Warm Monday Morning January 31, 2011

Good Morning and a warm morning it is....
Before I go on and on about this beautiful day here in Sugarloaf Key, I want to say that I was very excited to see that Norwood had a good temperature day yesterday.  The computer showed 73 degrees in Norwood.  While, I am hesitate to think it may have been That Warm, it had to be a beautiful day in our pretty little town.

Jim and I just returned from the Free Donut and Coffee Gathering that is held on Monday Mornings.  Another good group of people.

Jim and I also did a walkabout around the lake before donuts and coffee.  Jim got his GPS out, reconfigured it to show mileage and off we went.  I have mentioned that I forgot the distance around the lake, so, now we have our steps measured out - it is .5.5 miles (a little over 1/2 mile) from the campsite, around the lake and back.

On the walkabout we were so happy to see that the Shoemakers from Greenville NC had arrived.  Ralph was walking out to get his newspaper and we spied him right away.  Ralph said he and Sharon got in late last evening. Sharon was not out and about just yet - Ralph said on the way down, Saturday, Sharon had gone up to go to the back of the camper, a lady 'slammed' on brakes in front of him, Ralph had to 'slam' on brakes, and as Sharon was walking back to the front of the camper, she fell and slide all the way up to the gas pedal on the camper.  Ralph said her head was laying next to his foot.  So, Sharon is black and blue and according to Ralph, as long as she keeps taking her Tylenol, she is okay.  Ralph said he has already laughed about it and in about two years, Sharon will be able to laugh about the mishap as well.

We met Ralph and Sharon last year.  Ralph said, as a small boy, his father pastored a Methodist Church in Albemarle, although, he could not remember Norwood (he was just a little fellow.)  Since last year, Ralph has gotten out his map and spotted that little dot on the map marked as Norwood.

Now, back to our most spectacular overnight stay at the Conch House on Friday Night.

Jim and I arranged to meet Hillary at Home Depot around noon on Friday before she was scheduled to pick up the Lil.  We browsed around and got a couple of plants for the Lee Yard. 

While we were loading our car, there was a gentleman loading trellised plants with flowers in his convertible.  What an interesting fellow.  The flowered plants were not being bought for their beauty, necessarily, rather for the fact that they would have caterpillar eggs on the bottom of the leaves.  And, we all know that caterpillars grow up to be butterflies.  Butterflies are his purpose!  We mentioned the Butterfly House in Key West and he somewhat showed disdain for it!  Seems he felt the butterflies there were captured and corralled and that made him somewhat uncomfortable.  He calls butterflies "flying flowers."  I think we all have sound bites that 'stick' with us, and his 'flying flower' comment will stick with me for a long, long time.

From Home Depot, we went to the Lee House and Jim went right to work, getting the plants in the ground and pot.  We were able to spend a little time with Lily, and by the time Gabby got home for school, it was time for us to 'check-in' at the Conch House. 

Hillary had some groceries she needed to take to the Conch House, so, we caravaned in our cars.

Immediately upon pulling in at the B&B, Sam, the owner, was about to leave.  He jumped into Hillary right away, saying I just checked their (ours) rooms, where's the champagne or something special for them? Just giving Hillary a hard time and we all had a laugh.

Our room was upstairs and we had access to the second floor veranda.  The room was peaceful, calm and very inviting.  And, would be especially so after long walkabouts 'downtown' in Key West.

Hillary made us we were in and comfortable and she and the girls left us to our own devices.

Short board meeting between Jim and I.  We had time for a walk down to Duval (a necessary walk at least once during a stay in the keys, no matter how many times you may have experienced it.) 

Duval proved to be pretty much the same.  Interesting people, pups and characters would catch my eye.  The residential streets were the most fun and we continued to walk these until we decided to get back to the Conch House for a glass of wine before our dinner.

Vickie Murphy had graciously given us a bottle of wine before she left to go back to North Wilkesboro.  We had saved that bottle for just this day.
Back to our room, Jim gathered our 'cups' and we discovered we did not have a corkscrew.  I went downstairs to ask Amy, working the desk this afternoon, and she scurried back to the kitchen, getting the corkscrew and offering us wine glasses.  I knew a wine glass would just be something else that I could break (nothing broken so far) so we had opted for plastic cups.

Jim and I had stopped by the CVS for nuts for our little appetizer (he also saw some chocolate chip/macadamia nut cookies that he could not resist) and we got settled out on the veranda for a glass of wine and to watch people as they strolled down Truman Avenue in front of the Conch House.

Seven Fish was our destination for dinner. Seven Fish is a white cinder block building, small kitchen attached to the back, a bar area offering about three bar stools and a tiny little dining room, packed with non descript tables, basic plastic with metal chairs and little else.  There is a votive candle on the table, and a set of salt and pepper shakers.  Jim's observation was simply "see, if you provide good food, you don't need all the bells and whistles offered at restaurants.  Just the basics and it works very, very well for Seven Fish.

 This restaurant is only about a block down from the Conch House.  We had been there years ago with Walt and Hillary when they were on one of their first tenures in Key West, and before the blessings of Gabby and Lily. 
Fortunately, for us, Hillary had arranged for our reservations at 6:15.  We kind of thought there would be few people there that early.  But no!  The restaurant was already packed and while we ate, the line began to form outside.  Seven Fish is off the beaten path, nestled in a little neighborhood setting and probably not known to a lot of people just getting into Key West for the first time.  I think the staff at the Conch House recommend Seven Fish, most likely a lot of the B&B's do recommend and I venture to say a lot of locals eat there as well. 

Although the seafood is a feature of Seven Fish, I saw Meatloaf and Potatoes on the menu and my mouth began to water.  Jim had grouper with angel hair pasta and chutney sauce.

