02/28/19 Flamingo-Everglades, FL

DAY #131

Wow, the last day of February 2019, this month has gone by so quickly.  Just as quickly it seems, has been the time here at the Everglades, even with being hobbled and sidelined most of the time.

 After starting off the day (9:00 am) with my morning ritual (fancy term for using the bathroom), I drove down to the marina to inquire about taking a boat cruise of the backwaters that was being offered.  The cost was $35.00 and lasted ninety minutes.  I had put on my slippers and used the short ride to the marina as a kind of test run, to see how my feet/legs would make out.  They did OK, I was wearing shorts which was a mistake since it left my legs exposed (will he ever learn?), and it didn’t take much (if any) rays from the sun to set my legs a tingling.  Man, looking at my feet, I didn’t get burned, I got roasted! 

Signed up for the 3:00 pm tour and headed back to the camper to introspect for a few hours (or doze, whatever came first).  When I got back to the trailer, I took the slippers off and oh, oh, the blister on my right foot had drained.  There wasn’t any pain, which was a good thing, but now my thoughts turned to infection, oh wouldn’t that be great…NOT! 

Changed into long pants and put on white socks and slipped on my regular shoes.  I hope I’m not making a mistake here.  The last thing I want to do, is take the socks off and have all the skin that formed the blister come off with it. Everything felt OK, so I thought, let’s go see how it works out.

 It was boat tour time.  I made it to the marina in time, boarded along with about 30 other people, and away we went. 

First, we trolled along a man-made canal and in the course of doing so, saw a manatee, and three crocodiles along the way, geez, the one crocodile we saw was HUGE. 

Also saw quite a few birds, one sighting in particular that stood out, was a green heron. Such a personality on that guys face, wished I would have gotten a picture, oh well, next time.  From the canal we entered into a bay that looked like a big lake.  Interesting thing is that it is so large and yet only 3-4 feet deep.  After crossing the bay, we went down a river for approx. ten minutes and then entered into to an even larger bay of water. It was neat because from the park road, you don’t know these two bodies of water are even here.  The pontoon reversed course and back we went to the marina.

The pontoon reversed course and back we went to the marina.

Overall, not a bad excursion and the cost, while more expensive than some pontoon cruises I’ve taken so far on this journey, was still in line to be considered reasonable.  It was a clean, comfortable, safe way to see a part of the everglades, while doing so in a admittedly, pedestrian manner (not always a bad way to go).

 My feet/legs held up ok, still had some discomfort, not bad considering that I ended up standing quite a bit of the time, but I am nervous about when I take the socks off.

Went into Walmart and whoa, I’ve never seen a Walmart that busy.  It reminded me of going grocery shopping with the parents long ago.  Long lines of people buying lots and lots of groceries. Then it was off to McDonald’s to wait in another long line, and then, bring me back to the everglades, too many people!!!

When I got back to camp, I removed the socks from my feet.  My big concerned was confirmed. The area where the blister was on my right foot had the skin pulled away and what was left was a big red, raw area, thankfully, it isn’t (yet) painful.  I bought some vitamin E that I’m going to apply to the skin in an attempt to prevent scaring and promote healing, and I got some gauze and Neosporin for the raw area.

Much of the blog during this time in the everglades has been about my legs & feet.  Boring subject matter that makes for lousy photo opportunity’s (How many times can you see burned feet?).

I’ll see how the weekend goes but may have to put this area back on the map for a future visit. there’s so much to see and do, and I’ve done so little.