Bahia Honda State Park

Friday, June 30.  We are heading out this morning, so I decided to wash a load of clothes so we could get our mosquito pants ready to wear.  There were 2 washers and dryers outside, under roof, by the shower room, so I went over there.  I encountered another one of these free-wheeling crabs, but he scurried one way, and I scurried the other, so no harm was done.  After my load was done, we unhooked the RV (electricity) and headed out.  John had told us this is a really pretty drive, but the first part of it was wider, with mangrove trees lining the highway.  As we got further down, though, we were crossing lots of bridges, one key after another, and driving with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic on the other.

We saw several stacks of these wooden boxes, but we haven't found out yet what they are for.  We assume they are for catching crabs or lobsters or something like that.  We'll have to ask when we get to Key West.

We are staying tonight at the Bahia Honda State Park, and it actually came up quicker than we expected -- it's on Bahia Honda, 12 miles south of Marathon.  We pulled in and got registered, unhooked the car, then I was supposed to lead the way to the campsite.  But I missed a turn, so Joe found it and got parked on his own, while I toured the campground trying to find him.  He backed in, but the view was so great, he turned around and pulled in, and we have a great view of both the Gulf and the Atlantic, right where the old bridge and the new bridge look like they come together.

 I finally showed up after he had all that done.  He was expecting a call from me, unaware that my phone was in the RV (who knew I would need it!).  Anyhow, we settled in and absorbed the view for a while, then he thought he would like to see the campground, since he missed my tour.  We put on our swimsuits and went out to the car, where he spooked an iguana (!#@!!) right next to the car.  These Florida critters are not among our usual suspects!  After that excitement, we drove around, finally deciding to get in the water at one of the many beaches.  But these are not sandy beaches, although there is some sand.  There's a lot of rocks, and sea grass, the water was really shallow (low tide) and very warm.  We walked out in the water and floated, swam and walked around for a while, wearing our new boat shoes, and saw a few fish, including a huge stingray. 

We  then checked out the gift shop where the snorkel tickets are sold, but he finally decided to wait for Key West for that.  After dinner, we braved the mosquitoes (of course, we did not put on any of our mosquito warfare gear, not even mosquito spray) and took a walk along the coastline, coming up on some fishermen under the bridge.  One kid caught a small grunt, and then a little big bigger snapper.

The sunset was somewhat hidden by clouds, but we did have a good view.

We had no TV reception here, so I read while Joe spent some time on the internet (it's wonderful to have our own little hotspot connector), then we called it a night.  No rain here today, although it did cloud up, and I think the temperature was in the high 90s.  Hot and humid!