I had the slightest taste of Jim's grouper as I had a full, and I mean full plate of meatloaf.  The slab, and I do mean the slab, of meatloaf sat atop a mountain, and I do mean a mountain, of creamed potatoes, freshly creamed potatoes, piping hot, tasty and smooth.  Along side the potatoes were steamed carrots and broccoli, perfectly steamed, not too crunchy, not to soft, just Perfectly Steamed.

The dessert menu looked grand as well and Hillary had suggested we should, for sure, try the Key Lime Cheese Cake with Raspberry Sauce.  Unfortunately, there was just no room for this delicacy.

Walking off the dinner was the next order of business. Hillary had mentioned a 2010 grammy blues singer nominee was performing at the Green Parrot.  After much deliberation, we are starting to get pretty tired and the magnificent dinner is heavy on our bodies, we decide to 'at least' walk down to the Green Parrot.  The Green Parrot, is, of course, a bar in Key West. 

Well, by the time we got down there, the first 'set' was just over.  We were happy to see several of the campers here in Lazy Lakes standing outside and we enjoyed chatting with them.  Art and his wife, in fact, live directly behind us here at the camp, and Martin is just to their left.  Art and wife do live here full time and Martin camps in from Wyoming.  

Art is the man I had mentioned bringing wood to from the Lee House.  The Lee's and Jim acquire small stacks of wood from the yard cleanup.  I mentioned the wood to Art and although this wood, small and large, gnarly pieces of wood does not compare to the pristine stack of pallet wood they have stacked on their site, Art said "wood is wood, and wood burns" and I would be happy to have it!

So, we had somewhat of a common conversation and, well, Martin, he is just a funny guy.  Martin's lot is the lot that is partially empty because his rig doesn't take up much space (camper nestled into the bed of his truck) and because it looked like an empty lot, Gabby and Lily walked across it.  I had cautioned about their going into other people's yard and they are really so good about that, so, when they saw this empty space, certainly, in their minds, this was an area they could walk in....

So, that was something I could talk to Martin about and he just grins and assures us that everything is alright and certainly the little girls can walk back there.  Although, in the future, I'll try to explain things a little better to the girls.

After some conversation, we walk back to the Conch House and literally collapse.  We turn the t.v. on and the movie Jerry McGuire is playing, I try to watch the movie, and just did not last.

Saturday Morning we enjoy our coffee on the veranda (Amy had brought to our room, a small coffee pot, coffee and trimmings.)  

Before you know it, it is getting time for breakfast to be served and as Hillary works on Saturday, she is in the kitchen getting everything ready.

I needed to go to the car and told Jim I would be right back.  I forgot my room key, which not only gets you into your room, it also unlocks the front door.  The front door stands open during the day, and is locked at night.  So, I cannot get back inside.  I could have gone around to the side of the house and called for Hillary back in the kitchen.  That would not be a good thing to do, as she is busy, busy, busy getting the breakfast out.  So, I simply take a seat in the rocking chair on the front porch of the Conch House, knowing Jim or Hillary would come looking for me at some point in time.  I had a book with me, so I was happy as a clam just rocking and reading.  

Sometime later, Jim did come around the side of the house with a "well, here you are!"  I found out that while I was sitting on the front porch, Jim had been sitting right over me on the second floor veranda, we were both just waiting! :)

Breakfast at the Conch House is set up in the dining room just off the kitchen.  Plates and plates of fresh fruits, sweet rolls, breads, coffee, juice are displayed so that I kind of felt like I didn't want to disturb the scene.  But, I did dig right into the goodies.

Jim and I took our coffee and breakfast out to the porch, on the back, overlooking the pool and near the kitchen so we could visit with Hillary as she walked back and forth, waiting on the guests and helping them with their questions, including, offering ideas for things to do during the day, giving them maps of Key West, etc.

Our next stop - a walk down to Whitehead Street where the annual art and craft show in being held.  We clean out our room and head out, again, traveling mostly down the residential streets. 

This would be the third or fourth time Jim and I have gone to this show.  Always, in the past, we have enjoyed this outing with the Lee Family.
Lots of art, lots of craft, many abstract items and many too cute things are offered at this show.  Expensive, on the larger part for Jim and I.  I peered at some of the tags on the paintings, low prices would be in the 400 dollar range and upwards to the thousands.  There were a couple of booths that offered more affordable, for us, items.  So, I, in fact, found a little something, something for Tiffany (she is keeping all our bills straight back home and mailing them to us here at Lazy Lakes) and, even a shirt for myself that reads "I kiss my dog on the lips"  - I'm a puppy lover and just can't help it!
Jim called Hillary about mid morning and asked her to order us in some lunch for the three of us to have once we return to the Conch House.

The Christmas Present of B&B and Dinner at Seven Fish is winding down and it has been a remarkable time.

We enjoy a lunch of soft taco with fish, rice and beans (talking about this to Tiffany later, we both said the best way to describe this lunch was simply "honest food.")  We shared hugs and loves and thank yous to Hillary and we are off to Publix (we have said many times, we do not want to go to the Grocery Store here on Saturday, and invariably, that is exactly what we do.)
Once back at the campground, Jim gets a chance to play marbles, he is delighted, and I just enjoy my book. 

I am currently working on, and enjoying, Charlotte's Story, "a Florida Keys Diary 1934 and 1935"  As this is a true story, and light reading, I should be able to finish it soon and get into "The Greatest Generation" that was loaned to me by Bill Reins.

By the way, The Nazi Officer's Wife, was a great book.

It is a very warm and delicious day here today - I must admit, the Rummage Family is tugging at my heart, and the Lee Family is my current blessing.

The Room awaiting us at the Conch House. So peaceful.

