New Photography Website!!!

We left the central Florida area about 10 days ago and are now in the Florida Panhandle, Holt to be precise. We'll be here for an undetermined length of time, as our daughter may be having a medical procedure. Should it be needed, we'll be here to help out for a bit. We've been quite busy visiting and getting settled into our spot here at the RV Park (more on the park later). I've also been neglecting the blog and facebook page lately, but not without good reason. You see, I started a new Photography Web Site, a place to showcase my best photos and make them available for sale. The building of the website and deciding which of the 1000s of photos to host there has kept me a bit busy. The development of the website comes from our last couple of winters spent in Key West, how that you ask??? Well, the RV Park there at the Navy base sponsors a yard/craft sale each month during the winter months, which for the last couple of years, I have participated in selling my photos. Now of course it's much more than that. The compliments I received from so many people on my photography was priceless to me. You see, when folks shop or window shop at craft shows, they don't have to say anything to the artist, they can just look and move on, but when they take the time to stop, admire and talk to you about you art, that says volumes to me. The ultimate compliment however, is when someone exchanges their hard earned money for one of my photos and over the last two seasons I sold several photos to a variety of customers, and that gave me the confidence needed to offer my art to others beyond craft sales. Now, I may not sell much via the website, but I'm enjoying the new venture. So, with all that being said, feel free to stop by the site, you may find something just right for that blank space on your wall. The site will be constantly updated and is organized by regions and state. There is also a facebook page where you can find news and updates to the site as well as "Behind the Shot" stories of how that particular photo came about and what it took to capture it.

Here are the links, thank you for the read and I hope to see you over at the links below.

Silver Eagle Photography

Silver Eagle Photography on facebook

Leaving Key West

 Wow, has it been a busy 10 days or so since we left Key West!!! After Sheryl got the all clear from her new doctor, we headed north towards the mainland. Our first order of business was to see our newest grand daughter in Miami. However, a campsite at Markham Park would not be available for a couple days. We could have stayed in Key West for those couple days, but decided to spend them at Everglades National Park and the Long Pine Campground.

 Our couple of days there were spent exploring the northern end of the park (we took in the southern end last year). One of the more interesting areas we found was the Nike Army Missile site. This was one of many missile sites constructed during the Cuban Missile Crisis to guard against Russian air attacks. This was a cool piece of history to see and really brings home just how close to war we were at the time.

 After those couple days, we finally made it into Miami and our new little grand daughter!!! She's such a cutie. Of course we also got to spend time and catch up with mom, dad and our other little ones.

 It was great getting to see everyone again and spend time visiting. Funny how you can not see a family member for a year or so and then when you do, it's like it was yesterday.

 After our visit with the kids, it was time to strike out on our adventure again, next stop Big Cypress National Preserve and the Midway Campground. Here we stayed three nights giving us time to see the area a bit.

 Unlike Everglades National Park, where the wildlife seems to be concentrated in a couple of areas for visitor connivance, in Big Cypress you have to go out and find it. One of ways is to drive the 24 mile loop road which takes you deep into the preserve. All along the road there are culverts to allow the water to flow freely from north to south. It is along this road you seem to find the most wildlife, as they like the pools created by the culverts, so a stop every 1/4 mile or so will net you some pretty great views.
 

 Another, item on my bucket list was to try and capture some of those epic everglades landscape shots. However, Mother Nature had other plans and blessed us with no clouds and beautiful weather our whole stay (no clouds equal no dramatic sky's) I believe I came away with a few though.
 

 Once our time was up there, we continued our trek northward. This time to a county park north west of Ocala FL. Hart Springs Park is one of many natural springs which feed the Suwannee River in this very rural part of the state and not well visited, just our type of place.
 

 Besides doing a whole lot of relaxing, we also got out for some fun and another check off the ole bucket list.

 Putting in at Manatee Springs State Park, we were able to kayak along the spring run and out into the Suwannee river for a while. It's amazing how much wildlife and be seen in this part of Florida.

 Found this little guy and some of his friends sunning themselves.

 Sheryl also found a little friend, right after this shot, he turned and went right in front of the kayak and then submerged just a couple of feet away from Sheryl. Needless to say, she was quite nervous about the whole thing......lol

The crystal clear water from the springs made for a nice return to the launching point.

That's been our last 10 days or so in a nutshell. I wanted to get this out before we leave here in the morning. Next stop, the Florida Panhandle to visit one of our daughter there................so, until next time........................

