The Curse of the Noseeums

Friday, March 18th – Key Largo, Florida – Day 39 

 We didn’t sleep much. Our camp site was directly beside a swamp full of “no-see-ums”. We would feel bites every five seconds and when we looked there appeared to be nothing. Gen went to shower in the middle of the night because she thought she was having an allergic reaction to something. She kept looking and seeing nothing. Upon closer inspection, after wondering what the hell was eating us both alive, we saw these tiny, tiny little bugs that bite like a mosquito. The no-see-ums were so small they could fly right through our screens and into the trailer. If we closed the screens, the trailer heated up to an uncomfortable level. But the bugs were already inside so there was no relief. We were all tired and Charlotte was covered in bites. For some reason bugs are really attracted to Charlotte (her old nickname was tick bait). In the morning, Gen went to see if she could get some bug spray. A helpful hardware store employee let her know if a secret recipe of neem oil, geranium and lemongrass. Gen reached into her shelf of herbal recipes and mixed it up (with neem oil being the exception). 

 Today was a beach day. We went to the beach in the campsite and found a nice spot in the shade. Gen and John feel asleep on the beach. Aisling and Charlotte couldn’t stay out of the water. They were sharing the pair of goggles we had and were looking for fish with a new friend. The coolest thing was there was a buoy not far off the beach stating that there was a Spanish shipwreck. Underneath the water, about 6 feet down, there was two cannons and an anchor. I have a feeling it was a setup, but it was still fun to take a look at. 

 The visitor centre had an aquarium in it so we went to get junior ranger activities. The kids explored the aquarium. Aisling and Charlotte were fascinated by the extremely cute blow fish. Aisling told me that when they get threatened, they puff up and become spikey. They also loved the sea urchins. We sat in the air-conditioned movie room to learn about the various ocean creatures and I contemplated laying on the bench to go to sleep. 

 We had to move to a new site in the same park that day so I went to move the trailer. I packed up and moved to the new site only to find out someone else was moving from another site into our site. If only I had known earlier I wouldn’t have had to move. 

When I got back, we went on a short hike to a grove filled with lime, avocado and mango trees. The kids were exhausted and I carried Aisling back to the car half asleep. 

We finished the night by getting slathered in bug potion and falling thankfully asleep. The night wasn’t perfect but it was far, far better than the previous night.