We decided to go to the Florida Keys this time, and kayak down some of the rivers, or through the rivers or just explore. I don’t know exactly how to explain it but the whole thing is just a maze of rivers! Once again as is our usual tradition we decided to rent a car to take us there and back. Of course this time we would be taking more equipment, and camping out on the trail. We also had to bring the kayak, so we needed a vehicle with a sturdy roof, lots of room for our stuff, and a comfortable sitting space for the drive. Of course if you have read my previous blog we just recently had rented a hybrid to take to Daytona, and now we wanted another for this trip. With the standards we had for getting there and the want for a hybrid we were offered the Ford Escape, an SUV with all the needs we wanted, and of course, a hybrid.
This SUV drove beautifully and when we picked it up from National we were in and out in minutes. I’m not sure why I keep hearing all these bad stories about car companies, because to me it seems like every company we have rented from has treated us well, and we keep changing companies nearly every trip. I think most of these people don’t call ahead of time and expect a walk in walk out experience; it’s quick and easy if you prepare.
We took the car down to the Keys, it was only a five or six hour ride, and we stayed a night in a hotel before getting an early morning start into the state park. We made safety protocols with the rangers incase we got lost and were given a camp site, directly off the campsite was the water, I’m not even joking you could step out of our tent walk twenty feet and be swimming. We place our kayak in right there about noon after the campsite was set up, placed our valuables in the car and set off and immediately flipped the kayak. We would have been aggravated except that we had a waterproof food cooler and my cell phone was in a plastic bag. Soaking wet in our bathing suits we didn’t necessarily laugh it off but we got back in and set off again this time paying more attention to how we distributed our weight. It took a few minutes for us to relax but then we were a mile away from where we started and nearly dry from the Florida sun.
We traveled around for hours, and we saw alligators, snakes, loads of fish and tons of birds. We did this several days and on the last day we saw some otter’s right near our campsite. We went fishing and caught two catfish, we didn’t eat them, heck I don’t even know how to filet them. The skies were clear, much like Georgia there wasn’t that much light pollution and we could see constellations that had been hidden from us in our winter home. The camp grounds were clean and the bathrooms were cleaner, so if you’re ever looking for a nice getaway the Florida Keys are perfect.
We returned home the next day, fully satisfied by the vacation, the Keys and our car. I suggest going to the Key’s if you get the chance, we didn’t do everything there was to do, but we enjoyed every moment that we were there.