The Florida Chronicles...Part 4...March

I'm up early at Dry Tortugas National Park after a great night's sleep. The first order of business is coffee. I have to admit that I've "bent" the rules ever so slightly here...the "rules" say no propane tanks permitted aboard the ship. I interpret this rule as "permitting" the ISO-propane CANISTERS for my pocket rocket stove. So, this morning, while my fellow campers are waiting forty-five minutes to heat their water over sterno, I've got boiling water in just under three minutes. I'm using Starbuck's "Via" instant coffee which, while not as good as brewed coffee, is very handy for backpacking. I am soon the most popular guy in camp as my fellow campers come over to use the Pocket Rocket...all in all, I probably brought ten liters of water to the boil this morning alone. My breakfast is Mountain House Freeze-Dried Scrambled Eggs with Ham and Peppers...and...it's good, really good. After breakfast, I spend a few hours reading...I'm just finishing up a great biography of George Washington authored by Ron Chernow...interesting reading. Later, I decide to explore the island. There's not much to explore on the island other than Fort Jefferson, which takes up over 80% of the land area. The Fort was built following the Civil War and has the distinction of being the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere. Around 11:30, the boat from Key West returns, and I am able to go on board and get some cold water...I drink about two liters (mixed with powdered Gatorade). More exploring, then back to camp for more reading. It's a relaxing day, and the weather is perfect. I've brought along my new "pocket" solar panel for a test run, and I hook up my iPod Nano to recharge so that I'll have music for dinner. Soon, it's late afternoon, and the boat is loading up with tourists for the trip back to Key West. Around 5:00PM or so, I make "dinner"...tonight it's freeze-dried Lasagna with Meat Sauce...better than the Stroganoff, but not great. Of course, after several glasses of wine, it's tasting much better. After dinner, another spectacular sunset. And so...the remaining three days/nights go pretty much the same. Sleep...up...coffee...explore...read...rehydrate aboard ship...read...dinner...bed. The last night, however, is fun...and exciting. For days, I've been inviting my fellow campers over for wine after dinner and...on my last night...they all decide to stop by my camp. Soom, there's a dozen or so of us...everybody brought wine or beer...and we sit around talking until about 9:00PM. At 9:00, there is suddenly much activity in the Park...spotlights, sirens, boats in the water. So...we decide to head down to the dock to see what's going on...about twenty or so refugees from Cuba have arrived on the island. They set off from Cuba in a tiny inflatable boat with an old Garmin for navigation...and they made it all safe and sound. Having made it to dry land, they can stay. It was, I have to say, an emotional moment...that people would risk their lives to come to this country...this United States. The next morning, I'm up early to break camp...and heat water for twenty people...as i have done each morning since I arrived. When the boat arrives, I load my gear on board from the dock and spend the day taking one more stroll around the perimeter of the island. At 3:30PM, everybody's aboard, and we make the seventy mile trip back to Key West. Once there, I retrieve the Explorer from the parking garage, load my gear and head back to Mark's place in Marathon. We have dinner at one of my favorite dockside restaurants and make it an early evening. The next morning, I stop at Publix for provisions and head up out the Keys to Everglades National Park for another three days of camping. About five miles from the Park entrance, there's a great fruit and vegetable market called "Robert is Here". In addition to a wide variety of fresh vegetables, they have the most extensive selection of tropical fruit imaginable...stuff I've never heard of, like "canistel", "mamey sapote" and "sapodilla". I load up with fruit in vegetables for camping and for cooking at home back in Palm City. In the Park, I set up camp with the "little Guy"...the sights for RV's are not nearly as nice as the tent sites, but it's still fun. Two of my fellow campers from Dry Tortugas are there, so i invite them over for a dinner of Tandoori chicken, coconut rice and (of course) wine. The next day, I set out in the early morning (after coffee) for a day of hiking and photography. It's overcast and very windy, but I get in a full day...and lots of great photos. For dinner, I grill a nice piece of grouper and serve that with curried mayonnaise and some leftover coconut rice. The next morning, it's so windy that a full pot of coffee blows right off the picnic table. That's enough for me...I pack up quickly and head for home. The rest of March goes pretty much according to the established plan...more house cleaning. I did buy a 42" Vizio LED TV and a Blue-Ray player for the house, so a couple of nights were spent watching movies from Blockbuster. They were all good, but I particularly liked "The Descendants"...not a "big" movie, but very well-acted and George Clooney is...well...George Clooney. And...this was very fun...I went to see the Tigers play the Cardinals down in Jupiter. I could not leave Florida without taking in at least one game of spring ball. It was a perfect day...tickets were plentiful...and it was interesting to see a game "up close" in a small stadium. OK...the Tigers lost...but it was still great fun.

Oh...and one health-related note. Way back in October, we had a gorgeous day in the 70's, and I decided to go on a hike at my favorite local park in Michigan. I loaded up my "day pack" with three big jugs full of water to simulate backpacking conditions and proceeded to hike up and down the trails for several hours. When I got back home, my achilles tendon was tender and sore...so I iced it down. Now...five months later...it still hurts and it's not getting better (in fact, it's getting worse). So...I finally "bit the bullet" and went to a doctor. And...as March draws to a close...I'm hobbling about in a strap-on "boot" and signed up for fifteen sessions of physical therapy...welcome, Bill, to old age.