Days 3 & 4 of Bahia Honda

Saturday was a pretty lazy day around the campground.   We slept in fairly late for me (9 ish), and had a slow breakfast and took a shower.   If you have never been to the keys in the middle of summer (especially August) it is BRUTAL from 9 AM until about 6 PM.   The sun feels like it is on top of you and unless you are on/in the water (our site was not), it is just hot hot hot.

After breakfast we took a ride over to the nature center and spent about 1.5 hours there.  First we talked to the ranger about hurricane Irma and looked at the many before/immediately after photos of the park.  It was here I learned the bridge had been closed for a pending inspection just prior to the storm.  Due to all the other rebuilding, 2 years later, it still hasn't been inspected as they hit a reset button on everything post storm.  The ranger said that they had just re-submitted the paperwork for it to happen, so hopefully it'll be open again soon. 

Back in July at JDSP in Hobe Sound, we started a 3 part series about the history of the FL State Park system (orig shown on PBS).  We watched the 2nd chapter here, so we have one more to go at the next park.   Each one is about 30 min long.  We would have doubled up, but they were closing for lunch.   So we headed back to the gift shop and had ice cream cones for lunch as they are the cornerstone of every nutritious meal. and bought a fridge magnet for our visited parks collection.

We then pedaled around a little, but it was hot and we didn't want to hang in the sun after the day before, so we became hermits and went back to the coach and enjoyed the labors of our 15K BTU AC unit straining to keep up all afternoon.  It never cycled off all day and kept the coach at 80 (it was 96-97 out).   Later, once the sun went down it got cool inside in a hurry and both Sat and Sun morning the coach was covered in condensation until the sun got up.

Late in the afternoon, we appeared around 5pm and headed to the beach between the bridges.

 I discovered a fantastic use for the boogie board, floating bar!  The water was bathtub warm, it had to be over 90 here at this beach.

Naya snorkeled around the jetty and saw lots and lots of fish.  She kept giving me the mask so I could id the fish for her.  Will have to take her snorkeling around up here more often.

Other people's trash can be entertaining.  This water bottle went floating by so of course we removed it, but only after using it as a water cannon.

Relaxing in the warm water, you can see the nature center building in the background.

 Naya had caught a big hermit crab and here she is putting him back where she found him.  I had already gone topside.  The walk up to the bridge used to be under an arching canopy of trees, which of is long gone from Irma now but will grow back eventually.

 Selfie time.   Our campground is just beyond the jetty where Naya snorkeled.  It marks the marina entrance.

 Part of a series I'm working on called Disinterested Teenager....

 I think a smile would have cost me $20 she was being so uncooperative...

The time is getting near.   With so much summer rain going on, there were no real spectacular sunsets, but this one was looking like the best of the 3 we saw this trip (it was).

Having many photos from the top of the bridge, I went down to try some different perspectives this time.

 Here is the best one of my artsy fartsy photo shoot....

 About 60 feet away I finally get a smile!

 Yeah the bridge is fairly high!

 Here you can see the tall coconuts paid the price for being taller than the bridge during Irma.   The wind came from left to right in the photo so all the trees that were below the top of the bridge got a bit of a break from the wind.

From the available data, it looks like the park had about 110-120 mph sustained winds and gusts up to 160 mph as the eyewall rolled right over the key.

Back at the site for dinner, I had to move the LED Pineapple closer in as the moon was not yet up.  The friendly neighborhood cicada showed up would fly into us every couple of minutes. He was good for a few laughs.

After dinner it was back up to the bridge to watch the moonrise (camera phone doesn't focus well on a dot 250K miles away).   After that back to the coach for some cocktails and more relaxing.

Our final day was a short one as we had to pack out and drive home.  I was shooting for an 11:30 departure in order to get out of the keys before  the weekend exodus back to the mainland.  We were up at a reasonable time and got things started packing up then went for a ride.    

 As Naya has outgrown the muscle bike, we now take turns on it.  Here Lucy is Geo-Caching and driving....

There are a couple of Geo-Caches in the park.  While they were looking for it I took a couple of pics hopping over rocks at low tide.  I didn't get wet (bigwin).   I finally went over to see what they were doing hunting around in the bushes and found the first one (I'm the disinterested one) right next to the sidewalk.  We then swung by the nature center in time to get a ranger led ride through the Sandspur camp loop which Irma destroyed and it has been closed to the public for the past 2 years.

