Casey: The Alligator Hunter

Casey and I had one of our most exciting adventures yet: We went alligator hunting in Big Cypress National Park and the Florida Everglades. The following pictures are not for the faint of heart. 

But for the rest of you, here is a recap of the day:

Upon entering alligator territory, we hired two spotters to help us find our prey. The spotters are pictured below and may appear to look a little like our dogs, but rest assured, they are not... these are trained, professional, large- alligator spotters (working for food).

The day was hotter than East Bejesus (for those of you that don't know that expression, because I think only my sister and I use it, that means it was really, really hot). There was absolutely no wind, no clouds, and the sun moved strategically all day in order to shine directly on me (and baby).  This made us (I speak freely for him at this point) less cheery than usual, but still ready for some serious gator action.

We had been driving along the road for approximately 30 seconds when we saw our first wild alligator. After that we saw about 3,458 of them in the next two hours. But what we were looking for were some really BIG gators that we (as in Casey) could take a really impressive-looking picture next to. We ended up finding the perfect gator on the grass beside a rest area. (We were forced to stop at rest areas quite regularly to reload the water supplies for our trusty spotters, who apparently dehydrate very quickly) Casey leaped out of the van, yelled "criiiikee", and posed next to the alligator (which is actually even bigger than he looks). We then tackled the gator (no pictures possible) and cut off his foot. The foot is currently on the way to Portland to the residence of one of you lucky readers. It should be there in 3-5 business days. The blood will have probably dried up by then. 

So, all in all the gator-hunting expedition was a giant success. Much more so than the day after, which pretty much involved nothing but driving partway down the Florida Keys, scorching in the sun (again, it moved to be closest to me all the time), only to find out that there is no beach access unless you own a 2 million dollar condo. So we left.

Now we are on the way to the NASA museum in northern Florida. We will check in again from there.

We love you all. Please pray for some rain for us (Lindsay and baby) or for the sun to get over its fixation.