ADVENTURES IN PARADISE PART FOUR

ALL PHOTOS ARE MINE, NO DOWNLOADING PLEASE!




APRIL 15





Get up this morning to find it cloudy, the clouds usually burn off by mid morning, windy and fairly cold. We still braved the day with our shorts and t-shirts. *It'll warm up.* Off we go. Top UP on the Shelby GT. Leaving the Marathon area we drive over the Seven Mile Bridge, which was in the movie *True Lies* starring Gov. Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis. Nothing on either side but beautiful bluish green water and a scattering of islands here and there.

Speed limit over the US1 is 45 or 55 (short spots) miles per hour. Takes you some time to go from point A to point B.



Today we head west (by compass heading) for Big Pine Key and the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuse. As you enter Big Pine Key there are warnings everywhere about the deer and the speed limit reduces down. Looks like newly placed fencing up on the sides of the road to keep the little deer in or out, depends on how you look at things. We find the turn off to the park, but it leads us into a strip mall. Huh? Just following the sign........drive through the parking lot looking for the *office* for the park. Buzz around a couple of times, don't see anything, library, clothing store, grocery store, laundry mat, but where is the *office*? We exit the parking lot and find the sign again, yep, it's in here somewhere. We aren't the only ones having problems finding it. It seems we are part of a small parade. We finally find the *office* and listen to the volunteer lay out the map for us. I notice that there a chickens all over this parking lot. Off we go what seems to be a residential road.



First stop is a freshwater rock quarry called the Blue Hole. The words *rock quarry* makes my mind think of Fred Flintsone, he worked in a rock quarry. What did they *quarry* out of here? Limestone. The Blue Hole is the only one of its kind in the entire Keys. It's inhabited by a pair of alligators, which we saw one, turtles, which we saw none, no birds, it was pretty disappointing. The only thing there in abundance is poisonwood. This stuff grows into trees and is something like poison ivy. Looks nothing like poison ivy though. I was afraid to touch anything green. The wind was blowing so hard and it was cold, we didn't stay long and I didn't take any photos either. Down the road alittle bit is the Jack C. Watson Nature Trail. We braved the elements and walked this trail. The trail winds around and makes a big loop through all kinds of palm trees, slash pine, which looked like a fire had gone through sometime back and burnt it all. The slash pine was just dead trees. Poisonwood everywhere here too. I had my camera out already to take some pics of the little deer, but didn't see any. Didn't see any creatures but a vulture and one little butterfly. It would have been exciting to come across a Eastern diamondback, but they were hiding too. So, we were disappointed, but that's nature. The palms and undergrowth was pretty thick, so the deer could've been there and we just didn't see them. We decide to head into Key West to spy out the town and see where the airport was for the next day.


We finally get to the town of Key West. Time for lunch. I'm noticing something very strange happening. People are looking at us. We find a place to eat. Pull up into the parking space and three guys are gawking at us. What's up?


Stay tuned for part five, our first day in Key West.