Going LOST

We are parked at Whisper Creek RV Resort near LaBelle. We had never heard of Whisper Creek until we stumbled into their booth at the Florida RV Supershow in January. They gave us a three-night coupon, and it is conveniently located between Naples and Wauchula, two of our planned stops, so here we are. Whisper Creek is an established park, primarily consisting of permanent residences, but they are currently marketing some modestly priced (<$50K) deeded lots in a new section. I figured that since they were giving out coupons they wanted to show off their deeded lots, and that we would be parked in that section. But no ..... we were parked in a tiny strip of soft sand between two manufactured homes. After we parked we talked to a permanent resident who had previously rented this site. He helped us find the power outlet, which was conspicuously absent, and told us it was the smallest site in the park. Besides that, they had recently used a tractor to clear some brush at the rear of the site and the ground was rutted and the grass torn up. It was a mess. But we were there on a complimentary stay, so I didn't want to complain. When we saw the new deeded sites, they looked quite nice and that area was practically deserted. I can't understand why they put us on such a terrible site. It was not necessary and certainly did give us a poor impression of the park.

Since buying my trike I have been much more excited about cycling, so we have been on the lookout for good cycling trails. LaBelle is very close to Lake Okeechobee and the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST). The LOST is a 110-mile trail that circles Lake Okeechobee, reportedly the second largest freshwater lake in the lower 48 (I assume Lake Michigan is the largest, and Lakes Superior, Huron, Ontario and Erie don't count, since they are bordered by Canada???) Today we drove to Moore Haven which is the closest trail head to our camp. Our research had indicated the trail was unpaved. We discovered that the section north from Moore Haven was indeed grass/gravel, but the section south was paved. Cool! We headed south. As we headed counter-clockwise towards Clewiston we enjoyed a brisk tail wind.

The trail is located on top of the Herbert Hoover Dike, the impoundment structure built by the US Army Corps of Engineers that circles the lake. The dike is an impressive structure about 30 feet tall and provides good views of the lake and neighboring farmland. Well, in truth we never actually saw Lake Okeechobee. All we saw inside the dike was the borrow canal created during the construction of the dike and an endless sea of grass. I guess there is a big lake out there somewhere, it's on the map, but during the dry season it's hard to find. We biked 10 miles south almost to Clewiston before we turned around. That's when we remembered that brisk former tail wind. The 10 miles back to Moore Haven must have been at least 20 miles. I'm sure Dorcas' odometer must have malfunctioned.

We finally arrived back at the trail head and loaded up the trikes. From there we visited the Ortona Lock and Dam, located about 15 miles west of Lake Okeechobee on the Caloosahatchee River. We watched a few large recreational vessels lock through. The Corps of Engineers also operates a campground here that I have wanted to check out. The campground was very nice and clean with large level sites. From the campsites you could watch boats lock through up and down the river. As is often the case, we ran into some friends camped there (small world again!). I expect that we may spend some time in this park next year.

Knocking Around Naples

Our first full day at Signature Resorts was spent enjoying the luxuries we have been without for the last three weeks and basically doing essentially nothing. We explored the resort, and Matilda sniffed all the pups. The park is bordered by Henderson Creek, which provides direct water access to the Gulf of Mexico. The more exclusive sites are creek side and designed so that your coach faces the water.

On Saturday we drove into Naples for biking and lunch. We went to a local bike shop to see if there were any good bike trails in the area. It turns out that there aren't. The bike shop guy said that the "Orange Blossom Special" a famous passenger train that went from New York to Miami and inspired the song by the same name, once ran down the main street in front of the shop. When they abandoned the tracks, instead of building a rail-trail, as many other communities have done, they 6-laned Main Street. Bummer. Naples, like many Florida cities, is fairly bike friendly, with a number of dedicated bike ways, or more commonly, wide bike lanes on the road. He pointed us to a few routes that are popular with the locals. We chose to ride an area along Gulf Shore Boulevard. On our 10-mile ride we had expected nice views of the Gulf of Mexico, but all we really saw were the fronts of luxury condominiums. It was still a very nice ride.

Sunday was another lazy day; we hung around camp and enjoyed some rare warm weather. On Sunday evening the resort hosted a Jimmy Buffett beach party featuring a very entertaining singer who impersonated Buffett, Elvis, Johnny Cash and dozens of other singers. He used many wild costumes and zany props. At the show we ran into some friends from NC who are in our Country Coach club. They are staying at another resort nearby and came over for the show. Small world!

