Our 2012 Trip begins at The Keys

We left our ship that had taken us all the way from San Diego to Ft Lauderdale in Florida with sadness, as the cruise through the Panama Canal had been fantastic. The Celebrity Infinity is certainly a great ship.

 After a very very long wait at US Immigration at FT Lauderdale we were finally allowed into the US and picked up our hire car and headed south on US 1 to Key West. The drive down was fantastic. Over 100 miles of road crossing coral keys, over long bridges (up to 7 miles long) with beautiful azure blue waters, shiny sands and a deep blue sky.

We stayed at a nice central place in Key West and had a lovely fish dinner at Seven Fishes just round the corner in what looks like an house in the middle of the suburbs (which it is). Then next morning we walked into town past President Truman's winter home called The Little White House.

 Wendy loved exploring the shops in the heart of Key West (Mallory Square) and admired the great shell collections, natural sponges and gator heads.

Key West is the Southern Most point on the Continental USA and we have a photo to prove it. It is closer to Cuba than Miami.

But we were to see lots more gators in the wild the next day when we stopped in the Everglades to tour part of them by an airboat. The water levels are way down and we were limited in where we could go but we spotted lots of alligators and birds as we zoomed around at high speed.

And then it was onwards Northward again to Orlando where we had left the fifth wheel. But on the way we called into Palm City where Wendy caught up with her cousin (Bonny) who she hadn't seen for more than half a century. Roger and Bonny live in a lovely community for 6 months of the year.

We have now picked up the fifth wheel and Silverado pickup and moved into a local campground for a few days to bed everything down and stock up. Everything was in good order except for a minor problem with the diesel exhaust fluid system that went on the blink and needs to get fixed under warranty.

Later this week we head across to the Gulf Coast for the start of our journey across to New Orleans and up the Mississippi.