Final Day in Key West

 Well, the day has finally come and we must leave this little bit of paradise. We have been here longer (by choice) then anywhere else in our 7 years of fulltiming, and it's been great. Of course what made it so great were the people we met and became friends with, ok well the weather helped a little....lol. It seems us and one other couple are the lone hold outs from our group of friends, everyone else has headed on up the road and we are not far behind them now.

 We really didn't do a whole lot over the last two weeks, we did however take a glass bottom boat ride out to the reef, 6 miles south of Key West. It is the 3rd largest living reef in the world and we were able to see it right up close as it was just a couple of feet below the glass. We were going to take a snorkel trip out to the reef, but the weather had different ideas, storms blew in and churned the water up for days on end, so a last minute change was in order. We want to give a shout out to Fury Water Adventures, we booked all our trips through them and were very pleased with there service, so look them up for some fun times if you should happen to make it down this way.

 Now when I said the weather turned for the worse, we had a couple of days of really high winds. The Gulf of Mexico forms the shore line of the RV Park here and there are several boats anchored a few hundred yards off shore.  This poor Cabin Cruiser seemed to bare the brunt of it, we woke up to find it beached in the shallows just off the RV Park. As of now it is still there and the owners are trying to figure out how to move it with out doing much more serious damage.

Tomorrow we leave for 6 days at Everglades National Park and then into Ft Lauderdale to visit our son and his family for a few days. Then on to parts unknown, well toward St Augustine FL and Savannah GA. anyway. Looks like there's no cell service or internet access in the Everglades so, we'll leave you with this standard Key West Sunset and we'll see you in a week or so!!!

Key West Garden Club at the West Martello Tower

 While Sheryl and I were out and about one day, we ran across the Key West Garden Club located in the West Martello Tower Civil War Fort. There are three Civil War Forts located on Key West, one is at the State Park, one is now a museum and the this one is ran and maintained by the Garden Club.  As can be imagined, the grounds are full of gardens and beautifully landscaped. There is no entry fee, they just ask for donations, so we put a few bucks in the box and toured the grounds. For once I didn't have my camera, so a return trip was in order, and here are some of the results.

An enjoyable few hours out, hope you enjoyed and we'll see you back here again next time.

Coming Down to the Wire

We are counting down our last two weeks here in Key West. We've had a great time and have been staying busy, however it was time to pick a date and get back on the road, It was decided we would spend our last two weeks in Full Hook ups and be off from there. Speaking of Full Hook ups, we scored a great site, just feet from the water and great views, this will make our last two weeks here much nicer and even harder to leave. One thing we can say is, there is never a lack of activities here to keep you entertained. Since the last entry, we have been doing just that, keeping busy.

 We have also been taking full advantage of our new inflatable kayak, when the wind isn't to high to make paddling unenjoyable. We headed out with a group of friends to paddle along the shoreline here at the park and meeting up with several more folks floating in the Gulf. We ended up having just a big gathering, all while sitting in our kayaks and having a few cold ones.

 A few days later it was off to show our friends Jim and Jackie the Mangrove tunnels just off the base. They had never been through them before. Hard to believe they are right here in the middle of the island, when mainly thinking of Key West as Duval St and party central!

 The tunnels can get pretty narrow in places. Once you enter you have to take your paddles apart, as you can not use a full length one.

Once through the tunnels you emerge onto a large salt flat by the airport, where we found these Horseshoe Crabs just under the water.

After another trip through the tunnels and back out to the canal, we headed for more open water. Spent some time taking in the sights and then headed back towards the house. Another great day of paddling.

  We joined in on another Sigsbee Shuffle, going from Host RV to Host RV sampling their goodies and making new friends. Our friend Judy was a Host during this shuffle, so we started there first.
 

 Sheryl and Mechele enjoying the fun.

Looks like we will be leaving on the 26th and we still have a few more things to do before heading out. We have reservations at the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park for a week and are looking forward to exploring a new area. Well that's it for now, we should have another entry or two before we leave so stay tuned and we'll see you then.........................