Saturday, Jan 25 - Only 11 months until Christmas. Hang in there.

We are now in Key Largo. Fought our way through traffic, large volumes of it, from Fort Lauderdale through Miami and on through Homestead, on Interstate 95, then route 1. Slow, slow, slow, through the city, and even once we cleared Miami, as it's all built up until you hit the Everglades area. Finally you get a sense that you're entering the Keys, and then water appears on both sides...not clear on both sides, but scrub growth interspersed with inlets. And you smell a little difference in the air, despite the traffic, and once you hit the single lane, you know you've arrived on the Overseas Heritage Trail.

This route was enabled by a very imaginative guy named Flagler, known up and down the Atlantic Coast for monumental projects. He envisioned connecting this part of the U.S. with Cuba and Panama via a railroad across the sea. He built 23 bridges connecting the various remote keys, ending in Key West. And that's as far as it went. But what a difference it made to this remote part of Florida. Opened it up to fishermen, boaters, and tourists like never before, and it hasn't looked back.

So here we are, parked on a narrow little strip of land right beside the water. As I write, I can hear the smacking of the water against the pier, over the sound of Jimmy Buffet, who we've been playing all evening.

We biked down to a State Park and did a walk-around, then went further on to find a booze store to re-stock a little. After Gail's fine salmon burgers, we went for a walk. Heard some excitement...yelling and screaming..., and found a big fancy hotel  down the road, where a wedding party was going on. The folks were dressed to the nines, bouncing up and down to a good five piece band. Turns out the wedding party is from Michigan, so it's one of those destination weddings that are pretty popular these days. They were having a great time, so we enjoyed the party from the sidelines until we gave up being offered a drink, we in our t's and shorts, them in long dresses and classy outfits. Guess we just didn't fit in. My friends Donnie and Mick would have been right in the middle of it. We're too shy, I guess.

Back at camp, we ran into one of our camp managers, who was in the process of trying to figure out who had parked a car on the property in a tow-away area. She explained that this happens all too often, mostly 'felons' sneaking in to fish illegally from the mangroves that border the bay. If she can't find the owners of the car, she calls authorities, and they tow the vehicle away, which means 400 bucks to get it out of hock. She knows the park intimately, and overseas it with earnest. We asked if she didn't feel a little uneasy confronting these people. She explained that she's packing, so isn't too worried. She can look after herself. Just as we were chatting, up drove a pick-up truck full of Hispanic people, who weren't very happy to be told they couldn't park where they had. They gave a lot of mouth, but she held her own, so we left her to her business. Interestingly, she's been to Canada often, up to Chapleau, of all places, where her cousins run two camps. Never know where people you meet have been or come from.

Tomorrow we will do the 100 miles along the Heritage Trail, working our way to Key West. Should be an interesting drive. Meanwhile, we'll soon settle down to try to get some sleep, hoping the party over the way doesn't interrupt our slumbers. Enough of Jimmy Buffet, already. Thinking of friend Mick Chalmers, who loves Jimmy.

All for now. More later. Stay tuned.