on the beach of a tropical island. We live exactly one mile south of this hangout right on the Gulf Of Mexico so walking is not an issue! We play a game here called RINGMASTER, a somewhat challenging and frustrating game made up of a hook mounted on a post about 5 feet from the floor and a 2 inch ring suspended from the ceiling with braided fishing line. If the ring is hanging straight down from the ceiling it rests about 10 feet from the hook. The object of the game is to release the ring from a distance and try to get it on that hook! I'm pretty good at it. However, I have lost interest in it because Sonja keeps beating me. I am not a good loser!

Anyway, the goal is to see how many rings out of five throws you can hook on the hook. Sonja holds the record so far with 4 out of 5, giving her the distinction of being the only Dead Ringer in the tiki. I, on the other hand only have 3 out of 5 making me a Ring Buster. Sometimes I don't like Sonja. I love her, but I don't like her! I hope you understand.

Check out the video below to see how it is done.

So here I sit, with camera in hand and I'm still surrounded by wildlife! Osprey, black vultures, pelicans and a vast array of "animals" from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New York, and Germany. Of course we also have a lot of purple and white as well as gold and black running around cheering on their teams as Minnesota and New Orleans go head to head in the division championship game later on today. Man, I love this beach! I was able to get a picture of this alligator hanging out by the pool! Oh no wait, that's a brown anole! The protrusion from under his chin is called a dewlap and he expands it when threatened or when trying to attract a mate. Pretty cool! This little critter is considered an invasive species here in South Florida, coming from Cuba and other Caribbean islands, but frankly I love to look at their behavior, plus the make great snack foods for many native species of birds and snakes and mammals here in Florida.

I love writing about my day and appreciate having this as an avenue to share it! So thanks to my loyal fans (both of you) and I'm gonna put on some Jack Johnson and vegetate for a little here in my South Florida Adventure!

Everglades and Gator D's Imagination!

When I was a child growing up in Alabama I was one of those kids who found solace in my own thoughts and imagination. I never really thought much about it until recently, but it seems that my oldest grandson Benjamin is the same way and it makes me smile when I think about that because I remember where my imagination would take me and how good I felt sometimes when I was there, lost in my world, with all my friends, foes and follies, all by myself, wandering around in places that only I could go to, there in my imaginary world.

My favorite place to explore that realm of the imagination was under a glass topped coffee table in the living room of my house which sat in front of the couch. Even if we had company in that room, I could climb under that table and imagine that I was under water, looking up through the glass at those humans sitting on the couch and I could be anything I wanted to be. A shark, or a whale or crab or fish, looking up seeing their mouths move in chatter but not knowing what they were saying, and frankly not caring. For me they were in another world, a foreign world. I was in my world, under the sea, experiencing things that only I could, in that room full of people. I was content, happy and full of life.

I forgot that coffee table for many years, replacing the solace I found there with other things. Growing up, getting married, having kids, getting a big time job with stress and pressure. Reality. No time for imagination. I never lost it, but somewhere along the way I boxed it up, labeled it, and put it away.

As I stood along the side of Turner River in the Everglades today, and viewed an alligator that I believe to have been the biggest I ever have seen there on that waterway, I realized that I don't really miss that box called my imagination. Why would I? The excitement, the thrill, the joy and happiness I felt in that imaginary world has been displaced by a reality that makes me much more complete. I'm living in a world that I only imagined! It's in my back yard and I have been given a marvelous opportunity to share it with others. I am thankful for that.

Today I traveled to the Everglades for an Adventure with Leslie from New york and Rozz and Russ from Pennsylvania. We began the journey with a long ride to the loop road but along the way I introduced them to Ft. Myers Beach and the Everglades.

After we arrived at the loop, immediately we began to spot and identify many species of birds and got our first glimpse of the alligators who make the water along the road their home.

We visited the smallest Post Office in the United States and moved on to see our friend Rick in Ochopee play with his green anaconda! Now... Rick is a GREAT guy! OK kids, don't try this at home! Sometimes I think these Everglades folks are just plain crazy! I did notice that the anaconda had great traction on that smooth surface, Rick!

We then moved on to see tons of gators on the river, followed by a great lunch and much needed bathroom stop in Everglades City. After the replenishment, we moved on to Ted Smallwood's for a great time reminiscing about the early days on Chokoloskee.

The air boat ride is the final fling of the day and is usually the highlight of the day (because my guests know that my incessant "tour guide soliloquy" will be over soon. Kim gave a good show in the alligator pit and the ride, as always, seemed to be a big hit. Thanks Captain Gary! Once again you gave a great presentation.

Okay, got to get off here! Headed back to the Everglades tomorrow! YAY! Back under the Glass!