later on 3/19, we stopped in sun city center, FL to visit my dad and his wife for a short pit stop since we were driving by not 2 miles away.  they moved there from Naples, FL 2 years ago, so it was nice to have a chance to see their new place for the first time. we had to keep the visit short as we intended to get to Ft. Myers in time to reach the Key West Express ferry.

We got Ft. Myers Beach and located the ferry location. after that, we looked for a suitable location to camp for the night.  We found an RV park close by, but only after the office had close. we exhausted all attempts to reach someone in authority to acquire one of several nice open camp spots, so we helped ourselves.  The RV next door to our camping spot had a motion-activated floodlight that seemed to want to turn on every 5 minutes, ALL NIGHT LONG !

Our first official night camping as squatters in Ft. Myers

3/19
today started with a growl. literally. Susan's parents dog, an 'adorable' pit bull, decided to 'play' with their cat. after hearing susan screaming for spectator support, I ran to the back of the house to see the cat clawing the shit out of Hercules' already BLOODY face!! getting the two separated (and he all cleaned up) was a nice start to our second travel day !!

THEN, a few scant miles from the Florida state line gave a state trooper all he needed to pull me over and ticket me for 80 in a 55. definitely was going over 55, but nowhere near 80. at least in the area he pulled me over !!! damn, first ticket in years !!

 

susan on the road to columbus, GA

 

 Entering Mississippi

Louisiana - our first state line heading east from houston....

The start of vacation:  sharing ice cream after the Lucky Trails half marathon in Seabrook Texas March 17, 2013

Susan's bike

Donnie's bike

loaded and ready to roll