Heading Home

On Tuesday morning, we left the Keys and headed north.  We drove about 450 miles and ended up at Alachua, FL, just north of Gainesville.  Very nice park, cable and fast, free WI-FI.  They also had quite the collection of animals.  They had 4 or 5 cows, at least a dozen goats and probably close to 50 African Parrots.  Here are a couple of the parrots.

I don't know if they did bird rescues, or bred them or just liked to have a lot of them, but they sure did have plenty of them.  The dogs were very interested in the parrots.  I took them for a walk over to these cages just as someone was starting to feed them.  The parrots were quite noisy and stayed that way until dark when you didn't hear them at all.

We left Alachua this morning and continued north to Calhoun, GA driving about 385 miles. We are staying at a very nice KOA.  Here's our site.

This KOA has it all.  Pool, cable TV, free WI-FI, nice patio sites (like ours), bicycle rentals, firewood and on and on.  They gave us some doggie treats when we checked in, guided us to our site and then came back about 20 minutes later to check to be sure everything was okay and brought us some WARM chocolate chip cookies!

We also ordered a pizza and chicken wings from the store here.  Delivery to your site!  It was nice not to cook tonight.

This place also is a bit of an animal menagerie.  They have a bunch of very small goats up front, lots of bunnies running around and they also have five peacocks that roam the property.  This white one just walked right up to our site and hung out for awhile.

I was sitting outside with the dogs when it came up and I had to take them back in.  The bird didn't seem to mind, but the dogs were driving me nuts barking at it and I wanted to enjoy watching it.  About 45 minutes later it came back with two other peacocks.

He soon began the "fan dance".

I didn't realize this until I looked it up, but males are peacocks and females are peahens.  It's the males that have this long, beautiful train and it's a mating ritual when they show it.

If you listen carefully in this video, you can hear the sound his train makes as he rustles it.  (Of course, you can also hear Jackie whining towards the end of the video, too.  She wanted to come outside and see it so bad.)

Youtube video of White Peacock

Sort of a weird coincidence that two nights in a row, we get to see some exotic birds, but I loved it.  Who knows what we might see tomorrow!

In the morning, we will head north to Walton, KY.  That will be about 370 miles, leaving us about 260 miles on Friday.  I really have enjoyed taking a bit longer to get home.  It's nice to get off the road around 4:00, relax a bit, sit outside and then have dinner.  Even though we gave up a day in the Keys to do it this way, it is definitely better.  We're not as burned out at the end of the day.

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Last Day in the Keys

I've got the "last night blues" so this post will be short and sweet.

Went to the beach at Curry Hammock State Park again today.  Beautiful, quiet, peaceful.

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As usual, the most beautiful sunset.

And something I've been meaning to post ever since we got here.  There are many folks who have decorated the trees with lights. It's so pretty to walk around here after dark.

My hips, knees and legs hurt.  Probably from sleeping on a different bed the last 27 nights, the fishing we did (trying to keep my sea legs under me), all the walks with the dogs, sitting in a beach chair every day and laying on my stomach on the beach (I did occasionally try to tan my back side).

Tomorrow we start our trip back home.  I got the blues.

"Don't waste your time away thinkin' 'bout yesterday's blues."

Jon Bon Jovi

Okay, Jon, I won't.  I'll just take a couple of Advil PM's and hit the sack early.  No coffee tonight.

Bahia Honda State Park

On Saturday, we headed south for the beach at Bahia Honda State Park.  We sat in two different places.  The first one is at the southern end of the park.  This stretch of beach is left natural and there were many shore birds.

Next, we moved to Sandspur Beach.  The sand is sugary and the water is crystal clear.

Last night, we had a beautiful sunset.

After it got dark, I took the dogs for a walk.  As we were headed back to the MH, I notice something lit up in the sky.  As I approached the docks, I saw a group of people gathered and they were launching Chinese Lanterns.

Lighting the lantern

Waiting for it to fill with hot air

Away she goes

High in the night sky

I was amazed at how long you could see them as they floated away.  I've never seen these before and they were beautiful to watch.   It was a perfect ending to a perfect day!

"I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee."  ~ Carly Simon

The Florida Keys

We left Delray Beach on Wednesday morning to head south to the Keys.  We've previously stayed in the southern part of the Keys at Key West and at Sugarloaf Key.  This time we decided on Marathon which is pretty much the middle of the Keys.

We are staying at the Jolly Roger Travel Park which is on Grassy Key, just north of Marathon.  The park is on the Gulf of Mexico, has free cable and free WI-FI.  They have a roped off swimming area and are in the process of putting in a pool.

