Florida City, FL

Yeah! I'm back on vacation! and, yes, I've done the happy dance too. Mike and I left Fort Myers this morning and drove to Florida City which is just south of Homestead, FL. We found the neatest little fruit stand called "Robert is Here" or www.robertishere.com They have all kinds of exotic fruit and a line for fresh fruit milkshakes that was about 20 people long! Tomorrow we're going to Biscayne Bay National Park.

The Pool

I feel like a kid again...going to the pool everyday. I usually work until 3:30. Mike and I have been going to the pool everyday after work. Let me tell you, it is HOT out there! But the pool feels great! It is almost too warm. We have managed to keep from getting burned, well, except yesterday because we were out there around 2pm. It's awesome. The pool is clean and usually, we are the only ones there.

I have 4 more days of work. We are still trying to plan the next stop but right now it looks like Biscayne Bay National Park and some scuba diving.

Two weeks of work

During the later half of the week, a job opportunity was presented to me to work the next two weeks in the area where we are now. There wasn't much paperwork to fill out for this position, which is not usually the case, so I took it. After some late night email and faxing, I got everything signed and submitted. So I guess Mike and I will be sticking around for two more weeks. The vacation will be put on hold but it's a little more money to pay for gas to fill the tank.

Key West...Express

Thursday, we boarded onto a high speed catamaran and took a quick trip down to Key West. The ferry was called the Key West Express. From Fort Myers it takes about 3.5 hours each way. It was a very nice ferry and they played a movie there and back which really helped pass the time. Once we arrived in Key West, we only had around 4 hours. Mike opted out of the trip, so I was the only one in the party who had been to Key West before. The first thing we did was take a tour on the Conch tour train so that everyone got a good overview of the island. Next, we visited Hemingway's house, which was the #1 place Steve wanted to visit. The polydactyl (6 toed)cats were cool. We stopped by Sloppy Joe's bar for a drink (another Hemingway haunt) then grabbed some lunch at little shack and headed back to the boat. It was hot and hectic but fun. Just another quick 12 hour day.

Megalodon teeth

Wednesday, we booked a guided tour to go hunting for Megalodon teeth. Back when Mike and I were in Port Charlotte, we stayed at a campground located on the Peace River. Then, in January, we were watching a show on the Travel Channel called Best Places to find Cash and Treasures and the hostess was near Port Charlotte on the Peace River digging for Megalodon teeth. "The Peace River in DeSoto, Hardee and Polk counties was once a shallow salt water bay. There is evidence that pregnant female megalodon sharks used the bay as a birthing suite where juveniles measuring 7-10 ft. in length got a chance to grow stronger and larger, feeding on fish, dolphins, dugongs (manatee cousins) and each other". My mom and Mike decided to go digging. I went as an observer...after all, I have seen alligators in that river.
It turned out to be a pretty fun day. They found one half of a tooth from a 20 foot Megalodon and lots of fossilized shark teeth and various fossilized bone fragments.

Fort Myers Beach

Tuesday we took a trip to Fort Myers beach. I won't elaborate because it didn't hold a candle to last week's beach. One thing it had going for it was that it was more fun to people watch at Fort Myers beach and there weren't as many biting bugs as on Sanibel Island...I guess that's two things.

Fishing/Shopping

Monday was a fun day. The guys went fishing. The girls went shopping. Mike said a group of dolphins swam around the fishing boat for around 45 minutes. It was a prosperous fishing trip.

Later that night, we went out to eat at a restaurant named the Crazy Flamingo, where they will cook your days catch. Here is a photo of myself and my mom, Rhonda.

The girls took home quite a "catch" also. Bags full of goodies. The day ended too soon.

Arriving in Florida

Sunday we arrived in SW Florida. This day, we experience two things that have never happened to us before. On the drive down, some type of black bird hit our windshield while we were travelling at 70 mph on the interstate. The poor bird got caught up in the wind trail of a semi and lost control, thus slamming into our windshield. I believe it was probably a fatal injury. It made my heart beat quicker too. Somehow in slow motion, I could see the bird coming towards us...my next thought was that it would break the window. Luckily, it did not.

Later that day, as we were attempting to park the RV, we almost ran over a plastic water spickot. When I say almost, I mean, the back tire bent it enough that the top broke off sending a geyser of water up about 10 feet in the air and leaving a jagged plastic pipe sticking out of the ground. If Mike had pulled forward another inch, the tire would have been on top of it. So now we have a problem. The office was closed on the weekend and the emergency number was a beeper. While we waited for someone to call back, we carefully manuevered into our spot (the broken water pipe was in the spot directly in front of ours, which temporarily created quite a lovely water feature). The park staff that came to fix the leak were very nice and didn't seem too put out by the mishap. How embarrassing!

Beach week

I can’t believe an entire week has passed since we left Texas. We had a great time at the beach. We stayed at the Playa del Rio RV park, which was about a ½ mile from the Florida/Alabama state line on the Florida side and the Florabama bar. This little park was just across the street from the beach. A little pricey but very convenient!

Monday, it mostly rained but the weather the rest of the week was very nice. We made it out to the beach almost everyday (not Monday) and managed to keep the sunburns at bay until Friday. It was nice to relax and not have too much of a plan. One evening, we walked down the beach to the Florabama. If you ever go, try the Bushwacker. I think it’s their signature frozen drink…small but potent. Also, in the Gulf Shores area, be sure to ride the Wild Woody. Get your mind out of the gutter, it’s a wooden racetrack for go karts. This weekend Mike will be driving us to the next destination…southwest Florida where we will meet up with my mom and some extended family. Grand plans are already in place for this upcoming week so we are sure to have a great time.

Sugar sand beaches

Friday was a busy day getting the RV ready to roll. Mike washed the RV and we washed the jeep. It really needed it! Unfortunately, I realized what I thought were bugs plastered to the front of the jeep were really nick marks from rocks, etc. Bummer. The poor jeep has taken a bit of a beating. Anyway, Saturday, we hit the road and made it to just outside Baton Rouge. Sunday, we drove the rest of the way to the beach. For the rest of the week, we will be staying outside of Pensacola, FL across the street from the beach. It rained a little this morning but I think the sun is coming out now. So that means, I'm getting out of this RV.