Air Boat Shenanigans

Okay, not really.  There were no shenanigans.  There were, however, many things to be seen...and - if I may lapse into some grammatically-incorrect word usage - we seen 'em all!  Yuk, yuk, yuk.

The day started bright and steamy, and as we pulled into the parking lot, we observed a big pig oinking at various tailpipes*.  This pig was huge, so we avoided all 'Babe' references and whispered 'nice piggie' as we made our way to the office to confirm our reservations.

We determined that our ride was the one with bright yellow seats.  Of note:  I have an uncanny ability to color-coordinate my wardrobe with random life incidents, and this was no exception.  Yes, indeed.  I was wearing bright yellow.  Craziness.

Me, yellow shirt and Hollywood the alligator.
This is post boat ride, so, spoiler alert, we made it back.

Our yellow-seat boat.
See, I am color-coordinated and obviously fashionable.

We eventually boarded the boat and donned headphones.  As we were on the top row nearest the propellers, those were appreciated.  Our guide offered us all kinds of interesting information as we buzzed around the river.  Enjoy the photos and ridiculous commentary.

Great Blue Heron.  We're sketchy.

He takes off.  He knows how we are.

This is what we came to see.  They kept avoiding us.  Why?
Was it the loud propeller?  The yellow shirt?

The sun was good at finding us

Cypress Tree and Cypress Knees

The water level was pretty low.
You can see the lines on the trees of where it should be.

Length in feet = inches between nose and eyes. This
girlfriend was probably 6 to 6.5 feet long. We were
informed that the alligators that make it to the 7-10 feet range are
more mellow...but they'll still eat you.

We are quite close to her nest.

Helicopter practice?  They were zipping and zooming
all over the place...so we waved.  I always wave at
helicopters, and I always moo at cows.

Look!  Cows!  Moooo!  Moooo!
All over this area, there were cows.
Wading Cows.  Dry Cows.  Sassy Cows.
They were accompanied by zen birds.

This one was striking...and stared
at us from the moment we arrived

...and kept staring.  Look at that
black cow... licking the other one.

Scarlet gave us a raspberry and ate some greens.
This is the life right here.

Indian Mound.  Will have to do some research on these.
I can't even imagine how rough life was back then...
and here I sit, complaining when The Internetz goes down.

Gorgeous Mexican Petunia.

When we returned, nice piggie was laid out by the office door, exhausted#. We took our newly-acquired sea-legs over to see the caged creatures (Hollywood, seen above, as well as smaller alligators, various turtles and a large tortoise with awesome spiky legs). We then sanitized our hands and tipped our captain. He did a great job with the tour, and didn't endanger any of us. We love that in a captain.

Softshell turtle, chillin'

Our captain, with Hollywood, who smiles with his 80 teeth!

This little piggie snored.  The end.

Do I recommend air boat tours?  Yes, I do.  Do I also recommend braiding your hair, if it's longer than, say, your shoulders?  Indeed I do.  I'm still unraveling this mess!

* You'll need to remember this...
# Did you see that coming?  Tailpipes, exhaust, etc.  Sorry - I am related to my father.

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