On Monday we spent the day at Collier-Seminole State Park, a few miles down the road. We had hoped to do some triking, but the only dedicated bike trail was fairly sandy and soft, not a good choice for our trikes. We did enjoy triking around the park roads and through the campground, however. We also had planned to paddle the Black Water River canoe trail through the mangrove forest in the park, but it was an extremely windy day, so we passed on that trip. We had a very enjoyable day wandering around the park. As we were leaving I saw a yellow rat snake crossing the road. There were cars coming from both directions, so I blocked traffic with my trike so the snake could safely cross the road. I probably saved its life, although I'm sure I irritated a few drivers. Hopefully this good deed will bring me good karma in the future.

Tuesday was our last full day in Naples and paddling was in order. We backtracked to Everglades City and the Everglades National Park. We had a choice whether to paddle in the bay or on a creek. We chose a bit of both. It was a calm day, so we first paddled out into the bay towards the islands between Everglades City and the Gulf of Mexico. We paddled over a mile to Sandfly Island and through Sandfly Pass, a route motorboats use to reach the Gulf. We circled the island and headed back to the mainland. On our way back from the islands two dolphins passed very close to the boat. Instead of paddling directly back to our put-in, we paddled up Halfway Creek for several miles. After a few miles we turned around and returned to the ramp. It was a very enjoyable paddle of about 10 miles across open bays and mangrove forests.

After our paddle we stopped in at Everglades Isle, a luxury RV resort on the Barron River. Last February we talked to Country Coach friends that had been wined and dined by this resort for weeks at a time. They said we really need to get down there, but, by the time we found out, they were no longer offering all the freebies. We knew it was the fanciest RV resort we had ever been to. When it opened last year it was offering RV lots at up to $850,000, but I was told they had slashed prices to just over $500,000. Still a little out of our price range. When we walked through the resort we saw a Country Coach. Next to that one was another one, then another one. It turns out there were almost 20 of them and we recognized about half. No one seemed to be at home, so we headed over to the clubhouse where we figured they were enjoying happy hour. We know our Country Coachers; we figured right. There we found a number of friends who had been holding an informal rally. We stayed for a little while and were invited to dinner, but had to decline since we had to get home to Matilda. Small world strikes again.

Today we leisurely packed up and prepared to drive 73 miles north to LaBelle, our next destination.

Back into Civilization: Naples FL

We pulled out early Friday morning because we knew we would have a long day. We had about a 4-hour drive to our next camp just south of Naples, but we had several stops we wanted to make along the way. Our first stop was the Royal Palm area of Everglades National Park near the Homestead entrance. When we pulled into the parking lot at Royal Palm, the first thing we saw was a dead buzzard hanging from a tall pole. At the base of the pole was a sign indicating US property and no trespassing. We learned that buzzards are a nuisance in the parking lot, often damaging vehicles. Healthy buzzards will shun and avoid ill or distressed buzzards, so it is believed that this practice repels buzzards. It didn't appear to be working. There were black vultures all over the place. You basically had to shoo them away as you walked down the sidewalk. The lady in the gift shop was excited because a ranger was bringing in a fresh buzzard, which is thought to be a more effective repellent than a less-fresh buzzard. The main attraction at Royal Palm is the Anhinga Trail, a short boardwalk trail through a sawgrass marsh and over a winter water hole. I have never seen so many birds and alligators at one time! The birds were particularly photogenic because they were so used to people and were not at all bashful. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the trail, taking photos and dodging all the folks with their tripods and monster lenses.

Our next stop was at Shark Valley in the northern part of Everglades National Park just south of the Tamiami Trail. Shark Valley features a 15-mile loop road through the sawgrass prairie that leads to an observation tower. The NPS operates a tourist tram to take visitors around the loop, but the loop road is also an excellent bike route. The western half of the loop is arrow-straight and follows a canal that was dredged to provide fill when building the road. The canal is teeming with alligators and birds. The eastern half is more natural as it meanders through the sawgrass. This ride was the most enjoyable ride we have done since getting the trikes. I really can't describe the sensation as you trike past a 10-foot alligator, sunning on the paved trail, at eye level only a few feet away. Some idiot tourists approached to within a few feet of the gators to have their pictures taken. Good candidates for the Darwin award.

We took several hours to bike the loop. It was dusk by the time we arrived at Signature Resorts in Naples. Signature Resorts is another of those ritzy places that sell RV lots ranging from $150K to $360K. Overnight rates run from $80 to $100. The resort is brand new, and they had their grand opening only a week before. We would not normally pay to stay at a place this expensive, but we got in on a coupon special and were able to stay 5 nights for less than the usual price for one night. Sweet! After coming from a place where we had no TV, no phone, no internet and no external power, it was a bit of a shock to now have cable TV, wi-fi, water, sewer, 50A electric, heated pool, hot tub spa, exercise room, game room, clubhouse and free continental breakfast. This is the life. We are watching TV for the first time in almost 3 weeks. Wow! There are Olympic games going on! On Saturday we endured a brief low-pressure sales tour, and are now free to explore the Naples area, an area we have never previously visited. Now back to Alex Trebek ....

