day 14, part two

ahh, key west. and i do mean ahh. nice place. they celebrate sunset here every day. everything stops, and everyone watches the sunset. when i left cape flattery just west of neah bay, a road trip from the northwesternmost point in the contiguous states to the southeasternmost point seemed a little daunting in some ways. still does in some respects. but it was a great trip. and i discovered that the country is both bigger and smaller than i thought, if that makes sense. big country and too many vast expanses to keep track of, but also so many connections among everyone, so many things that tie us all together. it's pretty cool.
today we started on the west coast of florida, drove across to the east side and then down through the keys. alligator alley, one of the roads crossing the everglades, wasn't much to talk about, so we cut south a ways and took another road east. "panther crossing" signs were one of the highlights, along with circling vultures and a gecko that wanted no part of us. but no gators to be seen. the road through the keys was quite interesting. some of the keys are so small the road takes up most of the key. others are big enough to have home depots. and one bridge is seven miles long. it's an interesting feeling being this far out here as a hurricane is developing in the atlantic. we may be closer to cuba than the u.s. mainland. but we're watching the weather channel, googling weather stories and watching the hurricane's progress. if it turns west, we head north. more lightning off in the distance tonight, meaning more thunderstorms out there somewhere. tuesday we plan to spend enough time on the beach to reignite our sunburns, explore the island a bit, check out some of the touristy stuff and swim in the ocean and the pool. in other words, just relax and enjoy being here -- finally.
good night mel and judy in lynden (unless you're hiding somewhere in key west), good night olivia, good night jean...