We arrived home today after seven days on the road from Fort Lauderdale.  We made the decision to drive home rather than leave the van in storage over the winter.  A long but beautiful drive, from heat in Florida, to cooler weather and late fall colours in Georgia-Tennessee-Kentucky-Illinois, to snow-covered hills in Wyoming and Montana.  Roads were dry all the way.

Now the winter hibernation begins.  We will make our decision at some point as to when and how we will complete our US circumnavigation. 

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Total mileage (2010):  9725 miles

The storm that we saw on the horizon last night did hit during the night with lightning, thunder, torrential rain and a howling wind.  This morning it is still overcast and showers come and go.  Although the rain torrential, it is warm and the showers seem to move through very quickly.

We drove into Key West this morning.  Our plan was to spend a couple of nights, but we were surprised by how crowded and claustrophobic the island felt to us.  We had a look around - Ernest Hemingway's home, mile 0, the southernmost point in the United States, and then headed back to the mainland.

We are in Fort Lauderdale for a couple of nights while we consider our options for the final stage of our trip.

Trip Mileage:  6540 miles

It rained a bit during the night which helped to cool the air to the mid 70's.  There was a shower again this morning, but it soon cleared off and warmed up again.  We moved camp spots again today.  The new spot is right on the water with a nice view of the bay and the bridges.  Luckily, there is not much of a tide here, as our camper is only about 20' from the water.  It is nice to hear the waves lapping on the shore.

We set out to try and capture the green colours in the ocean this afternoon.  Bob took the camera in the waterproof case and we waded the length of the island on the Atlantic side.  

This evening we did our bridge walk to photograph the sun set, then we sat by the water and star gazed before bed.  We could see lightning flashing to the west, so it seems another storm front is making its way towards us.

Our plan it to go to Key West tomorrow, and perhaps spend a couple of nights.

The temperature is still hot (88 F), and it did not cool down much during the night.  We had only been able to book our camp spot for one night, so today we had to move "across the street" to a new spot for tonight.  As soon as we were settled we headed to the beach to relax and stay cool.  We headed out to the railway bridge again this evening to watch the sun set

We left before first light this morning, so we didn't see much scenery until we turned east on the I-75, which is known as Alligator Alley.  It is an expressway that cuts straight across Florida through the Everglades.  The first stretch was what we had expected:  dense pine and mangrove forest growing out of swampland.  Towards Fort Lauderdale, the forest gave way to grassy marshlands.  

The drive across the Keys was interesting and scenic.  The keys are narrow, flat islands.  They range in width from about 200' to a mile.  The Atlantic Ocean is on one side, the Gulf of Mexico is on the other.  The keys were accessible only by boat until 1912, when Henry Flagler constructed a railway to connect the keys to the mainland.  The railroad was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935, but the remaining structures were used to build the highway.  

Bahia Honda State Park occupies the entire little island.  The beaches here are the nicest on the keys.  The water is shallow, warm and an incredible green. 

The weather continues to be hot (high 80's F) and very humid.  By the time we had our camp set up we were ready to head to the beach.  The off shore breezes are a relief, and we managed to cool our core temperatures down in the water.

This evening we walked out to the end of the old railway bridge (Flagler's Folly) to watch the sunset.  It was a spectacular view.

There is some interesting "wildlife" here on the keys.  We saw a big iguana on the grass.  There are also raccoons.  We are wondering how they would make their way from the mainland as in some places the bridges span the water for several miles.  

Trip Mileage:  6306 miles