Photo of the Week

Who says the Everglades are flat?

We had to stop halfway up the hill to the pass in order to acclimate to the altitude, but we took it easy and made it without too much difficulty.

Flamingo Area Paddling; Canoe Heaven

Paddling rules in Flamingo. We paddled a different creek every day each of our four full days in Flamingo. Monday was a beautiful day; 75 degrees and sunny. We biked to the Visitor's Center and Marina and attended a "Croc Talk" led by a volunteer naturalist. We saw several crocodiles on the bank across the canal. During the talk a manatee appeared in the canal, and the talk morphed into a manatee talk. We put-in late in the afternoon at the Noble Hammock Canoe Trail. Noble Hammock Trail is a 2-mile loop paddle through a red mangrove forest. It meanders primarily through mangrove islands and tunnels, but also had a few open places. The trail featured very sharp bends and required strong turning skills. Dorcas got to show off her superb bow draw many times. We finished shortly before dusk, and it was a perfect way to end our first full day in the Everglades. We had our only serious bug encounter this evening. Shortly after dark, I was outside grilling dinner. All of a sudden I was swarmed with mosquitoes. I grabbed the meat and quickly retreated to the safety of the coach. But they were inside too! The door and all the windows were closed, but there were tons of mosquitoes in the house. We quickly swatted them and mashed them against the ceiling of the coach, but there were more every minute. Where were they coming from??? We soon realized they were thicker near the edges of the slide room openings, so it appeared like they were coming in there, although the slide seals should prevent this. I sprayed DEET all around the edges of the slides, and this seemed to be effective. After about an hour all the mosquitoes had been executed. I figure we murdered over 500 mosquitoes during that assault, and the white ceiling of the coach looked like a bloody battlefield. Amazingly, that was the only time we really experienced any bugs during our 5 nights in Flamingo. Perhaps they were so thoroughly devastated that night, that they had no further will to attack.

On Tuesday we participated in a ranger-led paddle on the Mud Lake Loop Trail. Flamingo has a ranger-led paddle every morning to a different venue in the area. It is a great program, because they provide the boats and it's free. It's a great opportunity for folks to paddle who don't have a boat of their own. We chose this particular trip because the paddle was being led by Ranger Daniel. We had attended an evening ranger program by Daniel on Sunday, and he was very entertaining and funny. We knew he would be fun to paddle with. We met the group at 7:45 am at Coot Bay Pond, only to find that Daniel had slightly changed the route due to high winds from the north. The paddle across Coot Bay would be difficult with a strong north wind, so Daniel eliminated that leg of the paddle. We ended up putting in on the Homestead Canal, a foul, stagnant, sulphurous and seldom-paddled water course. We paddled this canal for almost an hour before bumping out into Bear Lake, where we briefly experienced the strong winds. We then ducked back into a red mangrove tunnel and paddled into Mud Lake. Another mangrove tunnel led us into Coot Bay, where we again experienced the fierce north wind. Finally we took another mangrove tunnel into the Buttonwood Canal which returned us to our starting point. As expected Daniel was very entertaining and a fountain of knowledge on flora, fauna and local lore. We saw many bromeliads, different varieties of air plants, perched in the mangrove branches. We also saw the infamous Manchineel tree, one of the most toxic plants known. Early natives tied victims to the trunk of this tree to torture them and assure an excruciating and painful death. Explorer Ponce de Leon was killed with an arrow poisoned with Manchineel sap. Dang! Just when we learned to avoid the Poisonwood tree, so common in the Keys, now we have to worry about the Manchineel. I'm starting to miss plain ol' poison ivy.

On Wednesday we paddled the Nine Mile Pond Trail. Nine Mile Pond is particularly interesting because it is at the boundary between fresh water flowing in from the north and the brackish water from Florida Bay to the south. The paddle started with a series of small ponds and mangrove islands and the water was much clearer than other paddles we did. As we paddled further from the road the route became more open and entered a prairie. We encountered one other party who couldn't find the next trail marker and were lost. I think they were glad to see us. This was the only other party we saw all day. Maybe all the others were hopelessly lost, never to be seen again. When we started we were paddling downwind and enjoyed an easy ride. When we made the turn back to the road we paid the price and fought a fierce head wind back to the car. It was a 5-mile paddle, but felt much longer. This is the only paddle where we saw alligators, probably because it was our only paddle in predominantly fresh water.