It's Always Something

The other day I needed to relevel the motorhome, turn on the jacks, pushed the button and..........nothing?, nada?, zip?, zilch?.......what the heck, they were just working!!! Ok, do alittle trouble shooting, reread the manual, try a couple more things.....Same result.....darn. Decided this was above my pay grade/skill level and called in the big guns. Mobile RV guy came to the rescue, had it figured out and fixed within 30 minutes. Turned out to be a bad relay. We also have been dealing with a slow air leak in the suspension, so I had him look at that also. Once again, found and fixed in no time. Got to love folks that actually know what their doing. We'll, a mere 280.00 later we are all set. I was actually pretty happy with the cost, as it could have been much worst.
So, we are all set to leave Key West on Friday. We're headed for Everglades NP for a couple days and then into Miami to visit our newest grand daughter, so looking forward to meeting the new member of our growing family.
That's it for now, we'll  see you again back here before long.

Counting Down to Take Off

 What do you do after the Party Overload blog post, relax on a giant floatie in the Gulf of course. As you could imagine, relaxing kinda goes out the window as more and more people show up along with a gallon or so of Rum Punch...............you can see where this is going......lol. And yes, after 4 hours of floating I had to pour Sheryl into bed as she had just alittle to much fun........and rum......lol.

 The next event at the Sunset Lounge, was a performance by the Classic Rock Band Haywire. This is the second time this year they played here on base and put on another great show. Interesting 'Factoid" the lead singer Paul, appeared on the Millennials Vs Gen X season of Survivor. Another great evening of entertainment with friends.

I received a pretty nice compliment the other day. I posted one of my photos on the Sigsbee Facebook page of a Sunset Kayak trip the base had sponsored. The lady in charge of the base Information, Tickets and Tours office contacted me wanting to buy the photo for display in their office. I stopped by today to see where she hung it and low and behold it is displayed on the wall right as you enter the building, how cool is that!!!.
Even though it may not seem like it, the partying has slowed down a bit due to all the people leaving as the season comes to an end. We have actually been relaxing but staying busy with day to day life. Speaking of day to day life, all of Sheryl's tests came back on a positive note with just a couple of alterations to her meds. So she has been given the all clear to head out, our first stop will be Miami to visit our newest Grand Daughter.
Ok, that's it for now, looks like we'll be headed out around April 2nd, so stay tuned for more.

Party Overload!!!

 Wow, what a crazy and busy couple of weeks. This is the time of the year when alot of people begin leaving Key West and start heading home. This includes many of our friends, and well of course you can't send your friends off with out a party or two. It began with an official Campground sponsored rolling party known as the Sigsbee Shuffle (people host a gathering at their RV and then you shuffle on to the next host, usually 3-5)

 Of course, it's not all crazy parties (ok, well maybe) but we do find time to relax (and recover). What better way to spend time working on your chosen craft than at the water edge. Sheryl and MeChelle working on their crochet.


 Next our good friends Bob and MeChelle were getting ready to head up the road, so a send off was in order. A nice dinner on the patio with our closest friends.

 Sheryl made an "Up The Road" cake for them and few adult beverages to help you not count (or care) about the calories.

 Then as the evening went on, more and more folks showed up to wish them safe travels. A really good turn out and a fun evening.

 We also found time to hit up the monthly Artisan Market, lots of vendors with some really nice stuff. We were able to fight off temptation and not buy anything.

 The final large party of the last couple weeks, was actually a newly devised holiday here at the Sigsbee Campground. Cinco De Marcho or Sigsbee de Marcho put together by one of the RVers and we came out in droves for the fun. The party started out innocent enough with food.

 lots of socializing.

 Games.

 And then Debbie showed up with her "Palm Tree" glass and became the life of the party. I'll let you decide if it's a "Palm Tree" or..................................lol

 Then the big guns came out and it all went down hill from there!!!

 and then things got a little wild (nothing more than this, thank goodness). It was a great all day gathering and we had so much fun and are already looking forward to next years celebration!!!

Last night we went down for Taco Tusday at one of the local venues and then on to Mallory Square for the Sunset Celebration. We are seeing Steve and Debbie (right) off as they are headed Up The Road tomorrow.
Those were just some of the get togethers not including the ones we didn't get pictures of. Now, in between all the social gatherings, Sheryl was able to get all her cardiac tests done the new doctor had ordered for here. We have an appointment on Friday for the results and her plan of care. There will be a few of weeks of medication changes to make sure all is going well and then it will be our turn to be "Up The Road".
That's all the news that's fit to print and some that may have not been......lol, so until next time........................

Change in Plans and Just Having too Much Fun!!!

