Do You Think There are Alligators in This Water?

By Jack Sinodinos

Florida

A few days ago, we stayed in Georgia.  There was a huge lake that rested between Georgia and Florida.  We decided we’d try to go swimming and wash off a little.  So, we start to wade in the water, and get way deep out, and mind you, there’s a whole bunch of moss and other fun green stuff floating around.  I turn to Rick and ask him, “Do you think there are alligators out here?”  As I turn around, about 20 feet away, I see what I think are eyes popping out of the water, and they disappear back into the water.  WE START RUNNING!

When we get back to the shore, we started tossing rocks in the water to see if there really are alligators out there.  Then we see a TON of alligators.  We start freaking out, because Coco is running around and enjoying the cool down, and we thought she was about to get eaten!

A guy by the dock (where we were sitting before we got into the water) says to us, “You guys didn’t try to go swimming in that water did ya?  There’s an 11-footer right by the dock you guys were sitting at.”

I don’t know why we didn’t realize we were in alligator-infested waters sooner. I guess we really are in Florida now!  There are baby alligator nests everywhere, and we can hear them screeching. 

The past few days we’ve been riding more than 100 miles each day.  We took a small detour with the RV to the Gulf of Mexico at the border of Alabama.  We liked it so much we decided to go again when we got to DeFuniak Springs.  It was amazing, white sandy beaches, swimming... And no alligators.

After DeFuniak Springs, we rode through Chattahoochee.  It was hilarious because it was so hot out, and we were all delirious, and Rick says, “I think there’s a song about Chattahoochee.”  He busts out in song, “Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, it gets hotter than a hoochie coochie...”  I swear, we thought he was making it up!  When we finally got phone service, we looked up the Alan Jackson song on YouTube and sure enough it’s a real song!  We were singing it all day and night, laughing our butts off.

Early today we went to Florida State University and went inside the stadium.  Today’s been kind of a slow day.  We just got out of Tallahassee.  I rode the first shift solo today, finishing up 25 miles.  Rick and Athen are riding 50 miles right now, and then we’ll switch it up and I’ll ride another 25 miles and ride until I can’t ride no more!

It should take us another 2.5 days to get to St. Augustine, hopefully by Friday!