Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Monument Lake, Everglades, FL
ODOMETER: 80,735 | MILES TRAVELED: 2,790
by Grant
I found an airboat ride that got great reviews online for this morning. Jana and I have our usual early morning coffee together and take the dogs for their morning walk.
Phoebe decides to go after a little black dog that a lady is walking nearby. She is so strong she drags Jana over and I have to rugby tackle Phoebe before any damage is done, or someone has a heart attack. The poor lady and puppy :-(( she’s apologizing because she walked into our ‘space’, but we’re mortified by Phoebe’s actions and it starts the day off very poorly. Luckily, everyone is unharmed.
Jana’s hip and knee are hurt, I think I cracked a rib (not as hardy as I used to be) and the kids are equally concerned. We decided to do the airboat tour anyway and head over to Everglade City Airboat Tours.
The skipper of the airboat is Captain Gary and he’s a 190-year veteran of the airboat industry. We’ve heard, and he confirmed, that there are a lot of airboat outfits that push their boats well beyond safe limits. If you’re after a nail biting, death defying thrill ride then those opportunities abound. Everglades City Airboat rides focus on safety and sharing their knowledge of the mangrove habitat that this boundary between the Everglades and the ocean.
It abounds with alligators, manatees, abundant birdlife and much more. Captain Gary does a really nice job gliding his airboat through a complex web of narrow channels. Jack got a lot of great birdlife photos and we all really enjoyed being immersed in this ecosystem, which feels prehistoric and other-worldly.
On the way back to the campground, we stop at Joanie’s Cafe which is a little red shack on the side of 41 whose proprietor (Joanie I assume) is a tough local of this grass jungle.
We also stop at the H.W. Williams Roadside Park and get up and close with some alligators. It’s a very cool opportunity to see these ancient reptiles in their native habitat.
We head back to the RV and I spend some time catching up on work and Jana and Jack search through many days of great photos to see what we have to share from our recent exploits.
Jack got a lot of great birdlife photos and we all really enjoyed being immersed in this ecosystem, which feels prehistoric and other-worldly.
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Travel with us:
Travel Diary
Travel
This is a daily log and photos of what we’re up to.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 4: Fiji to Brisbane Passage
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 4: Fiji to Brisbane Passageinstagramfacebookyoutubetwitter A Long-Awaited Departure After having waited in French Polynesia for two and a half months, we excitedly sailed out of Bora Bora around 7:30 am on Saturday, September 4th....
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 3: Bora Bora to Fiji Passage
After having waited in French Polynesia for two and a half months, we excitedly sailed out of Bora Bora around 7:30 am on Saturday, September 4th. Like the rest of French Polynesia, Bora Bora was in COVID lockdown, and we had spent the last week waiting for our departure paperwork to go through all the requisite bureaucratic channels. This required multiple trips to the local gendarmerie (police station), where Grant quickly befriended the two kind and helpful officers, Alex and Bruno.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 2: Mo’orea to Bora Bora
It took us about 24 hours to get from Mo’orea to Bora Bora on August 28 2021. Like the rest of French Polynesia, Bora Bora was in COVID lockdown, and we spent a week there waiting for our departure paperwork to go through all the requisite bureaucratic channels. This required multiple trips to the local gendarmerie (police station), where Grant quickly befriended the two kind and helpful officers, Alex and Bruno.
We made trips to get water, fuel and provisions, but apart from that we had to stay on the boat. We passed the time snorkeling (saw a giant moray eel!) and inventing new water sports.
Once we received our exit paperwork, we were finally free to leave for Fiji.
Reflections
Reflections
These are our personal thoughts on some of our experiences.
How Big Is Too Big?
Lessons From the Road | How Big Is Too Big?instagramfacebookyoutubetwitterDoes Our Built Environment Affect Our Relationships? The “Big Mac” symbolizes the belief that more is better. If one beef patty is good, wouldn’t two beef patties be better? Similarly, the...
Lessons from the Road | Less is More: Adventure over Stuff
Lessons From the Road | Less is More: Adventure Over StuffinstagramfacebookyoutubetwitterWe have been on the road for about four months, and while that’s a relatively short time, I think that some of the big lessons happen in the initial “adjustment period” of an...
My 10 Favorite Books of 2020
My 10 Favorite Books of 2020instagramfacebookyoutubetwitterWelcome to 2021! Most of us couldn't wait to see the back of 2020, looking forward to better times with hope and anticipation. If you are at all astrologically inclined like I am, you know that on December...
Our @jessalfrancis kicked butt in her criterium race in Brisbane last night. Jessa is beyond impressive. She is going to be competing in the National Championships this week and we’ll be cheering her on through the TV.
We celebrated Grant’s birthday yesterday by taking the City Cat down the Brisbane River to Bulimba, where we lived 12 years ago and New Farm Park, our favorite park in the city. The City Cat is a great way to see Brisbane and we had a fun day visiting familiar places from long ago.
Happy New Year! We wish you all a healthy, peaceful and joyful 2022.
Byron Bay
We had the most amazing couple of days with the White Family at Bald Blair Angus Farm in Guyra, NSW. Not only is this farm incredibly picturesque, but the way the White Family cares for it and its animals is a privilege to witness.
Queen Mary Falls, NSW
Experiencing magic in Nimbin, NSW. 📷 @jack_gamble_shoots
📷 @jack_gamble_shoots
Click the link in our bio for a video that encompasses all our travels over the last 14 months, going backwards from December 2021 to October 2020.
We sold our home and set off from Charlottesville, Virginia on November 1, 2020. For the next 8 months, we traveled in Thelma and Louise, a 40-foot bus and a Jeep. We drove 10,000 miles through the U.S. and Mexico, visiting 11 national parks along the way and spending three months over the winter parked on the beach on the Baja.
We said goodbye to Thelma and Louise in Seattle in June 2021 and moved to Hanavave, a 38-foot Fountaine Pajot catamaran in Tahiti, French Polynesia. For the next four months, we lived aboard the boat, sailing Hanavave from Tahiti to Brisbane, Australia. During our voyage, we spent almost 30 days at sea. While at times difficult, this was an experience of a lifetime for our family.
Our year of travel was deeply transformative for us all both individually and collectively. We chose to sell our home and give ourselves the gift of stepping out of the mainstream to explore the world and ourselves. We emerged full of love and gratitude and with profound clarity on how we want to live and what we want for our kids and their future.
We hope to go forward as stewards of what's truly important: a deep connection to ourselves, each other and our world. We also intend to make our choices with a deep respect for the planet.
While we are now settling in Australia, we will never stop traveling.
Our Trip
Trip
Our Trip
Trip
TRAVEL WITH US!
We are currently sailing the South Pacific to Australia.
Thank you for joining us, have a great day!