Almost Out of Florida

The last day in Florida began with John putting Nancy on a plane home from Key West. He and I then motored on up the keys stopping at No Name Key within the Key Deer NWR for a little birding. We did see quite a few key deer (web photo), but didn’t record any new year birds. On Big Pine Key we had breakfast at the Cracked Egg, a spot where locals gather and the service is slow. Lots of fish stories being heard all around. The rest of the drive up the keys was somewhat agonizingly slow since it’s at best a two-lane road and currently has many patches of construction. Back on the mainland we made one more attempt to see the Red-footed Booby at the rehab place, but no booby appeared. I made a peanut butter and honey sandwich and John had a Blimpy. That gave us the energy for the long haul up the turnpike. At Orlando there was a massive tie-up from an accident we never saw. After the better part of an hour, we exited the turnpike and re-entered it after passing through Winter Park. The delay cost us well over an hour of travel time. John phoned ahead and arranged for us to stay with his daughter in Tallahassee. Along the way we listened to the Phils/Cards game through the computer. Finally the battery on the MiFi was exahausted and we were forced to wonder how the game ended. We later found out that the Cards won it. However, a strange tragedy befill the MiFi. Somehow it slipped away and got lost somewhere inside John’s Prius. It couldn’t be found. We’ll look again tomorrow. When we got to Tallahassee we had a chat with John’s daughter and her two girls and hit the hay. No new birds.