Key West and beyond

From Homestead we went to 90 miles south to Ohio Key.  This is also known as Sunshine Key since there is only one RV resort built on the island.  We were 40 miles north of Key West.  This was quite the fancy place with a marina along with the usual swimming pool, spas, ball courts and reception areas.  This broke the record for  the most that we have ever paid for an RV parking spot.

For only $170/night you too could have the Gulf of Mexico in your front yard.  For those who want to snowbird here it is a mere $3.400 a month.  Location, location, location.  The Key is just north of Bahia Honda Beach State Park and south of the 7 mile bridge.  Pictured below is part of the old 7 mile bridge that Mr. Flagler put a railroad on.  As you can see it was quite beautiful.

Last year hurricane Irma sent a storm surge through the Florida Keys.  Where we were camped was six feet underwater at that time.  There was a lot of renovation going on in the keys.  They rebuilt the RV park nicely.  There were a lot of places for sale.  We didn't find any bargains in the Florida Keys.

Since we were expecting to get onto a boat and travel to a remote island 70 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, we were highly interested in the weather.  Just north of Florida a strong storm was causing ice, snow pushing thunderstorms and tornados south in front of it.  By the time that it caught us in the Keys we had 30mph gusts and sideways rain.  This made the bridge crossings more interesting with our twelve and a half foot high land yacht.

The storm stalled and stirred up the ocean for a few days.  When we made our crossing there were 4-6 foot swells and many sea sick people on the boat.  Our dreams of snorkeling in some pristine tropical warm waters were quickly dashed.  The boat fills up months in advance so we had to go with what we had.  I felt sorry for those had decided to camp for a few days.

The Dry Tortugas are a cluster of 7 islands in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico that constantly get rearranged by the water action that comes with the hurricanes.  They are surrounded by a bunch of shoals and sand bars that show up at low tide.  It maintained a sense of magic even when stormy.

In the early 1800s they built a light house in order to assist ships from grounding on this flat land.  Military minds decided to build a fort to protect ships headed to the Mississippi River.  Prisoners were housed there after the civil war.  They even stored coal to refuel the ships there as a contingency plan for when we didn't get along with Cuba.

The main problem is that there is no fresh water source making life uncomfortable.  Now it is a wild life preserve and a national park.  The birding was plentiful and highly entertaining.  We could see the potential underwater entertainment.

After consuming some key lime pie dipped in chocolate in Key West we headed north the next day.  Our outrageously priced RV parking got worse on the weekend.  Miami was headed south to Key West on the Friday morning as we headed north.

On the way to Cape Coral/Fort Myers we headed across alligator alley on the north side of the Everglades National Park.  From the drivers seat of the land yacht I counted over 20 alligators basking in the sun beside the waterways near the road.  Kate had to keep an eye on the road for me.

We stopped in at Big Cyprus National Preserve to see some more.  The water was clear.  It was interesting to watch the local fish work to keep the alligator properly groomed.

From previous visits to Fort Meyers we were interested in making this a snow birding destination.  We had fun exploring our dreams.  Now if we could decide just which dream to follow we would have it made.  Now was it the waterfront condo or lots of land in the jungle?

Waterfront park at Punta Gorda, FL

On our way back to the Lake City area for another 13 weeks of work, we stopped at the Suwannee River Rendezvous RV park along some famous river.  The park is remote, miles from the nearest town of Mayo, Florida.  They certainly have some creative entertainment here along with the usual pools, hot tubs, and the occasional live band.

On Saturday they have pigeon races.  You choose a bird and put some money on it.  Will it be the 1st, 2nd,  3rd or last place bird?  They take the birds 15 miles down the road and they fly home.  Go # 38!They also sponsor Chicken Bingo.  The chicken is placed on a large bingo card.  If you correctly guessed the square where the chicken does his business there is money to be made.  They will also take you and a canoe up river to travel back.  We wanted to stay but the commute to work would be too much.

March on the road again in Florida

13 weeks of work has finished up.  We are moving out for southern Florida.  Going all the way to Key West and beyond.  Beyond is a planned 70 mile remote boat trip to Dry Tortugas National Park in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.  Our usual trip is to go about 200 miles in one day and spend a few days exploring the area.

Our first day we made it down to Sebring in central Florida.  We were trying to avoid Florida's toll roads because they jack up the price charging per axle.  An RV pulling a car is 4 axles.  Sebring is a smallish town that has several lakes and a lot of water front property.  It is in the warmer during winter area of Florida.  The beaches are over one hundred miles away.

Many people go there during the winter to "snowbird" in a lessor populated part of warmer southern Florida.  We stayed at Sebring Gardens RV park run completely by a retired guy who did his best to keep the place cheap, clean, and friendly.  We continued down the center of Florida past the rather large Lake Okeechobee where you can run your boat through a system of canals and locks across
Florida.  Kate is on top of the dam.

The next destination was Homestead, Florida.  We picked this area because it had great access to the upper keys and Miami.  We got to explore Key Largo where Kate found a local bird recovery operation that rescued local birds and rehabilitated them.  We also tried to make it Miami beach.  We didn't make it.  Too many spring breakers and traffic jams.  There were daily stories about major arrests and violence on the news by the crazy spring breakers..

We did make it to Key Biscayne National Park.  Nice beaches and light house.  Florida tolls to get across the bridge without ability to pay.  We bought a Sun Pass.  This was the area where I was able to sail on a 45 foot  catamaran getting the ASA certification a  few years ago.

There is also a National Park just  east of  Homestead.  You can rent canoes there to explore the mangroves on the Key Biscayne Bay.  In and around the bay there are several wrecks of ships trying to cross the shallow waters and reefs that protect the bay.  Below is the sea grass that had blown on shore at the boat launch.  It is hard to tell but the grass was stacked up over one foot deep.

The latest hurricane sent in a storm surge of 17 feet.   That is 5 feet taller than the RV.  Florida is so flat.  This  did create a huge flooding problem for the area.  Homestead Air Force Base was destroyed during this storm.  Now it is a reserve base.  You can still hear the  sounds of freedom there.

At John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo they had dive boat, snorkeling tours, and glass bottomed boats as well as some nice beaches.  Mr. Lobster was hanging out in their aquarium.  If you go there to dive they require that you take their refresher course if you haven't dove in 2 years.  Due to a rare storm it was too windy and too cold.  Report was that the visibility was bad as well.