OK, we're back online after a 30-hour hiatus .... seems like a long time, but it really wasn't. We reluctantly left the sun and warm breezes of Bahia Honda on Friday and spent the night at one of the National Park campgrounds in Big Cypress National Preserve, along Rt 41 in the Everglades with the birds and gators.

A cold front came through, too. It seemed cold at 58 degrees in the evening, but then Colin called and said it was 10 in Plattsburgh with fresh snow. And to think, I'll be there next week ...

A few random items about the Florida Keys and Everglades:

1) No-see-ums can be a plague in the Everglades and Keys even in the dry season (winter). We have so many red spots on our feet and legs that we look like measles patients.

2) You can't get online in the Everglades with Verizon.

3) Bahia Honda is nice but ridiculously hard to get into. If you can't get in there, try the new state park, nearby: Curry Hammock.

4) The cheapest gas in the Keys is found in Key Largo.

5) We haven't found a key lime pie that beats the one we had at Ted Peters', but there was one on Marathon that was pretty darned good. Lime juice in the whipped cream topping is a nice touch.