This house, upstairs room, is where Hillary and Walt first moved to way back when, on their first adventure to Key West. 

I simply liked the looks of this old, weathered gray house with white shutters and the pretty flowers (bougainvillea) 

More buildings, homes, then not, have interesting decor.  Jim says this is a drag queen lounge. 

Just an interesting structured bay, "The Bull" and "Whistle Bar" upstairs on Duval.

I liked the steeple on this house? B&B?

I think we can all agree, one of the most beautiful aspects of Key West is the foliage and flowers.

I'm pretty sure this is a private residence and it truly is breathtaking.

This little spot, a tiny bar on a tiny corner of a lot is known as B.O.'s.  We generally go there with the Lee Family - walking up the kitchen area, placing your order and wait for the staff to simply call our  your name for you to pick up your plate.  Officially called, I think, B.O.'s Fish Wagon.  A very cool place to enjoy the ambiance of Key West.

This small little house is one of the benchmarks of Key West Architecture.  Conch Houses, like these, have the tin roofs (I think that is mandated for any of these houses) tiny little porches on tiny little lots.  These Conch Houses are plentiful in Old Town Key West, many in disrepair.  There are, of course, many, many of these homes that have been remodeled to 'standard' and this is what I would like to live in if I lived in Key West.  Although, financially out of my league - I haven't asked Walt what these go for, when and if on the market, although I remember some time back the price tag would be in the 100's of thousands of dollars.

On our walk back to the Conch House on Friday Afternoon, we happened upon this wonderful home.  Every essence of the home was lovely.  Especially, the charming lady that was sitting on her front porch.  I will forever have a regret about this picture.  I told the lady I loved her home and would she mind if I took a picture.  She quickly agreed and then said "let me go into the house."  I asked if she wouldn't please stay and be included in the picture, and she replied "oh, no, no, no...."  It was somewhat difficult for her to rise out of her chair, gather her bottled water and go back in.  Then, Jim added further to my misery by saying "Karen, she just wanted to enjoy a little peace in the sunlight on her front porch."  Oh, well, too late for me to keep going on up the street, I had already disrupted her afternoon, so, I snapped the photograph.

A picture of the Conch House and the smaller little house next door that accompanies the Conch House. We snapped this photograph as we were coming back to the Conch House on Friday Afternoon.  The small house is divided into rooms (I think two areas?)  The guests there enjoy their own front porch, back porch area with yard, and a kitchen.  I think I remember, correctly, that this is where Sam's grandfather lived until his death and that has been since Hillary and Walt have known Sam.

This is the sitting area upstairs at the Conch House.  As you can see from the stair rail, this is just at the top of the stairs, and just off the room we had for the night.

The Catholic School directly across the street from the Conch House and our view as we sat on the veranda enjoying a glass of wine before dinner.

Our little corner of the world, second story veranda, Conch House, Key West, Fl, on Friday, January 29, 2011.

Breakfast at the Conch House.  Jim and Hillary - Hillary was kind enough to stop work just for a moment to allow me to take this photograph.

This is a side view of the Conch House taken from the Parking Area.  The pool area is behind the fencing on the far right.

This is the front stairway to upstairs.  The front door of the Conch House is directly behind me.

Another example of a charming little conch house.

Banyan Tree -  someone, on the street, said this was the largest Banyan Tree in the ??? world, U.S., who knows, except to say the tree goes on and on forever.

Another picture of the same Banyan Tree - to capture the entire tree on photos, it would take seven, eight, maybe ten views from the camera.  Very Huge!!

The famous scene of Marilyn Monroe standing over the street grate.  Here she is posed outside the movie theatre in Old Town.

Customs House - This view greeted us when we reached the end of the Arts and Crafts Show on Whitehead.

A very pretty purple house with lots of white gingerbread trim beside a pretty yellow house with blue shutters giving both houses complimentary glimpses of each other.  That is a church steeple in the background.

This is the United Methodist Church of Key West.  This is the Church the Lee Family attends and they have become an integral part of that Church Family.

This house caught my attention for many reasons, the size of the house for one, but primarily, the large yard which, without all the foliage you generally see, reminded me of any house in any little town.

The brochure did state that the house sits on nearly a 1/2 acre which I'm thinking is pretty unheard of in Key West? We guessed at the price before taking one of the brochures, my guess was 3 million, and the 'reduced price' according to the brochure is "now only 2.7 million"  I hope that whoever buys this house can refurbish to look like it does now.  The metal fencing around the yard is rusty and old and eye-catching beautiful.

The pink door on this house caught my eye. As you have seen from the photographs of these houses in Key West, the colors of rainbow sherbets make some of these homes have a fairyland appearance.

Jim and Karen about to take their leave from this most memorable holiday, within a holiday, at the front door of the Conch House.  Tired but extremely sated with memories.  You may note that Jim seems to have grown some hair in this Florida Keys Sun!

Thursday Morning January 27, 2011

Wow! Time flies when you are having too much fun.
Also, as mentioned, I find it difficult, sometimes, to carve out that window of opportunity to sit here at the computer.  For anyone else, blogging about adventures would be a piece of cake.  It seems it takes me forever to get my thoughts together to blog, and then, don't you know those thoughts fly right out the window once I position myself here, ready to type away.
Monday Morning, we did enjoy the doughnut breakfast at the clubhouse.  Frankly, we were surprised at the number of people having coffee and doughnuts.  A full house! And, the doughnuts, good old plain doughnuts, doughnuts with sprinkles, icing, and cream filled doughnuts.  Of course, I went for the surprise, cream filled, hoping it would be chocolate filled (as it had chocolate topping) although not really disappointed when I bite into the doughnut and raspberry flowed out, down my mouth and across my fingers.

