Yesterday was our last day in the ‘Glades and, of course we needed to get out and about to see it all for one last time. We began walking around the campground and met a couple from Anoka, Minnesota, where I used to substitute teach. They had just flown over to Holland to buy their RV for their trip around Europe which they start in March. The selling company has agreed to hold it until they get there. Did I have questions about this? Do I like chocolate? Of course and we must have talked with them about an hour. Does that ever sound like an adventure and they conveyed their excitement to us. At least to me. Now, can I get that excitement to Gary?
Gary is going through some old stuff we’ve had for years and scanning it so he can toss it and relieve us of a lot of paper. He came across this 1960’s newspaper article. My, we’ve come a long ways since then.
We then walked the trail to the marina where all the action is. At least we could check the weather for the next day here. Certainly not in our RV - with no TV, no wi-fi and no cell phone service.
But the real fun was watching the manatees who had decided to put on a show here. I’m thinking that they have been fed here and are looking for more food. I don’t understand why people disobey all the signs and feed the wildlife. There were two here rolling around in the water. This one sure likes to have his nose rubbed. He hung around for about 5 minutes bobbing up and down as I rubbed his nose.
We didn’t have much to get ready for our trip to the Keys since we were only on electricity so we were able to get going a bit earlier. Oh, yeah, then we have to hit the dump which was a few rows over and dump and fill with fresh water. OK, so maybe we didn’t start out as early as we might have thought.
I love this sign along the road in the Everglades where the elevation doesn’t get above 10’.
Luckily, we’ve got a diesel or we’d never make it over this pass.
The trip out was uneventful. We reached Homestead and stopped at a grocery store to stock up for the Keys. Not that I don’t expect grocery stores on the Keys (it’s progressed beyond the scenes in ‘Key Largo’) but I don’t want to waste Keys time on grocery stopping.
Look at this RV that we saw in the parking lot and all of the stickers they’ve accumulated over their travels. Costa Rica, Las Vegas, Brazil, Big Bend, Cabo and, my favorite, ‘You better Belize it.’
2 hours down the road and we were at our campsite. I’ve heard about the Keys for years since my father was stationed here during WWII and Gary was stationed here during his 4 years in the Navy. Small little coral islands stretching out into the Gulf. Jimmy Buffet singing about his lost shaker of salt. Palm trees waving in the breeze. Why wouldn’t someone want to go here? Oh, yeah the mosquitoes, the humidity, the remoteness.
And, those things kept people away for many years, especially the remoteness when the only way to get here was by boat. Finally in 1904, railroad magnate Henry Flagler decided to extend his railroad from Miami to Key West. Huge project connecting all the tiny islands - with all those huge gaps over the water. ‘Flagler’s Folly’ it was nicknamed but he was not to be deterred and finished it in 1912, despite all the hurricanes that seemed to have it in their sights. The Overseas Railroad lasted for 23 years and brought thousands out to Key West to marvel in its beauties and enjoy its warmth and island vibe. But the hurricane of 1935 finally ended the railroad. His successors decided not to rebuild since the railroad had never been a money maker. We could still see the old railroad causeways with their railings. Once an engineering marvel and now rusty railings, chipped concrete, and a haven for birds.
But so many had been to the Keys and had enjoyed it that the Overseas Highway opened in 1938. It is an engineering marvel itself with its 43 bridge/causeways, one of which is 7 miles long with 288 135’ sections. and its views - between the deep aquamarine of the Gulf waters and the deep blue of the Atlantic Ocean. Pinch me so I know it’s all real.
And we’re here. We set up and headed out to one of the old sections of the railroad bed which had been restored as a bike path and a fishing bridge. Neat walk and we thoroughly enjoyed it. At the end, we turned around and walked back.
On the way back old fishing line discarded by careless or thoughtless fishermen glistened in the setting sun and we picked up a mass of it. Unfortunately, both birds, turtle and fish eat this and it plays havoc with their insides. Sometimes, if the pieces are long, it wraps around a flipper or a leg or a neck and the unfortunate creature gets strangled or loses a flipper or a leg. Pictures of turtles with fishing line wrapped around a stump of a flipper are so sad. Of course, it isn’t confined to fishermen - there is so much trash along our nation’s highways. Here’s a picture of another animal caught in some trash that didn’t grow as fast as the animal did.
Luckily there were a lot of trash barrels along the trail so we could dispose of our current handful and start on the next handful. Here’s what we picked up between two of these trash barrels. Why couldn’t we have found a $20 bill or two?
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