2018 FALL ADVENTURE 11-1

Off to the west side the "Gulf" side of Florida.  Wendy did some research as usual and Sanibel Island would be a great place to visit so we are doing just that and staying here an extra day.  We decide to take State Route 41 instead of the Interstate so we could go through the Everglades which we did.  

Map of the Day 171 Miles

We stopped for breakfast at a nice little place and discovered they also did  "Air Boat" trips in the Everglades National Park from there.  While at breakfast we wrote a few postcards, look out friends and family.

After rather short consideration we decided to take the boat ride.  Yet another opportunity to use my old people lifetime national park pass............YES!  The boat ride lasted about an hour and was ok.  We saw some alligators and a few birds but not as much wildlife as we had expected.  Either we are getting a bit jaded or it was a bit of a lackluster tour.  Oh not to forget, the boat broke down and we had to be rescued by another one.  I was hoping everyone was going to have to walk the gang plank to another boat but they just pulled it up and we stepped inside, way to easy.  Just having visited the Hemingway house it all seemed a bit to easy.

A channel in the Everglades

One of the air boats

A weird, but beautiful landscape

The rest of our ride for the day was along a rather long and very, very, very straight road to Sanibel Island were we landed at about 3:30 PM.  Today was a rather short ride but interesting nevertheless.  We are both ready for a planning day and Wendy really wants to sit and swim on a beach again.  I have a need to do some of the same and figure out how to fix the leak in my final drive at least good enough to get us through the duration of the trip.  It may buying some used parts and doing some exchanging as we go.....stay tuned.

We had a very nice dinner a  local place.

2018 FALL ADVENTURE 10-31

We said goodbye to Key West today with some mixed feelings.  The place certainly has some charm and historical interest along with some very nice beaches but it's a bit tainted with not so nice touristy and party town stuff.  In any event off we went back to Miami Beach to stay for one night in the Art Deco Historical District.  We found a nice little hotel right in the heart of the district.  Our room was three floors up and no elevator so we got a little exercise which was actually good for us.

Map of the Day 172 Miles

Oh yes I also had to make a side trip to get my final drive oil changed which took a couple of hours at BMW of Miami  The tile on a project of Wendy's had too long a lead time so off we went to a tile store as well.  She got some info just as they were closing. Still working on the problem.  Once we settled into our digs at the "Princess Hotel" we went out to dinner and walk around to watch the Trick or Treaters walk around in their ghoulish costumes.  We did see a bunch of kids and some teenagers but not as many as we thought we might.  All in all it was fun however and gave us the chance to see some of the Art Deco buildings with their night lights on.  

2018 FALL ADVENTURE 10-30

Today we tootled around the backstreets of Key West to get a flavor of what this place might have looked like in it’s prime. There remain some wonderful examples of cottages from the early days of the island and we enjoyed seeing them.

In the process we stumbled across the most southern point in the United States see the picture below for proof.

We took a tour of Hemingway's house and it was a real charmer. Beautiful house, in a beautiful setting with 54 cats.

Hemingway House

Key West Street

Our Mangrove Swamp

We finished the day at the beach, of course.

Don't forget to Vote (Thanks Ponce for Sending  Us Our Ballots)

Wendy, the weather squirrel discovered the southern most ground effects weather radar station in the U.S. as she wandered down the beach.  Cool stuff huh, we verified it immediately online.

It should also be noted that Key West is a port of call for numerous cruise ships and had an international airport.

2018 FALL ADVENTURE 10-29

We’ve enjoyed having bikes to explore, so we picked up a pair today to start our exploration of Key West. Key West is a wee bit of a disappointment.

 It’s a cruise ship port and a BIG Spring Break destination and the center of town caters to these two groups, so there are a lot of souvenir shops and Bars. There are a few notable residents, or course – Hemingway and Truman to name a few, but the real star of this town is the Beach and the fact that there is a point in Key West that marks the SE end of the continental U.S.A.

We, like everyone else in town, sat to enjoy a beautiful sunset and then peddled home. A perfect day in paradise.

2018 FALL ADVENTURE 10-28

On to paradise!

Today’s journey leads us to Key West. Getting there was quite an expertise. From Miami to Key West is 160 miles. These keys are really nothing more than little bumps in the ocean, connected by an endless expanse of road and bridge.

Map of the Day 188 Miles

The longest bridge is 7 miles long. WOW. It’s really something to see. 7 miles of bridge floating in the ocean. You must wonder, do we really need this, but there we were happily utilizing this nifty roadway.

We are camping in Key West and our site is an odd private campground called Leos Campground. Our site backs up to a mangrove and the tidal waters are home to all kinds of birds, little fishes and GIANT Iguanas. Pretty cool.

Rudy Named Him Fritz the Iguana