Last Day In The Keys

First, to catch up.  Saturday Doug and I went back to Curry Hammock SP.  We love that beach.  It's never really very crowded, it's a natural beach and it's close to the RV Park.

I'm going to miss this beach.

On Sunday, we decided to head to Veterans Park at the south end of Seven Mile Bridge.  Dogs are allowed on the beach there, so we packed a lunch, loaded up the dogs and off we went.  It was a bit busy but the beach area at the very end was open, so we set up there with the dogs for lunch.  Okay, this is perfect, we have our own private spot and the dogs are having a great time.  About 30 minutes later, a group of about 6 people took the picnic table next to us and began setting up.  Boy, they sure seemed to have a lot of food and coolers for only 6 people.  Soon after, another 4 people showed up to join their group and then another 6 or 8.  Pretty soon, we have a full blown Sunday family picnic next to us with kids running around and salsa music.  Dogs got a bit antsy, so it was time to pack up and move on.  I never even took a photo.  Oh well, it's all in the memory bank.

We drove a bit further south to look at the old train bridge from near Bahia Honda SP.  There's a nice area to view the bridge.

Lots of folks pulled out on Sunday and by Monday morning we were rewarded with a slight view of the water.  This was the view from the dining table window.  If you look real hard, you can just see the water.  

Maybe next year we can get one of the premium waterfront sites so we can see the water whenever we want.

Monday we headed to Bahia Honda SP.  It's about 20 miles south of here.  It's supposed to be one of the best beaches in Florida (not sure we would agree with that) and it was voted one of the United States best beaches in 1996.  It is beautiful.  It was windy and by 3:00, the clouds had moved in so we moved out.  But not without taking a couple of photos.

It was a nice afternoon, just not long enough.

Monday night, I headed to sunset even though it was mostly cloudy. I did get a quick peek at the sunset along with the ever present pelicans and conch shell blowers.

At 4:00 a.m. today I was awakened by the sound of rain.  Pretty distinct sound in an RV when rain falls on your roof.  I went outside with my eyes barely focused and pulled the chairs under the awning.  Back to bed I went.  It was still raining when I woke up at 7:00.  Come on, give me a break, it's our last day here.  I want a bump on my tan and want to have lunch at the beach!  Well, we did take a picnic lunch to the beach.  No one else was there because while it had stopped raining, it was definitely cloudy.  The sun did manage to come out around 5:30, so no tan bump.

I hit the water at around 7:00 for sunset.  It was beautiful, but made me a bit melancholy.  Last night in the Keys.  Well, until next year.

If you're ever in this area, we highly recommend this RV Park.  Jolly Roger Travel Park in the fabulous Florida Keys!

In the morning we are headed to Everglades City to meet up with our dear friend Erol and his brother-in-law, Larry, for some fishing!  The vacation continues, but say so long to the Florida Keys.

A cup of coffee and piece of Key Lime Pie awaits me now.

Friday Fish Fry

Around noon on Friday the winds started to die down so we decided to head to the beach.  Not many people there and the sun felt great.  Had sand on my toes and sun on my nose.

Because the winds had died down, the kite surfers weren't there but a lot of folks were kayaking.

I finally got a photo of our site and I'm glad I took it when I did.  This place has nearly filled up again and there are no empty sites on this loop.

We went to the fish fry that they had here last night.  Everyone brings a dish to pass and the fish was caught and cooked by 6 men.  The food was fantastic!

We stayed to watch sunset with Robin and Louie from Manchester, MI.  They're just a short drive from where we live and the parents of a member of Local 252. 

Because the clouds had moved out, we were rewarded with a great sunset.

Robin and I said that we saw the saw the rare "green flash".  It has to do with bent light refraction and a particular atmospheric condition being present.  I wasn't expecting to see it so I didn't get a photo of it, but we swear we saw it.  We did sit a bit to watch for the comet but didn't see it.

We're going to pack a lunch and head to the beach for a few hours today.  Another relaxing day in the Keys.

Deja Brew: The feeling that you've had this coffee before.

~Author Unknown

Windy Days

Yesterday and today the wind just blew and blew and blew.  Today at least, it was out of the north and the MH blocked the wind so we were able to sit outside and catch some rays.

Last night, I did go down to the water for sunset.  So many clouds, but nonetheless, there were at least 25 people there.  Five of them had conchs and blew them at sunset.  I love that sound!  The pelicans were there as usual, too.

The sunset itself, not so great.  Too many clouds.

Tonight was better, but still quite a bit of cloud cover at the horizon.  There were probably 35+ people there and at least a dozen dogs.

Tonight I ran into a friend's parents.  We met them here last year and it's great to see them again!

Low of 60 tonight, 74, sunny and windy tomorrow.  To beach or not to beach...that is the question.  For now, there's a fresh pot of coffee to drink.

“I'd rather take coffee than compliments just now.” 

― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Great Beach Days!

Yesterday and today we went to Curry Hammock State Park for the beach.  Yesterday was sunny, warm and windy.  Because it was windy, the kite surfers were out both days.

It was warmer today than yesterday and the beach was GREAT!

We decided to eat out tonight and headed to the Sunset Grille.  It's at the northern end of Seven Mile Bridge.  Fantastic view.

And a very handsome man was sitting at my table.

They have a swimming pool and corn hole on a beach area!

