Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Another rainy, grey morning. I showered, dressed, and got on the computer to take care of some things. Played some spades. By 10:00 the sky cleared and the sun was shining. So, changed into our swim suits, grabbed our snorkel gear and headed to the pool. Swam around a little with our snorkels and masks. My mask gets a little water in the nose area (gee what a surprise) but the purge thing works really well. The pool is one thing—82 degrees at least and no waves, compared to the water around the keys—low 70s and choppy at times, with critters in there. We’ll get wet suits.

The marine was at the pool—or I should say ex-marine—with his main squeeze. He came in after we did. He has a motor home and pulls a bright yellow hummer. He had someone paint the Iwo Jima flag raising picture on the back of his motor home with the words “simper fi” above it. Just him and his German shepherd. He was the talk of the campground because he would do one-arm push-ups, walk/jog around our 6-acre lake with a pack and combat boots 12 times or so (people lost count), do push-ups with his feet on the picnic table bench, etc. etc. Anyway, recently he put a personal ad in the Key West paper looking for a traveling companion. It went something like “… must be in excellent shape, like to travel, nothing but the finest resorts, all expenses paid, be able to drive a Hummer, no quitters and no cry babies…” Anyway, he’s been “interviewing” candidates the past week. He had one of them at the pool with him. She’s really cute, fake boobs, quite a bit younger than him (they say he’s 59). Can’t wait to see who gets the “job”. A little bit of excitement around Lazy Lakes this year.

We went to the club house for the spaghetti dinner tonight. They did such a nice job. Each table had fresh flowers, we were served by the office staff, and after they had the “horse races” at Lazy Lakes Downs. They asked Tini, Deb and me to be the “jockeys”. The job entailed just moving the horses along. We had a blast. Of course, I drank about a half bottle of wine. After the “races” we sat around and talked with Tini, Robin, Deb, and Craig. Had a lot of laughs. Home and lots of Excedrin to ward off a hangover.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Rained most of the night. Still raining this morning. I did my weights outside and sat out there and read for a while, but it started raining too hard and I came back in. Mike got on the computer and played spades. I read by book. Mike figured there’d be no shoes today, since at 1:00 it was pouring. But at about 2:00 Dale rode over on his bike wanting to know where Mike was—and they needed another person, so I ended up going too. Took a couple of towels with us to wipe the mud off our hands. Nothing like mud shoes. Won one, lost one. Back home and left-over brisket for dinner. On the news they said the middle Keys received something like 11 inches of rain. Wow! Last year in February we had the best weather. This year it’s another story.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

A grey, rainy morning. I got up early and worked on my Spanish for an hour or so. Found a better Spanish language learning package on the Mexico camping web site and ordered it. Should be here next week. It should be much better. Mike went up to the store and bought a watermelon for us to take to the dinner tonight. I cut it up into chunks and around 4:30 we headed over to the club house. Talked with Dale and Carolyn while they were cooking the ribs. Had a great dinner. There are some great people in this place. We didn’t stay around for the ice cream. Ate too much. Back home. Supposed to be rainy tomorrow too (sigh).

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Went to Captain Crossbones for breakfast this morning. Then went to the Looe Key Dive Shop and bought some really good snorkels and masks. Will practice in the pool for a while and then probably go out to Looe Key reef and do some snorkeling. Will rent wet suits at first but then buy a couple. We’ll see if I like it. The reef is five miles out and looks beautiful. Clouded up this afternoon and chilled down. Sat outside and read for a while. A couple stopped by and invited us over to the club house for ribs tomorrow night. Looking forward to that. Mike is watching the Daytona race. I’m working on the computer.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Started out cloudy this morning but started clearing off. Went to Key West and had lunch at the Roof Top Café across from Mallory Square. After lunch we walked over to the marina by the Hilton and watched the cruise ship leave and checked out some of the yachts moored there. One of the guys in the park told Mike the shipwreck museum was pretty interesting so we went through it. In the 1800s Key West became a very prosperous city because of all the ship wrecks in the area. They’d recover the cargo and then sell it. Tift was one of these who became very wealthy and built the home that Hemmingway eventually bought. Then walked around and had a drink at one of the outdoor cafes. Back home and did the laundry.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

This has the makings of a beautiful day. I grabbed my book and biked over to the pool. Had the whole pool to myself. The water was a little chilly, but refreshing. I biked back and Mike was just heading over to the pool, so I went back with him. Stayed for a little while and then headed back. Changed and headed over to the No-Name Pub on No-Name Key for lunch. Had their delicious pizza. Explored No-Name Key for a while. The homes at the end of the key—after you cross Bogie Channel—have no electricity. It’s kind of an isolated community and they depend on generators and solar panels for electricity. There’s a house for sale that’s all by itself on 8 acres. Looks like a neat property. Then to Boondocks for some miniature golf. I did badly again. Maybe I should drink while playing—margarita golf. Next time. When we got back we called Ron to wish him a happy birthday. They’re both good. Hope they can come back down here after Jan’s surgery.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

This morning was looking pretty good. Clearing up and warming up. We went into Key West and had breakfast at Ricky’s Blue Heaven Café in Old Town Key West. I had filet eggs benedict and Mike had a two-egg breakfast. Really good. Roosters, hens, and chicks roaming all over the place. Outside seating only. Great place! After breakfast we went to the Bufferfly House. Such a neat place. Then we went to the brand new Florida Keys Eco Center across from Fort Zacchary Taylor. The guy in the motor home across from us works there. It’s a great place with lots of interactive displays. There’s also a ship docked near there that used to be an ice breaker or something. We’re going to go back there and check that out some other day. It was a great day. Craig, our neighbor, took us aboard one of the many boats they have docked there—mostly research vessels. This one was confiscated for back taxes or something. It’s 60-something feet long and has a master bedroom and several other sleeping rooms with johns and showers. I would never want to live on a boat. On the way back we stopped at Chico’s for an early dinner. Only so-so. We used our GPS for getting round which worked great. Guess we’re getting together with everyone to play bingo tonight. Yep, bingo. Jeeze, what an exciting life we have.