Mon, Dec 25, Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Merry Christmas everyone!  A beautiful day again today.  While we were sitting outside talking with our neighbor, Larry, John and Sandy stopped by and gave us some cookies.  I didn’t do any cookies this year.  But we’ll enjoy theirs.  Yesterday I binge watched The Kennedys.  It started at 8;00 a.m. with “The Brothers”, then at 9:00 was the mini-series “The Kennedys”, followed by “After Camelot”,, and then “The Assassination”.  I did take the time to walk around the lake.  It was really warm—almost hot—until I got on the other side of the lake.  There was a beautiful breeze coming off the flats which felt good.  Today we’re going over to have Christmas dinner with Douglas, who cuts my hair.  A bunch of other people here in the park are going as well.  Should be fun.  Wait ‘til Douglas sees the hot mess I made of my hair! 

Sat, Dec 23, Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Another beautiful morning.  Took the trash over to the dumpster and continued around the lake.  Ran into some more friends I hadn’t seen yet and got talking with them, so it took longer than usual.  Felt good walking though.  A warm and breezy day today.  Had steaks, mashed potatoes, veggies, and a salad for dinner tonight.  Really good.  Played rummy for a while after.  Low 80s today.

Doors of Key West.  Hope to get down there after the holidays.

Fri, Dec 22, Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  I was having computer problems for the past few days and finally fixed it.  I had to uninstall Google Chrome and reinstall.  And it worked!  So I got a bunch of stuff done on the computer and then Mike called AT&T to get more gigs on our own wi-fi.  The park wi-fi isn’t up and running yet.  Hopefully in a month it’ll be back up.  Drove to Big Pine to pick up some scripts and wanted to drive around a little to see how things are since the hurricane.  It didn’t look that bad.  They have done an amazing job getting things back to a semblance of order.  Had lunch at Pizza Works, picked up a few groceries, and headed back.  Put stuff away and read for a while.  Walked over to Dale and Carolyn’s to wish them a safe trip.  They’re spending Christmas at Aspen with their whole family.  Fun!   Breezy and warm today. 

This is Johnson Road leading to our park from Hwy 1.  Not too bad in this part.  But the closer to Hwy 1, the more trash.

The closer to Hwy 1 the more stuff along the road--frame of a fifth wheel, refrigerators, washers and dryers, etc.

Trashed RVs along Hwy 1 waiting to be picked up.

Some parts of Hwy 1 are very clean.

Oops!  A boat where it doesn't belong.

They're already planting hundreds of palm trees.

Some debris along a side road on Big Pine.  Not bad though.

Thu, Dec 21, Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  It was wonderful sleeping last night.  The breeze came in our bedroom window from across the lake and felt so good.  In the morning a beautiful sunrise greeted us.  But by the time I got my camera to take a picture the moment had passed.  A beautiful day today.  Almost no wind and the lake was like glass.  But that brings out the no-seeums.  Tried to sit out and read but was forced back in.  Worked on the computer most of the morning and got our taxes paid and other things taken care of.  Went to Boondocks for lunch and then back home.  Our bike path is in good shape and they’re already planting more palms and other vegetation.  Carolyn came over in the afternoon and invited us over for wine and cheese.  Char and Jerry joined us.  A fun afternoon.  We finally have our TV set up, thanks to Mike our maintenance guy.  82 here today.   

 

The iguanas have survived.

Our lakeshore has eroded somewhat.

 

Wed, Dec 20, Miami Everglades RV Park, Homestead, FL, to Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Well, we made it here okay.  We left at 9:30 this morning and arrived at Lazy Lakes by 12:30 and were set up by 1:30.  We thought it was going to be very slow going, but after Islamorada the traffic really thinned out.  We saw a lot of destruction though.  A lot of vegetation but the further we went we saw more boats in the mangroves, furniture, appliances, and house parts piled up along Rt. 1.  It will take a lot of time to get rid of all that debris.  And we haven’t even checked out some of the side roads in Big Pine yet.  I heard that’s really bad.  One of the maintenance guys in here, Mike, backed us in.  We could have done it, but he does this all the time and it took him no time at all.  Our site in much bigger since they took out the planters.  A bunch of people came over to say hello, and later Dale, Carolyn, Mike and a couple of other people came over for a few glasses of wine.  We couldn’t get our TVs set up though.  We have Direct TV in here and it’s a real pain setting it up.  Hopefully, our neighbor, Larry, will help us tomorrow.  It clouded up when we got here, but cleared off later in the afternoon.  83 here today.  We’re here for two and a half months.  

Almost all set up.

Enjoying a glass of wine.

A few friends dropped by.

Tue, Dec 19, Miami Everglades RV Park, Homestead, FL:  Well, after we returned from Cuba we waited around to hear from James to see if he and Carolina wanted to get together again.  I guess he called Saturday, but they had something else going, so we didn’t get together again (sigh).  The Canadians, Esther and Gerald, came over on Sunday with Foxy.  We sat around outside at our site catching up and snacking.  Went to Shivers Barbecue and had some dinner and then we went our separate ways.  Monday we bought groceries and then did the laundry.  Tired and hurting by the end of the day.  This afternoon we’re going over to see Esther and Gerald at their place, which is a good thing since someone will be here washing the fifth wheel most of the day.  Tomorrow we head down to the Keys.  

Beautiful Monument Valley--2005

Sat, Dec 16, Miami Everglades RV Park, Homestead, FL:  Didn’t do much of anything today.  Mike’s shoulder is feeling better today.  We just hung around reading, watching TV and snacking.  Mike called his son, James, to let him know we were back.  Haven’t heard anything from him yet.  We should do the laundry but decided to wait until Tuesday, the day before we leave for the Keys, so we won’t have to worry about that for a while.  Low 80s here today.  Delightful!

Where we stayed in Ireland--Ashford Castle.

View from our room.