Ft. Lauderdale, FL
July 7-9
http://www.paradiserv.com/

We didn't actually plan to come to Ft. Lauderdale...we were all the way to Long Key in Florida when Hurricane Dennis chased us out -- they started evacuating the Florida Keys just as we arrived. At least the Turnpike was free on the way out of town.

The nice thing about dragging your house behind you is that as soon as you find a place to park, you're home. They'd told us to get inland, above Miami, so we're in Ft. Lauderdale, still south enough to be surrounded by swaying palm trees.

The campground is right behind a Walgreens. They give you a key so you can take the super-sneaky back way out the gate to the shopping center, which gives you an EZ-access mousehold to slip out and stock up on Hurricane Food (pancake mix, potato chips, fake nails, magazines....) Check out Keighley's fake French manicure. They've come a long way since the days of Lee Press-on Nails. Today, the fake nails come complete with rhinestones and fake white half-moons and stick on with some type of repackaged Krazy Glue.

The sun is unbelievably strong down here -- I tried to darken up the last picture in the row so you can try to make out the gecko hiding in the tree. The shot was taken with almost full sun coming from behind the tree.

The trees look those weird, gnarled, Ents from Middle Earth.

Views of the Atlantic Ocean with the wind picking up for Dennis, swirling around up the other coast of Florida:

Waiting out the storm for Spring to Break again, watching on TV as the Cuisinart blade of Dennis dices and chops its way up the Gulf...there goes Cuba....