Another night and another Walmart. They’re a bit fussy around that area with overnight stay. I guess they’ve had bad experiences with people staying there for all the theme parks nearby. We eventually found one which would allow us and settled down. As we were walking back from the shop after getting some supplies the dark cloudy sky lit up for a flash. There was a storm somewhere and it wasn’t long before it moved over us. It doesn’t rain that often around there but when it does it really does. The van was fun to sleep in with a constant drumming on the metal roof.
We were up at 6.30am the next morning to go to Walt Disney World. I was really excited the night before, Mum says it’s just magical. Anyway, we pulled up and headed into the park. A small fortune and a monorail ride later we were at the gates waiting for Mickey and his buddies to sing and dance and open the place up. I’ll get a full review of the rides and stuff up at a later date.
We got back to the car, dumped our bags in the back and drove off. Next thing we heard was an almighty crash. My first thought was that we’d not secured something right in the back and it had slid onto the floor like has happened a few time before when turning corners but then this was a much louder thump. We looked at each other and I opened and looked out through the passenger door. The van had hit the car next to us when it pulled out and my jaw hit the floor. I walked to the car and Andy parked up a few spaces down. He joined me to survey the damage. Sat there was an ex-Honda Civic, it’s front bumper pulled half off, bonnet bent, side wing bent, the head light housing was sticking forward from where it should be about a foot and there was all sorts on the floor in front. There wasn’t too much damage to ours, just some marks and a small dent about four inches across. The door hinge was the culprit for all the damage, ripping through the front of the other car.
Andy stayed with the car while I went to find some security to find out what we should do. The first guy I came across was in charge of the trams. He was whizzing about on a Segway. I pulled him over and explained what had happened. He said all I could do was to wait until security arrived; he thought someone had hit us while we were in the park. Once he understood what had actually happened he radioed in a couple of guys. One turned up in a car, I hopped in and he drove to the crash site. I must say that the three guys from Disney staff were all really helpful and friendly. One even looked up details on rental car insurance on his phone and another drove me back to the main centre rather than walking so I could use the toilet. Eventually the owner of the car turned up and she took it very well, she was appreciative of us not driving off, I think that happens a lot around here. Forms were filled out, photos
were taken and we eventually were able to head back to our Walmart to sleep.
The next morning was spent getting, printing, filling out, scanning and emailing forms to the hire company. I still as yet don’t know what is covered in this situation but the Disney staff seemed to think 100% would be so keep your fingers crossed.
After that was all done we headed South. It was actually a really nice drive in the sun, palm trees were sprouting up everywhere and lining the roads. We headed off the interstate for a stretch alongside ‘Palm Beach’. I was driving and as we did I was playing the best of The Who. I Can See for Miles and Miles came on, a perfect moment as I could suddenly see 180 degrees of bright blue cloudless sky and clear sea all the way to the horizon.
We stopped at Delray Beach to spend a couple of hours trying to unwind. The water here was so clear. I swam out a fair way and I’d say the depth was about 2.5 – meters and I could still see the bottom. Not such great surf here but it was another fantastically sunny day to sit and read as well as swim in the calm water. There were quite a few geckos/ lizard type things in the car park. They were fairly tame and you could get within a few feet of them.
When we were all done and showered we headed to a Walmart on the outskirts of Miami. Once we knew we could park there overnight we went and found a McDonalds to use the wifi but it wasn't working. On the way we had to avoid an accident with traffic building up, a lorry had turned on a bridge. I know what it feels like to be ‘rubber-necked’ now after all the cars crawling past us last night gawping.
The next day we headed down to The Florida Keys. Several hours drive over the islands and bridges between them and we were at the town. The water here makes Delray Beach look like nothing, the water is crystal clear. It was another baking day and I drank several bottles of water on the way. Walking along the streets was an experience, the shops were all air conditioned and going between them and the heat outside felt very strange. We went down to the most southerly point in mainland America and got a virtual cache while we were there.
Today was a Miami day. We parked up by right by South Beach taking the last space which was pretty lucky. We wandered around the town for a couple of hours and past all the bars on the seafront with people drinking cocktails. We then hit the sea where they had our best waves to date. We played with a ball I'd bought in England but never used and it was fantastic as it skims on the water. We got it going around 25 - 30 meters at a guess. I've no idea how far it would go it we really tried and were on flat water.
I'll get more images up at a later date as we're a bit low on time at the moment and let you know when I have in future posts. Hopefully we'll hit more internet soon.
J.
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