Roadtripping

Airboat ride in alligator territory

It seems like I’ve been hanging out a lot on alligator turf lately: Shark Valley in the Everglades, Myakka River State Park near Sarasota, Wakulla Springs up in the Panhandle. Today I went looking for gators again, this time a little closer to home. A friend took me on my first airboat ride at Sawgrass Recreation Park in western Broward County.

We saw only two gators, which our captain attributed to the cloud cover taking away the creatures’ motivation to sun themselves.

(This one looks annoyed at our intrusion on his turf, doesn't he?)

We also saw a great blue heron, cormorants and vultures.

The captain entertained us with stories about shooting pythons she finds in the Everglades or hacking them up with her machete. She noted that they are not native to the Everglades, get into fights-to-the-death with alligators and are eating most of the population of small mammals (raccoon, possums, etc.). Um, yeah. Can you put away that machete and take us back to the dock now?

 

 

The psychology of gas prices

Here’s another take on the ups and downs of gas prices and how they might affect summer travel, coming after the price of a gallon of gas in Miami dropped 23 cents in the last three weeks. Some people make transportation choices that are more psychological than financial, my colleague Adam Beasley reports. He cites a study published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, in which one group of participants who were planning a 500-mile road trip were told that gas prices had spiked overnight by $1. A significant number of those people said they’d cancel the trip. The second group was told that an increase in gas prices would cost them an extra $25 each way. Few in the second group said they’d cancel their trip. The bottom line in both cases was the same, only the numbers were expressed differently. Read Adam’s article here.

 

10 favorite road trips

Roadtrippers have wish lists of where they want to go next. If you’re seeking inspiration for your next trip, here are 10 favorite drives from 10 New York Times correspondents.