Sunday in the lower Keys

Saddle Bunch Keys, Florida

After a very early morning rain, we awoke to a beautiful day in the Keys.  The southerly breeze keeps the bugs away and it was beautiful all day.  A passing thunderstorm or two interrupted the otherwise peaceful day. 

We stopped yesterday at the local Publix in Marathon to get some fresh Florida fruit.  That was very good with coffee for breakfast under the Tiki Hut overlooking Lower Sugarloaf Sound.

I discovered I had a blown bicycle tire.  The tube and tire need to be replaced.  This is a must as part of our daily routine here includes an evening bike ride over to the next Key and around the neighborhood there.  So, a trip to the Key West K-Mart is in the cards for today.

After seeing thousands of motorcycles headed north this morning, we thought there would be not too many more, but they just kept coming out of Key West headed back home.  We got to the K-Mart and got the tire and were ready to head back to the RV.  Thats when we realized that the road construction project on the main road along the waterfront in Key West caused them to make it one way.

After driving through some of the back streets in Old Town we finally found our way back north.  Its always interesting to see the houses, and characters of  Key West.  Sorry I dont have any pictures, I was too busy trying to navigate through the tiny narrow streets.

Bike tire fixed, dinner eaten, then our ride through the neighborhood watching the sun go down.

And as I mentioned earlier, the cats enjoy the view too!

Welcome to Paradise!

Saddle Bunch Keys, Florida

There is really nothing quite like the Keys!  Particularly when you stay at a waterfront site in Bluewater Key RV Resort. 

We left the Miami/Homestead area at about 10:00 this morning.  However, I am never surprised at what we find on the trip down US-1 to Key West.

Traffic is always bad, particularly on the weekends.  The first part of the route takes you from the end of the Florida's Turnpike down to Key Largo over the new high rise bridge.  The road is still mostly 2 lanes wide with a couple of spots for passing where it widens with an additional passing lane.  It has a concrete barrier wall in the middle.   There is always some fool that thinks that by getting by another car or two and selfishly putting others at jeopardy, he can get there a few seconds quicker.  I just dont understand that mentality at all.

As soon as you cross the bridge over to Largo you begin to see that turquoise aquamarine water color.  You know then you are really in the Keys.

This time the drive wasn't really so bad.  There was a motorcycle rally poker run happening.  There must have been 10,000 motorcycles headed to Key West, the last stop for their run.  But all in all we made pretty good time.


The farther south you go, the slower the pace seems to be, and the more laid back the attitude.  Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes?  Through Islamorada and on to Marathon.  Then you cross the Seven Mile Bridge and you feel like you have arrived.

Seven Mile Bridge southbound.

  There is no place like the Lower Keys.  Bahia Honda, Big Pine, the Torches, Sugarloaf, Cudjoe (home to Fat Albert), and the others, too many to name.

Watching the mile markers count down, mm 24 passes the Sugarloaf KOA, the Sugarloaf Lodge and the interesting Perky Bat Tower, mm 20: Mangrove Mama's Cafe,  and finally mm 15 and Bluewater Key RV Resort.

At Bluewater Key there are waterfront sites, each with their own Tiki Hut and boat dock.  The resort is actually on Lower Sugarloaf Sound on a series of Keys called the Saddle Bunch Keys.  Here is the view right out the front window of our RV.

 

Bluewater Key RV Resort

The weather is supposed to be isolated showers and a thunderstorm or two, but it seems like it rains hard for a few minutes, then the sun is back out.   The cats enjoy the view too!

Redlands Florida

Homestead Florida.

We left the Crystal Lake Campground around 9:30 this morning.  I-95 south again brought us through on and off showers.  Light showers for the most part, then bright sunshine.

Most of you know that I like to stop at Flying J when they are available to gas up.  The Flying J at Fort Pierce is my usual stop before getting on the Florida's Turnpike.  The Ft. Pierce Flying J is not as good as most but it is the last J headed south.  Its problem is that it doesn't have a good RV parking area like most of the others.  These stores have dedicated RV lanes for fuel, a 2 cent per gallon discount for using their loyalty card, and (normally) a parking area for RVs.  We typically fuel up, pull over to the RV area and have lunch or a break.  But this one has no place for RVs to park; and it was very busy.  We had to get our fuel, then go 20 miles south to the next rest area for lunch.   Next time I will stop at the one at St. Augustine instead.