We were just set up when the neighbors to the back us and the neighbors to the side of us introduced themselves.  Very nice park and lots of friendly folks.

Just a few steps from our RV site.

Great Blue Heron who greeted me on Wednesday.

On Thursday, we headed to the Curry Hammock State Park for some beach time.  It was very windy that day and there were many kite boarders out.

This has only been a state park since 1991 when a school teacher from Miami donated 1,000 acres of land that she had inherited from her father.  Rockland Hammocks are closed canopy forests dominated by tropical evergreens and shrubs.  They are critical habitats for plants and wildlife.  This park is the largest uninhabited parcel of land between Key Largo and Big Pine Key.  Not much of it is accessible by car, but there are lots of trails, kayak rentals, a small campground and a nice stretch of shallow beach.

Doug walked part of the beach and brought back a small crab.

On Thursday night, we sat to watch the sun go down.  I had on Doug's Michigan sweatshirt (not because I was cold, but it had pockets in which to put my camera and other stuff).  Another couple who was sitting there said "Hey, what part of Michigan are you from?"  We meet alot of folks who ask us that.  Because Saline is a sort of a small town, we usually respond with "near Ann Arbor" and that it is what we said this time.  They said "Hey, we're from Manchester" so of course we said "Hey, we're nearly neighbors.  We're from Saline".

We started chatting about who's retired (they are and Doug is) and who is not (I'm still working), where we all used to work, how long we've all been on the road, where we've all been, etc.  When Doug told them he was a retired electrician from IBEW Local 252, Louie asks his wife, Robin, "I wonder if he knows Claude?"  I said "Claude Crumb?" and Robin says "That's my son!"  Talk about a small world!  We meet lots of people on the road from Michigan, but we've never met anyone who lives as close to us as Manchester let alone someone who is related to someone we know well.

Robin and Louie

They are great people and we're so glad we met them.

Doug and I have always been big fans of sunrise, but it was a beautiful sunset.

Thursday was also Jackie's 4th birthday, so we celebrated with some ice cream and Mango Key Lime Pie.  I can't believe that she's four already.  Jesse will be five this May.  This is Doug's plate, but Jackie did get a bite of ice cream!

On Friday, we went back to Curry Hammock State Park for a few hours.  There were lots of  shore birds and I think this may be a Green Heron.  My sisters, Karen and Gloria, are the real birders, so I will leave positive identification to them.

We then took a drive south over the Seven Mile Bridge.  At the southern end, we found Veteran's Memorial Park with a view of the bridge.

We were also able to walk out into the water about 100 yards and the water never got deeper than just below my knees.

It was a great day and I watched the sunset again.  

"Coffee smells like freshly ground heaven."  ~ Jessi Lane Adams

And with that said, I think I'll have another cup!

Fishing at Jupiter

Okay, so I know that today is Thursday and I'm still playing catch up on the blog.  Man, alot of stuff happens in Florida!  On Tuesday morning, we met up with Erol at his shop at 6:30 am and then headed to Jupiter to fish on the Country Club Fishing Charters boat for a 7:00 am departure.  This is the 3rd or 4th time (not sure...bad case of CRS) we have fished on that boat and once again, they did us right.

Sunrise at Jupiter Inlet

Erol, Doug, Idy and Kimmel

First Mate, Nicole, unhooks Doug's fish.

Nicole, Erol, Idy and Kimmel on our way back in.

Kimmel, Erol and Doug with some of the day's catch.

Doug with the 48" Cobia.  Biggest catch of the day!

The day's catch.

First Mate, Nicole, cleaning the fish for us.

Mary Ann and Doug

We caught 17 fish total.  Quite a few fish were on someone's line and then a shark would take the fish.  It was amazing to watch the pole bend farther and then hear the drag pull the line out.  The seas were a tad rough part of the day.  They were only 2'-4' when we started out, but once we got in the gulfstream, they were 4'-6'.  We even had a rogue wave hit us and it may have been an 8 footer.  A hearty thank you to Captain Jimmy and First Mate Nicole for a great day of fishing.

We got back to the dock at 4:00, had the fished cleaned and headed back to Susan and Erol's.  Susan made a great spaghetti dinner and her mom, Jonne, joined us.  It was a great last night at Delray.  We can't thank Erol and Susan enough for their friendship and hospitality.  We love you guys!  As usual, it was a wonderful visit.

Is there life before coffee? There is NO life before coffee. There is life AFTER coffee!!

Where Do I Start?

