Time for a update...its been awhile

OUR EVERGLADES AIRBOAT TOUR...with Captain Doug Brown...a man raised in the Everglades. He is one of those folks that actually had a peice of "florida swampland". He showed us where he had a home and dock and a really great piece of "land" on one of the "hammocks" in the everglades...very cool fella This is a airboat that we came across on our over 2 hour journey through the hammocks, sawgrass (very tall blades of sharp grass, careful now folks), and swamp. It is actually not swamp but a fresh water waterway that flows from Lake Okeechobee. This is truley the slow rolling river, it only moves 300 meters aday. Flowing out into the ocean. The Gulf of Mexico and then divided by the Florida Keys, the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
As you can see, this boat holds a ton of folks, but ours was built for 4 but it was a private tour with the two of us and Capt. Doug.... a smaller boat but lots of fun.
A glimpse of the speed that you can get out of this little boat...and this was only cruising along. Interesting, coming from Vancouver Island, that you are only skimmin the top of the water on this aluminum flat bottomed boat. The engine is a Cadillac 400 ci engine with fiberglass props (5 of them) GIDDE' UP!!!!!
Our first encounter...see him on the right side of the photo???? He is resting on the sawgrass, sunning himself
A better shot for you all.

The view off the front of our airboat....they have these "roadways" that you travel down. You don't have to use them with the airboats though. They skim on top of the water. Not anything like at home where you have to plow through the water....We saw tons of different birds, but the pics are not great. Sorry....but check this out.
Look very closely...do you see the littel guy on the left side of the pic???? You can right click on this picture and get it larger. I think you will love it. Especially those with kids... we actually saw about 40 of these little babies at this one spot. They hide in the sawgrass and try to diguise themselfes on fallen branches in the water. If you look in the center of the pic once you enlarge it, you will see at least 3 more...VERY COOL

Interesting facts, mama alligators will have about 40 babies, and by the time that they are around 1 1/2 years of age, they will be able to survive to adulthood. From a family of roughly 40, only 3 or 4 will make it. Their demise is not always just the elements but...this is a kid show as well so, I will leave it at that.

Then, there is this fella....I think they called him crockzilla or something crazy like that...a REALLY big guy...and they can run pretty fast too. "See ya" I am out of there
Doesnt this guy look like a colorfull roadrunner? They are kinda like our west coast seagulls, very bold and looking for something to eat. Not shy at all....prettier than our seagulls though.Oh, and then, of course, I drove the airboat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Did someone say that they wanted to buy some swampland in Florida???????????????