On Thursday we paddled the route to Hell's Bay our most ambitious paddle in Flamingo. Hell's Bay is so-named because it is "Hell to get into and Hell to get out of." The first mile of the route involves tight and winding mangrove tunnels, reminiscent of the Noble Hammock Loop. Eventually the route opened up into a series of mangrove islands and large ponds. We passed the Lard Can campsite and eventually reached the Pearl Bay Chickee, where we lunched. Pearl Bay Chickee consists of two covered camping platforms connected by a walkway that had an outhouse in the center. Strangely, the left hand platform was designated as a handicapped site, although I could see no difference between the two. After lunch we reversed our route and completed our 11 mile paddle back to our put-in.

While in Flamingo we paddled only interior creeks and ponds. We did not paddle the open waters of Florida Bay. There are certainly good paddles in the bay, but it was fairly windy most days we were there, and we don't particularly enjoy large open waters. Maybe next time we will find a nice calm day and explore Florida Bay.

Everglades National Park: River of Grass

We stretched out our stay at Bahia Honda as long as possible. We checked out at 12:59, while an irate arriving camper hovered over his future site. Our drive up from the lower Keys was pleasant and uneventful. We stopped for groceries in Florida City, then turned west and south down the 40-mile dead-end road to Flamingo. We passed Long Pine Key Campground, which was full. We arrived at Flamingo, at the southern end of the Everglades National Park, just before dusk and checked into the campground. They put us in T-loop which features extremely large pull-through sites. There are no hookups in the campground, however, we fared very well without shore power. There is also no broadcast TV and no Verizon cell service, meaning no internet service. This is tough for internet junkies like Dorcas and me. I read a lot. The sun shown brightly every day and our solar array performed brilliantly. I guess it helped that we couldn't watch TV all night long. We only ran the generator once, mainly so we would fit in with our neighbors.

There are no flamingos in Flamingo. The early settlers ate them all many years ago. In the early 1900s Flamingo was somewhat of a hole-in-the-wall. There was no road to the area, and the population was only about 100 people, mostly wildlife poachers, moonshiners and outlaws hiding from authorities. It was a miserable place; hot, humid and infested with mosquitoes. About that time a deranged real estate developer thought the area would make a fine vacation destination and built a road. After the road was built, the population dropped to about thirty people. Most folks said, "Hey, look, there's a road. Let's get outta here!"

Flamingo was a much more happenin' place than I expected. It was hit very hard by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, when an eight-foot storm surge washed over the area. The lodge and restaurant were destroyed, but there are plans to rebuild using more eco-friendly designs. The marina and store were damaged but have since reopened. The campground has been repaired and has reopened. While we were there they were installing electrical service in T-loop, where the RVs are parked. I guess this will allow idiots crazy enough to visit in the summer to run their air conditioners. More power to them.

Biking and hiking opportunities were very limited in this area. There was only one designated bike trail. The Snake Bight Trail (honestly!) runs from the park road about 2 miles to Snake Bight on Florida Bay along a railroad grade. We biked this trail late one afternoon, just before the bugs came out. Otherwise we biked on the road. It is about a mile from the campground to the marina area, and we biked this stretch a number of times. The primary activity, as far a we were concerned, was the canoeing. We had not paddled during the two weeks we were in the Keys, so we were stoked to paddle the first chance we get.

North to the Everglades

Against our better judgment we are heading north. We have been at Bahia Honda 14 nights, the limit for a Florida state park, and they are throwing us out. This afternoon we depart the Keys and move to Flamingo in the southern corner of the Everglades National Park. Flamingo is about 135 miles away by road, but only 35 miles across Florida Bay, as the pelican flies. We will stay five nights in the park and will be "dry camping" there, meaning we will have no water or power hookups. No problem. We have a full tank of fresh water, empty waste tanks, a capable solar array and a generator with plenty of fuel. If the weather is good we plan to canoe or trike about every day.

According to the Verizon service coverage map we will be well out of Verizon's coverage area. This means no cell service and no internet service at camp. With luck, we may find a wi-fi hotspot in the village, but I'm not counting on it. We also have an external cellular antenna and amp, but we may be too far out to pull in a usable signal.

There Be TRIKES Here!

"Admiral, there be TRIKES here!" With apologies to Scotty in StarTrek IV: The Voyage Home.

Dorcas bought a Catrike Villager in the spring 2009. I tried to talk her out of it, but I failed miserably. First, I felt that she wouldn't use it, and that it would be a waste of money and just take up space in the basement. Second, how the hell would we transport it? Over time, I have perfected a system to haul all our toys when we travel. We can put a canoe and two bicycles on top of the Element. While still keeping the rear seats up, we can put all the support gear (i.e. paddling gear, hiking gear, biking gear, dog stuff, gravity chairs, folding chairs, etc.) behind the seats. No problem. Until now. There was no way to put the trike on the top with the boat and a bike. I had no choice but to put the trike inside the Element. I put the rear seats in the storage position against the side walls, and the trike took up the entire rear portion of the Element. All the miscellaneous support gear was now piled up around and on top of the trike. If we wanted to unload the trike, we had to unload all the other crap and set it on the ground first. We couldn't take any friends out to eat, because the back seat was gone. Matilda had to ride in Dorcas' lap. Not an ideal situation. But Dorcas wanted her trike, and I had to live with it.