Here is the road as it turns to where the old Sandspur camping loop started.  Nature has been busy as all of this was barren after the storm.

 If you zoom in on this pic, you can see a pelican diving in for his/her lunch.   They were feeding about 4 ft off the sand in very shallow water.  This was the middle of the camping loop.  The wide beach is where all the Casuarinas and tent sites used to be.

Petey Pelican eyeing up another snack.

This was the middle of the parking lot for the day beach at the end of Sandspur.  75% of the pavement is gone and it's a wide beach now.  The mounds is where they pushed the sand off of whats left of the the road for access.

Pristine beach that other than rangers has not been used in two years by humans.  It was beautiful except for one thing....

Plastic everywhere washed up in the seaweed.  We spent 5-10 minutes walking a small area and collected enough to fill a grocery bag.   We have to be better stewards of our planet!

What a great way to wrap up the trip!

 View of the bridge returning from Sandspur.

Time for Tommy and Hugo's modeling session.

Work that camera boys!

A couple of law breaking stuffies!

 Pineapple glamour shots too!

 Saw this as I got back in to leave, love this picture.  Need to work on that curtain though...

Aloha, see you next time....

The ride home was longer than hoped as there were two accidents in Islamorada and then the stretch was backed up se we got off at Gilbert's and turned around and used Card Sound and then motored all the way back home...

 Back at space dock, unloading all the dirty dishes, etc.   Another successful sortie for the Space Twinkie.  Stay tuned for the next installment!

Bahia Honda Day 2

The next morning I awoke to the wonderful white noise of the AC keeping us chilly willy in the coach.   I really didn't sleep in too bad and was up around 7:30ish.   Spoiler alert, my daughter slept in until after 10 when I rousted her in a hurry, but we will get back to that in a bit.

Made some coffee (lazy when camping, found this pretty good instant Vietnamese coffee that has the sugar and milk all premixed, kind of like hot chocolate). and had a pastry we brought with.   Rousted Lucy and around 8:15 we rolled out on the bikes for a morning pedal about the park.   We headed over to the bayside which takes out on a little road under the Overseas Highway. 

 Once on the other side of the highway the road is right next to the sea wall.  As I was slowly pedaling, I saw a manatee about 3 ft off the sea wall.  I screamed like a little kid and slammed on the brakes.  I have been going to the keys for 40 years and have NEVER seen a manatee down there.  I know they are here and there, but never saw one, especially so close!  I jumped off the bike and what felt like a fluid motion, was pulling my phone out of my pocket and navigating over a steel guardrail.  Just like the ones on the highway.  Well my first leg was fine as I was moving fast to get the photo.  I guess in my childlike exuberance, I forgot about the other leg as I SMASHED it full force into the guardrail.  I hit it so hard the phone flew out of my hand and I was going down.  I watched my 2 week old smartphone arc through the air toward Florida Bay and wondered if it might actually land on the manatee (it was really that close).   Gravity took over and luckily it landed on the seawall and the grippy rubber side down so it stopped about 2 inches short of the water.  PHEW!    Me?  well I sort of sprawled out and other than the incredible pain in my shin was ok. 

I grabbed the camera and fumbled a bit as the manatee moved away....  Above is the first shot looking north into Florida Bay, he was about 10 -12 feet off the seawall now.

This is a zoom shot as he rounded the corner and now was heading under the highway.   Turns out he swam into the marina and hung out there all day as we saw him again later (didn't have the camera then).

Adrenaline is funny as I kind of just 'walked off' my leg and it didn't hurt bad until a day later....  We continued on our little bike ride to check out the bayside cabins and campground.

 The cabins are on the left and did pretty well during Irma.  The park was still doing ALOT of work to put things back right, but the cabin were open as well as the bayside camp loop.  A ranger told me they had 18.5 feet of water in the park!

 This is up at the end of the bayside camp loop (to the right in the previous photo).  I strolled up to see how far I could go (about another 100 feet or so and it got wet).

 The view of the bridge looking south from the top of the picnic table above.  The cabins are just off to the right.  In the foreground is the first of the new bridges which I guess opened in 1972.  The old bridge was so narrow they had to put the road on top of it and it was very dangerous.

 Typical keys flora and fauna.   Irma cleared out much of the underbrush as it was not salt tolerant.