Okay, it's been a very eventful last few days and it's way past time to catch up on the blog.  On Sunday, Erol, Doug and I headed to the R&M Antique Car Auction in Ft. Lauderdale.  Scared me because I thought my partner in crime was really, truly going to buy a car.  If he had bought one, this one would have been it:

It was a sweet GTO, but in the end, cooler heads prevailed and he decided to take a bit more time before deciding on a car.  He's had a new Camaro in mind, but time will tell.

We saw lots of great cars.

After the car auction, we went to lunch at Lester's, a very cool diner famous for its 14 oz cup of coffee.  Just my kind of place!

Erol was so kind to buy me a cup just like this one.  I will always remember this place.

After lunch, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe Casino at Hollywood.  Doug and Erol made a small donation but I left with some of their money after I hit a jackpot on a 50 cent machine.

On Monday, Doug and I had planned to go to the beach.  As many times as we have visited Susan and Erol in Delray Beach, we had never actually been to the beach.  Doug was sleeping in so I decided to find a coin laundry to get all of the wash caught up at once and then we would go to the beach in the afternoon.

I looked up two laundries (thank goodness I looked up two of them as you soon shall see).  I finally got to coin-op laundry number 1 after having driven by it several times, turning around, driving by it again, etc.  I put in 4 loads and added the liquid soap when the apparent owner walked up and said "that one is out of order".  I then noticed he did have tape over the coin insert but on the other machines that were out of order (and there were quite a few of them), he had written on the tape "out of order".  No idea why he didn't write on the tape on the one I was using.  "Okay, no problem",  I told him and proceeded to pull the items out of that machine.  He stood there and watched me and then said "Hey, you cannot wash rugs in these machines.  See the sign?"  He then pointed to a sign above the washer that in fact said "No rug washing".  I told him, "Hey, it's a practically brand new small rug and no rubber missing on the back."  He says "No, no, no.  No rugs.  It ruins the machines."  I say "Hey, it's already got detergent on it."  He says again "no rugs" so I said "Okay, I'll take the rug out".

I thought, now what the heck will I do with this rug with detergent all over it, but decide that I can deal with that later, let's just get the rest of the stuff washed.  He still hangs over my shoulder and sees me pull out a pair of jeans and says "No, no, no.  No jeans.  Jeans will ruin washer just like rugs".  I stood there speechless for a minute and then said "Okay, I tell you what.  I will just leave".  He says "No, no, no, just can't wash rugs and jeans."  I say "No way, I 'm just taking my laundry and leaving."  And that is exactly what I did.  Pulled it out of all the washers, covered with liquid detergent, put it all back in the laundry bag (of course getting liquid soap all over the bag AND all over my white t-shirt) and off I went.

I headed to coin-op laundry number 2.  After finding a parking space and lugging everything inside, I realize that Monday must be laundry day at this end of town because the place is packed with people and nearly every machine is taken.  The owner of coin op laundry number 2 comes up and asks how many machines do I need when I realize they are the big ones, tell him I could use 3 (I can double up on one load) and he shows me to 3 machines.  Rugs...no problem...jeans....no problem.  This is my kind of place!

I get the laundry done, head back to the MH where to my pleasant surprise, the husband is not only up and out of bed, but has cleaned the inside of the MH and started clean up the exterior.  I make a couple of sandwiches, we load the chairs, the towels, the books, the sunscreen, etc, etc and we head off to the beach.

By now it's nearly 1:00 and THERE'S NO PLACE TO PARK!  I mean, we drive up and down A1-A and there's not an empty parking spot anywhere.  Turns out it's now Spring Break in this county and the beach is hopping.  Okay, no problem we will just keep driving south to the next town, to the next beach.  We get all the way to Boca Raton, pull into the public beach parking area and IT'S A ONE HOUR MAXIMUM!  Now seriously, who goes to the beach for one hour?

Considering the morning I have just had with coin-op laundry number 1, I am not in the mood for this, so off we go.  I tell the husband "Just find a park and we'll eat lunch and then head back to the MH."  Can't find any parks so we end up at Coconut Creek at the Seminole casino, play for a bit and eat our lunch in the parking lot.  We did have a nice afternoon but still haven't been to the beach in Delray.  Maybe next time.

Monday night, Susan, Erol, Doug and I went to a restaurant on the water in Boynton Beach called "The Two Georges".  We had been there last year with them and really liked it.  We liked it as much this time.

This time, we noticed that there must be lots of folks from Michigan who frequent this place.  Both Big 10 Teams are represented.

While we were waiting for our food, look who pulled in the marina area.

We ended up seeing this boat again the next day at the Jupiter Inlet.  It was a great ending to a day that didn't start out so great.

Well, that's it for today.  Tomorrow I will catch up with our day of fishing at Jupiter.  Now if you'll excuse me a minute, I'm going to have a cup of coffee.