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..................................

Big Bingo Winners!!! and Keeping Entertained

 This weeks highlight was the ladies winning big at bingo!!! The Coast Guard Chiefs Mess hosts Tuesday night bingo, so Sheryl and a couple of her friends decided to go. We husbands went also, but held down the bar while the girls played. The girls all shared cards and agreed to share any winnings, the final game came and wouldn't you know Sheryl's friend won the big jackpot. The jackpot was shared and a couple of happy campers walked away with big smiles.

 We got lucky one day and we awoke to no breeze at all, bad for dry camping, good for kayaking out on the open water. The water was like glass and made for a great morning paddle.

 Key West hosted their yearly Key West Arts and Crafts Fair, I took the bike downtown just to check it out. Turned out to be your standard craft show, nothing exciting.

 After checking out the craft show, I tooled around town for a bit and ran into a fellow RVer from the base,ending up at Willy T's on Duval St, listing to some great music.

 And then Winter hit, the cold front blew through bringing rain and arctic temps in the 70's. We toughed it out for the day and lived to tell about it!!!

 One of the friends we made here is a chain saw carver from Washington State. The other day he was talked into giving a demonstration of his skills. He is quite the talented guy and caved a couple of bears out of a piece of driftwood and a 4x4.

 The proud PaPa and his creation.

 Sheryl decided she needed her teeth cleaned, so we found a dentist here in Key West. Just had to post a shot of their office as it is so Key West.

Yesterday the wind died down abit, so out came the kayaks again. This time we headed over to the Mangrove tunnels by the Key West airport. It been since last year the I kayaked through them and they are still just as amazing to do. The tunnels are a 1/4 to 1/2 mile long and in many places only an arms width across but no wider than you see in the pictures, and only a couple of feet deep. One tunnel takes you out to a large salt flat area by the airport where you can explore for as long as you want. Another tunnel takes you back out to the canal and back to the put in. It was a fun few hours and we had a great time.
That's another week or so in the bag, staying busy and just enjoying life. The weeks ahead are filled with things to do here in the park, so we'll be picking and choosing our poison. So until next time........................................

The Key West Life

 Well, the new year has been cruising right along. We have been enjoying our waterfront view and just soaking it all in. One thing we have noticed this year as apposed to the last two years we were here, is we are taking life at a much slower pace. Seems as if last year we went to every event offered both on and off base and seemed to stay quite busy. Now that doesn't mean we didn't have a great time or that we haven't been enjoying ourselves this year, we have, just taking it easy. I guess you can say we've set our clocks on island time.

 Our friend Mike and Judy came in from Maine just after the first of the year and a couple of weeks after settling in, they hosted a roasted turkey dinner with all the fixings. The food was great and so was the company!!!

 One thing we were finally able to do, was get the Kayak out, it's been alittle to windy lately, but it has tapered off some now and makes for an enjoyable paddle. We decided to take Scrappey with us and wondered if he still liked going out. Well, he answered that question for us when we put the kayak at the waters edge and he immediately went over and jumped in it. We put his little puppy life vest on him and off we went.

 With Key West being a small island, we found we can leave my bike at a take out point and drive the kayak to where we want to put in. At the end if the trip it's just a short ride back on the bike to the Jeep, so basiclly a self shuttling service, this sure makes it handy. We also decided to give Scrappey a new adventure, he has not been on a bike since he was a wee little puppy, and didn't know if he would still be ok with it. Well, to say the least, he was more than ok, he loved it!!! so now he get to go on bike rides with us too.

 While yours truly and Scrappey were gone to get the Jeep, Sheryl took full advantage of the cushy blow up kayak and settled in for a little down time.

 Well, once again it was time to give up our primo waterfront spot in full hook ups and head back over to dry camp for what will be our long stint, probably 30 days. As luck would have it, once again we scored a fantastic spot right on the water again, we must be living right!!!

 With the water being just steps away, whats better than sitting with your feet in the clear gulf waters in the shade of a palm tree. We can get used to this island life pretty quick!!!

 A few days ago, we headed out for a day trip up the Keys. First stop was the No Name Pub on No Name Key, a fun place with good food and a great atmosphere.

 After a yummy lunch, we spent some time at Bahia Honda State Park. The bridge behind us is the original Rail Road bridge. When vehicle transportation became more popular and people wanted to drive more, they decided, instead of building another bridge, they would build a road on top of the rail Road bridge, thus killing to birds with one stone. Apparently it worked pretty well until a new bridge was needed and the rail road quit running. We enjoyed the park for a while then headed back home.

 Next on the agenda is the Sigsbee Flotilla, at least that's what we call it. When the wind cooperates we all get our floaties out and tie off to an anchor (concrete block) so we don't float away and just enjoy the day and each others company.

 Last night the base hosted a Luau, it's usually held during the Summer, but this year it was moved to now. Of course our gang got together and enjoyed the show.

 It was quite a nice event and lots of people showed up, hard to believe it's usually held in the summer when no one is here. Maybe they'll see the error of their ways and host it in the winter again next year.