A view out onto Florida Bay to the East/Ne

We pedaled back over to the store to check out what was going on and as the weather was nice inquired about the snorkeling trip out to Looe Key.   I've been snorkeling since the mid 70s and a SCUBA diver since 1979, but for whatever reason never made it out ot Looe Key.  It is legendary as a great dive spot in the keys.   They had 4 available spots so we grabbed 3 of them right there.   I had to quickly pedal back to grab my wallet and wake up Naya so she could come sign the paperwork.   We got that all taken care of and had a couple hours to kill which included some relaxation and an early lunch as we'd be out all afternoon on the boat.

 Here we are waiting to board the catamaran for the 35 min ride out to the reef.  The boat was full with people from quite a few different countries as well as all over the US (we had the go round of where your from on the ride out).

 Seeing the bridge close up from the water, you get a better idea of the size of it.

 This one is good as you can see how they had to build the road on the top of the railroad bridge.  They had to use this construction on this channel for the railroad as it was the deepest (around 40ft) and the swiftest currents when the tide runs.  The deck of the road is about 70 ft up and it is really narrow, so it was super sketchy to drive. 

Another view and you can see the new bridge (now 35 years old) in the background.  You can also see chunks of steel hanging down as the old bridge is slowly going back to nature.  On the right of the split you can see the railing for the viewing area (temporarily closed).

 The ride out was about 35 minutes and we saw 3 or 4 sea turtles on the way.   the Cyan color of the water was amazing and it was roughly about 30-40 deep the whole way out there.

 This was at the end of the dive (about 2 hours).  You can see the coral about 5 ft under the surface.   I have not seen a reef this healthy in a LONG time.   It made me quite happy to see and hear a vibrant reef.   Sorry no underwater footage.   I did get buzzed by a 6ft reef shark so that was pretty cool.  Naya and Lucy also saw a nurse shark, and Goliath Grouper.

The ride back in and a panorama of the bridge.  The park is straight ahead.   The sun is hot and brutal so we headed back to the coach and showered up and relaxed for about 2 hours. 

 We went to the bayside to watch the sunset (as opposed to the bridge) for a change of pace.  This is right where I saw Mr. Manatee.  As you can see it was kinda cloudy, but still nice to watch.

 Back on the Ocean side of the highway, here is an example of the guardrail that killed my shin.  Naya styling on her muscle bike.

 As night draws near we used the bike rack and ladder as a laundry line while I got the grille going for tonight's feast of grilled turkey breast and potatoes.

While the coals were getting ready to cook on, the local animal population were working on procreation.  They were going to town and running all over the place.   I took about 20 pics and this was the best one as they didn't stay still very long.

After dinner, we were pretty wiped from the snorkel trip and the sun, so we retired early and played some games and then off to sleepy time.....

Southernmost trip to date...Day 1

Posting a month after the event, today is the 4 year anniversary of our first camping excursion in the Intergalactic Space Pineapple.  23 trips including a 2 week one in 2017 for the Solar Eclipse!  Almost 1 every two months, but more as she was in space dock for 4.5 months getting repairs (2 times).

Anyway, the keys!  The first trip south in the Pineapple, as all others have been north.  Bahia Honda State Park is a tough place to get a campsite.   You can either book one out as they come online 18 months out, or wait and hope for a cancellation.   I occasionally check for those and grab them if they come up as they are gone in minutes.   I got so lucky back in April as 5 nights in August came available.  Now the keys in Aug can be brutally hot at Latitude 24.7 in the depths of summer, but hey, I have AC!  So I booked a Thursday through Saturday night as 3.5 days in the park would be plenty.   As soon as I booked it for Aug 15th, I checked the school calendar.  DOH!  school starts 3 days earlier.  Oh well kiddo, looks like you are skipping school the first week.

She went in for a half day on Thursday and then missed Friday so it wasn't that big of a deal.  I took the whole day off Friday and spent the morning loading up the coach and was shooting for a noon departure to put us through Miami at the lightest traffic during the day.  We got out pretty well at 12:30 and made great time until we went around the big bend on the Turnpike Extension.  By the time we got to Doral it was raining.  A few miles later by the 836, it was pouring and by the time we got to Bird Road it was raining so hard I could see about 30 ft and was passing people but was only going about 20 mph.  It was THICK. 

