After three stormy days in Miami we packed up again albeit that we decided to wait until the morning thunder and lightning storm had passed on. The rain was torrential and as we only had about a three hour journey we could see no point in packing up in the rain. Perfect timing to get up to date with the laundry. We always use the driers as we have found that even putting damp towels after a swim on to a line they are still damp hours later due to the high humidity. It is just as well Peter is very experienced driving with the caravan on the freeways here. The roads leading from Hollywood in North Miami leading south were like a string of spaghetti with loops going off in every direction. It was a mammoth task just following the GPS, and getting over 4-5 lanes as it told us to take an exit from the left then an exit from the right, then to take a specific lane to enter or exit the toll road system etc. We had avoided the peak hour traffic if there is such a specific time as the roads are always bumper to bumper whenever we seem to travel them. We were following US 1 highway and we were pleased to eventually leave the metropolis of Miami behind us and cross the first bridge into Key Largo. The keys are a string of islands stretching 120 miles off the southern coast of mainland USA. They are connected by bridges and for most of the distance there is a single lane highway with the sea on both sides - the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico - just travelling the length of the keys is a bucket list experience. We were surprised to see a yellow sign post saying "crocodile crossing" - can't imagine a crocodile climbing up the blue painted concrete fence on both sides of the road and also in the middle between the two lanes but would have loved to see it. Each of the islands are named, (Boggy Key, Windley Key, Fiesta Key etc), with Key Largo closest to Miami and Key West being the furtherest. This area is often called the American Caribbean and is a very popular holiday area particularly in the winter months when it is cold in the northern areas. We have learnt a new description for travellers - "snowbirds" describes those who flee the snow in the north and travel to the warmth of the south for the winter months. We are travelling now in "Fall" but we didn't find it cool at all. In fact it was unbearably hot most of the time but fortunately we didn't have any storms while in the keys. As The Keys are a very popular holiday destination, and with the popularity of RV'ing, sites in camping grounds are very popular and expensive, even outside of the winter peak period. I telephoned around before heading south and we were shocked to find the quotation of $US117.00 plus tax not out of the ordinary and very definitely beyond our planned budget. We even considered leaving the caravan parked in Hollywood and just driving down and overnighting in a hotel for just one night only. However, luck was on our side and I scored a cancellation of a site at Bahia Honda State Park for half the nightly cost of other sites. The park is considered to have one of the best beaches in the area and as we could get a site with power and water we could still use the very necessary air conditioning. Bahia Honda has extensive sandy beaches and swimming and snorkelling are very popular. The water was so warm that even I got in at least once if not more each day we stayed. Peter kept saying that he needed the soap as it felt like being in a bath. There were also boat ramps and a marina but not many boats in as we were out of season although the 80 site camp ground didn't indicate this. Another new use of a word we have learned is the "concession" which in this part of the world describes the camp shop. This concession had a dive shop as well as souvenirs, snacks, meals, snorkelling equipment etc. The old railroad bridge that once linked the length of the keys still stands and parts of it can be seen from the beach and also from our camping site. There was a lot of signage providing information concerning the sea turtle nesting season but the turtles kept themselves well hidden from us. Something else that kept themselves well hidden were the "no see ums". What are no see ums? They are teeny tiny gnats that you can hardly see but soon feel their presence. They are a blood sucking insect a fraction of the size of a mosquito but their bite leaves a greater itch and will last a lot longer than that of a mosquito. They are wide spread in Florida with something like 4000 different varieties and I think that everyone of them decided to find me. They are particularly prevalent in the early mornings and also at dusk but if there was a rogue one around during other times of the day I still found it! We hadn't been bothered by them at all until we arrived in the keys and fortunately for Peter he wasn't attacked very much. So this meant that I didn't venture outside the caravan in the evenings at all as I spent my time lathering myself with insect cream covering the red welts and when I did go out I used three different types of deet repellent in a hope of warding them off. Peter thought it might have even worked had I gone outside to see in the evenings but I had enough welts I was not giving them a chance! We spent one day down in the popular Key West some 37 miles south of where we were staying . It was bigger than we had anticipated and apparently has a population of around 25,000 which increases significantly during the winter months of November to March. We visited the usual tourist places including the Mallory Square markets, Duval Street which is the main shopping area full of a mix of cheaper beach ware and high end designer shops, lots of open air bars and restaurants and crowds of people everywhere. We had been told that after Bahia Honda the beaches would be disappointing so we hadn't taken our togs and towels. What a big mistake. It was so hot, we would have loved to have dipped in the ocean at the beaches we visited. Instead we walked the piers, lunched at a lovely beachfront restaurant (albeit inside in the cool of the air conditioning) and visited the West Martello Tower gardens which were lovely and cool. Later we toured Ernest Hemingway's home from the early 1930's including his work room where many of his books were written. The work room is separate from the main house and originally had a high platform connecting the upper levels of both buildings but this has now been demolished. The swimming