Well, it turns out that Dorcas really enjoyed her Catrike, and perhaps it wasn't just a passing fancy after all. I found that I enjoyed riding it too and began to envy her and the comfort and ease with which she was riding. Should I eat crow and get a trike too? If we had trouble hauling one trike, how the heck would we ever manage with two?

Well, I guess there is always a solution to every problem. You just have t0 think it through and do your homework. Also, it doesn't hurt if you throw some $$$ at it. While at Thousand Trails last month we saw some folks with a unique rack designed to haul two trikes, made by Hitch Rider. The rack mounted to a receiver hitch and carried two trikes, one on top of the other. Cool, but we had no receiver hitch on the Element. A little research revealed that most receiver hitches manufactured for the Element had a 1 1/4" receiver, and were not stout enough for the double trike rack. Bummer. Further research revealed that U-Haul made a 2" 2000 lb hitch for the Element, which would be perfect. While on our way to Sam's Club in Tampa, we stumbled upon a U-Haul service center and decided to stop in for a look-see. It turns out that they had our hitch in stock. 30 minutes and $175 later we were on our way with a 2" receiver hitch.

Shortly after arriving at Bahia Honda State Park I pulled the trigger and ordered the Hitch Rider double decked rack and a used Catrike Expedition I found on-line. The rack was scheduled to be delivered this past Monday via FedEx. I had previously alerted the folks at the park entrance station to expect two heavy packages for me. When I went up there early on Monday morning to remind them, the Hitch Rider had already arrived. I spent the next few hours putting it together and adjusting it for the Element and Dorcas' Villager. The Expedition was scheduled to be delivered via UPS on Wednesday. Again I alerted the folks at the entrance station that I had an EXTREMELY LARGE package coming today. No problem, they said. I asked them if they would call me when it arrived, but they said I would need to call them to check on it. OK. I waited on pins and needles all day, checking its progress on the UPS tracking page. Finally, about 2:00, Dorcas looked up and saw the UPS truck coming across the bridge. Five minutes later I got a call from an angry ranger at the gate. She said I had a package, and that it was "too big, and don't ever ship anything that big here again". Fine. She said they were bringing it to my campsite as we spoke. I guess it was so big they didn't want it in the gate house or in the road or wherever it was that the driver left it, any longer than possible.

When the trike arrived I anxiously began unpacking and assembling it. The trike had to be disassembled to be shipped, and the bike shop did an extremely thorough, perhaps excessive, job of taking it apart. It was basically a naked frame with all the various parts in a bag. I am a fair jack-legged bike mechanic, but some trike parts look nothing like bike parts, and the task looked a bit overwhelming. Thankfully I had Dorcas' trike to look at when I got befuddled. With my engineering background, a stout picnic table and my trusty Swiss army knife, I had it all put together in about three hours. By that time it was too late to ride it and to make the fine adjustments. Also one tube had a puncture and would need to be repaired.

On Thursday we spent the day in Key West. Key West has perhaps more bikes and scooters than people, and there are many bike shops. I went to three of the biggest shops with the best parts selections and found exactly one 20" x 1/8 presta style tube. Not exactly a common size where most bikes are fat-tired beach cruisers. They all thought I was crazy wanting such a small skinny tube. When we returned to camp I patched the punctured tube and set aside the new one as a spare, for when the patches failed.

Today we were ready to ride. I made all the final adjustments and the Expedition rode great! I zoomed around the circle in back of our campsite while Dorcas tried not to get run over. We drove to Big Pine Key, the center of the National Key Deer Refuge for a long ride. The Hitch Rider performed flawlessly, and we explored the north end of Big Pine Key. We had a great ride and saw a number of Key deer. We ended up at No Name Pub and had a few brews and split a burrito. By the time we returned to the car we had put in a little more than 15 miles. It was the easiest 15 miles I ever can remember pedaling.



It was great day, but we had a little excitement on the way home. I let a car out onto the highway in front of me. About 15 seconds later a deer bounded into the road and hit that car broadside. The deer bounced off and ran back into the woods, apparently unharmed. The car was not so lucky. The driver's side mirror was smashed and was dangling by its remote cable on the side of the car. I guess it might have been us if I had not been a courteous driver???

We arrived at camp shortly before a significant storm hit with 30-40 mph winds. We were able to bring in the awnings and stow the chairs and tables before the storm hit. The winds were strong, but short lived; it was over in about 20 minutes. I was amazed that my portable satellite dish, which was sitting on the ground un-anchored, never moved.

