Trippin' with Susan Straley

I am back at McDonald's in Key Largo this morning October 18th.  I only have two more days here and I can't wait. But before I get to the whining, let me tell you about the vultures. I had vultures in the title of my last post, but ran out of blog time before I got to the story of the vultures. On Wednesday October 16th I was up before daylight and I packed up in the dark.  Once I turned the corner off the Timiami Trail (Highway 41) and headed south toward the Keys I was in territory that was new-to-me .  The road wasn't as rural as I expected and was mostly just a two lane road with lots of construction. I figured I will never get down this way again, so I should check out Flamingo.  I had wanted to go to Flamingo since I heard about the trip my bike group took there years before George and I moved here.  They had biked the road passing many gator. I stopped at the visitors center on the road to Flamingo and asked if I would see Flamingo there. No, the r

It is Thursday, October 17, 2019 and I am writing this from a McDonalds in Key Largo, Florida. I like going new places and being surprised by new sights. I last wrote from a Starbucks in Miami.  Then I thought I only had one more night at the Everglades campground.  I was mistaken.   I had two. Kamp-rite Tent Cot I like sleeping in my tent cot.  I am outside so much.  If I wake up in the middle of the night I can see the stars and listen for any sounds. I expected the Everglades campsite to be full of sounds.  I expected a shrill of frog calls and the rustling of bushes and the rumble of gators.   Crickets, I heard crickets and an occasional air boat in the distance.  In the early mornings I heard trucks that seemed to thunder across the Everglades on the Tamiami Trail in the early morning hours.  I didn't see a lot of trucks when driving that road. The one downside... or maybe two, to sleeping in my tent cot.   Sometimes I wake up and there is no breeze.  I am

I am writing this from Starbucks in the Miami, Florida area on Monday, October 14, 2019. We are staying at the Midway Campground in the Everglades.  Located 1/2 way between Naples Florida and Miami.  The highway (highway 41) is called the Tamiami Trail.  It is named for the two cities it connects, Tampa and Miami. Jim McCrae said they are raising up Highway 41 in places so that the flat-flowing river that is the Everglades will be able to flow better.  So far the places being raised are on the Miami end.  I drove over them this morning. The campground has electric!  I am glad for that so I can cook my meals, make a morning coffee.  There is water at the bathroom.  The RV's don't have a sewer hookup or a dump station.  So their time here is limited. Also, being in the middle of a very large wilderness area, there is no cell service and no internet.  Once in a while my phone would ping and I would see a message come in.  Most often I could not reply because the service ju