It was an interesting trip, and in many ways a different kind of RV Adventure for us. When Pam finally gets home the entire trip will be 11 weeks, about 3 weeks more than last year in Mexico. Usually our trips are in the style of a vagabond. We rarely stay in one place more than 4 nights. On this trip we set a new record having stayed in Marathon for a whole 11 nights. We stayed 2 other places for a week, and at least 4 other locations for 5 days or more. We only "dry camped" (that's not having electricity, water, etc) for about 7 nights. All the rest of the trip we were "plugged in" and often had cable TV.
Our experience was tainted by the weather. We all know this winter was horrible just about everywhere. In Florida by most measurements it was at least the second coldest winter on record. Just about every day was at least 10º colder than usual. We didn't get to do hardly any diving or snorkeling which we really had our hearts set on when we were in the Keys. We also learned that there is a pretty significant climate difference in the central part of Florida (in the Orlando area) versus farther south like Fort Myers. If & when we go back I bet we spend most of our time in the far southern parts of the state.
Thanks for reading our blog. Our next trip may be Alaska this summer but we are not sure yet. When we do head out to hit the road you will hear about it on this blog.
Yesterday we got to the Larry and Penny Thompson Campground near Homestead, FL and got set up before the thunderstorms came. It made for a lazy afternoon. We are 
The very south end of the Glades is on the Florida Bay. It was extremely windy today so we did not rent a canoe but there are lots of canoe trails throughout this part of the park. We also leaned that crocodiles live in this part of the park but we did not see any of them. This is the most southern point of the contiguous USA.
Yesterday, the day after diving, we are very un-energetic. Got up late, goofed off most of morning, drove around Marathon some, found Sombrero Beach, drove around Bahia Honda State Park, took a nap, and had sunset cocktails with our neighbors.
I walked next door to the Dolphin Research Center and got to experience some training sessions with dolphins. This location was established for training dolphins in 1951 and has gone through several hands before becoming this research center. Remember Flipper? Parts of that TV show were filmed here and the 4 dolphins that played Flipper came from here. In fact, their descendants still live here. They have 20 dolphins, 2 baby dolphins and lots of volunteers and trainers. I got a personal tour from a volunteer and watched people swim with the dolphins, training and feeding. Very interesting.
During the afternoon, we drove down to the Seven Mile Bridge. Under that bridge is the original road/bridge that goes over an island called Pigeon Key, a national historic place. We walked out to the island, about 2 miles one way, and got a personal tour of the island and the buildings and the history of Henry Flagler, father of Florida. Flagler built the railroad that connected all the islands along the keys from Miami to Key West. Flagler also built destination resorts to lure more people to Florida. This island was where all the workers lived that built the railroad. That railroad bed eventually became the roadway, and was eventually replaced by new wider bridges which you can see in the background of the picture.
Look back at the picture in the last blog of John in the water -- see how clear and calm it is? Now check out this picture. See all that seaweed on the seawall? That was blown up by wind and waves overnight Tuesday and all day on Wednesday and into Wednesday night. This morning the wind has finally died down some. It was a wild night. We could hear the water from the gulf hitting the RV and the wind rocking us about. Wed. morning we surveyed the result which was tons of salt water all over the RV and Jeep!
We packed up the RV and moved a short ways north up the Keys to Grassy Key, staying at the Jolly Roger RV Park. We are parked right on the Gulf with only a 4 foot sea wall between us and the water! And it is beautiful looking out over the sea.
Today was really beautiful but weather warnings predicted a severe thunderstorm and rain for the afternoon. We planned accordingly and goofed off in the morning and then planned to do grocery shopping and laundry while it rained. The area near the seawall is roped off for snorkeling so John had to see what it was like despite the cold water. The water is still murky so he didn't see much more than one lobster and one fish! Then it thundered twice, rained 14 drops and that was it for the storm! John rode his bike about 10 miles and I washed clothes.
Ah! The weekend! Bright and early Saturday morning we boarded a fast cat to the Dry Tortugas. This little island is home to Fort Jefferson that was built early in US history to protect the gulf from pirates and to watch out for trade coming and going to New Orleans. Most ships would have passed this area because of its proximity to the Gulf Stream. It's a huge fort and was actually never attacked but you can still see canons, light house, and ruins of barracks. It was also used as a prison during the civil war to hold Rebels as it was held by Union forces. All around the fort is a moat and past the moat is the sea where there is good snorkeling. After lunch on the boat we donned our wet suits and snorkels and went out into the water. It was cold but the wet suits helped. We saw some neat fish right along the moat wall but the water was not real clear so we moved to some old pier pilings. John went down thru the middle of the pilings and saw some pretty neat fish right up against the pilings. I wasn't comfortable going down the middle so I hung out on the edge but didn't see much. The water is really not very clear here either.
It was a long day so when we got home we took a fast shower and headed out to dinner in Key West, ending the day at the wine bar!