Everglades Adventures - Day 1

 Am I back in England? 


Day 1… arrival


9 hours on a plane and l am transported to a bright sunshine warm London day to…  a warm torrential rain version of Florida! 

Hey…  how did that happen.. I thought the rainy season was done and dusted by now! Apparently not. It seems to have become a habit for me when driving in the USA, on the wrong side of the road, in an automatic, that I must do it first in a rainstorm. That was how I left Boston, In torrential rain and seemingly now also leaving Miami. 


It takes a while to get used to the sensitive controls and the automatic…  driving on the other side of the road isnt so bad, I flip into it fairly easily it seems. I do talk aloud to myself at every junction though to ensure I get it right! 

First stop was Bass Pro store which is the shop I first went to in Arizona, when Louize and Mark introduced me to the all American outdoor store. I loved it and so, given that I had to pick up a gas canister, I found one of the chain in Miami and made it my first stop. It wasnt as big as the one in Arizona and I was expecting waaay more boats but the Arizona store was ahead in those aspects. The gun racks were disappointing (not a semi automatic in sight) and there wasnt the cornucopia of stuffed animals on the walls in this one. So I walked in, bought my gas cannister and almost walked out again but a T shirt caught my eye and I added that to my basket. 

Then on to Target to pick up some groceries. I was so tired that when I paid at the till, I left one whole bag behind, which I only discovered the following day. 

Still, that all done, 2 car parks negotiated and now to head out of Miami and towards the Everglades National Park 

It was a looong road, and it was by now pitch black. I almost zoned out, having had a very long day and probably suffering slightly from the differing time zones. At last the campsite came into view and I picked up the instructions that had veen left for me about where to park and pitch my tent. 

I got out of the car and was immediately assaulted…. by mosquitoes…  and smaller bugs  and…  just about every type of biting insect you could imagine. I sprayed on deet…  everywhere…  

I have never pitched a tent so fast in my life…  nor dived into one and zipped up so quick… 

unfortunately many of the mosquitos made it in with me… 

Within 10 minutes of entering the tent, it looked like a scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie…  you know…  the scene where every body dies and blood smears the walls? 

Well blood was certainly smearing the walls because every time I got a mosquito it exploded.. spattering bright red droplets of my blood everywhere. Somehow, they had already bitten me all over. 


Eventually I settled down, snuggled in my sleeping bag, hoping there was nowhere the mossies could attatch themselves to. But I was too hot (this has never happened to me camping before.. im always frozen) so the sleeping bag became a quilt and I crossed my fingers that you cant die of mossie bites.. otherwise I was in trouble…. 








Comments

  1. Unknown25 November 2021 at 00:44

    Memories of Fort William without the heat. Love Mum xx

    ReplyDelete

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