Marathon, FL - 1/31/11 (day 3)

On Monday we needed to get a rental car and drive back to Ft. Myers to get the Hanna van. Bill went to the airport at 8 a.m. to pick up the car and my job was to make sure the ladies were ready when he got back. Long story short ... both jobs were accomplished. The trip to Ft. Myers was expected to take around 5 hours so no road trip is complete without a stop at Mickey D's for breakfast.

It was about 80 miles plus or minus to travel up Route 1 to get off the Keys to Homestead, FL. Homestead is a very pretty little town with lots of tree, shrub and flower farms. This was a segment of about 20 miles before we got to Rt 41 that runs through the Everglades and Indian Reservations.

The Everglades had several different looks with the Tamiami canal that was right along the starboard side of the car. The big activity while motoring through here was the "alligator spotting" contest created by our California friend Stan Anderson. Don't know what the prize will be but it is apparent we won the contest. Sorry Skip and Barb.

We spotted these two guys beside the road and actually turned around to get their pictures.

Little did me know that we would see at least 30 more before getting off this part of the trip. There was a surprising road sign that caught our attention. This sign made us think twice! If you can't make it large enough to read .... let me help. PANTHER CROSSING !!!!!

This road also went through several Indian Villages that were interesting to see. Most had buildings with thatch roofs and air boats in the yard.

I am actually submitting this blog at 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning and am happy to report that the temp never went below 70 last night and is expected to be 77 today. If this keeps up we are going to shut the windows and turn on the A/C! Today we are going to take the shuttle bus to Key West for the day, a trip of around 50 miles. It is only $3 so we can't drive and park for that plus the added benefit or enjoying adult beverages at MM O on Mallory Square for the sunset.

Our new slip location (#51) is: N 24 42.768 W 81 04.835