Day 19, Feb 13

Three amazing things:  1- A thunderstorm in The Everglades is a wonderful thrill to experience.  The lightning flashed nearly on top of us from monstrous low clouds followed by booming clashing thunder which roiled and rolled across the vast dark sky.  And then the rain unleashed and came in torrents.  Roads were swamped, rain came in through our wee windows, and I looked with sadness across the way at the two poor young couple camping in their tent on the wet ground as the rain drenched them and everything they owned.  Eventually, they gave up, struck their tent and drove off.  Poor wet kids.  2- Aaron's favorite toy, his electric bug zapper, comes in handy each evening as the mosquitoes and assorted flying insects rush the door each time it opens.  3- Making friends in a campground is as easy as approaching a trailer and striking up a conversation.  Like minded good folk are all around enjoying this beautifully unique place on our earth.  4- Aaron met a family in church who are travelling the US just as we are.  Actually, we come across them all the time.  It's quite amazing how many vagabond venturers there are out there.  It is my father who gave me such wanderlust.  I thank him.

Good deeds:  When the Primary President announced in Relief Society that they were down two teachers, I immediately volunteered.  I love teaching Primary, so this hardly suits as a good deed.  But the ancient (and quite deaf) teacher assigned to this particular class of 8 yr olds not only arrived late to the class but was not the most engaging teacher the kids have encountered, so I was able to assist her quite well.  Additionally, we gave away yet another jar of Costco sea salt dark chocolates to one of our favorite camp hosts here, the guy Aaron calls (to his face) Mr Incredible.  

Dilemma of the day:  Tuesday will see us drive the Florida Keys on our way to Key West then on to the ferry out to The Dry Tortugas.  There are a million hoops to jump to make this expedition come to fruition, one of which is what to do with the truck for the two nights we'll be on Garden Key, home of Dry Tortugas National Park.  I thought I had it all figured out until tonight when I read the fine print which mentions that our truck is too tall to fit into the parking garage.  Dang, I so thought I had worked out all the angles.  Backup plan A called for Aaron to remove the kayak rack atop our truck, but that entails 4 strong men and tools he doesn't have with him.  Plan B was to ask Mr Incredible if he and the Mrs want to rent their car to us.  But alas, The Mrs said no.  So we'll have to resort to Plan C: rent a car through Turo in Homestead to drive through The Keys.  So far no dilemma has been unsolvable; we'll see if this all works out.