Rolling on the River

This past weekend we went on a houseboat trip with some of Jared's family down the St. John's river. We had such a great time! The boat was like a big RV on the water, with all the ammenities (AC, kitchen with a stove and fridge, bathroom and shower).

So without further ado, here is a recap of the trip...

Let's start with the cast...

Gilligan and Skipper, too

The millionaire and his wife

The movie star(s!)

Professor and Mary Anne

haha, I crack myself up :)

Okay, so here is where we docked the first night. It was right off the main river. The guys hopped off the boat and made a fire and did some exploring.


There were tons of gators. We saw them all over the place. Anson's excitement over seeing the alligators never dwindled :) We woke up on Saturday morning with a gator just a few feet from the boat.


For lunch on Saturday we went to the Blackwater Inn. On the way there, one of the props hit a sandbar or something of the like that knocked a few inches of it off. We called someone to fix it...


And it was taken care of in no time while we were eating, and then we were on our way again...


On Saturday afternoon we docked at a different location, again off the main river. It was in a little lake that we had all to ourselves. Very quiet and somewhat eerie, but a lot of fun. Arin was the only one to catch a fish Friday night, but the men redeemed themselves on Saturday and each caught several bream, many of which were large enough to eat for lunch on Sunday.


We counted as many as eight gators in the lake on Saturday night, when we could shine the flashlight and see their glowing eyes. One was quite "friendly" with us, and got very close to the boat. Jared had him hooked, but the gator spit out the bait. (I'm not sure what the plan would have been had the gator not spit it out). There were several times when he had his whole body floating on top of the water, and we think he was at least 6 feet long!


On Sunday, we went to Blue Springs and walked around the park there. The only ones crazy enough, I mean brave enough, to get in the water were Anson, Jared, and Gavin. In the picture below, Jared and Gavin are on the opposite side, very close to where a smaller gator was hiding out.


After lunch there, we headed back to the marina, unloaded and headed home. It really was a lot of fun, and thanks to some nausea medication from my doctor, I was able to get through the trip without any morning sickness. It does tend to make me drowsy though, so I ended up taking several naps!