Our stay at Bahia Honda is winding down, and we will be leaving on Sunday. Tomorrow will be much cooler than it was today, with a high in only the low 60s. Hopefully we can get one more good ride in tomorrow.

Photo of the Week

Everywhere you looked in Key West there was a southernmost something or other. I doubt this was really the southernmost broken cleat, but I admire the gesture.

Touring Key West: The Conch Republic

Bahia Honda is at MP 37 on the overseas highway. That means that we are 37 miles from the southern terminus of US 1 at Old Key West and MP 0. We are certainly not close to Key West, but it's not too far for a few day trips. We made three trips to Key West.

The name Key West is derived from the Spanish "Cayo Hueso", literally "Bone Island". Key West has a population of about 25,000, about the same as it had in the 1890's. At that time Key West was the most populous and wealthiest city in Florida. The wealth came from the shipwrecks off the island and the booty salvaged by the citizens. Legend says that islanders often moved the channel markers so more ships would run aground. It is said that every house in Key West once had a grand piano, shortly after a ship transporting pianos wrecked on the reef. The land area of the island has doubled during the last hundred years due to construction and the use of fill material to build new island. Key West is the southernmost city and the only "frost free" city in the contiguous US.

Old Key West is a very interesting, historic and scenic town. Our first visit was on Groundhog Day. Considering the recent weather in the southeast, the groundhog certainly saw his shadow. I think it scared him so bad, he went so deep back in his burrow, that there will be at least six more months of winter! We first went to Higgs Beach on the Atlantic side of the island, because we knew there was a good dog park there. Matilda got to run for a good while before we went to town. We knew parking would be difficult closer to town, so we left the car here and walked. What we didn't realize was exactly how far it was to town. We ended up walking over 5 miles round trip. Matilda was pooped! Bikes and scooters are very popular on the island. The streets are very narrow and congested in the center of town. Dorcas was intimidated by the narrow streets and the traffic, so we never took our bikes to town. Next time I think I can get her out. Bikes would be particularly nice seeing the old homes and the outlying historic landmarks. We might have to leave Matilda at camp though.

One place I really wanted to visit was Jimmy Buffett's Original Margaritaville Cafe on Duval Street. When we arrived they gave Matilda a biscuit and oogled over her a bit. We ate lunch and, of course, I had the "Cheeseburger in Paradise". It is said that Buffett still has a home on the island, and when he is here he always eats lunch at his cafe. I guess he wasn't in town this week, because we never saw him. Buffett came to the island about 1970 after some hard times and rejection in Nashville. He found himself here and the island and its people has been a great influence on his music and his life. We have been listening to a lot of Buffett music lately (channel 31 "Radio Margaritaville" on Sirus/XM), and I have been reading Buffett's autobiography "A Pirate Looks at Fifty".

There are many other bars on Duval Street and we visited a couple. The most famous are Sloppy Joe's Bar and Captain Tony's Saloon. Sloppy Joe's was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway. It is said that the landlord announced a rent increase from $3 to $4 per week. This so infuriated Joe Russell that he and all the patrons in the bar (including Hemingway) immediately moved all the contents of the bar: liquor, bar stools, tables, cash register and the drinks in their hand, to a vacant building on Duval Street, where the establishment currently resides. Sloppy Joe's sponsors an annual Hemingway look-alike contest, which seems to be a pretty big deal down here. As we have traveled, many folks have told me that I look a lot like Hemingway and should enter the contest. After looking at the photos of past winners I wonder if I might have a shot. However, after hanging around for a while in Sloppy Joe's nobody made any encouraging comments. Who wants to come back down to Key West in late July anyway?

We visited the monument marking the southernmost point in the contiguous US. Actually the monument is not even near the southernmost point. The southernmost point is actually on military property and not accessible to the public. The monument is not even on the southernmost point accessible to the public. I think they just put the marker where it was convenient and easy to find. There used to be just a sign but it kept getting stolen, so they put up the current iron monument. There are many other "southernmost" landmarks: the southernmost hotel, the southernmost restaurant, the southernmost house, the southernmost southernmost house (apparently this owner thought his house was south of the first southernmost house) ad nauseum. One street performer had a sign claiming to be the southernmost bagpipe player.

We also did a few other touristy things. We road the Conch Tour Train, which is a narrated trolley ride which lasts almost 2 hours and goes down practically every single street in town. We also visited the Shipwreck Museum which features live actors and artifacts illustrating Key West's salvage history. It also had a 65' wooden tower we climbed with excellent views of the town and the harbor.

