Dismal public transportation

There's a whole lot of logistics concerning my trip south early next month. One of the problems is what am I going to do with the car? Leaving it at my stepmom's could be worked out, but my boat is 170 miles away from her place. Florida is big. Like most of the US it doesn't have much of a public transportation system either.

Right now I'll most likely just look for a reasonably secure storage place for my car near where my boat is currently located. (Ft. Myers.)

For a while I thought I'd found a good solution. Why not rent a car, drive it one way, then rent another one when it's time to come back? Weekly rates on cars are pretty reasonable, right? Indeed they are, unless you intend on dropping off a car somewhere else rather than at the place you rented it from. Holy smokes do they charge for that little service! I've purchased second hand cars for less.

Anyone else remember when cheap bus service went to just about any little podunk town in the country? It wasn't the fastest way to travel, but it got you anywhere you wanted to go for a reasonable fee. Now there are many gaps in the system. Many of the places I'd want to travel to or from have no bus service at all.

Trains? I'd love to go on a long train trip someday, but they service fewer places than buses.

I don't fly. It's not that I have anything must against it, except for the silly security theater. Even before 911 I didn't have much patience for the security people. Now it's just best that I avoid flying. Besides, I've too much gear to haul around.

There's not a lot of time to figure out what to do. We are leaving to head south around December 4th. Right now we plan on taking the car and leaving it in storage somewhere in Ft. Myers. We are doing much of this by the seat of our pants. Hopefully, we'll be better organized next year.

-Sixbears