Left the Gulf Coast, Landed In Miami, Florida

Thursday was our last day in Ft Myers, FL. As we have posted in the past, we've been checking in from time to time with Dan and Ann, our friends from California whom we met in Texas at Big Bend National Park in March this year. The four of us have been visiting various places in Florida, sometimes a long way apart, and sometimes just a hop and skip apart. Thursday was one of the hop and skip days!

Our schedules won't allow us to see each other for months, so we decided to have lunch together in Punta Gorda, FL, and chat the afternoon away. We met at Jack's on Marion for a leisurely meal and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. The restaurant was due to close at 2:30 for a break before opening again at 4, but we talked right through the break! We'll be sorry we can't see our friends more often, but expect to spend more quality time together in the future!

Today is Friday, the Sixth of May. We left Shady Acres in Ft Myers at about 10:30, headed for southeast Florida. That means there are officially 5 residents left in the park! No....not occupied sites....I mean 5 people. And a couple of dogs...

We decided not to use I-75 for our trip east, choosing instead US 41, which skirts the northern edge of Everglades National Park. As we cruised through Naples, we kicked ourselves for not spending some time there because the city is so beautiful! Donna told me several times: "I could live here"! Well, maybe not, but it's still beautiful

Just south of Naples, the highway turns due east, and with the exception of roughly four curves, drives right into Sweetwarer and West Miami. The Mangrove swamps on both sides of the road gave us the sense that we were slicing through green cake frosting!

As we approached Miami, the swamps of the Everglades seemed to stretch forever.

US 41 took us to SW 162nd Ave, in Miami, even though we are about equidistant between Miami and Homestead, Florida. The park we're staying at, Miami Everglades RV Resort, was recommended to us, and is comfortable, with good utilities and a reasonably large site. 104, the site assigned to us is near several large trees, so our satellite tv reception is near nil, but the local channels out of Miami come in like gangbusters! The park advertises "free" wifi, and it is available, but only at the office. The wifi available throughout the park is a fee-based program. Fortunately our ATT hotspot seems to be working flawlessly. This park is obviously a repurposed KOA, so if you're familiar with KOA's you know that there is a mini golf course, a beach volleyball court, and a large pool.

A number of large trees shade most of the campsites.

As is our habit on travel days, we went out for dinner. We ended up at Walter's Coffee Shop in the town of Palmetto Beach. Dinner was pretty good, but we probably won't return since there are so many restaurants and so little time....

This area is home to scores of commercial plant nurseries. Thousands of acres are devoted to all manner of tropical plants, from tiny flowers to full grown Palm trees.

The park is sandwiched in between two such nurseries, and as we walked the one-mile path around the park tonight with Sasha, we peeked through the fence at the huge operations. It's amazing! I never thought about where all those Palm trees come from! I'm sure tomorrow will have more surprises as we expand our explorations.