 Of course whats a Luau without Hula Dancers. There were also fire dancers, but the pictures didn't turn out.

Sheryl and I having a good time at the Luau.

As you can tell, we have been enjoying ourselves, just at a slower pace, which suits us just fine. Hard to believe it's mid January, we have to pinch ourselves sometimes.

Oh, there is big news for us. We've decided to give Work Camping a try this year. We put in several applications at several federal parks, but haven't heard back from them. Sheryl then found a private campground who were looking for work campers and we got the job!!!. 12 hours a week in exchange for a full hook up site. The campground is located just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the North Carolina side. It looks like a great location and the owners seem really friendly. We report in Mid July and work till mid Oct, how great is that!!! We are so looking forward to it.

Ok, that's it for now, been on the computer long enough, island time is calling.....lol

Happy New Year!!!

 Happy New Year one and all!!! Ok a few days late, but you get the point.....:) I'm sure you all have been waiting with baited breath to see what we've been up to these last couple weeks.......well, I hate to disappoint, but not a whole lot, just day to day life. Now that's not to say we haven't done anything as you will see.....................

 We've done a little bit of this...................

 And a little bit more of that................

There has been a little bit of visiting going on also with friends new and old.

 New Years Eve brought a new experience to me (Sheryl was the smart one and stayed home) I decided to brave Duval St in downtown Key West. Needless to say it was crazy busy and jam packed with people, so many in fact, I had to leave at 11:30, just couldn't take it any more....lol. Good thing as it would have been a nightmare getting out of there after midnight.

 A bit of good luck came our way again. We moved on over to full hookup for our two week stint and scored a waterfront site again!!! and not just any waterfront site, probably the nicest one in the park......we must be living right!

To end the week, I took a last minute drive up to Bahia Honda State Park to hopefully shoot the sunset. Well Mother Nature actually cooperated and gave me a nice one to capture.

That's been our last couple of weeks, I know, I know we shouldn't be going so hard and wearing ourselves out like that, but hey, that's just life here in the Florida Keys........lol

Mery Christmas from Key West

As you can probably tell by the title, we decided at the last minute to go ahead and stay in Key West for the season. Even with all the issues, it's still Key West and the weather and people we are meeting are great!!! We have been spending more time hanging out with friends here in the park this year, than running all over town trying to see and do everything. We did go downtown once for a Holiday Concert/Street Party at the historic Customs House, it was a good time and met up with and made some new friends from the RV Park there also. Today we are off for Christmas Dinner here at the park with friends new and old, so I must be going.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone and we'll see you next year!!!

Key West

 After spending Thanksgiving with our daughter and family in Atlanta we made it into Key West a few days later. We did however make one profitable stop along the way, a Casino along the Tamiami Trail in south Florida. The Casino allows over night RV parking in their back parking lot, so we took advantage of that before starting the several hour journey to Key West. We found out, by becoming Players Club Member, you were given 30.00 free play, so 60.00 between the two of us. Sheryl played for a while and we eventually cashed out 60.00 to the good....Woo Hoo!!! Of course we gave some back to the casino for dinner, so overall not a bad stop over. The next morning we awoke and made the leisurely drive through the keys.

 Upon arriving we went through all the standard check in procedures and were taken to our dry camp spot where we spent 6 days. Similar to last year at this time, and enjoyed our first Key West sunset.

 After our 6 days in dry camp we lucked out and scored a pretty nice spot in full hook ups for our 2 week stay there, The weather here has been hit and miss, windy, rainy and cool for a few days and then sunny and warm and back again. No complaints here though, considering the weather in the rest of the country.

 One of the events we missed last year was the Key West Lighted Bike Parade, so this year we made it a point to join in. The parade is for charity and the entry fee is an unwrapped toy. After decorating my bike, I turned in a nice soccer ball and got all registered for the ride, There turned out to be several hundred folks participating which made for a great ride around town.

 Once downtown, you had the choice of riding back to the starting pint or stopping off at the street party put on by the ride organizers, we chose the later of course! The band was great, playing some good down home blues, we had a great time!!!

 The next event we tried was Bochi Ball. Basically you roll a small ball down the court and then roll larger ones trying to get closest to the small one. Fun game with some fun folks, again a new experience for us.

The base is having its monthly Yard and Crafts sale this weekend. I spent the day getting out some of my photos and framing them up. Last year I offered them as prints only, so this year I though framing them would be a nice touch, we'll see how it goes.

That's been about it down here these last couple of weeks, just enjoying the warmer weather and day to day life. We were really looking forward to being here this year, however once we got here after a few days things just seemed to familiar, I guess spending so long here last year, we're just not feeling it this year. So, after talking about it, we decided to leave Key West early and head up into an area of Central Florida we both haven't been to before. Besides being here for so long last year, there were other factors which helped drive our decision to leave early, so without a long drawn out complaint session, we'll just say the bad things about the park haven't changed and along with a few more things that are just making it worst. Drop us an email if you'd like any details,

Well, that's it for now, we are looking forward to heading out and exploring a new part of Florida and we'll see you back here next time. So until then.................................