2 July 2008
Last night, got home from a 3 day trip, and immediately began preparation for today’s departure. Got the mini-van all packed up, and ready to go with my laptop as DVD player. This morning, I was up at 4 am, and got the kids in the van by 0420. Stopped by the Eau Gallie Race Trac for fuel, and blasted off on I-95 by 0500. Initially missed the Ft. Pierce turnoff for the Turnpike, but doubled back, without much delay.
The kids were initially awake (except Dylan) and talking until we got onto I-95 and then they slept for about the next 2 hours. They were mostly awake by the time we hit Miami, and we had breakfast in Florida City at McDonalds.
It was exciting for us all as we finally hit Key Largo, and Ryan was navigating along in the book for every Key and pass that we traversed. We had a 1245 appointment at the Keys Sea Turtle Hospital in Marathon at MM 48. Since we made such good time, we had an opportunity to check out the Curry Hammock State Park which is where we originally had reservations, and catch our first snorkeling opportunity at Sombrero Beach in Marathon. We also had a great time feeding the HUGE tarpon at Robbie’s Marina at MM 78.
The sea turtle hospital was very informative, and all three kids did especially well during the lecutre stag,e awaiting the observation of the turtles. They had 27 sea turtles in various stages of recovery in their salt water pool and other enclosures. Some were very large loggerheads! That was Rachel’s favorite part of the day.
On the way down to Key West, we scoped out the snorkeling “horseshoe” at Bahia Honda. We will be heading there tomorrow.
We met Caleb at the Boca Chica NAS gate to get our vehicle pass, and proceeded to check into the Navy Lodge at Key West. The Ganzlers were there already. We just chilled out in the AC for a couple hours before getting dinner at the Sunset Lodge. Pretty marginal dinner, but the boys (and Rachel) had a blast overturning rocks at the low tide line catching starfish, crabs, and various other slugs at the water’s edge. I could not get them to eat dinner once it arrived at the outside veranda. But, they were having such a blast, it gave the adults the chance to visit, and discuss our plans. Tomorrow we will meet at 0800 at the Lodge to go see the Key Deer at Big Pine Key, and snorkel at Bahia Honda. The kids insisted on snorkeling at dusk, as the thunder clouds grew on the horizon. Dylan found some cool coral pieces, they saw a sting ray and sponges. I was treated to seeing the 2nd waterspout in my life, and it was cool explaining to the kids that we were observing a tornado over water on the horizon. Once the lighting got closer, we wrapped it up for the night. We are all having a blast, and can’t wait until tomorrow for more adventure at Big Pine Key, Bahia Honda, and the Key West aquarium. Good night.
3 July 2008
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