Routine is insidious, quietly ordering daily life into predictable patterns despite our best intentions. On weekdays, we wake, eat, work, clean, launder, walk the dogs, and sleep. The events of a day – mostly spent at the desk managing phone calls and emails – become predicable and ordinary even while sat in a distant sunny location.

But routine is pervious to interruption. On Tuesday this past week, our reservation at Fiesta Key RV Resort ended and our reservation at Sunshine Key began. Thus we packed up and headed 30 miles south.

The drive, as always, guided us through many small beach towns on various islands connected by long bridges with incredible views to the horizon on both sides.

At Sunshine Key we checked in then followed our golf cart escort to our new home for nine days. The sites here are more spacious than Fiesta’s and the marina much larger, although the amenities are fewer and it has no dog park (for now; under construction).

Our faithful moon followed, illuminating our path on the inevitable midnight dog walks.

Sunshine Key does not feature a restaurant or bar but solicits the occasional taco truck and other food vendors.

After learning the lay of the land at Sunshine Key, routine reasserted itself. Through headaches, stressful workdays, doggy gastro issues, and various other struggles of the banal, routine prodded us forward to the weekend.

But the weekend is when we give routine the middle finger. Midday Saturday, after lining up a dog walker for our tiny traveling companions, we set off south for Key West to do some more exploring.

We hopped on a trolly tour around the town to learn some fun facts and identify potential experiences. The narration was interesting and the sights beautiful.

Our first experience was the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, which was amazing! After entering the large atrium, we were immediately surrounded by a fantastical array of large colorful butterflies.

Birds also share the room, providing a chorus of assorted chirps and calls as background music for this slow mesmerizing march through the butterfly menagerie.

In the middle of the room are two fully grown flamingos in a wading pond tailored specially for these two characters, named Rhett and Scarlet.

For the uninitiated, flamingos are the unofficial mascot of Airstreamers everywhere. Airstream owners use flamingos as decoration everywhere, and although we are unfamiliar with the history or reason for this adoption, we too have leaned into that tradition.

But despite our fanciful appreciation of the flamingo in concept, we were not prepared to meet these two in person. It was incredible. They are lanky and dignified, standing unafraid while the humans circle. Their call is a strange squawk/honk that is not easily described, but we have video.

We were fortunate enough to witness the mating ritual between Rhett and Scarlet, consisting of many back-and-forth squawks while turning their both ways, culminating in a simultaneous full wing flash and a head duck.

We visited the Southernmost Point, further south than any other portion of the continental US (Hawaii is further south), which is mostly unremarkable save the symbolism.

We visited the Schooner Wharf Bar, which is a quaint outdoor-only establishment sitting on the marina front with live music and festive beverages.

Walking along the wharf, we saw large White Tarpon trolling for tourist food and fish-cleaning scraps.

Sunday late morning we returned to Key West, again having arranged the same dog walker (shout out to Lindsay, a research assistance with Florida Fish & Wildlife with a dog walking side hustle). We grabbed a quick early lunch from Bo’s Seafood Shack then boarded a catamaran to go snorkeling off the nearby coral reef.

We enjoyed the cruise out to the reef, meeting folks visiting from San Diego and Michigan, taking in Key West from the waterside and enjoying the view of Atlantic further out.

We passed close to a cruise ship in port at Key West for the day and were reminded how impossibly large these vessels really are. This is the Celebrity Apex, which is over 1,000 feet long and 128 feet wide.

Out toward the reef, the waters shone hues of blue and teal, clear enough to see the changing topography along the ocean floor.

The snorkeling was breathtaking, although no photos because we didn’t’ bring a waterproof camera. We’ve been snorkeling before, but we enjoyed this location more than the others. The reef itself is protected, so fishing is prohibited and the tourist snorkelers are admonished against touching. Thus, the fish are quite comfortable swimming around the gawking humans. Despite being six miles out, the water remained shallow enough to take in everything, including the sea floor itself. We saw thousands of fish, coral, plant life, and even a 5-foot shark, who quickly swam away from the annoying snorkelers.

Back on land, we visited the Truman Little White House, where the sign said photography was forbidden but our tour guide told us he could exercise his discretion and encouraged us to take a few snapshots. It was very interesting, especially for those who might be into stories from presidential history.

We ended the day at Alfonso’s Oyster Bar, which was again on the wharf near where we saw the White Tarpon yesterday. I believe all Key West restaurants feature creative tropical beverages, and who are we to decline?

After two fun-filled weekend days in Key West, we headed back to the Airstream Sunday evening to our very excited puppies. We took them for several decent walks despite being tired ourselves, then turned in.

The Monday morning sunrise heralded a return to our weekday routine of work and chores, but we smile for the opportunity to “endure” that routine while in the Florida Keys.