Back on the mainland.

One week before Christmas!! We are back in Homestead after a great weekend in Key West. The bikes are off and once again we hit the roads. There is usually a footpath to ride on and rarely do we ride on the roadway - which we are happy with as the traffic is heavy.

Homestead is in Miami-Dade County, primarily a Miami suburb and a major agriculture area. Its name originates from when the Florida East Coast Railway was being built. The rail line passed through an area opened up for homesteading. As the construction camp at the end of the line didn't have a name, the supplies and materials were consigned to 'Homestead Country'. It was incorporated in 1913.








In 1992 Homestead bore the brunt of Hurricane Andrew, a category 5 hurricane which hit South Florida. Homestead was devastated. Over the last 20 years it has rebuilt and appears to be a busy place. There are a lot of spanish speaking people. I guess the hispanic proportion of the population is quite high.

I read that snowfall was recorded at Homestead Air Force Base on 20 January 1977 which marked the farthest south that snowfall has ever been recorded in the US. How is that for trivia!!

On one of our shopping expeditions - on the bikes - we bought all the makings for margaritas; even bought a blender at Walmart for $24.00!

I walked each day, did stretches and some weights. Trevor gave blood, the second time he has donated over here. He got a tshirt and was tickled pink! The weather is very warm and humid. Our Margaritas are a definite 'look forward to ..' as the sun goes down. I don't know if I mentioned that the frig in the RV has an ice maker in the freezer box. Perfect!

There are a lot of 'snowbirders' in our RV park. Mostly from Quebec by the number plates. They seem to be well organised into quite a social group starting with men's volleyball each morning which seems to go for hours.

On Thursday we leave Homestead to make our way up to Stuart for Christmas. But first the now very pressing matter of Christmas shopping!! I program into the GPS a shopping mall in Boca Raton.
We travel on Highway 1; the traffic is very heavy I guess so close to Christmas. Approaching South Miami traffic becomes even busier with the occasional lane closure due to road works. We can see high rise buildings up ahead. Could that be Miami??
Then slight madness as we merge onto I-95 to skirt the city;  momentary panic as we think we are going through a toll which doesn't accept cash - only epass - but we find that that is for the expressway which we are definitely not on. Phew! Then we are through and all OK.  Funny how quiet it becomes in the RV as we both concentrate on lanes, directions and traffic.

These are not aerial shots!! We were right there in the middle of it
and Trevor handled it all so well.







I had found 2 Macy's in Boca Raton and of course - law of averages - I put the wrong address into the GPS. We found ourselves at Macy's furniture gallery. So we back up and  retrace our steps to the right one. What a great mall. All the big stores including Bloomingdales, Nieman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macys, Sears and lots more. There are also several Starbucks - could this be heaven?
We stay for 3 hours!

That's better!

Can you spot us?

After the shopping marathon we get back on to Hwy 1 to Delray Beach where we stay the night. A small RV park; nice people at the office; a jug of Margaritas and that's our day.