The trip begins
SAM SQUIRMED IN THE BACKSEAT of his grandmother’s mini-van.
“Are we there yet?” he asked. Sam, his sister Sophie and their mom and
grandmother were headed south to the Florida Everglades for a camping trip. For
Sam, the drive seemed to go on forever as they passed one strip mall after
another. It looked like Anywhere, Florida, and he was more than bored.
“We’re getting closer,” Grandma
Betty answered. “I think it will be worth the drive.”
While Sam yawned and fidgeted, Sophie
spent her time imagining the upcoming adventure.
“So what exactly is a mangrove
forest? Will we see animals? Can we walk on the beach?” she asked her mom, who
was looking through a guidebook while Grandma drove.
“Well, according to this
brochure, the park has plenty of wildlife, including snakes and crocodiles,”
her mother Jean said. That got Sam’s attention.
“Mom, did you say snakes and
CROCODILES? Maybe this vacation won’t be so lame after all!”
“But that doesn’t mean you’ll
see them. Some wild animals like to keep away from people. And I’m not exactly
sure about the beach, Sophie” she admitted as she looked through more
information.
“Mom, I have to see a crocodile,” Sam said. My
science report is on reptiles, and if I really, really see one, I can take a
picture and it can be part of my report.” Sam had no idea what future had in
store for him. This trip was going to be cooler than he could possibly imagine.
This was the family’s second
attempt at taking a vacation to Everglades National Park. The first time their
plans were upset by a hurricane, but they were finally on their way, even
though it was a long
way.
Sam and Sophie had never been on
a camping trip, but their mom and grandmother were experienced campers,
although it had been a long time since they had been camping. Preparations took
several days and included airing out Grandma’s old tent and sleeping bags,
borrowing some extra sleeping bags, and packing food in coolers and containers.
Grandma even found her old lantern and cook stove in the attic. Sam and Sophie
thought both looked like stuff from a junk shop. But Grandma was smiling.
“We’re going to have some
adventures for sure,” she said.
“Wow this looks so different
from home. It’s so, well . . . flat,” said Sophie who was used to the big live
oaks bending over the road in the rolling hills of their hometown near
Tallahassee.
“Sure, it’s flat,” responded her
mom. Having grown up in south Florida, Jean found the landscape comfortable.
“There may not be many huge oaks down here, but aren’t those cabbage palms
beautiful?” she asked. And soon we’ll start to see the gumbo-limbo trees as we get closer to the Everglades. Just a couple more
hours to go!”
Sam groaned.
“This better be good,” he
thought to himself as he shifted his position for about the twentieth time.
Soon he dozed off and dreamed that he was swimming with a huge crocodile.
