Back in the Keys…

Yesterday was a travel day for us and a long one at that. When we first woke up we finished packing up the car with all of remaining items including all the perishables from the refrigerator since we will be staying in the Keys for two weeks. It was a bit weird carrying all of our stuff from the motorhome to the car…

Once packed it was time to hit the road… Since we were only 25 miles from where we were going to store the motorhome and since I wanted to fill up the motorhome with diesel we didn’t hook up our CRV. So that meant both of us would be driving the 25 miles to Seminole Campground where the motorhome would be stored for the two weeks we were away. Fortunately Seminole has storage with electricity so we are able to plug in to keep the refrigerator going with the few non-perishables and frozen goods we couldn’t take with us.

After parking the rig and plugging in it was time to head off but we had a little problem. When I went to fill up with diesel I couldn’t find my wallet. Yikes!!! Not a good feeling so before we left the motorhome we looked everywhere for it… but alas, it was nowhere to be found. Not wanting to completely unpack the CRV I decided that we would just head to the Keys and if it showed up that would be grand. I did, however, open up our computer files to make sure the credit card had not been used.  Reassured somewhat from seeing it had not been used, we were finally on our way.

We expected the drive to take about 6 to 6.5 hours and the drive was mostly uneventful. Cruising along highway 41 we passed many alligators sunning on the banks and thousands of wading birds in the everglades. Reaching Homestead we pulled in for a Subway sandwich where I then noticed a hole in my pocket and realized I had lost some cash… Okay I lost my wallet and now my cash… Not Good!!!

Hoping this wasn’t an omen warning of a bad trip Sharon paid for the sub and we pushed on to Key Largo. Now things were looking better as we passed the tangled mottes of mangroves with their green leaves creating a striking contrast to the azure placid waters of the Keys. Everything was looking better…

But then we came upon a stoppage of traffic and there they were… hoards of runners running a relay race along with the assemblies of vans and supporters. We had come upon a Ragnar Relay race. At mile marker 18 we apparently were at the tail end of a long line of relay runners running from Miami to Key West. What appeared to be a small road stoppage turned into a near death crawl as we crept slowly down highway 1.Occasionally we were even passed by a relay runner…

With the stop and go traffic it took nearly an hour to go the last 10 miles to our turn off. But we made it!!! Unpacked, and across highway 1 to our favorite haunt in the Keys, the Hogfish Bar and Grill…A couple of libations later and we had forgotten all about the long day we had…

P.S. We did find my wallet when we unpacked so not all was lost :)