First our change in plans. As I have been posting, we were due to leave Key West on March !st and begin our adventure northward. Sheryl has a Local Doctor here (for as much time as we spend here) and he suggested she have a local Cardiologist also (just in case). He put in a referral and an appointment was made just meet him and begin a history (again, just in case). The appointment went well, ok more than well, Sheryl described her history and some of the current and past issues she has been having, including her suggested treatments.  Now we are not saying she was receiving poor care in OKC, but the doctor here was very concerned, that what we were telling him just didn't add up and believed there could be a better course of treatment. He seems to be very, very knowledgeable and made a lot of sense. So long story short, he has ordered several cardiac tests which will take a few weeks to complete and get on a course of treatment. Anyway we will be staying in Key West for a little longer (not like that's a bad thing.....lol) Ok, now on to the fun stuff!!!

 We helped one of our friends celebrate her birthday. starting with a get together at their place for cake and drinks (yes drinks and cake....it is Key West after all), then a night on the town.

 The night on the town started with a Drag Queen Show at the Aqua Lounge on Duval St. (now we can truly say we've experienced Key West.....lol) The show it'self wasn't all that great, but our little group made it a really fun time.

 The arctic February weather here has been brutal....lol, so brutal in fact, we had to break out the floaty's to cool off.

 What better way to end a day of floating in the Gulf, than listening to a little live music out on the lawn at the Sunset Lounge here on base.

 The weekend also brought the monthly base Craft/Yard sale. I, of course offered up several photos of the local area and did pretty good, making 9 sales.

After the Craft sale, we put some of our earning to good use, dinner out with friends at a great little pizza place just off Duval St. The Pizzas and the Calzone we had are cooked in a real wood fired oven and just added that extra dimension of flavor (very good).
So that was this week, here in Key West and as said several more to go. As you can tell we are really enjoying our time here and are looking forward to several more weeks of great weather and fun with friends. See Ya Next time!!!

Food and Fun

 The calm before the storm as they say, or in this case just the calm. Our week started out with this amazingly still calm morning. Great for beauty, bad for dry camp as no breeze makes for a sticky hot sleep, but we're not complaining as this very seldom happens.

 A couple days later, the campground hosted a International Food Pot Luck. Spaghetti and ham was provided and everyone was asked to bring a side dish. Wow, I don't think we've seen so much food in a very long time. It also looked like half the park came out.

 We claimed a table along with several of our friends and let the feasting begin!!! It was a great time and some really great food.

 Last night, the Sunset lounge here on base hosted a couple of talented RV'ers. The sang some really good classic rock tunes and turned out to be pretty darn good!!!

 Of course a selfie for the occasion was in order.

Even the bad weather here in the keys can be beautiful. I went out to shoot the sunset as this rain storm blew by just east of us. Not much in the way of clouds in the west for the sunset so the thunderheads picked up all that great light.
We got our notice to move to full hook ups tomorrow, 3 days early, that's not to bad and alas, the spell was broken, no water front site this time, however the next best thing, but more on that later. We will also be working on our last 2 weeks here in paradise, we are heading up the road (as they say) on the March 1st. Going to Miami to visit our son for a few days and to see our newest grand daughter, so looking forward to that!
So that's all the news from here in the keys and we'll see you next time.

Busy Weekend

 Quite the busy weekend we had. That's one thing we can say, there always seems to be something going on here at the base or in town to keep you entertained during these frigid winter months here in Key West. Friday night started out with a little star gazing. A couple here in the park are really into astronomy, so they broke out their telescopes and invited everyone to stop by and view the night sky. It was a pretty cool experience, with the best view being of the moon. You can always see the numerous craters, but this time you could actually see the mountain ranges.

 The Sunset Lounge here on base (right on the water) is under new management, and with that, much improved entertainment. This weekend they brought in a really good local classic rock band. They played for 4 hours and we all had a great time.

 Sunday of course brought Super Bowl Sunday and what kind of super bowl would it be with out a party, so of course one was in order. One of our friends in full hookups hosted this years extravaganza! The food was great and the adult beverages were flowing. Oh and the wasn't bad either....lol Thanks Steve and Deb.

 This weekend was also the Ft Zachery Taylor State Parks Civil War Days. A civil war camp was set up inside the fort with period actors, displays, canon battles, etc.

 The camp was very realistic.

 We seemed to get our times mixed up as we though we would get to see the ship to shore naval battle, alas, we were to late. However we did get to see the can cannon battery fire on the Disney Cruise ship as she sailed by, that'll teach the ole mouse to invade Key West!!!

A couple of photos I processed to give that period look.

Thank goodness it's Monday so we can relax......whew!!! Now to see what next week brings, so until then..................................