OK so I'm getting carried away with the posts. The bus is now on “the stretch”, which is the part of US1 between Homestead and Key Largo. Not long ago there were fires raging on both sides of the road. This is the original path of Henry Flagler's FEC railroad. The sidings of a railroad line are areas where cars could be stored to allow trains to pass on the main tracks. These wider area are now used as 2 lane passing areas – the travel lanes are single lane for the 20 mile stretch.