After dougnuts, we left the campground to go by the Lee's house and do our grocery shopping. No one was home, Hillary didn't have a list for us, projects to do, so we talked with Hillary by phone, she was running errands, and lucky for me, we ran into her at Publix.
Chip's Christmas Present - the Publix Gift Certificate was used for our groceries. Fabulous!!!

As Hillary was doing errands for home as well as the Conch House, and had a couple more stops to make, we just drove back up to the campground.

As time flies by, it was 1:00 Horseshoe Time before we knew it.  Jim's partner was drawn and Sandy and Jim were a team.

Horseshoes generally last all Monday Afternoon. There are playoff games for the ultimate winners and the ultimate losers, each team gets to play at least three times, with each turn waiting for the pits.

At doughnuts this morning, Chuck announced that a tortilla truck was going to be here for anyone wanting tacos, burritos, etc.  There would be no Lazy Lakes table at Happy Hour KOA, rather, maybe hang around here, have a Taco and celebrate Sally's Birthday.

Sally and her husband, Dale live her year round.  Sally works at Murray's Food Mart, up Highway 1 about 5 miles. 

When Chuck announced the tortilla truck, Frisbee said "oh yeah, a roach coach."  Everyone laughed - I guess all of us have heard this term at some point in time in our lives.

I did enjoy the tortilla truck (trying not to think about Frisbee's remark.)  We had our dinner of soft taco/burrito after horseshoes.

A dessert offered by the tortilla truck was "nutella" with bananas on a soft taco shell.  The girls were talking about nutella during the horseshoe game and low and behold, there it was on the tortilla truck.  Everyone went crazy for it and Jim bought one as well.  I have never heard of 'nutella' (and maybe am not even spelling it right.)

For Sally's birthday, the Lazy Lakes Trailer Trash Band was going to entertain.  This band's primary players are Charlie with vocal/guitar and Jerry with his banjo.  Other instruments played are Sandy on the harmonica, Carolyn on the bass (a washtub with a flamingo designed stick and heavy cord to 'pull' for the bass sound) and, on this night, Karen was playing the washboard.  Lots, lots of fun.

Jim and I wound up our night about 8:30 - as the evening and cocktail had started early, I was ready for bed.

Tuesday was the designated day to visit with our friend Bill at Fiesta Key. We left here just after 9:00 a.m. and found Bill up and ready for us when we got to his trailer.  Bill is a late sleeper and we didn't want to get there too early.

The wind was blowing like 90 - just a phrase, not actual!  We, all three, decided to try our hands at fishing anyway.  We loaded up with our rods and reels, buckets and fishing tackle boxes, as well as chairs for us all to sit in and while away the morning fishing.

Well, when we got to the bridge, the wind was whipping around us, the only way to keep the chairs from blowing away was to sit in them or fold them back up.  We fought this wind for a while and decided we were all too uncomfortable to stay on the bridge any longer.

Bill had mentioned a Tarpon Area.  This is a spot just off the Hwy. 1 called Robbie's.  I have seen this sign, many times on our trips to Key West.  At Robbie's there is a patio area, a restaurant and lots of little shopping tents, featuring handmade jewelry, sunglasses, etc.

The primary draw to Robbie's, I think is the tarpon.  You can pay $1.00 to walk out on the docks, feed the tarpon or simply look at them.  As the wind was so brisk, we were told we didn't have to pay, you may not could see the tarpon anyway in the cloudy, windswept water.  So, we strolled on out and saw lots of big, big tarpon.  There were people laying on the docks, hanging fish down for the tarpon and they would, in fact, jump out of the water to retrieve their fish meal.

Walking through the building to the docks, there was an entire wall of cell phones, cameras and sunglasses, all encrusted with debri from the water.  It was obvious to see that these hundreds of items were things that had fallen from people's pockets or, in the case of sunglasses, heads, while they were feeding the tarpon.  I regret I did not take a picture of these items. 

After this adventure, we went back to Bill's camper.  We had our lunch of sandwiches and snacks - as well as some wonderful ice tea that Bill had fixed the night before - and then Jim went on top of the camper to try to get a direction for the satellite.  And, he got Bill up and running with the satellite.  Bill mentioned that he, often times, just runs out of patience, trying to get something like this going.  I assured Bill that this getting a satellite 'on the right bead' was just the kind of thing Jim loved, especially if he was able to solve the problem.

Bill and I left Jim to his satellite work and we took a walkabout around Fiesta Key Campground. Bill introduced me to several friends he has made since he has been in Fiesta Key.  The walk was fun and the conversation was, as always, delightful, because Bill always has a great story to tell.

We left Bill and Fiesta Key about 4:00. 

Once back, I logged on to the computer and found a couple of 'situations' I needed to address.  When I am confronted with a small obstacle, Jim knows that I have tunnel vision.  He fixed himself some dinner, a salad, and went up to the clubhouse to play in a marbles tournament.  I stayed here, trying to iron out my concerns, finally going to bed.  Jim came in before I went to sleep.  He said he had won the points in the marbles game, winning a couple of dollars.  Winnings are spread widely among the players, winners, runnersup, losers, etc., so everyone can feel a part of the game.  Jim fixed himself a drink and said they were going to play a game just for fun.  I immediately went to sleep and found out on Wednesday Morning that Jim got back around 11:30.  I was at nappy's house, in sleepy town, and didn't even know when he got back into the camper.

A heavy rain greeted us early on Wednesday Morning.  Leaks!! Leaks!! Leak!!  Although Jim has been working on the leaks, there is one that persists in the area over the kitchen counter.  The slider was pulled back in, the sun came out, hot and humid, and checking for the leak spot was the order of the morning.

