{gator adventure}

Usually when you see an alligator, it's either on television, or through a large fence at the zoo.  I have to say, I've been pretty comfortable with that arrangement.  For some crazy reason, it's just not how it works here in the South. 

Yesterday we traveled about an hour to a state park to do some hiking, and yes...possibly see a gator or two.  In my mind, I imagined that we would see them from a distance--a far distance where we could ooh and ahh and be excited that we got see them in the wild.  I mean, why else would I feel okay about taking my six kids (several of which are the size of alligator food) there?

We started out the day with a picnic--it was a beautiful day, and really quite perfect.  The wind was blowing, the temperature was in the mid to high 70's, and tons of trees giving great shade.  We all ate a yummy lunch (even the baby), and then we were ready to go!

We had plenty of water in our backpacks, but Jack really wanted to carry his own bottle. And he did...for the whole day!

We headed down to the lake's edge first, where you could walk out onto a large dock, and possibly see a gator.  Right before we go to the dock, there was a sign warning us about alligators (the first of many we would see...) and RIGHT next to it, was a huge alligator--just about 10 feet or so away from us with his mouth WIDE OPEN.  Really??  Was this safe?  And normal?  I mean, this is what people are used to seeing, and it's no big deal? Because I was kind of freaking out.  I wasn't so much scared for myself, but knowing I had little kids that didn't really understand the value of standing still, not throwing rocks, keeping their distance, etc. made me a nervous wreck. I looked around, and there were tons of families, lots of kids (it was right near a playground), and not one person looked concerned.  Or even fazed.  Apparently, this was the norm. Then I looked to the left of us, and there were two more alligators on the other side of the trail, about the same distance away.  We had been there all of five minutes, and we had already seen more than we might see had been at the zoo. 

Rick and I both decided that was probably good, so we turned around and headed for the hiking path.

In this particular state park, there were a ton of different trails and lakes we could see, so we chose one that would be easiest for all the littles.  It was around a lake, with an observation tower at the halfway point.  Miss Caroline was tucked away in the front pack carrier, all the kids had their hiking sticks, and off we went!

We hadn't gone far when the trail was surrounded by water on both sides, and would continue this way for pretty much the rest of the hike.  Once again, we saw warning signs about alligators, including a list of do's and don'ts.  One of the rules was to give a gator the right-of-way.  Really?  Like this had to even be written down?  I would be more than happy to give it the right-of-way, and anything else it wanted, lol.  

I wasn't so afraid for myself, but I didn't really want to have to wrestle with an alligator if one decided to grab one of my kids--two of which would not stop throwing rocks into the lake, even after repeated warnings from the rangers about not knowing what was right under the surface. They even told us that last week someone's backpack had been grabbed from the side of the path by an alligator, and taken into the water.  

Just a little farther down the path, we saw another one, basking in the sun right on the side of trail.  We carefully tiptoed around it, while watching others walk right up to it, and snap an up close and personal photo.  After a few more sightings, I have to say, we were starting to get used to seeing them. Soon we came to the observation deck, where we could look out at all the land around us--swamps, trees, lakes, and lots of trees.  It was actually very beautiful to see, especially being surrounded by it, and no civilization in sight.

The rest of the trail was filled with plenty of rock throwing, gator sightings (the closest one yet...just a couple of feet away from us on the trail!), picking flowers, water breaks, snack-time, climbing on giant tree stumps and fallen logs, puddle jumping, and more.  My kids were all in their element, especially my boys.  It made me wish we were living in the country again, with plenty of space for them to run around and play all of the time.  

 

While eating pizza afterward, all of them declared it was "the best day ever". It's going to be kind of hard to compete with that kind of excitement in the future!