Day #5: Sunday - January 6, 2002

If experience has taught me anything, it would be the idea that as soon as I even think about beginning to adjust to a schedule, it will simultaneously change into a new and unique concept untouchable by my mindset.  From what I understand, that’s exactly what happened Sunday morning when it was time for me to get the heck out of bed…

After being told by just about everyone who had gotten up for cooking duty the previous days, it was a common practice for Kathy to walk around and let everyone know when it was time to wake up and begin making the cold eggs for breakfast.  Nevertheless, what happened when it was my turn to cook???  Of course, there was a slight change of plans and there was no wake-up call.  I still can’t recall how I actually managed to rise from the dead in even a close vicinity to the proper time to allow for food preparation, but stranger things have happened in these Everglades!

Today was to be a very exciting day, not to say that the others were anything less, but the schedule held something particularly intriguing to me that morning: it was time to canoe the mangroves!  I fondly recalled kayaking through mangroves in the Keys several years ago and consequently getting extremely lost in the process, but it was definitely a great time!  Needless to say, as soon as we had all finished the wonderful breakfast which I had helped to create, we were loaded on the bus and on our way to Nine Mile Pond.

Actually, we were first on our way down to the marina to pick up our supplies, and I would soon learn that Kathy had planned on me doing some physical work on this trip!  I was somehow volunteered to unlock the canoes with Steve once we had arrived at the pond, and apparently this also meant moving them afterwards!  Luckily, though, teamwork played out in our favor and I managed to get by without having to move all of them, so I was happy.  It wasn’t long before we were off across the water, tempting the tummies of every alligator within miles…
 

Nothing against Suzy, Amanda or Jackie, but how that canoe didn't tip-over is beyond me...

Amber had decided to ride along with Ruth Ann and Bill, so there was an extra seat available in mine and K.C.’s canoe.  Even more surprising was the fact that Jenny took the open position and wanted to paddle!  Most guys wouldn’t have stood for this, strutting off on some macho kick about paddling being a man’s job, but not me – I had absolutely no problem with just sitting back and letting those two do all of the work!  Not only was five miles a long way to travel in a canoe, but it also gave me a chance to play around and take lots of pictures, so they didn’t have to ask me twice!
 

I must admit that we did run into one slight problem right off the bat, or at least I did, and that would’ve been K.C.’s paddle control as he switched sides.  He denied everything, but I still think he made a point to purposely drip water on me each and every time he had to change sides!  It didn’t seem to be much of a problem for Jenny, as she was able to keep nearly all of the water she was paddling through on the outside of the boat, but maybe it was his little way of seeking revenge for my utter laziness thus far on our journey.
 

Aside from getting wet, it was a fairly pleasant trip!

The mangroves in the pond were actually spaced out fairly well, for the most part, and we had little trouble navigating through them.  Somehow we still managed to run into just about everything that came within our path, and as the navigator I blame K.C. and Jenny for that!  Wind and currents and nearby alligator wakes were all brought up as probable causes, but we all know who the real culprits were.  Nevertheless, the constant running-into-things did come in useful when opportunities for close-up shots presented themselves, such as here…
 

I have no idea how we actually noticed these snail eggs, but we did...   Cool, eh?

One thing I don’t understand about this area is how ignorance has apparently managed to hit certain individuals at the most inconvenient of times.  My example for the day comes in the form of the picture below, showing that someone actually got bored enough during their canoe trip across the pond to feel the need to do a little redecorating.  I think I can safely speak for everyone in our group when I say that not one of us had either remembered to bring spray paint along with us on the trip or even found ourselves in a situation thinking, “Man, if I had only brought along my paint…this place could really use a little graffiti!”  I just don’t understand…
 

Bart Simpson was here.

As we slowed down to give the rest of the group a chance to catch up, we also got a chance to take a better look at the various types of algae just underneath the surface of the pond.  It was even cooler to see how it squished between your fingers and K.C. and I thought about how much fun it would’ve been to just start an all-out algae fight right then and there, but apparently Kathy strongly suggested against it!  Whether she was actually trying to protect the creatures or just didn’t feel like washing algae out of her hair for the next week, I guess we’ll never know!
 

It may be called Breadstick Algae, but take it from me, it certainly doesn't take anything like its name!

The group gathered in an open area and we all stretched in an attempt to actually be visible in the class photo for Petoskey’s news paper.  If you look very closely, you’ll notice that it’s damn near impossible to tell where I am in this picture, although some may argue that this isn’t necessarily such a bad thing!  I can vouch that I was in fact present during the shot, although I cannot confirm nor deny any post-production editing that may have taken place…
 

It's kind of like Where's Waldo, except you usually actually want to find Waldo...

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