It lasted all the way down past Cutler Bay and by Homestead the sun was back out and we were rolling along, however, it cost about 30 minutes of drive time with the slow down.   We stopped off in Florida City and gassed up.  Pro Tip:  drive to Tavernier if you can make it (about another 35-40 miles) as the gas was 15 cents less a gallon!

Back on it and over the 18 mile stretch....

Tommy, Freddy, and Hugo were on the lookout for Crocs even though I told them it's hard to see them when you are whizzing by at 65 mph. South FL is the only place on Earth where alligators and Crocodiles live side by side.

Now that the road is divided and there are several passing zones, you can almost take a nap as the road is laser straight for most of the 18 miles (a few curves as the land bends).  As you can see Thursday around 2 is a good time!

On the port side of our shuttle you will notice Card Sound and a forest of mangroves (the sound is on the left in the photo). There is another toll bridge that way but it's longer.

Passing over Jewfish Creek which is the divider between the mainland and Key Largo.  Freddy wanted to stop for a swim, but we had to keep pushing on.

The first exit in Key Largo and a commanding view of Lake Surprise from the flyover bridge (about 70 ft up).  The story with Lake Surprise was back in the early 1900s when Henry Flagler started to build his railroad to Key West, they surveyed and thought this area was all land as they sailed all around it.  They started to cut down the trees and SURPRISE, a big fat lake.

As luck would have it, we approached Plantation Key right as school was getting out.   Another 20 minutes of traffic!   My buddy Mike is a teacher at the High School there and while sitting in traffic he calls my cell.  Sure enough, I was spotted!  Actually, his son said, "Hey Dad look at the cool rig" and he was oh that's Sprocket!   Almost Famous, lol.

Breaking free of the traffic as soon as we passed the student pickup turn in, we were back to buzzing along in light traffic.  

 The power poles are where the railroad bridge used to be.

If you have never made this drive, put it on your bucket list.  It is truly an amazing experience (unless the traffic sucks).  The last pic here is the flyover on the 7 mile bridge (yes, its that long).  Off to starboard you see the original Florida East Coast (FEC) railroad bridge built over 100 years ago.  The span was removed for boat traffic as this bridge is out of use and going back to nature.   After the 1935 hurricane, it was converted into a highway for cars.  Here is a newsreel from a few months before the storm.  They started to build a road as well, but after the railroad was destroyed Flagler donated the bridges and they  were swapped over.

We made one more stop just before the 7 mile bridge for ice (20 lbs, it lasted the full 3 days we were there!) for drinks.

We made the park at 4:50.  Only about an hour behind schedule but still plenty of time.  The campsite was nice and big, but we had to cram onto one side and corner (close to the road) in order to have the water hose and power reach. You can see the orange water hose stretched all the way out.

 The park ranger filled us in on the 'updates' to the park thanks to Irma 2 years ago and we immediately made a drink and headed to the beach by the campground.  The beach was improved by the hurricane and was the busiest I have ever seen it.   The water was bathtub warm but felt good after the 4.5 hour car ride with no AC. 

You used to be able to walk out the end of the span, but it was blocked off (See pic below, the whole part over the water on the left was blocked).  I thought it was storm damaged until I saw pictures in the nature center taken a day or two after the storm and saw the barricades already.  The ranger informed me it was closed just before the storm as they have to do periodic inspections on it.  Since the storm, it has fallen to the bottom of the priority list as they rebuild.  Soon she said...It's my favorite view in all of the keys.

Not one of the spectacular sunsets that we are used too.   The storm rolled up out of the SW and we watched it go by on both sides of us pouring rain, but we never got wet.  As we were up there on the bridge, the lightning was a few miles south of the bridge so we hightailed it back to the campground to make vittles.

 Couscous on a skillet!, it got transferred into a pot for the rest of it. 

 Normally, the LED Pineapple is by the door, but it was moonless and DARK, so I rigged it on the ladder so I could see what I was cooking.

Smoked sausage, getting more smoke.  This little unit is great.  It's a grille, it's a wok, it's a burner or a pot.  Super versatile and folds up into a nice little package that stores easily.

Tommy having a glass of Vino with his salad.  He thinks we are gross for eating meat, but he's just a bull.

We went out for another bike ride to see the Milky Way at the beach, but more rain came so we cruised back to the coach and bedded down for the night.