We finally made it to our first National Park of the trip…and what a cool one to start with!
The islands were originally named Las Tortugas (The Turtles) by Ponce de Leon due to the many sea turtles he found there when he discovered the islands. The “Dry” was added later to warn maritime travelers that there is no fresh watch on the islands.
Read for more info on the Park
Taking the pledge for another Junior Ranger badge
With kiddos continuing to recover, our first day in the Keys began with some catch-up on school work, and cleaning / laundry. After some good naps, we enjoyed a nice afternoon on the beach & kayaking in the ocean. 
We’ve been camping in the secluded Big Cypress National Preserve just north of the Everglades.
Our original plan was to tour the Everglades from here, however the flu had other ideas. It hit me first, then Madi, followed promptly by Jamon. Drew had a bit of a tummy bug in the first few days but fortunately, has fought off the worst of it thus far. We took this as a sign that we needed a bit of R&R to start our adventure. 😴
We did get to see lot of alligators in and around the lake in our campground. Great opportunity to reinforce with the kids that we respect all creatures & their habitats.
Everyone seems to be on the mend now & we are headed down to the keys today. Ferry ride out to the Dry Tortugas is scheduled for Friday.
Two long days of driving & we are finally getting to warmer temperatures & making our way down into Florida.
Jsky & I are both fighting a bit of a cold/cough, and everyone is feeling a lil worn. We have a shorter day tomorrow then we will be camping in the northern Everglades for a few days. I think everyone is looking forward to taking in the natural spaces & relaxing for awhile.
We had a nice relaxing morning then made our way down to the French Quarter. We took in a few of the key sights including Jackson Square, the museum at the Cabildo, and the French Market. The kids loved their first beignets, and got some Mardi Gras masks at the market. It was still a little chilly but the sun was nice for touring the sights.
We woke up this morning to slightly warmer temperatures with 19 F in Shreveport. We all slept well & stayed cozy / warm inside the camper, but we had a little bit of scare w/ frozen kitchen pipes though. Learned we have a few places that need a bit more insulation on the slide, and they thawed without issue after a few more hours of driving on south. Whew!
We arrive in New Orleans this evening with a bit more time to get setup before dinner. We are staying a couple of days to check out the history & culture of the city before we head out east along the gulf, towards FL.
Kiddos are getting settled in…including Azul
Happy 2018 to you ALL!!
This past week has been whirlwind of final preparations, saying good-bye’s to friends/family, and packing up the camper. It has been a great opportunity to evaluate what we really need and enjoy to have in our lives – and get rid of all the “other” stuff! The drastic drop in temperatures this week created an additional obstacle, which caused us to move the camper back into the hangar last night – to avoid frozen pipes this morning. We did the final run through the house this morning, then got loaded up & headed out of town before noon.
Our original plan was to make our first stop in Hot Springs National Park. However, with the continued frigid temperatures, we are opt’ing to head on farther south to Shreveport, LA. That makes it a one day drive to New Orleans from there.
We are so excited about getting started on our adventures in 2018 – and we look forward to sharing them with each of you!
Love – Carrie
50 in 365 