Mid-morning, Terry came by to let Jim know there would be a marbles game at 1:00.  She called herself the 'town crier' when I asked her into the camper and said she must be on her way to let others know about the game.  Terry stopped by again, on her return trip through the campground as the town crier, and suggested that I come up, they would set up a beginner's marbles game and I could play.

So, that is what we did on Wednesday Afternoon.  Jim sat at the big table with about nine players.  I called this table the 'big boys.'  Terry, Sandy and John Bush were at a separate table for me so we could play a foursome.  I enjoyed playing, and will play again if there is another beginner's table.  The big boys just intimidate me and although there is a lot of friendly banter going on at their table, the banter would probably just hurt my feelings and then I wouldn't be able to play at all.  My problem, not theirs.....

We were playing outside the clubhouse, under the roof, and the cool front came in with a flourish.  Terry and John pulled down the plastic canvassing to help protect us from the wind.  And, during a break in both games, everyone went back to their respective campers to get long sleeve shirts, sweaters, etc.

Last night was very cool.  I worn my 'winter p.j.'s and certainly got out that extra blanket again.  The only heat we are using, primarily, in the camper, is the tiny little space heater and Jim did not turn it on last night.  So, after Diane Sawyer, I just got off the couch and got under the bed covers!

This morning, Jim has been working on the leak, yet again.  The drip is over the microwave area, and drips down onto the counter top that covers the stove top.  The fabric ceiling was soaked and Jim filled up the wet vac again with water than he vaccumed from the ceiling.  This is a thought process for Jim to figure it all out.  He even mentioned that the leak may have to be professionally corrected by pulling the slide out off the camper entirely.  And, he said maybe he could rearrange the jacks to tilt the camper so water would not collect in that particular area of the roof/slideout. You can be sure Jim will continue to tinker and work for a solution.

One solution, for me, he came up with....there is no good reading light in this camper except the one over the bed.  (Thus, I read in bed a lot when it is too cool to sit outside.)  He has turned the lamps that hang on the wall over the sofa, so the light shines down.  Previously, the globe was facing up, creating a nice glow to the ceiling and really serving no particular purpose except for that nice glow.  The bulbs in these lamps are tee-tiny, but they do help some in reading.

Tonight, is the camp dinner, ribs, with 'bring a dish to pass.'  Jim and I thought we would just take another Key Lime Pie as that idea seemed to be a good one a couple of weeks ago.

At the Doughnut Breakfast on Monday, Chuck was making announcements for the coming week, and said there were a lot of people signed up to bring desserts, and not enough people signed up for rice.  So, Jim and I made a corporate decision, crossed through the dessert line and checked that we would bring rice (we found at Publix that rice that Gabby enjoyed so much - rice with vegetables.)

And, tomorrow, Friday, we are going to get to go to the Conch House for our overnight stay, a Christmas Present from the Rummages and the Lee's.  Hopefully, during our time in Key West, I'll find lots of picture taking opportunities.

The Lazy Lakes Trailer Trash Band - Karen on washboard, Carolyn on bass, Sandy on Harmonica, Jerry on Banjo and Charlie, Vocal and Guitar

Sandy on Harmonica, Jerry on Banjo, Sally the Birthday Girl helping sing, and Charlie with the guitar

Joanne, watching her husband Charlie, play the guitar and sing.  To her left is Marty and then John Bush. John is watchiing his wife, Sandy on the Harmonica.

Chuck and Ray enjoying the music.  The bass that Carolyn is playing belongs to Ray and he evidentially gave Carolyn a break and took over the bass.  That is Marty in the red shirt.

Terry taking a little smoke from her husband, Floyd's cigar.  Very out of character for Terry so I had to capture the moment!

Jim and Bill getting the lines ready.  Bill is working on getting my line ready.  We were on the 'fishing bridge' that runs alongside Hwy 1 and just up from Fiesta Key.

Jim's line is in and Bill is about ready! He was getting two lines ready. You can see we had to weigh down the chairs less they blow away - they did blow over before we weighed them down. 

Jim and Bill after our short fishing expedition.  The fishing bridge is directly behind them and that is the bridge for hwy. 1 on their left.

Karen and Bill - no fish, but good times with friends.

Jim tinkering with the satellite on Bill's camper.

Jim getting his directions!  Atop Bill's camper.