It was fun to watch the feral roosters that roam and roost on the island. It is said that they are descended from fighting cocks brought over from Cuba. They seem to be everywhere you look: rooftops, porches, yards and in the street. It is illegal to feed or care for them, but I suspect some folks do. We were told that hawks snatch many of the chicks, which helps keep the population in check. Unfortunately, we didn't witness this balance of nature in action.

A very popular activity is to view the sunset from the waterfront at Mallory Square. There are also dozens of street performers at Mallory Square and they are pretty pushy if you don't give them money. Several hours before sunset folks were jockeying for a good viewing position. So we decided not to stay and fight the crowds. We just went back to camp to enjoy our own private sunset over Bahia Honda Channel.

Life in the Slow Lane at Bahia Honda State Park

The weather has been unseasonably cool here, but warmer than the rest of Florida and certainly better than the rest of the country, where record low temperatures and record snowfall prevails. Conventional wisdom says to move further south when cold weather threatens. In order for us to do that we would need a large ferry or a very long bridge. We are constantly reminded by the park rangers that this is the dry season, despite the frequent rains. It has been windy almost every day. Several days it blew 20-25 mph most of the day and night. We are right on the water and are catching the brunt of the wind. All in all the weather has been OK, not too cold (lows in the 50's) and not too warm (highs in the low 70's, with a few days in the 80's) and just enough rain to help us appreciate the sunny days.

Each day there is a ranger activity which we enjoy attending. Several programs have focused on the building of the railroad. There was also a live re-enactment of the Henry Flagler railroad experience. In the early 1900s Henry Flagler built a railroad to Key West. Prior to that time Key West was accessible only by boat. Flagler knew that Key West was an important deep water port. The Panama Canal was about to be completed and his railroad would be an important trade link to south Florida, the Caribbean and central America. The building of the railroad provided some difficult challenges. The Bahia Honda Channel was particularly challenging. It was one mile across and had the deepest channel and the strongest currents of any crossing in the Keys. They built a steel truss bridge on concrete piers, using revolutionary techniques, for that time. The railroad was completed in 1912. In 1935 it was destroyed by the infamous Labor Day hurricane, and was not rebuilt. The right of way was sold to the state of Florida which then constructed the overseas highway on the bridges and causeways. At Bahia Honda the highway was built on top of the railroad truss. The roadway on the Bahia Honda bridge was so narrow that trucks and buses would stop before entering the bridge and pull their mirrors in before crossing. My only other trip to the Keys was when I was about 10 years old. One of my most vivid memories from that trip is of crossing these narrow bridges and the terror of meeting oncoming trucks. The Bahia Honda bridge was abandoned in 1972 when a new bridge was opened, but the old bridge still stands and is now a National historic landmark.

We have attended several other ranger programs that talked about the bird life, marine life and shoreline flora and fauna. Ironically, during this "dry season" both Friday night amphitheatre programs were rained out. During January the island experienced a 100-year cold spell and the water temperature dropped into the low 40's for several days. This condition resulted in a major fish kill. I understand that before we arrived, the beach was a little "ripe". While we were here many of the dead fish were still on the beach, but they had dried up to the extent that they no longer smelled.

Even though there is not an area for dogs to play and dogs are not allowed on any of the beaches, the camping areas are spread out enough to allow lots of walking areas. Matilda is, as always, fascinated by the birds. She has also discovered lizards. They are so cute and move so fast! Our neighbors have a Miniature Pinscher/Chihuahua named Molly who barks a lot. Matilda, Miss Socialite, had a talk with Molly and explained that they could be friends and all that barking was absolutely unnecessary. It worked and they've become friends. Now Molly only barks if her "mom" tries to pet Matilda. We've met lots of dogs here, a chocolate lab, two border collies, a Dachshund, Boston Terrier, German Shepherd, Boxer and a number of unidentified breeds. Matilda tries to make friends with them all.

We have made several visits to neighboring islands, particularly Big Pine Key and Marathon Key. Big Pine Key is home to the National Key Deer Refuge. After several trips to the refuge we learned that the deer are common and are not bashful. They are actually a diminutive sub-species of the Virgina Whitetail. Big Pine Key is an excellent place to bike; many roads have bike lanes, and the cars are driving very slowly, scouting for deer. We have also enjoyed several visits to the No Name Pub, located near the bridge connecting Big Pine Key and No Name Key. No Name Pub began as a bait shop and general store in 1931. It briefly served as a brothel and later became famous as a pub. It boasts "great food and lousy service" "If you can find it". Perhaps as much as $100,000 in $1 bills are plastered throughout the interior of the pub. It looked like a fire hazard to me, but when I tried to remove some (for their own safety of course) they vehemently objected. During our visit we enjoyed the pizza, barbecue, grouper and a chicken burrito. Oh, we also enjoyed the house brew, No Name Pub Amber. Good stuff!

