The Florida Turnpike has some lush rest stops, I tell you what. I just can't tell if I could have slept at one, instead of at the I95 one, which wasn't bad it just didn't have WiFi. I spent 6 hours of driving to get from Key West to the rest stop, as there were none until after Palm Beach/Springs/Whichever Palm. Saw a bit of Miami, but it was late and I wasn't going to stop. Thankfully the driving was very easy, with the only congestion happening in Key West Proper.
When I left you dear readers, I was heading to the Everglades. It was a nice little bit of driving south from Silvia. Not long, not short. Just right. I took the toll road bit of 75 south that is actually 75 east but they call it south because it's one of those south/north interstates, it just happened to go straight east/west across the Everglades. The sun set in a magnificently beautiful array of colors. There was a double rainbow that arched in full across the road. The sky went from teals and turquoises in front of me, to flaming orange and deep reds behind. Colors that reminded me of Morgaine Faye and no photo could do it justice, especially the duality of view of my mirrors reflecting punches of orange in the blue of the upcoming horizon. Magnificent.
There was a brush fire, and the embers glowed in curves against the matte black of night, with the glow illuminating the smoke. It wasn't an imminent threat. Hope it didn't do too much damage.
The I75 rest stop was nice. Had a little Everglades display and plenty of privacy and security.
In the morning, it was just a mere hour to get to the Everglades. The nice thing about getting the majority of your driving done at night, is you get right to your destination in the morning. I may have done so much driving on Monday, but right now I'm about an hour away from Leanne's, but I'm in no hurry because she works the night shift so I'll let her sleep in while I blog my blog(she has today and the next few days off).
Everglades are really the boaters National Park. There are hikes, but to really see it you have to take a boat tour/canoe path. So very much Mom & Dad. I took a Ranger led hike, though the dude leading it was an Americorps intern who was very charming and it was his 4th time doing the Anhinga Amble. There were birdies and plenty of crocodiles. There was even a croc hanging on the side of the path, but he backed off when we walked past, but not after hissing. We also heard some roars of crocs. That was neat. I walked another little loop after that and drove down to the Flamingo Visitors Center, which wasn't fully open. It's sort of the off season for the park. And Monday isn't exactly the most hoppin' of days.
From there I headed out of the park, and down to Key West. It was 3 hours of driving, but it was a lovely drive. Island to island by bridges. Long bridges, short bridges. A nice journey, but damn so long.
I parked in a garage and walked down to the water front. Officially as far south and east as I can go. It's all north & west from here! Well Maine will be a bit of east, but still.
I got some conch fritters and ate them while watching the the sun go down, then I went in search of a margarita. I arrived at Muse with a minute left on happy hour and I slapped down tree fiddy and got my margarita! It was icy and perfect. I drank it on the roof top patio while the sun went down. I had the space to myself. Why didn't more people want to sit up there? It was great. It was nestled in trees, with strung up lights. It was nice to have that little peaceful space. I worked on post cards and read and just sat and looked at the sky.
What can I write about being on the far coast? It was so physically far from anywhere I've lived, but not so far from what I know. The people I know may be far away, but I'll return to them. I just have to drive on. Monday probably contained the most driving I've done this far in a single day, in terms of hours. Not sure of miles. I'm not watching miles, though I do know I'm coming up at 6 weeks on the road. The 12th I'll rest my odometer. And I'll need another oil change before I leave Florida. Then it's Georgia! And South Carolina and North Carolina. I know a lot of people in NC.
But first: second cousin Leanne who lives near Orlando.
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