The new year begins!

On the 1st of January 2019 I flew from (a snowy) Chicago to (a sunny) Miami.  It was a relatively early morning flight, which, while a bit of a pain getting up for - and in fact meant a pretty early bedtime, and cutting short of the New Year Eve's celebrations the night before - it did mean that I got to Miami in good time and allowed me some good daylight to drive down to Key West.

The car rental area in Miami airport is really good in my opinion. In a large semi circular area all of the rental companies are laid out next to each other.  It's convenient to get to as well, via shuttle from the main terminal.  Once there it was a short wait and a smooth transaction to get all my paperwork done and from there it was down two floors to the car park to pick up my car.

This is the car I rented. I always tend to go for a jeep or an SUV when I rent, particularly in the States.  I just feel better in a vehicle where I am positioned a little higher.  Actually, now that I think of it, this is only particular to when I drive in the States - when I rent a car in Europe I invariably get the cheapest little teeny thing available.

So! Off I set.  I was a small bit nervous about driving on my own, but not too bad.  While it was my first time doing this drive completely on my own, and it can be a bit tricky getting out of Miami airport, I had recently (back in May) done the drive with Mam so this gave me a bit of confidence.  Anyway, no problems at all.  I took all of the correct turns getting out of the airport and avoided going towards Miami city (which happened me once before, and ugh was a complete nightmare to get out of) and in no time at all I was on the Overseas Highway/US 1 and on my way to PARADISE!

And now I am here.  And all is good! I have my bike and am nipping round the island on it.  I am eating beautiful seafood, spent the day at the beach today, and am going fishing next week.
Strike that.  All is GREAT.