I'm having to post today from a shopping mall, because we can not get on-line from the campground. Louise is inside doing some last-minute holiday shopping, and I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on email.

We were fortunate to get a nice campsite at a county park, adjacent to the Everglades. It is the Markham county park, operated by Broward County. Unfortunately, tree cover prevents us from getting on-line there. Interestingly, we were able to get the TV signals (although the Datastorm is not well set-up for aiming the antenna -- one needs to let it position for internet access, then "stop" the automatic aiming at just the right moment, then bring up the signal strength meter on the DirecTV box, and lastly fine-tune the position with the manual controls).

We brought Odyssey to the mall because (1) it's pouring rain, (2) unloading and reloading the bikes for a 36-hour stay is "not worth the trouble" and (3) we wanted to get on-line. That being said, we are just heading right back to Markham park tonight. If the weather clears a bit, we will probably head into downtown Ft. Lauderdale this afternoon, take the water taxi around the city, and maybe have dinner someplace nice.

Tomorrow we drop the pets off at the kennel first thing in the morning. We actually hooked up with another bus nut in Ft. Lauderdale who has agreed to store Odyssey during our cruise, so we will end up there tomorrow night. For security reasons, we will not be uploading our exact position until we return from our cruise.

It's not clear whether we will be able to get on-line tomorrow night, and we certainly will not be able to do so tonight, so this may well be my last post until we return. In which case, we wish you all a happy holiday season!