Road trip!

Guess what? After two days, well over 1000 miles, 22 hours in the car, a million podcasts, taking turns playing DJ and a seemingly endless amount of time on 95 south – we’re where it’s warm! It’s not quite 8am and it’s already 80 degrees, this is how winter should be. Last year at this time I never would have believed we’d be spending this winter in the Keys!

We started out early Christmas morning, our car loaded up with all of the essentials for a winter in the Keys – SUPs, paddles, bikes, dive gear, some clothes and our dogs. We’ve never racked up that much crap and drove any distance but after a test drive to stay with family on Christmas Eve, some tightening and adjusting, we didn’t have a single problem unless you count the Thule SUP taxi strap creating friction & burning one of the boards a bit. We’ll need a repair kit for that but considering the amount of stuff on our car I’m calling it a win.

Some people absolutely love road trips, we are not those people. This was the furthest I’ve ever driven second to driving to Vermont from the mid-Atlantic which seems like a casual Sunday drive after the last two days.

This was the longest drive the dogs have ever been on too. They were both really good but they were definitely over it when we stopped for the night in Daytona. The next morning when I said “ride” in the hotel room I was surprised that they both excitedly perked up, how quickly they forget! I took about a hundred pics of cute dog faces peeking into the front seat but I’ll spare you the full collection.

The Daytona stop was the perfect overnight break. We rented a room right on Daytona beach & it was a great way for all of us to get some exercise & regroup for the second leg of the trip. The Hilton there allows 2 dogs up to 75 pounds each for $100 – well worth it! They don’t give out dog beds but we all fit just fine in the king sized bed. A word of caution – dogs aren’t allowed on the beach. There weren’t any signs anywhere (I know because I looked) & it’s a $100 fine. We walked them on the beach the first night, no issues, but I got busted on our morning walk. They are allowed on the boardwalk and there’s a nice grassy area for them to take care of their business, so I’d still recommend it if it fits in your plans. There are also small sections of beach that allows cars, kinda weird, so there’s that to lookout for too.

Top – the dogs loving the hotel bed! Middle – nice beach, very clean with a boardwalk. Bottom left – beautiful morning! Bottom right – what the heck are these things? They were all over the beach.

This post wouldn’t be complete without a little shout out to the Florida drivers on 95 – y’all are crazy! We drove through 5 states and you guys take the cake! Weaving in and out all over the place. Passing on the right, left and every where in between. Speeding right up to someone’s bumper,  riding it for a while then continuing to zip in and out traffic. I’m from Massachusetts and they call Mass drivers “Massholes” … you guys are worse. I was a little relieved to hit traffic so we could relax for a bit.

We also weren’t prepared for the amount of traffic going through the Everglades. It makes sense being Christmas break so the last 20 miles took us 2.5 hours. At least there’s beautiful scenery all around to help pass the time!

Top – Are we there yet??  Bottom – middle, these guys pulled over to try their luck at fishing while waiting for traffic to clear – “no trespassing” sign be damned!

Best ways to pass the time? We listened to a lot of podcasts. Like everyone else in the country, we’re listening to Serial so we caught up on that. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this season but 3 episodes in and I’m hooked.  Ask Me Another was hands-down the favorite podcast of the trip. It’s great when you’re tired and not in the mood to concentrate too hard which was a good chunk of the trip. They play a lot of creative games & always have entertaining guests. Plus we both love Jonathon Coulton. If you haven’t heard his rendition of “Baby Got Back” I recommend checking it out.  Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me is another fun one to pass some time & test your knowledge of the week’s news. We also spent some time playing DJ & streaming our local NPR station.

I hope you’re all enjoying your Sunday! We’ll be unwinding today and getting the lay of the land but once we’re settled I’ll be posting a lot about the Upper Keys.

Until next time …

Warm thoughts to all!