Day 19 - 252 miles
The mosquitos at Collier Seminole State Park were horrible. Even more tenacious than Ocean Pond but at least no meat bees. The Park Ranger informed us that the Off Guys who make and test their Deep Woods Mosquito Spray do their testing here. It needs more work guys, I used it and it only lasts about 15 minutes per application.
We headed east and saw the nations smallest post office in the middle of the Everglades.
Also saw some wildlife, deer and rabbit-sized rodents that I still have to figure out what they were, looking to cross the road, and alligators.
Also... I've seen bear crossings and deer crossings and elk and moose crossings. I've even seen cougar crossings... at the local bar, but I've never seen a Panther Crossing until I saw it in the Everglades.
We stopped and took a swamp boat ride, air boat actually. I highly recommend going on the smallest boat you can find. They're a lot of fun and the pilots are a little more aggressive with fewer people on lighter boats. They all have their favorite spots including one or two "tame" gators that expect a free lunch in exchange for climbing up onto your airboat. LOL.
We exited the Everglades, US-41, don't even bother with Alligator Alley, I-75, just another interstate, and a toll road to boot.
Then we headed south down to the keys. It actually turned out great arriving on Memorial Day, everyone else is leaving, bumper to bumper traffic. The experienced people apparently make a quasi tailgate party out of it.
None-the-less, the going is slow though, with most of the road at 45 mph limit, so it's a fair way to go... 3-4 hours. But we made it and took pictures at the southern most beach, the southern most point (a "buoy-marker" declaring only 90 miles to Cuba, and the official End of US-1, the Zero-mile marker.
Total miles: 4992
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