Miami day 2

We are in an area of Miami on the very southwest edge and are surrounded by nurseries. However, it is only 4 miles to major shopping. The area is populated by many Hispanics who I assume are Cuban. I encountered several clerks who spoke no English and I was wishing I had been more persistent with my Spanish lessons. This is much more prevalent here than in any of the large Hispanic populations I dealt with in California, Arizona, and Texas. There those working with the public had at least a workable knowledge of English to wait on us.

We probably won’t be going into the metropolitan areas of the city. Our route to the Keys today will continue south without getting into that part of Miami and I will likely try to avoid it when we head back north which will be tomorrow if we don’t luck in to a walk up campsite at one of the three state parks in the Keys.

We both are not too enthralled with Florida. The geography is not all that interesting unless you are a beach bum which we are not and the people are not very friendly. In every other state in which we have spent much time the trike-trailer or the dog always attracted people to come talk to us about one or the other. Here it is rare that anyone approaches us and when someone does they are usually snowbirds here only for the winter. In the campgrounds and RV parks in other places people almost universally wave when they drive or walk past, not here.

I have found the people in lines at check out counters and the clerks behind the counter to be indifferent if not outright rude. No one apologizes for bumping into you or will even make much eye contact. It is a great contrast to the welcoming attitude we have seen in Texas and Louisiana. I have always heard that east coasters are less friendly than in the west and maybe that is what we are encountering but Florida is in the south so it has been a surprise to me.

The people in this RV park are an exception, mostly. This greeted us when we drove into the park.

Note the alligator head. It was amazing how real he looked when pulling in and he definitely caused me to slow way down when entering.

Well, I gotta go pack up and hit the road. I’m looking forward to seeing the Keys.