Bahia Honda Redux

 In case I have not mentioned it before, Bahia Honda State Park in the keys, is my number 1 State Park I like to go to.  It has it all, history, tropical landscapes, a decent swimming beach (two, and they are hard to find in the keys), and a commanding view of the area from the top of the bridge.

Saturday Sunset, post thunderstorm, placed for the header view...

Back in August or September, my old boss Detlef, posted that he had scored 4 or 5 nights in Bahia Honda in September.   I was jealous as I love this park.  So I thought, 'hmm, I haven't looked in awhile' and went on the reservation site.  Imagine my surprise to find a Friday and Saturday night open!  I almost immediately pressed the reserve button, but quickly checked that I did not have to work that weekend.  I didn't!   I booked it, then told Lucy I did.   At first she said cool, then found out she had a business conflict, however, in the end that worked out and she was able to go.  

As I took Friday off, I wanted to get an early start.  Too early and we would hit Miami rush hour, so I planned on leaving around 9:30-10.   We got out before 11, as we had zero packing done the night before.  The only thing I had done, was I had gassed up the GMC.   Here I am waiting on Naya and Lucy to move the car and lock up the house.  All systems are go!

The drive was magical, as there was light traffic the whole way down except for the construction in Ft. Lauderdale.  Once on the turnpike is was open roads and clear sailing.   The 18 mile stretch was a dream......until the last 3 or so miles.   As the coach has no AC while driving, you can hear outside pretty well as all the windows are open. All of sudden about a mile or so north of Jewfish Creek there was a new but disturbing noise.   

I heard it and asked Lucy, then Naya.  It wasn't constant so it wasn't a driveline issue, but it was loud and noisy.  Naya said it sounded like something hanging down and rubbing....She was right!

For those that have driven the stretch, there isn't anywhere to pull over.   No one was behind us as I passed a slow truck a few miles back and he was a dot in the rearview.  I pulled over at the top of Key Largo at the Visitor Center.   I got out and found that the tabs on the bike rack holding the bikes on had snapped off and Lucy's old beat up college bike and been dragged for the last 2 miles or so....

The rim was done as well as the tire and tube.  DOH!  I came up with a solution and we were back underway in a few minutes.....

Lucy somehow got this shot while driving over the 7 mile bridge. Both vehicles are going over 55 MPH.  If you zoom in, I think the driver of the other RV is checking us out, lol.  

Tommy and Hugo were the first out of the coach when we arrived.   They were ready to kick back and relax (Stuffy life is hard apparently).

After getting the site all set up, we went for a swim at the beach to the right of me in this pic, then took a shower and headed up to the bridge for the sunset.   This is probably my favorite view in the keys that is car accessible.

Well Mother Nature, had other plans for the sunset with storms off to the west.  The nice part was we had the bridge all to ourselves for the 45 minutes we hung out up there.  It's a shame you can't get out over the water anymore, but the bridge is over 100 years old and going back to nature.

We headed back to the coach and cooked up some dinner and tiki drinks.  We chilled out and played a few board games in the coach as it very cloudy, so not much star gazing.