Monday Morning January 24, 2011

We have suffered through a little cool spell.  Although, I am a little ashamed to say that.....Saturday Night was really cool, the heat was on in the camper and that extra layer of blanket that I put on the bed served us well.
Now, I will have to admit, the temperature on our little outside temperature gauge was at 48 degrees yesterday morning and warmed up to maybe the low 60's, 61 or 62.  So, you see, it's all relative I guess.  The 60's temperature days in Norwood during the winter are when we have that reprieve from winter, rather than a cool down.
Late afternoon, just before dark, on Saturday, was really damp and cool.  I know this because I had lost my sweatshirt.  Now, this shirt is not a real valuable clothing item.  It is simply an item of clothing that I have had for about 10 or 15 years.  Navy blue in color with an embroidered colorful umbrella and "Key West" embroidered in bright colors as well.  I first noticed the sweatshirt was missing when we went up for hot dogs at noon on Saturday.  Knowing that the shirt had to be in this very small camper, I didn't fret too much and just pulled on a jacket (again, an item of clothing that I have had for about 15 to 20 years!)
When I came back to the camper about 4:30, I started my search for the missing sweatshirt in earnest.  Jim came in from a marbles game about 5:30 and started helping me search.  By this time, we are grasping for spots to explore for the missing shirt. I went up to the bathhouse, looked in the laundry room area.  Then, Jim said well, maybe, I wore it on my walkabout with the girls earlier on Saturday Morning, got too warm and left it somewhere along the path around the lake.
I dreaded going around the lake with the damp, cold weather all around, and, I mean, this dampness was more of what we had earlier in the morning.  Some of those raindrops did fall from the sky, although the sky looked pregnant and full with wetness. Which, of course, makes the air around us damp and wet although there is no falling rain.
I geared up with socks, shirts and over shirts and started my journey around the lake.  I measured this distance last year, I have forgotten the distance this year.
Trudging on, alone, on the sweatshirt hunt, I had my head hunkered down, my hands in my pockets, with my view only the ground below me.
As I neared the end of the pathway to the lake and entered into the campground area 'on the back side of the campsite', don't you know, there was a snake, slithering across the path.  And, don't you know, I stopped still in my tracks, he/she snake stopped as well, I waited and waited and finally the snake continued on its journey into the bushy/weedy growth around the lakes edge.  I wasted no time getting through the path. 
I got back into the camper chilled to the bone.  And, soon thereafter, got my p.j.'s on and crawled in the bed.
First order of business when I got up on Sunday Morning was to call the Lee's to see if, by chance, the sweatshirt had go to Key West/Stock Island/Key Haven Subdivision.  Hillary calls back and says, well, yes, in fact, the sweatshirt was in their car!  Mystery solved!
Sunday Morning was quiet around here.  I enjoyed sitting outside, again, with socks, sweatpants and an extra shirt.
Carolyn came by and visited a while.  I admitted to her that I was not a leader, but rather, 'a helper good and kind.'  Explaining that Jim and I would not grab the bull by the horns and run with an idea, although we are both helpers and will do anything we can to help out if she, or any of the work campers need a little hand.
I was happy to hear that all the Thursday Night Dinners are taken care of during the period of time we are here, so, we (Jim and I) do not need to 'think about that' anymore.
There is a night that Carolyn said I could help.  JoAnn and Niels celebrate their anniversary here every year by providing a shrimp dinner.  I think I recall the anniversary dinner last year was their 60th, so 61 is coming up. 
Carolyn said that I could help with the tables, getting them set up, salt/pepper and sauces out.  This dinner is sometime at the end of February.
As Carolyn's husband Dale is gone for a few days, skiing in Colorado with their son, Carolyn was going to be solo for the ice cream social on Sunday Night.  She offered me the chance to help with that and I jumped at the idea.
A little later, Mike came by on his bike and stopped to chat for a while.
We talked about the reservation situation for next year.
Donna had told Jim on Saturday that he needed to get his reservation in as the sites were about to fill up.  They (the camp) would be moving us again for next year.  We would be in the site next to the site we stayed in last year, which is great for me.  Although, not a pull through site, I liked the location which is just in front of the bathhouse and very near the office (so, you are up close and personal with most everything that goes on.) 
The owner of the campground wants these middle pull through's to be kept for transients, as it makes it easier for them to get in and out as they are staying for just a few days.
Jim told Donna that he would have to talk it over with me.  I, of course, want him to go ahead and reserve, Jim, of course, needs to think about it.  He levels this team of two out real well.
Jim played marbles for the meat of the day, on Sunday, with most of the marble's players wanting to play, then watch the football games starting at 3:00. 
Jim and I watch the first game during which Jim grilled some more chicken wings on the grill. 
At 6:30 I went up to the clubhouse, waited just a few minutes, Carolyn got there and I was, maybe, a little help to her during the ice cream social.
So, here we are, another week ahead of us.
I'm thinking I may go up for the donut and coffee breakfast at 9:00 in the clubhouse.
Jim says we really need to make a grocery store run and I'm sure he wants to play horseshoes this afternoon. 
We need to get back down to the Lee's house for any projects that Hillary has in store for us (and, we enjoy this projects.)
And, we want to go up to Fiesta Key, get Bill, and go fishing one day this week.
We need to get organized!

Flowers were picked on our walkabout.  Lily's arrangement is for Barbie.  Gabby gathered some interesting flower/greenery/dried flowers for her arrangement.  I told her she may be a Florist when she grows up and she simply wanted to know "what's a florist"

Chuck grilling the hot dogs for the Saturday Party.  That is Richard standing to Chuck's right.  One night at the KOA, Jerry asked Richard how many times he had been divorced.  Richard said, "well, we have talked about this, and it is three times."  Jerry said "no, no, don't you remember, one of the marriages was annulled!" Richard smiles and says, "yes, you are right."  I thought this was a cute exchange between these two friends, and realized it was a 'test' to see if Richard actually remembered two divorces, one annulment.

The entertainment for Saturday was the Weedhawks.  They entertained here last year and are a great couple with lots of talent.

JoAnn and Niels enjoying hot dogs and the entertainment.  Again, this is the couple that will celebrate their 61st anniversary here in February.  Niels, I understand is 89 years young.  And, again, they are from Holland, Michigan.  A little town that was featured on 60 minutes last year and known as one of the friendliest towns in the U.S.

This was my view, looking out to the pool area, while I watched the Weedhawks.

A beautiful sky on Sunday Morning.  This picture was taken while I sat with the Sunday Crossword and a Book.  I kept looking up and then thought I wanted to capture this view.  That is the edging of the camper along the lower left corner of the picture.