pool he had installed for $20,000 (inflated to a massive cost of $330,000 today) is still maintained. Ernest Hemingway was given a six toed cat as a pet and the descendants of that cat are still bred on the property and have the life of luxury! The Key West lighthouse and keepers quarters stands just opposite Ernest Hemingway's home and are maintained now as a museum. As much as I love climbing lighthouses, with the heat of the day I didn't have the energy this time. The village of Key West has many gorgeous old homes - the majority small and narrow and many now turned into guest accommodation. We would have loved to have walked the area but there was no energy for that so a drive past in the cool of the air conditioning was great. The highlight of the visit to Key West was to go to the southernmost point of the USA. From here it is just 90 miles to Cuba and as it is only 106 miles to Havana in Cuba it is closer than the 129 miles to Miami. The marker is not on the exact most southern point as that is within the nearby Naval base and the general public cannot visit there. We had planned on staying until sunset to see the famous view of the sunset over the Key West pier but "no see ums" and heat combined with weariness stopped that so instead a quick look at the famous pier and we headed back to the caravan ready for a couple of days relaxation and swimming in the warm waters. As we had travelled now to the southernmost point it was time to head north up the keys, then we drove around the northern boundary of the Everglades National Park. We had visited the Everglades during our 2010 visit to Florida so chose not to revisit however we could hear a lot of the airboats travelling up the waterways with their tourist passengers on the look out for alligators. The summer and fall are not the season to see many alligators and although we stopped at various points on our travels we certainly didn't see any, which Peter was grateful for. We did see lots of the white birds that frequent the area (don't know what they are called). It was extremely hot and the car decided it didn't like travelling on such a hot day and perhaps thought if it boiled the water we would stop for coffee! Stop we certainly did, as Peter investigated the problem. Fortunately we had been able to stop opposite a country garage who stocked coolant and that plus a half hour lunch break meant we could continue on. We still had about fifty miles to go to our newly planned destination (Naples on the west coast of Florida) where there was a Chev dealer, and combined with a number of cooling stops, and two more containers of coolant at another country garage we arrived at the camping ground. We made it all the way to the service dealer and we were fortunate that even though it was Saturday they worked on the car until it was repaired. They were generous to provide us with a loan car for the day so we could explore the area and we generously paid their account! Oh well repairs are necessary when we run an older car. We were amazed at the need to insect cover all the outdoor entertainment areas at the houses in this area. We have never seen this before but here it is common and most houses have the netting. We thought it would be a bit like sitting in a bird aviary. Naples and the surrounding areas, which are mainly islands connected by bridges, are very beautiful with lovely wide beaches (and very warm water at this time of the year). There are lots of multi storied hotels and apartments on the coast and in Naples there is a large area of newly built mansions the majority of which were closed up - obviously the multi rich enjoy a holiday home in Naples. We had planned to continue north on Sunday but decided to stay another night and give the car a run without the caravan on so we visited Everglade City and Chokoloslee Island which had been our planned stop for the week-end. The car ran well and we explored another area and had a lovely lunch with the locals in one of the seafood cafes so all was good for continuing on. Naples is locally known as the city of lightning and boy did we have some tropical storms and torrential rain. Still there was plenty of time for the pool and even a dip in the spa but that was short lived as it was just too hot. Interesting road signs always attract our attention. This time is was "Panther Crossing" or "Panther traffic". Seriously, we thought so I checked it out on google and sure enough there is an endangered subspecies of the cougar that lives in the swamp and forested areas of Southern Florida. The eyes were on the watch for one of these then. I did see what looked like the back end of a large smooth coated dog disappearing into the swamp on one of rural roads we travelled but who knows if it was a panther or not - probably not but the closest we got to seeing one. On the road again, we joined the highway rather than meander up the heavily populated coast as that is not pleasant driving for Peter with lights or roundabouts every few hundred feet. The problem with the highways is that you see nothing, just the lanes of the long straight roads ahead. So nearing lunch time we continued with the Italian theme and pulled into Venice. This is a beautiful beach town, but is definitely not the well known Venice Beach which is in California. We did a little shopping and then made our way down to the pier and enjoyed lunch in a beautiful park before exploring the beach and adjacent lake. We could imagine Venice filling up with the Snowbirds in the winter months. A quick check of the facts of the city gave the population at around 22,000 with 57% over the age of 65 years! No wonder we saw lots of medical facilities. Our destination was St Petersburg, Florida - now we have been to St Petersburg in Russia and this one is definitely very different. The Americans build some amazing bridges and to save driving around the coast and through the city of Tampa to get to St Petersburg we paid the toll and drove across the swing bridge. St Petersburg is the fourth largest city in Florida and the only reason we are visiting is because Peter has a contract through his company with a business based here and he is visiting with them tomorrow. Oh no, he has to get out of his shorts and tee shirt and into long trousers and a business shirt but fortunately no tie! Just as well it is a one day only meeting and we can head off and continue exploring. As for me, time to stop procrastinating and get the blog up to date!