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Published: February 12th 2019
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With the bed of my truck packed Matt and I were off to pick up Rana, Jackie, and Krista on our way to Everglades City. By the time we had everyone’s stuff in the back of my truck it was so full I wasn’t sure how we would keep things from blowing out as we drove down interstate 75.
It was an easy drive that only required one gas stop and a dinner break. While having dinner an Applebee’s one member of our group (to remain anonymous) commandeered additional silverware that was forgotten to be packed and added it to her purse while the waitress wasn’t looking. For a moment I was afraid that she was actually going to add all of our place settings to her oversized bag but just a few forks, spoons, and knifes were all that was needed.
We arrived at Everglades Citi around 11 PM and made our way over to the motel. Mike and Sherri had already turned in for the night when we arrived so the rest of us just hung out and chatted for a while before going to sleep. The next morning we checked out of the motel, picked up
our kayaks at the rental office and we were ready for an exciting weekend.
Since there were two members of our group that had never kayaked before and one that had kayaked but never overnighted, I assisted in packing everyone’s boat in my groups except Matts. We dragged the boats down to the water and got the ladies loaded up and out on the water. Mike, Matt, and I then launched our kayaks and we were all officially off and on our third annual 10,000 Islands kayak trip. After several hours of smooth paddling we were at Picnic Key with plenty of daylight left to put up the tents, start a fire, and cook a delicious dinner.
Rana helped with cooking the steaks, which was very kind of her given that she doesn’t eat red meat, while “Jackie Salsa” earned her nickname by chopping onion, tomatoes, garlic, and cilantro for the appetizer on my tiny cutting board without the benefit of a table. Mike and Sherri had their own dinner plan which worked out a million times better than trying to cook turkey breast on converted flyswatters like they did last year lol. The meal was great and
we all settled in around the camp fire to chat and enjoy the rum punch I had (always a camp favorite).
The park rule is that campfires have to be kept below the high water mark; however, we were experiencing a super high tide that night. Not thinking about it we put the fire about half way between the high water mark and the water’s edge. As the tide came in we kept sliding the camp fire over a foot or two at a time only to have to move it again after a few minutes. This went on all night! Why we didn’t just move it all the way up the first time I can only blame on the rum punch as I used an entire bottle of Bacardi to make it. Either way, the conversation was excellent and the stars look amazing as there was no moon.
The next morning we all got up and tried a bit of fishing without much success. Where was Jay from the last trip when we needed him? We all had a great time enjoying the sun and ocean and the girls did their photo shoots (I won’t post those
pictures as they are all wearing bikinis). Then it was time to pack up and move our camp site to Tiger Key about a mile northwest of our current position. It was an easy trip with no issues and everyone got camp set back up quickly.
Jackie and Rana weren’t happy when we waded out into the water and I spotted a small stingray. Jackie pushed me towards it the “beast” to protect herself and Rana wanted Matt to carry her back to shore – all the while they were screaming.
It was bratwurst, onions, and peppers for dinner this night. Again Rana took the lead on cooking while Jackie made her now famous salsa. If was a cool night which made for good sleeping except for the loud snoring that required shoes to be thrown as various individuals tests to make them stop.
After breakfast the next morning we packed up camp and headed back to the ranger station and the cars. It stopped by the buffet restaurant we always go to in Everglades City and had a good meal before our 3.5 hour drive home.
It was a very fun trip and I’d like
to thank Mike, Sherri, Rana, Jackie, Krista, and Matt for coming. I look forward to future trips with you guys!
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