Alligator Alley

Early in the morning we were woken up by loud mom and dad calls and the corresponding pinches and slaps in the face - time to get up 🙈🙈🙈 This meant for this day besides the daily actions also packing suitcases for the next journey. This time with the prospect of a longer stay. Namely until 16.07.2016! During these weeks we have set up our 'home base' in NAPLES and will start several excursions to various beaches, cities, sights and the Everglades from here.

Before our hotel door we were still expecting a little surprise: the Viennese people left us their little Steroppr cool box and filled it with nuts, cookies, a peach, an air freshener, grape jam and a cold can of beer. All remnants of their journey, which ended on the same day with the flight home. We also got a very smart tip for cooling the box. So all car tour drivers beware: instead of filling and cooling everything with ice cubes as is usual in the USA, simply use ice-cold beer cans!!! No melting, no water and you still have a use for them and can use them again and again (as long as you could resist) 😊

THANK YOU to Edda and Erik !!!! That was very kind!!!

So packed the car, started the engine and off in the direction of the Gulf Coast.

The first part of the journey took us back up to Miami in order to have two routes to choose from, which lead straight from the Atlantic coast of Miami directly to Naples on the Gulf Coast. We listened to the navigation system and followed the ALLIGATOR ALLEY, straight through the Everglades for almost two hours. Instead of the sea on the left and right without any escape options, this time it was flooded grassland (the Everglades are wrongly referred to as 'swamp land', I have learned 😉).

But before we ventured onto Alligator Alley, we had a little break. Because only a well-fed and freshly changed child is a satisfied child 😁 We decided on a snack from the supermarket and in the parking lot we saw a big fire truck, which we of course had to look at up close, without knowing that the firefighters were still inside. 🙈 Apparently, our gestures and facial expressions were so impressive that suddenly all the lights were blinking wildly and we were even more amazed and happy like little children.

During a short chat, it turned out that the driver's mother is German.

It's always nice to connect with people 😊

Afterwards, we got something to eat. And Frederik made the next great discovery. Shopping is even more fun this way. 😉

And then we had to eat, too, and greeted all passers-by with a friendly 'Hi!' An important job...

Then we continued.

You see a lot of things on the streets here. A motorhome the size of a tour bus with an attached Jeep, canoe and bicycles is not uncommon 😂

The bed is so tall that Freddy can't even look over it and he is almost 1m tall 😂

We've already had our first night here.

Today we didn't do anything spectacular. First, we had breakfast and connected the washing machine and dryer. Then we went to a huge Toys "R" Us and strolled through the abundantly crowded corridors with hall-high shelves.

Grandpa Heinzi, hold on to your hearing aids for what you are about to see 😂:

Frederik chose the yellow dump truck, in case you have already been thinking about something like that 😉😘😘😘😘

Of course, we couldn't pass by Bob the Builder either.

Back in the apartment, we finally cooked and had a meal with lots of vegetables and to our taste, then Frederik cooled off. The pool was too sunny for us today.

In the next few days, we will explore the surrounding area and get an impression. I find all the big supermarkets and household goods stores particularly exciting. I start dreaming 😍😍😍😍 even though it's nothing more than a toom hardware store or similar, and there's one on every other corner. Nevertheless, I really like it all 😊😊😊

Take care! We're giving our best here 😉