The Everglades!!

I can’t even handle how beautiful these sights were!! I really wish I could have gotten better photographs of it all but, we had our camper attached to us and couldn’t just pull over, as it’s a single lane road with no hazard lane. Ugh, I was so upset but - memories!! I got those and a few videos. We did pull off at a rest stop and saw over 40 alligators! And they weren’t little ones!

We stayed on Chokoloskee Island in the Everglades. Our campsite was the nicest we have stayed at! We had our own fishing dock. And, we fished for over 12 hours!!! It was so much fun! Trey and I both really love fishing. When we first got married, we would go fishing all the time. It was cheap and fun for just the two of us! Once we had our babies and life got too busy, it was one of those things that just fell by the way side. So, thankful Trey and I were able to do this!!

The very first bite I got, vibrated my line! It snapped the bait right off my line and took off with it! The pull of it was intense and then SNAP!!! My line popped so fast! Oh man, I was so bummed. I didn’t care if I pulled that thing off shore, I just wish I could have seen it! It had to have been huge! We were guessing it may have been a snook. We could see them across from our dock feeding. Shew-weee! Such a fun experience!

We had a few more bites and snapped off lines before we finally pulled in our first fish. Trey caught a sea catfish. They are so gorgeous!! Their fins are incredible and they really look like they could take off and fly!

Next up was . . .drumroll please. . .a barracuda!!!! Whoa! As Trey was reeling in his line, it snapped his bait and then popped his line with his razor sharp teeth. Our shoulders sank as that fish disappeared into the water under our dock. Oh, we were so bummed!! And, then, we heard it behind us flailing around with his lure still in its mouth. I ran to the camper and grabbed the kids tiny nets. I was able to get down to the water and wedge the barracuda in both of the nets and pull it to the shore. My goodness! We almost lost him!

After dinner, right before the sun dipped down, Trey and the kids and I went back out for some more! I was able to snag a good sized catfish!

This is one of my fave locations! I really loved that we were right on the water. Waking up at 6:00am I would have my quiet time, coffee and then head out to fish and spend time with Trey before the kids got up and watch the dolphins - This was the best!!!

Can’t wait until the next adventure!