…wrestling with alligators in Okefenokee.

A 14-hour-car-ride just to see some alligators? Yes, we actually did do that.
But let’s back up a little bit.

No, we didn’t drive all the way to Georgia just to see some alligators (although that seems like something A and I would do…).

We actually were invited by A’s dad to come and visit him for a few days and of course we could have flown down but it’s more fun to ride in the car – so I thought at least.
We left Pennsylvania around 9ish with a few bottles of water, some snacks and a lot of clean laundry (we did laundry the day before and A figured, since we’ll be needing the laundry anyways, why not just leave it in the car and live out of a basket…). By now you should be used to the crazy/weird ideas we have.

The first couple hours were great. A and I were soooooo extremely excited, no traffic, we had good music to listen to, we played car-games and we truly enjoyed our ride.
So when we decided to switch off to give A break, I thought it would still be as exciting and fun to be with A…. – WRONG. Since A was in the middle of his semester he had to finish his school work and he didn’t have any time to do that prior to the trip so why not take the time in the car, when all we do is drive… this required me to be quiet and let him concentrate. Yes – impossible. I tried my best but needless to say, I got extremely bored. So I made up excuses to stop at every Sheetz/Shooney’s/Dennis’/Sony’s for some ice cream or milk shake – this also was a great distraction for A, since working on his paper and eating ice cream don’t really go together.
At 11ish pm we finally made it to Georgia, needless to say that A and I were worn out and tired and excited for an awesome shower and a good night’s sleep.

The next day we got to enjoy swimming in the pool and enjoy some cocktails while playing cribbage, having some great meals together and enjoy each other’s company.
The following day A’s dad thought it might be nice for us to show us Savannah. And yes, Savannah is really nice, especially when you’re inside a cool car and outside it’s 113°F (which would be close to 45°C), but having to walk outside with this heat = not so nice. However we did get to see where Forrest Gump was shot and that alone is always a reason to be excited for – at least for me it is.

So when the heat-Savannah-day was over, A and I decided to do some exploring of our own and headed to Okefenokee (a swamp) to be exposed to some alligators. If you have ever been to Disneyland and the animal kingdom and all the rides, you get really excited about a place called Okefenokee. You expect everything to be huge and alligators trying to eat you on the sides, you expect signs everywhere… Not in Georgia, you don’t. My GPS couldn’t even find the entrance of this swamp, nor could we find any signs or anything closely related to a pointer in some directions. But since we didn’t have anything else planned that day, why not drive around until we finally find something? Did work out pretty well!

We got there just in time for the next tour and we did get to see some alligators although most of them hid pretty well. Our tourguide though wasn’t too impressed with the alligators, he kept telling us about all the birds in the distance that even if we wanted to, we couldn’t make out but of course young-crocodile-dundee had no fun wrestling with the alli’s so why not watch birds from the distance?

Also, Georgian’s are weird. Why would you go fishing in a swamp when there are countless alligator’s in there? I’m sure they are pretty laid back but seriously? Really want to challenge your luck?

We made it home save though that day and decided to do something really outrageously fun the next day: a waterpark. I know what you might think. We are a wee bit too old for a waterpark and indeed you’re right but honestly, the most fun I had in a loooong time. How can you beat water slides and lazy rivers? Yes, you can’t. And since we didn’t get to go to an aquarium (next trip down to Georgia Atlanta is sooooo going on our list) we had to be in the water ourselves as much as possible.
The trip back was a super long ride of somewhat 16 hours – thanks to ridic traffic.
But overall, I realized how much I love A for who he is. We bonded over alligators and ice cream and he let me have my – hopefully last – road trip!