Lovin-Our-Life Adventures
Travel, Exploration, Photography
Saturday, April 22, 2017
New Photography Website!!!
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
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Leaving Key West
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........................
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
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.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Counting Down to Take Off
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.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Party Overload!!!
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
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........................
Monday, February 20, 2017
Change in Plans and Just Having too Much Fun!!!
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!!!
Monday, February 13, 2017
Food and Fun
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.