The food was good and a two man band played.  One on guitar and one on bongos.  They both sang and Doug even heard of bit of the music!

They're calling for a bit of rain overnight and maybe into tomorrow morning, but the afternoon will be 76 degrees and partly sunny.  Love this semi-tropic weather.

I pulled out the Kuerig tonight and have already had a cup of mint chocolate.  I think I'll have one more!

Warm Weather...Finally!

Wednesday's weather in Port Richey was on the cool side, so we had us a laid back, read the book, drink the coffee, take a nap kind of day.  Thursday was not much better so we took the dogs back to the causeway at Fred Howard Park.  The wind was really howling so we didn't stay long.  Finally on Friday, we hit the beach.  It was a high of 65 with 15-20 mph winds straight out of the north, not exactly my idea of beach weather but we grabbed some sun.  As usual, the beach there was very nice.

We left Port Richey on Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. and headed to the Keys.  We pulled into the airport at 1:55 to pick up our car from Enterprise.  They close at 2:00 so we just made it.  8 hours of driving, all done by Doug, and only 2 stops.  One bathroom break and one for fuel.

We are on Grassy Key just north of Marathon at the Jolly Roger Travel Park.  We stayed here last March and loved it.  The park is far more crowded than last year and we didn't get a site with a water view.  In fact, we were sort of shoe horned in a spot with neighbors on both sides who were a bit grumpy.  This morning while walking the dogs, I noticed that some folks were leaving and saw about 8 empty sites.  Early this afternoon before running errands, we headed to the office to see if they could move us.  Sure enough they could and we ended up on nice, wide site in the new area.  We still don't have a water view, but at least we can see the sky and have tons of room.

And the weather!  Now this is more like it.  It was a high of 78 today and only going to be a low of 69 tonight.  Highs in the 70's to low 80's and lows in the 60's at night for the next 5 days.  I'm a happy camper.

I headed to the water tonight to watch sunset.  Lots of water birds are around.

And as usual, it was a spectacular sunset.

I just love this place!

"Coffee, the finest organic suspension ever devised."  ~ Star Trek: Voyager

A Treat For The Dogs

We left Starke on Monday morning and headed to Port Richey.  Because Doug does most of the driving, I told him I would drive this leg.  It was an easy 3 hour drive.  I even drove for about 3 miles on U.S. 19.  If you've ever been in this part of Florida, you understand what a feat that is for me.  3 lanes of  north bound traffic, 3 lanes of south bound traffic, extra left and right turn lanes and tons of traffic.

We are at the Suncoast RV Resort and this is our third time here.  The park is far more crowded than any other time that we've been here.  Nearly every spot is taken.  The first time we were here we had a spot on the first row across from dog walk area and the second time we were on a end of a row.  They were both great spots.  This time we're in the middle of the third row and the site is very narrow.  The people on one side of us are from the Lansing area and have been here since November 1.  Lucky ducks.

On Tuesday, we headed to Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs with the dogs.  You can park on the causeway that goes out to the beach.  We set up, had lunch and took the dogs for lots of walks.  The dogs love it out there.  A nice treat for them!

It's been a bit on the cool side here, not exactly beach weather.  Yesterday I did some laundry, made the famous Tuna Shell Salad and helped Doug wash the MH.  We had paid for a wash at a Blue Beacon Truck Wash in South Carolina on Friday but we were disappointed.  Looks good now that we did it by hand.

It's going to be sunny today with a high of 66 and tomorrow is going to be sunny with a high of 72.  I'm not sure we'll end up at the beach either day, but I'm grateful we're here and not in the northeast where they've gotten hit with another big winter storm.  Even Indy got 4-5 inches of snow from that storm.

Who Turned Off The Heat?

We left home on Thursday morning and had rain or light snow all day.  The roads never got bad and that was a good thing.  We stayed overnight in Wytheville, VA where we had stayed before.  Even though they are open year round, there were only 2 sites occupied other than us.

Friday morning we set out for Sumter, SC to visit our sister-in-law, Amy.   We got there around 4:30, visited for a bit, had a delicious bar-b-que dinner and went to bed early.  On Saturday morning we went to visit Joyce, who is Amy's mom.  87 years young and still full of energy.  Even though her sight is failing her, she teaches piano 5 or 6 days a week.

When we left Joyce's house, we headed back to Amy's to check on the dogs, had a quick lunch at Appleby's and then made our way north to Camden, SC.  There was a battle during the American Revolutionary War that was fought there.  Who knew?  Camden is the oldest inland city and the 4th oldest city in South Carolina.  Lord Charles Cornwallis and 2,500 of his troops marched to Camden and established the main British supply post there for the Southern campaign. The Battle of Camden, the worst American defeat of the Revolution, was fought on August 16, 1780 in Camden.  

There's a 107 acre outdoor museum there with several period buildings and a reconstruction of the military fortifications.  It was very interesting.

We also browsed through some antique stores but none of us bought anything.  Back at Amy's we sat, talked and had some dinner.  It was a great visit, but much too short.

Amy and Doug

We took off this morning and drove to Starke, FL.  It was a nice, easy drive.  Cloudy and cool but no rain.  Which leads me to the title of this blog post.  Who turned off the heat?  We're in Florida and there are hard freeze warnings for tonight.  Low of 31 here.  Where's my mild temperatures?  Where's my sunshine?  Who turned off the heat? Oh, who cares?  Where's my coffee?