South Miami
We’re staying close to Fort Lauderdale for a week or so, because Andrew needs to go in to the local Sun office for work. We’re somewhere between Everglades and the coast, about 30 minutes from each. There are fun things to do in the area, but it’s only day two and we’re still in shock from how wonderful the weather is, so the only thing on the agenda today is being outside and relaxing.
This morning I finally got my butt in gear and went for a jog. They have a paved path around this RV park which is about a mile long. The dogs and I jogged only two and a half miles, but it was very pleasant. There are tropical trees and lizards and song birds and everyone here is in a fabulous mood. True, they are all quite a bit older than us, but it’s clear to me that they are having the time of their lives; most are reading books outside or walking or bicycling. The happy people and the perfect weather have lulled us into a lazy, euphoric state. Even the dogs looked happy during our jog and they sat outside and actually relaxed for a change, instead of whining incessantly.
Yesterday Ingrid and I worked on building a butterfly kite from a kit that Amanda gave her for her birthday. It looks good but I don’t know how well it will actually fly. We’re going to need some help from Andrew to get the engineering part done. Ingrid has been asking to build a kite for a year now, and I’m very happy to finally get to it.
The last place we stayed, near Tampa, was Alafia River State Park. I thought our lack of planning would really do us in this time, but so far we’ve had excellent luck in finding places to stay in Florida. I called Alafia the day before, and someone had just cancelled. We got to stay two nights at a campground that has been booked for eight months. I can see why, the park was beautiful and had some surprisingly wicked mountain bike trails, plus it’s only $20 a night and that includes water and electric! There were alligators in the river so we couldn’t go in but Ingrid and I enjoyed bike riding and just walking around and seeing the different trees and birds. I made a mental note to come back some day.