By the way, there is a brand new Flying J in St. George SC on I-95 and it has no RV parking either.  But at least they do direct RVs around to the very large truck parking area.  You do have to share with the commercial truckers, but the parking area is so big that it doesn't seem to be an issue.

By 3:00 PM we were in the Redlands agricultural area just north of Homestead Florida.  We dropped by Miami Everglades RV Resort.  This is the RV park where we spent a couple of weeks last February. Wow, what a difference between then (peak of peak season,) and now (very off season.)  In February this place was packed choc-a-block with all types of RVs and campers.  Now it is almost empty.


This place is in the middle of a huge agricultural area where I think you can find almost any type of plant being grown on very large farms. Flowers, palms, vegetables, fruit;  its all there.  Here is a picture of a large field of ferns in those plastic pots just like you buy them at Walmart or Lowe's.

There is an excellent produce stand that we were looking forward to stopping.  "Robert is Here" is the name of the place but to our disappointment, it was closed September and October. 

We pulled onto our site in the Miami Everglades RV Resort and settled in for the night, feeling like we were parked in the middle of a large farm.  Nice and quiet.  Quite different from the little stop last night on the side of I-95.

Here we are settled on our site at Miami Everglades RV Resort.

Back to the Keys

Scottsmoor, Florida.

We are finally headed back to our all time favorite RV Resort: Bluewater RV Resort, MM 14.5, Key West, Florida.   It is really in the Saddlebunch Keys about 9 or 10 miles north of Key West, with waterfront sites on Lower Sugarloaf Sound.

It is the first time we have been in the fall.  Earnest Hemingway says autumn is the best time to visit the Keys if you can avoid the storms.  Of course this year the hurricanes are giving us a bit of a break so off we go.

Being "retired" means we are not required to conform to a work schedule, so we left on Thursday morning and planned to go as far as the Daytona area to spend the night.

We followed the usual route out of the Charlotte area and picked up I-95 near Darlington SC. other than a few showers between Savannah and Brunswick GA, the trip was exactly what we wanted:  uneventful.

The only event, if you will, was in Jacksonville, Florida.  I like to take route 9A to the east of JAX instead of staying on I-95.  However the road names have changed; and my Garmin tried to make me take a short cut.  That resulted in me taking a wrong turn off of what was 9A (now I-295 most of the way.)  No worries, we were still on major highways and soon we found our way back onto I-95 south.

 The good part is the drive over the new bridge east of JAX.  Its beautiful and looks a bit like the new Ravenell Bridge in Charleston.

 By 7:00 PM we were near Scottsmoor Florida just south of Daytona.  We pulled into the Crystal Lake Campground.  It is a vary small, kind of old campground situated on the side of a little "lake" just (barely) off I-95.  We were the only transient campers there.  There were several long term residents, but they are in the back part of the campground. It is a Passport America campground and seems to  be a good overnight stop.

Tomorrow:  On to Homestead and hopefully a stop at Miami-Everglades Campground.

Getting Ready for our Spring Trip!

We are counting down the days until we get back on the road again.  Time for our spring trip to St. Joe Peninsula State Park on Cape San Blas Florida.   We have been there before and are really looking forward to it again.

Location

There is still alot to do to get ready.  Due to a very busy work schedule the last couple of weeks, I am behind schedule.  Will it not be nice when I'm retired and dont have to worry so much about a work schedule?

This weekend we are going up to Raleigh to see our youngest niece graduate from NC State.  Thats an all day trip up and back Saturday, so maybe I can get a little done on Sunday.

I still have to wash the RV, re-sanitize the water system, check the tires, did I say wash the RV.  I spent two days scrubbing the roof back to white week before last.  What a job.  We had an overabundance,  more than I have EVER seen, of tree sap and pollen from our water oaks that surround our house.  Unfortunately, I had left the Bounder parked under one of them too long, and the top was almost a blackish green before I knew it.


I tried to find something that would clean it appropriately, including 409 and some kind of Rubber Roof Cleaner that I paid way too much for at Tom Johnson Camping Center.   Neither did much good.   Then I read that Dawn dish detergent is the best... but not so.  Finally I tried Spic and Span.  Yep, old timey Spic and Span mixed in a couple of gallons of water with a strong bristle brush and if finally came white again.


Now I just need to wash the exterior one more time and we'll be ready to roll.


Gas prices have fallen, so i think i'll wait as long as possible to fill up.  I have about a quarter of a tank left, so i'll go stop in SC on the way to Florida.  SC gas is about 20 cents per gallon less than here in NC.

I