Sunday Summary #137

Our First National Park (in the van)

Hi there,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 137th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written in South West Florida!

Last Week.

This conversation epitomizes our week last week, we had it a few different times in the week:

Elliot: “Can you believe we have only been on the road for 5 days?”

Jen: “Hasn’t it been a couple of weeks?”

Elliot: “We only left on Tuesday… 😂”

It was a wild ride, starting with our first-ever RV event! We went to the Tampa RV Supershow, and boy, we were SHOCKED. It was like a crash course in RV culture, and we enjoyed being flies on the wall. Coming from AGLCA events and the Annapolis Boat Show, we had been to similar events, but nothing like this. The scale was incredible, and we only saw about a quarter of the show during our one day! We went for one of our sponsors, Battle Born Batteries, and met the awesome team. We also got to meet a few of you, so THANK YOU for coming by and saying hi!

After the show, we visited our FIRST NATIONAL PARK, THE EVERGLADES! As both Jen and I were raised in Florida, we thought we had a decent grasp on the Florida ecosystem and history, but visiting the Everglades showed us just how much we didn’t know! Here are (just) a few fun facts that we learned:

1. The Everglades National Park is not a swamp but a marsh! One of the key differences is that a Swamp has water that doesn’t move, but the water in the Everglades is a slow-moving river called a slough!

2. The Everglades have had a water crisis since Lake Okeechobee was dammed in the early 1900s. Since all the non-rainwater entry into the Everglades comes from the Shark River Slough in the North, this dam and other developments have restricted the water the Everglades need. The issue is huge considering that Everglades sits upon the Biscayne Aquifer, which is responsible for Miami’s water. Check out Captains for Clean Water, which is a grassroots organization helping raise awareness on the issues. Because of the importance of this ecosystem, the Everglades are an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.

3. The Everglades is the only place in the world where you can find Alligators and Crocodiles. We saw so much wildlife, even with the cold weather across the Southeast!

We still have a few more days planned in the Everglades before heading North!

We’ll debrief some of what we learned on this trip in next week's newsletter… There have been a lot of lessons!

This Week.

We are in the Everglades for two more nights and then head to Southwest Florida! We will be in Punta Gorda for the AGLCA Looperpalooza, leading a round table on Looping on a Budget on Wednesday, January 29th. Make sure to say hi if you plan on attending! The other main task this week is…. van projects! As with any maiden voyage or shakedown cruise, there are a few things we need to address!

Videos.

In case you missed it, here are all the vlogs we’ve released since our last Sunday Summary:

 From the Eyes of Ollie.

My parents left me a lot these past couple of days. They say oh, “Dogs aren’t allowed on trails in the Everglades National Park” or “You’re perfect size for Alligator food”… but I think they are just having fun without me. I mean, how dangerous could “Swamp Puppies” be?

 Gratitudes.

This week (and probably going to be a repeat theme) we’re grateful for having our own home again. After Pivot, we stayed with family for about 9 months, and then rented a house for the build, so it was quite a long time without having a home, and now that we are living in Summit - it’s our new home! Our kitchen, bed, working area, all the different facets of Summit are starting to feel right.

Peace and love,

Jen + Elliot

 P.S.

If you are new to our Sunday Summary, you can take a look at previous issues here.