We woke to the news that the Govenor of South Carolina issued a mandatory Evacuation notice to the seashore communities. And we knew we were starting to be really concerned when we realized we were watching the Weather Channel more than Fox News. Time to get out of Dodge. We had planned to be on the road at 7:30am, but Bob had an issue getting the sewer cap off. Not to worry. Walt was there to lend a hand. We got that issue solved. Then, Walt asked us if we int...

We checked the progress of Matthew the night before and felt we needed to modify our plans of going up the coast of Florida and go inland, but we wanted to stay close enough so that if Matthew fizzled, we could resume our coastal adventure. We chose a KOA in Davie FL just west of Fort Lauderdale. We left the Keys around 7:45am. The skies looked clear. No hint of a monster forming out at sea. There was as much traffic coming on to the keys as there was leaving. ...

We were slow moving after that fantastic meal the night before. We didn't get started until about 9:30am. The temperature was already approaching 90 degrees and the humidy factor was 110%. Why even take a shower? We checked the progress of Matthew and felt we were okay for one more day. Then, we are heading for the mainland. We climbed in the Beast and headed back to Key West. First stop, a Starbuck's coffee. Next, we drove back to the same parking lot. It wa...

We woke to the soft hum of motors of boats pulling out for a morning of fishing. It was a continuous parade of boaters dropping their boats into the water. We waved and wished them luck in catching the big one, hopefully, it would be a grouper..not a shark. We took off around 7:30am hoping we were not being stupid to head further south and to a place that had only one way in and out and not alot of land knowing Matthew was looming not too far away out at sea. ...

We planned on making it a full day exploring the Everglades National Park. The Gulf Coast National Park Visitors Center didn't open until 9am. With time to kill and always open to eating, we had breakfast at 8am at the Island Cafe. There is nothing like grits, eggs, bacon, and endless cups of coffee to get you fueled up for a day of gator hunting. It was about 9:30am when we made it the Gulf Coast Vistors Center. This is one of four centers in the National Park....