On another day we visited Pigeon Key. Pigeon Key is a small island accessible only by the northern end of the old Seven-Mile bridge. The old Seven-Mile bridge has been largely abandoned, replaced by the new Seven-Mile bridge, but the northern two miles are still maintained to provide pedestrian and bike access to Pigeon Key. Pigeon Key served as a work camp during railroad construction. Pigeon Key is now operated by the Pigeon Key Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history and environment of the Florida Keys through education and research.

The Impossible Just Takes a Little Longer

They said it couldn't be done. To get a two-week reservation at a state park in the Keys during February is like winning the lottery. And don't even think about Bahia Honda, the southernmost park and the most popular. And if you do shoot for Bahia Honda, forget about a waterfront site.

Well we won the jackpot. At the end of February last year I started working on a site in the Florida Keys for this winter. One can make reservations for camping at the four state parks in the Keys starting 11 months out. I got up one morning, went online and picked a site that was coming open exactly eleven months away. The message said "Wait until 8:00 AM". OK. So, at exactly 8:00 I clicked away and the message said "Campsite sold out, try again sucker." OK, so that's the way it's going to be. I tried again over the next several mornings, at various parks with the same results. I would open multiple browser tabs on different camp sites at different parks: "Wait until 8:00 AM", "Wait until 8:00 AM", "Wait until 8:00 AM". Then: "Sold out", "Sold out", "Sold out". Dang. I began to believe they were right; it can't be done. But wait a minute, I'm no quitter. Someone is getting those sites, why can't it be me? Let's keep at it!

Perseverance paid off. On February 28 I hit the jackpot. I figured I had as good a chance at the best sites at the best parks as I did with any other campsites. On this day there were more upcoming vacancies than I had seen in the previous days. I assumed it had something to do with it being February 28. Since there was no February 29, 30 or 31, perhaps more sites were available during this eleven month window due to the difference in the length of the months, and perhaps sites for January 28, 29, 30 and 31 were all released on the same day. In any case, I snagged a prime waterfront site at Bahia Honda for two weeks starting January 31. Sweet! In order to complete the reservation I had to pay in advance for the entire stay. I was a little miffed to have to pay $440.86 ($28.50 per night plus taxes) a year in advance. Later, I was glad we had locked in at that price. When we arrived we learned that the price was now $38.50 plus tax per night. Even with the increase it still beats the private resorts that run upwards of $100 per night. Premium sites at Bluewater Key RV Resort, about half way from here to Key West are $185!!!! The state parks are a deal any way you cut it.

There was only one small hitch: our reservation started January 31 and the TREK rally didn't end until January 31. It was about a 9-hour drive from Tampa to Bahia Honda. This meant we had three choices: change our reservation and give up our first day at Bahia Honda, leave the rally early (which meant we would also skip a day at the Crown Club) or drive all the way to the lower Keys in one long haul. We have had long driving days before, so it was an easy choice. We wanted to arrive at our camp as early as possible, certainly before dark. We also wanted to take our time and enjoy a leisurely drive 100 miles down the Keys to our camp. This led us to depart Lazydays at the ungodly hour of 4:00 AM. When we told one TREKer that this is what we intended to do, he remarked that he did not know another 4:00 even existed. I told him to think about when he stayed up all night drinking and 4:00 rolled around. Oh, that one!

The forecast was for cool, overcast and storms, but the storms probably wouldn't hit until the late afternoon or evening. We enjoyed a leisurely drive south on I-75. About daybreak near Naples, we stopped for a break and bought some groceries. There we exited I-75 and got on US 41, the Tamiami Trail, east towards Miami. The Tamiami Trail is a very pleasant two-lane road that goes through some rural Florida lowlands. We stopped at the Oasis Visitor Center in the Big Cypress National Preserve. There we picked up information on camping and canoeing in the Preserve and in the Everglades National Park, which would be useful to us in a few weeks. We continued towards Miami and turned south towards Homestead, where we picked up US 1. We continued on US 1 to Key Largo and southward until we arrived at Bahia Honda. The trip down US 1 on the Keys was a little disappointing. I don't know what I expected, but I did not expect an endless string of beach stores, motels and liquor stores. We could see that at Myrtle Beach. The bridges between the islands at least were scenic and, all in all, it was a nice drive.

We checked in and got parked on Site #16. We found that the site was wide enough that we could park parallel to the water and had a panoramic view of the two bridges and a commanding view of the sunset. Unfortunately, it was beginning to rain, so we couldn't enjoy the sights this evening. That was fine because were whupped from getting up early and driving all day. It ended up storming and rained hard all night long and most of the next day. We later learned that it had rained almost 6" in some places on the island. That is more precipitation than they usually get during the entire winter, the so-called "dry season" in the Keys.