The Florida Keys

 

Sunshine Key Rv Resort, Ohio Key, Florida

We finally got out of the Tampa Bay area and made it to the Keys.  I was beginning to think it wasn’t meant to be.

We got on the road about 9:00 am Saturday morning.  It was about a  240 miles trip, and  we arrived at  Midway Campground mid afternoon.    You cannot make reservations at Midway campground, and you cannot call ahead to check on availability, so you have to hope for the best.  There are not many other options nearby, so if you don’t get a site at Midway, the only other place close by is Monument Lake Campground, which has no electric or water.  Since it was very hot and humid, we were hoping for the 50 amp electric service of Midway.

We held our breath as we drove into Midway, and were relived to see the campground mostly empty.  It was so hot and humid that the only thing we wanted to do was lay down and take a short nap.  After a while, we mustered up the energy to go out for a drive over to a nice boardwalk.

The Bald Cypress were without leaves the last time we were here.  They all looked to be dead. Sherry also commented on them.  Here are some pictures for you Sherry.  See how pretty and green everything is now?

The Bald Cypress all have beautiful new green growth, and the everglades looks completely different from the last time we were here in December.

As we got near the end of the boardwalk, we frightened a group of birds and off they flew up to the trees.

Here is a pair of Wood Storks, which posed nicely for me.

 

We also saw a lot of these beautiful air plants.

I didn’t take any pictures of our campsite or the campground because I’ve taken so many in the past.   If you are interested in Midway Campground, just do a search on my blog and you’ll come across a lot of photos.   It’s located on highway 41.  The sites and main road are paved, and there is 50 amp electric, but no water or sewer at the sites.  You can fill up your fresh water and dump your tanks.  It costs $10 a night with the Senior Pass.

They had Purple Martin houses set up and they were attracting a big crowd.  Nice to see.

Notice the almost full moon in the background?

 

 

Our original plan was to try and avoid the horrible construction mess east bound on highway  41.  It has been going on forever and we have come to dread that part of the drive.

However, since we missed our 2 previous departure dates and therefore our campground reservations at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, we had to try to stay at Midway.   Avoiding that part of highway 41 was possible if we went all the way back to I-75, but it was too far out of the way, so we soldiered on.

It wasn’t any better than it was last December, or last April, or last February, or the December before that.  Progress is  very slow on this construction project.

They have some big bumps, which are fortunately now marked.  The worst part is those “rumble” strips that will shake your teeth and rattle your bones if you go over them faster than about 2 mph.

It was only 12 miles of construction, but it was a long 12 miles.

As we traveled east on 41, and as we got into the Keys, we noticed the wind picking up.  We were thinking ahead of some of the big bridges along the overseas highway.   That could prove to be interesting.

As we drove closer to Sunshine Key and saw other motor homes coming the opposite direction, Al mentioned that they had safely crossed the bridges and we should be okay.  I replied, “yeah, but what you don’t see is all the motor homes that blew off the bridge and are floating in the ocean.”   :)  

I wish I could have accurately captured the color of the water.  The pictures don’t show the beautiful turquoise color that it actually was.

The winds were strong, but we slowed down, held onto the steering wheel and arrived safely at our “home” in the Keys.

After lunch, a short rest and a beer for Al, we took a walk along the bridge.

Ahhhhhhh…….back in the Florida Keys.

 

This morning we awoke to a squall line approaching us with some ugly looking storms approaching.  This is the same storm that’s bringing a cold front and caused some severe weather in Orlando yesterday.  We smugly were thinking we had missed this storm…..but here it is.   Hopefully, it’s not going to bring anything severe.  We are expecting very cool weather (for the Keys) this week with one day only expected to be 68 degrees.  That’s very unusual for the Keys this time of year.

Hopefully it will warm up, the winds will die down and we’ll able to get in the water and do some snorkeling and kayaking.