Florida Keys 2005
Homosassa Springs, FL
Jekyll Island, GA
Returning to the East Coast to meet friends for the annual trip to the
Florida Keys, we meet at Flamingo Lakes RV Park, Jacksonville, FL. Tom's mother Camille, Kathy and Jerry Campbell, Kathy and Bill Davis, Marie and Phill Kinneer, Debbie and Jim Pondish.
Setting
out in a caravan we move down the Florida coast to spend 2 days in Port St
Lucie, this made a nice break along the way so we stayed two days. Discussion
of perhaps getting an electric scooter to get around the campground and playing
tourist, the guys researched and bought 2 scooters in Port St Lucie. Later on
Jerry and Bill found two more scooters of a much larger power and purchased
them. So then 4 at a time were racing around the campground... we called
ourselves the Koala racing club.
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Running in a caravan was a new experience for many of us, the lead coach would have the gps set for the next stop and the remaining of us were free to enjoy the ride and look around not even thinking of where the next crossroads is or where the destination is. It was actually an enjoyable experience. It looked really good also, seeing several coaches in a line in front of you knowing you all were going to the same destination.
Arriving
in Jolly Roger Campground, Marathon, FL we set up camp with all of us alongside
the seawall showing a beautiful view of the Gulf of Mexico.
After
two days at the beach we are really getting settled in and ready for some fun
and unfortunately Hurricane Wilma decided to interrupt our trip and we were
forced to evacuate from the Keys. Every one of us is disappointed in not being
able to go to the town of Key West, nor did anyone get any snorkeling in, the
wind was blowing and kept the water stirred up so visibility was poor.
We
depart deciding to stop over in Okeechobee RV next to the BIG LAKE of Okeechobee
then continuing on to Tampa to stay at Lazy Days RV and wait out the storm to
decide what to do.
Of
course we could not just sit around so we ate, rode scooters, played shuffleboard
and of course go shopping.
Naturally
as all good plans go Hurricane Wilma did not allow us to return to the Keys and
we opted for other things to see. We all go to Hommassa Springs to see the Manatees
and visit a very large Flea Market.
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Not impressive acrobatic swimmers the manatee are also known as sea cows, looking like large rocks in the river until they slowly move to feeding time. An enclosure that allows the visitor to view the fish from underwater allowed the profile view.
The remainder of the park is a Zoo for indigenous animals to Florida such as Cranes, Bob cats, Owls, Flamingos, Alligators and a non-indigenous Hippopotamus that gave a good showing of his impressive teeth.
Next stop at Jekyll Island, GA to see the winter cottages of the 1900 millionaires. Taking a horse and buggy ride we rode the walking paths of the restored homes.
Such
a short trip with many changes we head for the Koala Rally in
