The Best of Times and the Worst of Times

4/2     I said good bye to Key West in the morning.  On the way back up the keys, I debated what to do.  A lot of this trip reminds me of a kid in a candy store.  There is so much to choose from that it becomes hard to choose.  It's just not possible to see and do everything.  At times it becomes impossible to make a decision so I just keep moving. 


I did finally make one good decision though.  There were several swim with the dolphin places.  I checked with one and the price was way too high and I didn't know what to do with Cash, so I kept going.  By the time I got back to Key Largo I had decided what the hell, and went in an signed up.  I ended up taking Cash to a dog groomer and he got a bath while I was doing the dolphin thing.  It all couldn't have worked out better.  And I had the best time ever with the dolphins.  There was a group of people there who were also going to swim, but one of them was only watching, so he was kind enough to take massive pictures of me and my dolphins.  Just the most fun I've had in years.  I'm not sure why I never got around to scuba diving.  I'll still have to work on the why not of that.

After that, I kept going and ended up at Everglades National Park.  Down at the Flamingo area.  Camped near some people who spend their summers in the Outer Banks so they gave me some real good ideas of what to see when I get there.

4/3     Spent some time driving around the everglades and seeing what I could, given the heat and bugs.  Hardly any people there.  The season is definitely over.  It too was not what I expected.  I think it's mostly because it is the dry season.  Many more trees than I thought.  Interesting place.

Cute sign.  Show how flat the everglades are.

 Then I went to Miami.  It was the most horrible thing I've done yet.  There were several things going on in town that made the traffic CRAWL.  And it was HOT.  And the air in the truck doesn't work.  So I went to Miami Beach which was even worse.  I thought you could drive down the road and see the beach on one side and the high rise hotels on the other.....wrong.  You can't even see the beach and you are stuck between the tall buildings with no air moving.  And massive people, and no place to park the truck and trailer.  Not even a place to pull over. And traveling about 2 miles an hour.  Eventually I gave up and got on the interstate to cool off.  By now I'm getting really tired and crabby.  I kept looking over toward the beach, and all you can see is a line of high rises for miles and miles.  Way past Ft. Lauderdale.  I didn't even take any pictures.  So I said "uncle" and drove on north to a KOA in Fort Pierce.  The weather here is much better.  Tonight is actually pleasant.  Even as bad as today in Miami was, I still ran into a lot of nice, friendly people.  The people I've met are the best part of the trip.