Florida Keys Expedition Blog by Evan Harr

This expedition in the Florida Keys was really fun. We got to do a lot of fun stuff. We did things like scuba dived, fished, kayaked, and more. It was really fun because we had a nice balance of things to do. We also went to Billy’s house on the way back. There was a lot of hammock camping. At every campsite we went to I set up my hammock, so I put it to good use. I also slept in Evan Anderson’s bivy, and now I really want to get one. They are really comfy, warm, and rainproof. I wouldn’t mind getting my own tent either, just like Mitch has. A two person would be awesome. Over summer, I really want to go camping with my dad, and I am equipped with all the gear I have from SOAR. Hopefully we can rent an RV.

Anyways, my highlights of the trip were scuba diving, fishing, and Billy’s house. One of the fishing times, we got to buy frozen shrimp, and it was great. The bad thing was that all the little fish kept stealing my bait, but what was awesome was that a man gave us some bait and a small hook to catch those little fish. I caught some mangrove snapper, but that’s about it. The man caught a bunch of those bait fish. I caught some snapper off the dock near the bridge we fish off of also, even though we weren’t supposed to be fishing there. The whole time, I got to use my really nice new fishing pole. It is an ugly stick pole with a Shakespeare reel. We also got to fish at Billy’s house, and I used one of his rods while fishing off of his dock. I didn’t catch any fish there, but I got some bites. I had to buy a 3 day fishing license except for when I went to Billy’s house.

It was really cool that I got to see my family, including my sister, at Billy’s house. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see my dog, but it was ok because I got to see Billy’s two dogs, Daisy and Butch. They were really nice dogs, and they really liked to lick your face.

I am really excited that I am a certified open water scuba diver for life now. It is really a big accomplishment for me. Eventually, I will try to become a certified advanced open water scuba diver! I also really enjoyed kayaking because we finally got to put them to use, and I got to troll my fishing pole while we were kayaking, even though I didn’t catch any fish.

Overall, it was a great expedition for the two weeks we spent in the Keys. I enjoyed all the activities like fishing, going to Billy’s house, kayaking, scuba diving, hammock camping, and more. It was all very worthwhile, especially when we went to Key West and Savannah Georgia. We did a lot of things in Key West like going to the aquarium and the National Coast Guard Museum. I like everything else about the trip, and I wish I could do it all over again.