A letter from Dan

Dear Jim & Jane,

I just wanted to say it was my total pleasure to meet you both. I have to thank you. I must tell you when I first got to Peace River I was not too excited. I had to leave my family and come here. The first morning I woke up here it was like 5:00 am. I thought i should go for a walk and figure this place out. So, here I am not knowing anything about the area or Florida. I am walking towards the boat landing and what do I see? (Beware Alligator may be Present) Now to a guy from IL, that is something I have never seen before. So i walked past that sign with Caution. Staying as far away from the water as i could but still be able to see in the water. And yep what did I see? Stumpy. Right then and there I knew I have had enough of the "peace river". So I promptly headed back away from the water. So now it is 1:00 in the afternoon and I still don't know what to do around here so I go for a walk again somewhat drawn to the area of row "C". I see a golf cart there and some bikes. I begin to wonder why anyone in there right mind would be near the water. I figured I will check it out, I thought if I saw the gator again I should be able to outrun someone down there. So here i go back towards the water. Looking into the water i see all these people in the water. First thought "What are those fools doing?" "Did they not see the sign?" (Gators present)

I never would have thought I would become one of those fools. I am so happy I did. Thank you Jane for teaching me what I was looking for. Those days where it got really rough missing my wife and kids the river became my focus. I indeed did receive a lot of "Peace" from Peace river. It really kept my mind on something else. Also, all the things I learned from the river, fossil and Jane. Thank you very much. I also would like to thank you for sharing your stories with me from this past season.

I wish you both the best of travels. I do hope again to see you both in my travels.

God bless

Dan