The End of The Tracks

Well, this trip has literally come to the end of the line. Amtrak unloaded ol' Bertha from the back of the train in Lorton VA  and we drove the last few mile back home.

Thanks for checking in along the way.  We hope you found this entertaining or at least a good distraction from whatever it is you were suppose to be doing.  Half the reason we keep trip blogs is to help us remember the places we go, keep in touch and share the stories of the people we meet along the way.

Folks often tell us their VW adventures from long ago. A woman from Maine told us about the time her parents bought two small calves and loaded them up with four kids in the Westfalia for the ride back to the farm. Perfect. The Westfalia folks we met this outing are kindred souls and we hope you drive (or train) to Washington DC for a visit.  We went about 2000 miles and the camper did fine, but  it is always a possible in a 28 year old car to have a totally different trip.

Florida has a lot of natural beauty and wildlife.  We tried hard to get out and enjoy it. It was cold and windy for the first half but hey, we were still on vacation. Next time warmer clothes. Strapping kayaks on the roof of an already under powered vehicle presented it's own challenges, mostly in the MPG department  Ouch.

Thanks to all the folks back home for holding down the fort and a special thanks to Cam for doing most of the trip planning and still letting me think we winged it.  Traveling without reservations works for us, but only because Cam keeps a cache of options available at all times and is agreeable to the occasional boondock. 

Lastly, a toast to Pat who buries his craft bourbon all over the country and gave us the clues needed to dig up a bottle on Indian Key.  What an amazing thing you do!  

Happy Trails!

The Auto Train Turducken

If you don't know about a turducken it is a turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. Well, we have stuffed the Auto Train with the VW camper stuffed with the kayaks. Seems to have worked so far.  They drove ol Bertha away and we are  in the train station waiting for someone to yell "All aboard!" 

 

Vero Beach Via 3 Wrong Turns in Miami

After cruising the Keys at 45mph and pulling over for most any distraction, we found ourselves on I-95 and completely forgot how to navigate the Interstate System.  After the second wrong turn, we ended up at the exit way of an RV show. The only logical thing to do at that point was to enter the exit and take a look around.  We could have parked the VW in the living room of most of these monsters. I will be installing granite counter tops in Bertha as soon as I get home. We made it to Vero Beach and found a nice hotel. We cleaned up and went out for a fancy dinner.  Next stop is Sanford Florida, where we will load Bertha and ourselves on the Amtrak Auto Train... destination DC.

A room over the bar, is not as bad as at sounds

Our intent was to camp, but Key Largo had other plans for folks like us who travel with no reservations.  We ended at Snappers, a restaurant that had four very clean but humble rooms right above the bar.  The seafood burrito was incredible and the live music  was good and loud all the way til midnight. Lucky us.   We were near John Pennekamp Marine Park, so in the morning, we got one more trip kayaking in the mangroves. Now it is time to head north again.  Destination Vero Beach. 

Seems from the pictures that Cammie is on vacation by herself!

Northward Ho

We are heading north but only made it to Big Pine Key. We stayed at the Fishing Lodge RV Resort.  As Rv campgrounds go it was very friendly and clean and on the water.  In many ways private Rv campgrounds are like communes, but if you told the long term campers that they might shoot you.  It was full of activities, rec rooms, free coffee and folks all knew each other from years of coming back.  Utopian?  Hmmm,  it may be time for the Vw camper to head on up the road.

Here is a link to the inside of the camper while heading on down the road: Westfalia Tour

Hemmingways Cats

We took a tour of the house and grounds.  This is where Ernest wrote many of his most famous novels including Farewell to Arms. He had a fascinating but turbulent life that did not end well. All 45 of the cats seem to be doing fine, even with six toes.

 

Key West - A World Class Place

While my colleagues had a free snow day back in Virginia,  I carried on, conducting bike and pedestrian research here in Key West. My conclusion is that Arlington needs ten times more bars to fully maximize It's non- motorized transportation potential.  Arlington should also recognize the importance of  kayaking if it wants to have a world class multi modal transportation system.   I will continue with this important research today.

After 2 nights of Boondocking....

