We spent Christmas in the Florida Keys. US 1 goes through the Keys
and is held together with several bridges connecting the islands.
We stayed in Marathon, FL. Marathon is half way between Key Largo and Key West.
Our home was at the Jolly Roger Campground. It was on the bay side of the Key.
The Bay was on one side of the campground and had several lobsters in it.
For Sunday we went to the Presbyterian Church and is called "Kirk of the Keys".
It had beautiful stained glass windows around the cross.
They had a Contemporary Service that we enjoyed.
Some of the palm trees had red berries on them and are called the Christmas palm.
Others were coconut palm trees.
We took a tour of Crane Point.
It was one of the original home sites and was opened up by
the railroad that went from Miami to Key West.
After we left the Keys we went to Everglades National Park.
We stayed at Flamingo Campground in the south part of the park.
Flaming was a great campground. Very quiet and relaxing.
It's the end of the road so there was no traffic.
No cell phone service, no WiFi, and no TV. By the end of the fourth day
Nancy was having technology withdrawals.
The mosquitoes were horrible! They would carry you away!
We resorted to mosquito netting hats. They helped a little!
One of the hikes near by was the Eco Pond. It was around a pond.
The mosquitoes came out in full force to speed up the hike, we learned after this
hike to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts.
The campsites were pull through and very big! The campground is wide open
due to hurricanes Andrew and Katrina. The park was closed for 3 years after Andrew.
We went on the Back Country Boat Tour at The Everglades.
The tour went through the back country where we saw lots of birds!
They were everywhere! We also learned about the Mangrove Trees.
We saw a crocodile. This little guy was posing to have his picture taken.
Air plants were growing on the trees along our boat route.
The mangrove roots hunt water from the trees.
One of the paths we took had a beautiful canopy of vines and tree growth.
We took the Coastal Trail hike into the Everglades.
This is a 15 mile hike but we only did part of it.
A large part of the everglades is grasslands where water is flowing!
This is part of the filter system as waster moves to the Gulf.
We saw this alligator along the road while we were driving.
We traveled through Rock Reef Pass.
As the sign says the elevation is 3 feet above sea level!
Nothing like the passes we went through in the mountains this past summer.
The truck had no trouble pulling the trailer through this Pass!
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