Saturday Morning January 22, 2011

First of all, the primary importance of this day is that it is Tiffany's Birthday. Happy Birthday Tiffany.
And, yesterday was Preston's 12th Birthday. Oh, my gosh, how time flies. It certainly was only yesterday that he was born and became my 'sakasugar' Something tells me he may not want his friends to know that he is still my sakasugar.
I have found a window of time here this morning at 8:45 to sit down here. I have not one, but two loads of clothes going at the laundry. I just put them in, so, there is a little time before transfer to the dryer and before the little girls come up while Walt goes to a showing at Big Pine.
The sky is fat with clouds and moisture this morning.  It makes you wonder just how much moisture the clouds can hold before it starts to drip down as rain.
After several days of extreme humidity (the temps were in the high 70's but the humidity was for sure that extreme that you could use the 'feels like a sauna out here' with certainty, a cool front came in late yesterday afternoon.  We were allowed to turn the a/c off and open up the camper again which is really nice.  Jim even heard the a/c making funny noises.  We are both attuned to 'funny noises' and we noticed this irregular beat of the a/c hum right away.  Fortunately, as I said, the cool front was coming in and he simply turned the a/c off.  This was late yesterday afternoon and we still haven't needed the a/c.  In fact, Jim just came back in the camper from outside saying "it's cool out there!"
After Gabby and Lily left yesterday, before noon, I was pretty well spent.  Afternoon found me getting a shower, putting on my pajamas and reading/watching t.v. in bed.  Which, of course, led me to bedtime and a solid, hard night of sleep, waking up this morning feeling all strong again.
The sleepover was a success to my mind. 
As soon as Hillary dropped the girls off, it was time to go to the Thursday Night Dinner.  Jerry and Char hosted this weeks dinner and had posted "Greek chicken kabobs" as the main entree.  I had made Potato Salad earlier in the day as my "dish to pass"  and I was sure there would be other foods there that the girls would enjoy.
Once we got to the clubhouse, Char suggested we go ahead and fix the girls plates.  No one else was being served yet, and maybe this would be a good thing! 
By the time we got to the end of the table with all the food spread out, the line did start to form.
Gabby is a terrific eater.  She wanted to see what each dish was that was being served and saw corn pudding (that she thought was macaroni), white rice with vegetables, and brown beans and rice that she wanted on her plate. And, of course, a chicken kabob. 
Although Lily sat on my lap while she was eating, I can't remember what she got because Jim was helping her. 
At the end of the line, I discovered that we had not gotten our forks/spoons.  Fortunately, for us, Charlie was standing on the opposite side of the table and I asked him to retrieve those utensils for me.  Thus avoiding taking the little girls back through the deep lineup of people serving themselves.  Just tiny little things like that make things so much simply, don't you think? And, I was sure to thank Charlie again on Friday for helping us out.  He just grinned and said "sure, looked like you had your hands full."
After sitting down, Jim to my left, Lily on my lap and Gabby to my right, Chuck happened to be the unfortunate one sitting directly behind us.  Although I apologized to Chuck for the girls knocking his chair, bumping him on the shoulder, dear Chuck just smiled all the while and said he would be disappointed if the girls didn't bump into him.  As you can tell, everyone at the dinner seemed to enjoy the girls.
Earlier, in the day on Thursday, Char suggested that she give me some money back because 'those little girls' will not eat that much.  The dinner charge (for the purchase of the chicken was $2.00 per person) and I assured Char that most likely Gabby would certainly enjoy her $2.00 worth and maybe more.  Well, I was more than right.
Gabby ate her rice with vegetables, her brown rice with beans, and once discovering the corn pudding was not macaroni, she grinned and said "Amme, this is not what I thought it was, but it is good."  Gabby also ate her skewered chicken, taking the onion off for me to eat, then, asked if she could get another.  Jim went back with her to get the second kabob.  By the third and fourth kabob, we were allowing Gabby to just go get it herself. 
After dinner, we dragged Gabby to Jerry and Char who were still standing by the outside grill, thanking them for the delicious dinner.  Gabby was really embarrassed to do this, although once the thanks to them was exchanged, Gabby peeked out from behind me and said "I ate four."  Laughs all around and Char spent some time telling Gabby how wonderful it was to have someone enjoy a meal that she had prepared, even explaining that sometimes people spend all day preparing a meal and just hope that someone will enjoy it, and once the meal is enjoyed, it makes the cook so very happy.
After dinner, the Lazy Lakes Trash Band, consisting of campers playing their various instruments were going to jam together.  The girls and I came back to the trailer and Jim joined us as well, helping with the decompress period. 
To aid in this calming time, the four of us took a walk around our end of the camp, looking at the pretty lights (looked like Christmas the girls said) different campers have on outside in their respective yards. The girls really like dad'n dad'n's little palm tree and there is another palm tree just down the street from us.  The walkabout was a tremendous success until Lily tripped and bumped her knee.  Fortunately, we were right behind our camper at the time, so, we just called it a night.
Gabby went with me to the bathhouse for my shower.  She was very cautious about showering in that place.  When I assured her we were camping, and while camping, we did things a little different than if we were in our homes. She watched carefully, as I hung my towel on the hook, my bag that holds the soap, etc. (she had already wanted to know what the bag was for.)  Well, this was just too much, and although Gabby was going to watch me take the shower, she suddenly asked if she could take one too!  I was pleased that she overcame her doubtfulness about going into a strange building to take a shower!
Once we got back to the camper, Jim and Lily already had Lady and the Tramp movie in and starting to watch the movie.  Immediately, the girls laid out their sleeping bags in the middle of the floor, ready for their sleepover. Lily asked me to help her with her pajamas, and told me "my daddy says the tag always goes in the back." 
