It’s a four day voyage for the HMS Beagle from Mississauga to South Florida. We started on January 12 and were due at our destination in Miami-Dade County on the 15th. The Beagle had been winterized so the water and sewer systems would not be usable until we were much farther south. The furnace could keep us nice and warm but without the full amenities provided by water, it could be a little rough. Brother James also travels south in his trailer, using Wal-Mart hospitality on the way down. However, Captain Fitzroy ruled against a similar plan for the Beagle. She is afraid of Americans with guns.
Luckily there are many hotels along the highway and many that are Darwin friendly. We stayed at the Red Roof Inn two out of our three nights on the voyage south. Of course the weather was pretty fierce on the first night in northern Ohio with lots of snow and wind (mimicking the awful weather from Brantford to Windsor – what, we keep asking ourselves, would ever persuade anyone to live in southwestern Ontario in winter?) The next night found us in Knoxville Tennessee and still cold. We spent the night of the 14th in Valdosta Georgia with much milder weather. Our final day brought us to the Goldcoaster RV Park outside of Homestead Florida.
All in all it was pretty smooth sailing, except for one incident which will be the subject of another post. Even the border crossing was uneventful with no inspections at all. A quick stop to the local super market before docking provisioned us for the night. We dined on lovely prepared dishes from chicken to sushi. Mr. Darwin was especially pleased with the chicken, and the accommodations.