It's time to find a room with a real shower. We may actually make it to Key West.   Cam says it's now her vacation time.  Boondocking is another name for stealth camping. We were fortunate to find great places for two nights.  A special thanks to Tom and Peggy for offering up a spectacular oceanfront spot!  the best thing about boondocking is the people you meet! 

Treasure Found !!!

We followed Pat's directions to Indian Key and dug right below the Historical marker and yes, we found the buried bottle. We opened it and had a toast to Pat and his remarkable approach to life. Choosing to bury very good craft distilled spirits and send friends and even new friends off on a cross country quest is sheer genius!  Thank you again.  We are blown away!!! 

Link to Tresure Map:             https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=106074850469720161792.00048030f98780cd68bde&ll=52.375599,-104.414062&spn=52.545883,172.441406&z=3

Click Here for Link to  Buried Wish-key !!!  video clip. 

Thanks Pat!!!   

Paddling the Everglades

The weather has warmed up finally and we put the boats in  Turner River in the middle of the Everglades.  We saw an unbelievable amount of Wildlife including alligators. Cam was happy to get out alive even though Ranger "Gator" Gates said he has never had a paddler come back and report an attack.

Argggg, Hunting for buried wishkey

While camping in the Everglades we ran into Pat Johnson a very interesting bloke who's hobby it is to bury his own distilled spirts all over the country.  Pat Johnson and his good friend Pat Johnson we're both helping with the Everglades challenge, an extreme small boat race.  Google it it's a pretty wild. 
Pat, we are on route to Indian key and will be looking for the bottle of wishkey.  Thanks for the early taste and the clues on where to find it.

Everglades Via Sanibel

Happy trails to Bill and Rebecca. We hope you visit Washington DC soon.  It was great to meet kindred spirts.

We found Sanibell and Captiva to be quite fancy. I brought the wrong polo mallet and I had to take a call from Thurston Howell the III anyhow so we decided to tootle along. 

Next stop, camping at Chokoloskee Island in the Everglades. We just saw a panther crossing sign.  And I was worried about the alligators.

Shiver Me Timbers and Blow Me Down

We finally made it to Fort De Soto on the Gulf Coast south of Saint Petersburg.  We drove 3 hours with a sustained 40 mile an hour crosswind. Remember, we are driving basically a giant shoe box with 2 giant hot dogs strapped to the roof.  At what point can we legitimately be peeved about the weather?  We signed up for 75 and sunny and that's not what's being delivered.  On the positive side, we met Rebecca and Bill, fellow Westfalia  owners staying in the campground. We had a nice happy hour together while the wind continued to howl outside the camper. 
Update on the place we stayed last night. While loading the car a tour went by and described the place we stayed as previously being a funeral home. Glad we didn't know it while staying there.
Hope to report out in the morning and we don't get blown off the island.

St Augustine Via a Jacksonville Back Alley

Travel Note:  Do not trust the Garmin!  There we were heading down 95 when Lilleth* says head east on some obscure exit. Being obedient servants to all electronic devices I immediately veered right and followed her concise directions directly to a part of Jacksonville where tourists are rarely seen.  Let's describe this as early 70's urban renewal gone south.  Obviously we made it out and  landed in St Augustine unscathed.

St Augustine's old historic area is also full of alleys but nicely preserved and full of tourists. We stumbled into the Tiny Martini Bar and found the drinks to be oddly large.  We bailed on camping and found a room right in town.  Next stop the Gulf Coast.

*Lilleth is named for Kramer's cold calculating wife on Cheers. Seems even more appropriate now.

A Savannah History Lesson

Originally established by the British to stop the northern migration of  Spanish Florida, and later an important city in the Civil War, Savannah has layers of interesting architecture and stories to go with it.  We decided the best way to fully appreciate Savannah's history was to eat our way across town and ended with traditional southern cooking at Mrs Wilkes Boarding House. While waiting in line in sub 50 degree weather at the restaurant, it became apparent to us that Floridians would never go this far north because of the extreme cold temperatures.  Time to head south and see the other reasons why the Spaniards choose Florida. 

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