There was sometime that we watched the movie and then, "I'm hungry"  chorused through the camper.  Lily opted for a jam and peanut butter sandwich and Gabby wanted some cheese crackers.  Then, we settled back in on the floor, Amme laying in the middle, for the remainder of the movie. I hesitated, big time, before saying out load that I wanted pictures of this.  You see, once the little ones are down and quiet, I was loathe to stir them up again.  But, it was an opportunity I just could not pass up. Another lull in the movie while we had our picture op and then, believe it or not, we enjoyed the rest of the movie.  Something was wrong, either with the DVD or our DVD player and there were frequent blank screen outtakes of the movie.  Only complaint from the girls was "I wish I could have seen that, it was one of my favorite parts."
After the movie, Dad'n Dad'n suggested the girls and I sleep on the bed. I was glad he made that decision, because the floor of the camper was really getting to me.
Gabby's concern was how are four people going to sleep in that bed.  Dad'n Dad'n assured her that he would be fine sleeping on the couch. 
Faces washed, hands washed and little feet washed, no tooth brushing, just a jump in the bed.
We started out with putting the t.v. channel on channel 50 (Gabby said so.)  After about 5 minutes, Gabby said we aren't going to watch that are we? So, a little channel surfing, a lot of Gabby talk, provoking Lily to tell Gabby "to please be quiet, she wants to go to sleep."  Well, Gabby talks and talks.  She wants to know that if she does go to sleep will it be about one minute, and she will wake up and it will be morning?  I assured Gabby that this would be exactly the way the nighttime would speed by.  Then Gabby throws her left leg over my mid body and asks "Is this the way my momma slept with you?"  And, don't you know, when she did that, I remembered right away, Hillary as a little girl sleeping with her leg over me, and so I told Gabby that "yes, you are exactly right, that was exactly your mother used to do."
Lily was the first to go to sleep, and finally, finally, Gabby got herself into the comfortable spot, let herself go and she was out.
Where is Jim during all this, you might ask?
When we first went to bed, Jim was back and forth to the bedroom, adjusting the a/c.  It was super hot in that bed and each of us three girls had stripped down to only our pajama tops. 
After the a/c was adjusted, the camper got quiet, the front of the camper was dark, and I casually wondered, to myself, if Jim had already gone to sleep himself, although just casually as I did not dare stir in the bed or get up to check.  I was just hoping for stillness and quiet in the bed so the girls could go to sleep without any fretfulness.  And, that, in fact, did happen.
An uneventful night until about 5:00.  I feel Gabby stirring, then Lily.  Gabby wants to know what time it is, I tell her we can't see the bedside clock in the dark, she says "well, turn the light on" The clock time is actually about 4:30. Gabby needs to go to the bathroom, Lily says "me to" then I usher them both back to bed.  Gabby wants to know when we can get up.
The remainder of the early morning is Gabby wanting to check the clock, getting out of bed and peering through the bedroom blinds.  I had told Gabby there was no point in our getting up yet because it was still dark outside and there was nothing for us to do, so, let's just rest and wait for the daylight. That is what provoked the peering from the blinds.  Checking outside and checking often.
Finally, the first tiny light of day.  The girls wasted no time in getting their clothes on and wanting to get outside for a walkabout.  I barely got in a minute to pour my coffee (Jim was up and had the coffee perked.)  I also hardly remember our leaving the camper, although we did and I do remember a couple of other early risers greeting us as they met us on the road.  A good walkabout in the early morning is just the thing to get you started! And, as always, with little people, their eyes much closer to the ground, there are many treasures to be found. 
One treasure, that I cringe to even type here was a snake skin that Gabby found floating in the water.  She had started another cup of Witches Brew and a snake skin is one more perfect ingredient. She was delighted with this find.
Early morning walkabouts are also great for working up a powerful appetite.
Getting back to the camper, Jim hooked up the electric skillet, got it set up on the picnic table outside for outside camp cooking of bacon and eggs. 
Jim got the bacon started, Lily helped with taking the butter, jelly, plates and silverware outside and Gabby set the table. Also, importantly, Lily got to take the package of bacon outside because the night before when she asked what she could do for bacon and eggs, I had told her she could get the bacon out of the fridge and take it outside. A very big deal, and a chore I wanted to remember that would be Lily's chore.
Jim started cooking the bacon and asked for me to take over while he came in to fix the grits.
Gabby, as always, (and, it is a good thing) had lots of questions, now in regard to frying bacon.  As the bacon was on slow cook, Gabby was able to finish off the bacon frying and she did a great job.
Before you knew it, all four of us were sitting around the picnic table, under the trees, here at Lazy Lakes enjoying a camping breakfast.
Cleanup was quick and easy as the girls helped carry things back into the camper and Jim and I made fast work of the dish washing.
We all then loaded in the car for the short drive up to the fishing bridge.  We walked from one end of the bridge to the other, an enjoyable walk, peering down into the waters looking for anything that may move. It was only Lily's little legs that got a little tired so Jim and I took turns carrying this sweet little four year old. 
At the far end of the bridge were three of the Lazy Lake Campers, John and Sandy and Larry.  John and Sandy showed us their catch, a nice group of Mangrove Snapper.  Larry had not caught anything - yet!
The walk back down the bridge to where we had parked the car was greeted with a call from Hillary. She was at the campground waiting on our return and to take the little girls back home.  Gabby had a play date later in the day and she had already told me she wanted to fish.
So, now, I am back to the beginning of this story and it was about this time that I crashed.  I only hope we made some memories for the girls.

Jim at one of his many caulking projects.

Little wider view of Jim with his caulking project. And, yes, you are right, he is standing on the  "this is not a step" and further "do not go beyond this point" on his ladder.

Sleepover - Gabby and Amme

Sleepover - Lily and Amme

The Three Amigos - Gabby, Amme and Lily.  Gabby had Jim take this picture as the first picture of the three of us did not have her showing the 'v' with her fingers. 

Gabby frying bacon for our camping breakfast

The fishing bridge walkabout - That is the KOA Campground in the background.  Lazy Lakes is just through the mangroves, down the road about one block from KOA.