Trip to Key West FL 2007

There is only one Everglades in the World.

Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. The area boasts rare and endangered species, such as the American crocodile, Florida panther, and West Indian manatee. It has been designated an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, and a Wetland of International Importance, in recognition of its significance to all the people of the world.

http://www.nps.gov/ever/

Deb cooking at our site at Flamingo Campground in the park.

Flamingo Campground - Located at the end of the main park road in Flamingo. It has 234 drive-in sites, including 55 with a view of the water and three group sites, and 40 walk-up sites (6 on the water's edge). It also provides cold water showers, two dump stations, picnic tables, and grills. Flamingo has several hiking trails and canoe trails, and opportunities for saltwater fishing are plentiful. The Lodge, restaurant, and gift shop sustained extensive damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005 and remain closed. To date, there is no projected date when these facilities will reopen. The Marina Store and gas station are open.

Narrated boat excursions into the mangrove estuary depart Thursday through Monday from the Flamingo Marina. Schedules, tickets, and information are available at the Flamingo

http://www.nps.gov/archive/ever/visit/tours.htm

Captain’s Blog:
January 20, 2007

Planned on loading up “Old Nellie” for the trip to the Florida Keys but happened upon an add on the internet for a Motor home and Tow car for sale either separately or as a package. Went to see them and knew they were exactly what we were looking for so we made an offer and bought them both. The timing was stressful because we took delivery exactly one week before we our scheduled departure. As you can see Debbie is heading out to greet the people who so kindly delivered them to us.

It was very cold and windy that day but we had to spend time learning how to unhook the tow car and how to operate a variety of features on this motor home that we didn’t have on the Columb

us.

Captian’s Blog:

January 21 – 26, 2007

The week was cold, bitter cold but we had to get everything done before we left. Spent some time transferring our stuff out of the Columbus into the is too steep and the jacks would not accommodate the pitch of the driveway. DANGER-DANGER!!!!!!!!

Captain’s Blog:
January 27, 2007
Mountain Aire. Both of us got be to proficient at managing the slide-outs although we did mess up on the leveling jacks.

Seems our driveway
Freezing cold this morning ( 7 degrees ). As in the past Ron went out to warm up the RV. The bedroom slide was already out because I had last minute items to put in the closets. We then tried to bring the slide in and it would not engage. After 3-4 tries we both panicked. What could be wrong! Ron looked under the bed to check for any loose connections and I read the manual for any troubleshooting advice. (no problems or advice could be found) OH-DUH- the slide wouldn’t go in as long as the engine was running! Ron was thrilled to be out in the cold hooking up the tow car for the first time. After several tries we finally got it right and finally left Raynham around noon.
Spent last night at the Clara Barton rest area on the New Jersey Turnpike. So far everything is going well and we nice and warm in the RV.

Captain’s Blog:
January 28, 2007

Driving 95 South looking for some warm weather. Long ride today. Nothing but highway driving and cold weather, flurries and a very thirsty RV. Stopped in Selma, North Carolina fully

expecting to run into some mild weather but all we got was a nice campground with 21 degree temperatures.

Captain’s Blog:
January 29, 2007

Still looking for warm weather. Stayed at Lake Harmony RV park in Townsend GA. Still cool but better.

Captian’s Blog:
January 30, 2007

Arrived Florida today and found a great place on the Ochacobee Lake.

Unfortunately you could not see the lake because of the Levy. Oh well. Did run into weather in the 70’s so finally felt like we were going in the right direction. Tomorrow we will be in Boyton Beach where we will visit our friends Carolyn and Jack for a couple of days.

Captain’s Blog
January 31, 2007

Arrived at Carolyn and Jack’s today. They live in a great condo- complex with manicured lawns and big rooms. Took at ride to Mar Largo to check out Donald Trumps’ digs. He has an oversized flag flying in his yard and I guess the flagpole is too high. He was told to take the flag down and get a shorter pole or he would be fined $260.00 per day because of some town ordinance. Being the stubborn man that he is he refuses to shorten the pole and the flag is flying and the daily fine has been invoked. We also went to see Briny Breezes the trailer park

that sits between the ocean and the inter-coastal waterway. This is the park that was bought by a developer who will be putting up multi-million dollar high rise condos. Each owner in the park will get one million dollars for their tiny trailer and piece of land. Unfortunately, some of the people are very elderly and may not live to get their money in 2009.

Captain’s Blog:
February 1, 2007

Having a great visit with Carolyn and Jack. We were allowed to park our RV overnight at the pool down the street from their con

do. Went to the GoodYear Blimp hangar today. Quite a sight. Unfortunately, due to the high winds they were not able to take the blimp out of the hangar to launch.

Generally they launch

every Wednesday through Saturday.
Also took a boat ride along the inter-coastal waterway and saw many multimillion dollar homes that most are only lived in one or two months per year. It must be tou