Hire car really is the most convenient and cost-effective way for us to get around the States, so we booked another car with Alamo which would have us dropping off the car at the Fort Lauderdale Airport in two days’ time ahead of our flight to Guatemala City.   Andrea took David to Naples Airport to pick up the car and he came back driving a sleek black compact-size Chrysler.

Having accumulated so much ‘stuff’ including all the winter clothing and not wanting to lug it around Central America for the next six weeks we had researched freight costs while we were staying in Naples.  If it had just been the ski gear we probably would have just ditched it (donated it to second hand store) but there were all the other bits and pieces that no-one wanted to part with, but also didn’t want to carry.  In the end we thought $350 to send it all home was worth it just to lighten our load for the coming journey.  We had picked up some boxes from behind the local Walmart store and loaded  up all the winter clothes (keeping one fleece for our winter arrival back into Australia), other unnecessary clothes, toys, books and even rocks the girls had been carrying since Iceland and it was picked-up the day before.

So now, having shed some weight and back to our original luggage of two check-in, two carry-on and two day packs it could easily fit into the trunk of the hire car. It was close to 11am when I tearfully farewelled Andrea and we pulled out of her driveway and set off along Highway 41.

This highway is otherwise known as the Tamiami Trail, running  west-east crossing the Everglades and forming part of the Northern border of the Everglades National Park.  Unlike its sister Highway ‘gator alley’ this highway is only one lane in each direction and has no fences to keep out the wildlife.

Hence the speed limits are a little lower and although it leads us on a slightly southern trajectory, it is probably the slower of the two highways cross the state.  However, it is also where a few of the Indian Reserves are located and we thought stopping in at one might be an interesting way to break up the drive on our way down to the Florida Keys.

A couple of hours later we stop at the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian Reservations and look through their gift shop showcasing traditional clothing and artefacts and reading a bit about their history.

We discover that they are a federally recognized Indian Tribe who have their own Constitution, with the governing body of the Tribe being the Miccosukee General Council and that they even have their own Police Department.  With ever-hungry kids we decide against going into their more extensive museum and instead head to their ‘café’ diner for lunch before hitting the road again south toward the Keys.

The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago, beginning at the south-eastern tip of the Florida peninsula extending in a gentle south-west arc to Key West.  They were once only accessible by water but in the early 1900’s the overseas railway was constructed, including the Seven Mile Bridge, one of the longest bridges ever made at the time. Much of the railway was destroyed by a huge hurricane in 1935 and replaced by the US1 highway which runs the length of the Keys (this part is referred to as the Overseas Highway) and up the east coast.

It was really the experience of driving between these little Keys with ocean on either side and the engineering feat of this highway that enticed us to head south to the Keys (ok and the fact that Key Largo is in that song).

The vibe is a cross between the Caribbean and the US back in the ‘60’s and we decide to stay the night at Islamorada, almost the middle of the ‘Keys’.Spotting a really cute motel called the Drop Anchor, a vintage pastel coloured motel with a pool and right on the water we take a room with two double beds.   While the girls enjoyed playing in the pool Dave went back out to find a quick takeaway dinner of pizza and salad.

The next morning we head further south before turning north again, stopping to photograph the many kitsch post boxes we had been seeing along the roadway.  Arriving into Fort Lauderdale around 4pm we consult our ‘Extended Stay’ directory and find there is one within a couple of miles of the Fort Lauderdale Intl airport and pull in for a one nighter ahead of our flight to Guatemala City the next morning. Farewell Florida!