Valhalla Beach Motel Duck Key

... fish weren't biting, so Jim returned home empty-handed, but at least with a new best friend.

We had a wicked night out that evening at 'The Full Moon Party', held on a beach a mile up the road on Florida bayside. A few people from our resort had travelled down to Islamorada from Miami just for the party. As well as a live reggae band and a bbq, there were fire jugglers, carnival dancers and at the end ...

... you, come on, nice price too!'. We politely declined and sped off - only in America!

We managed to navigate our way out of Miami and onto the famous 'South Dixie Highway' or US-1, which goes all the way to Key West, the southernmost tip of America. Once we reached the start of the Keys, the drive was gorgeous, with ocean views on either side. The southern stretch of US-1 is also known as the 'Overseas Highway' as it spans the ...

Well it has finally come, our last day in paradise. Got up very early and watch a storm roll in over Cudjoe Bay. It was awesome as you could see the wind whipping up the waves and a wall of rain slowly making its way towards our house. When it finally hit it brought strong gusty winds and torrential downpours. As most storms do down here it ended as soon as it began.
Sometime after ...

Today we took a short drive over to Bahia Honda State Park. I had high hopes for this beach as it is always rated as one of the best in the country. However it did not deliver, sadly the beach was covered with seaweed and in places it was floating 10 yards deep from the shore. Also, most of this seaweed was decomposing leaving a very foul ...

... the time we had popped the roof and done all our little settling-in jobs, the sky was completely overcast and there was a stiff breeze blowing. And so we spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening shut inside the bus, avoiding the blowing sand and the no-see-ums! Miles travelled: 33 Total miles travelled: 10327 Days on road: 83 States visited: 18 National Parks visited: 11

... park offers different bird life and some trees to break the wind... Forecast is good for the next few days -- possible showers but warmer (80+ again). Next saga from Long Pine Key after getting more provisions... Tibits: - Ice at the Flamingo marina is more expensive than gasoline; $3.50 for ten pounds which is roughly a gallon when it melts. - Hurricaine damage to motel and marina still evident -- government in-action.

... Canadian flag seems to irk some of the older campers that are flying their "Stars and Stripes." Hiked around 3 ponds today trying to find the elusive, for me, spoonbill. Bonus, fisherman in next campsite caught too many; gave Bucky and I a Flounder, Red Snapper and Sea Trout - all were delicious, especially the Flounder which was neat trying to figure out how to filet. Day 17, Friday February 2: Clear, 80+F. Canoed all day in the Everglades - tough coming back against the ...

From Rags to Riches in Just Over Two Hours I wondered, standing in the security line for gates 20-41, with my Starbucks Chai Tea Latte in hand, if somehow BECA had the power to arrange history? Was it possible that they wanted me to get hit in the face with such force? There's probably not much that could have made a bigger impact on me then to go from the second highest level of poverty in the western hemisphere to the ...

... Key trail system is very nicely done and documented, and there are so many interesting trees and plants that a guidebook points out. Back at our resort, Jim enjoyed a fish trio platter for dinner at WatersEdge, and I had vegetable pasta. It was a much better experience than the night before, where we'd had dinner at Porto Cayo and everything had gone wrong. One of the fascinating things at Hawk's Cay is the dolphin facility. Anytime ...

... she had left her job in Eygpt was because she found out her boyfriend was "f***ing most of his students" - cue awkward silence! She was really friendly though and gave us loads of good tips for when we are learning to dive in Honduras. We had a beer with her and our room-mate for the night, Lucas, a very pleasant young man from Germany - I think the four of us made up about half the number of guests there actually. It's very quiet here at this time of year, apparently it ...