Our Home for December

We arrived December 1st at the Larry and Penny Thompson Campground in Miami FL.  This is where we will finish up the year of 2015 before heading over to the other side of Florida.

 It's a really nice park and very affordable for being this close to Miami.  The zoo is next door and I've been told that occasionally animals escape and come through the campground.  Well...that sounds exciting!

We took a bike ride around the park and surrounding area during our first couple of days and spotted about a dozen feral cats and one big honking iguana.  At first I thought it was a small gator, but when we got closer we could see it was an iguana.  He was probably about 24 inches long.  So far the feral cats seem to live in the park portion and not in the campground, which is nice.

Our mission while we're here is to scout out entertainment opportunities for the family when they visit over Christmas break.  Our first stop was the Everglades National Park, where we drove through to the other entrance.  It was not anything like I imagined seeing, much more than just swamps.

On Thursday we visited Shark Valley, which is not a valley and doesn't have any sharks.  After a lunch of Indian tacos nearby we took a little hike to see what was out there.

Right after leaving the boardwalk we came across this gator sunning himself up on the shore.

Further down the trail there was another gator near the bench we stopped to rest at.  There were lots of birds, aninghas, ibis, wood storks, egrets, herons, buzzards...you name it, they got it.

On our way back, we had to give the right of way to this guy as he started to cross the road.  I wasn't going to argue.  Who cares why the chicken crosses the road, I'm more concerned about these guys. 

He was heading towards the boardwalk we were on and I couldn't help but think what a shock it would be to come around the corner and see him strolling towards us.

When we returned I noticed a group of people standing together and pointing into the weeds, so naturally I had to go see what they'd spotted, and I'm so glad I did.

There was a mother alligator and her brood, they are so darling when they are tiny. 

I wish I could have gotten closer to avoid the tall grasses that blocked some of the photo, but...well, I have a strong desire to maintain my limbs and when you got too close she'd turn her head and give this creepy smile.  You know how new mothers can be.

After sitting up late on Thursday night to watch the Packer game and see the thrilling win in the last seconds of the game with a 70 yard throw into the end zone; we went and ordered our Packers jerseys.  They should be in before the next game so we can cheer them on proudly.

I'm thinking there will be several movies in store for us in the next few days as the rain looks like it's going to stay for a long time.  

Long Live the Queen of Gators