An early departure from the campground this morning to head back to the mainland gave us plenty of time to stop and mingle on the keys on the way out. We found a couple of interesting places to pull off of Hwy 1 and relax, and even a state park to take a brief hike, and of course we enjoyed the seven-mile bridge again.

As we worked our way into the mainland, we discovered a hostel in the Homestead/Florida City area that suited our needs for the evening. The hostel had private rooms and dorm rooms, and an amazing back yard, complete with a hookah lounge and a tree house. This setting made us feel like George of the Jungle goes to Woodstock. Chess game boards caught Ant and I’s attention and ended up occupying more hours of the night than we wanted and made me realize I still need lots of practice to play with such a chess master like Ant…also, I need to start playing with a timer- five minutes per move is ri-damn-diculous.

Some relaxing, reading, and writing concluded the evening while other hostel-mates were arranging the next great song with some guitars, ukeleles, and a few beers. Goodnight folks, more miles into the mainland tomorrow.