Tuesday, February 20, 2007

This morning started out cloudy but cleared off and turned into a beautiful day. We bought two used 3 mil full wet suits at a dive shop on Big Pine Key. There’s a dive trip tomorrow at 1:30 which we may go on. They take you out to Looe Key reef. Supposed to be a beautiful day. We went over to the club house tonight for our shrimp boil. An older couple in the park supplied all the food for everyone. How generous is that? We had peel and eat shrimp, black beans, cole slaw, garlic bread, and pie for desert. Everyone showed up. Great fun. We sat with Tini and Robin and Craig and Deb came over and we all sat around and talked and laughed for hours.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Up early this morning and headed to Big Pine Key to do the laundry and grocery shopping. Got the washers going and then walked over to the bagel shop and had some breakfast. After putting the clothes in the dryer we dashed to the grocery store and got that done. Back home and put everything away. Then Mike went and played shoes and I vacuumed and then did my weights outside and after that sat outside and read for a while until it got too cool. Left-overs for dinner

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Chickens are all over the place in Key West. This one was in Ricky's Blue Heaven Cafe in Key West Old Town where we like to go for breakfast. We've found them as far north as Big Pine Key. The roosters are quite beautiful, with iridescent feathers and big, plumy tails. The little chicks run around all over also. And they all survive quite well, what with the traffic and all. They are protected now. Guess they were first brought over from Cuba. I know they used to have cock fights many years ago. Now they just roam around. Cats roam around also. They kind of co-exist.

We didn't do too much today. It's really cool and very windy. We finally had to remove all the stuff hanging off our awning because they kept blowing off. After the rain stopped Mike took care of emptying our tanks and a couple of other outside chores. Later Mike watched the Daytona 500 and I read my latest book. Had left-overs for dinner and watched Desperate Housewives on TV.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Cool but sunny this morning. We drove to Key West and toured this ship—the USS Mohawk. It was originally a Coast Guard ice cutter and then served in WWII as a troop escort. A very small ship to be out on the open seas. Stopped by the Eco Center for a little bit. There is a huge EPA research ship docked there. Must be an interesting place to work. On the way home we stopped at Borders so Mike could pick up a book he ordered. Neither one of us feels great today. Back to Lazy Lakes and Mike watched his race and I played spades and read. Mike grilled chicken for dinner. We watched Cast Away.

Friday, February 16, 2007

This morning it is chilly in paradise. We stayed in all day—reading, playing spades, watching TV. The shrimp boil last night was fun. We took a bottle of champagne and some orange juice and made mimosas. There were about 11 people there. Any excuse for a party around here. The couple that sprang for the shrimp are in their 80s I believe...and they've been everywhere. He's a veteran of WWII. Interesting people to talk to. They're buying the shrimp for Tuesday's dinner also.

My new Spanish course finally showed up but I couldn’t load the main program. I don’t know if the CD is screwed up or what. There’s about 7 disks. The others work ok. I cannot get the main program disk to do anything. It doesn’t seem to have anything on it. So, I’ll have to call them. I’ve been waiting for this for a week now…and wouldn’t you know it won’t work. Mike grilled burgers for dinner. Watched Apollo 13.

Thursday, February 15

This morning started out cloudy, then cleared off, then clouded up again. At first I had on shorts and a tee shirt, then my sweats, then my bathing suit. I was outside reading and Deb and Craig in the motor home across from us came home. He wiped out on his motor cycle last night on the way home from work. He was so lucky he didn’t get hurt really bad. He was taken to the hospital and was checked out ok…like I said, he’s lucky. While I was over there talking with them, the marine jogged by with his pack and combat boots and two layers of spandex. He jogged by several times. Walked over to see if we had any mail. I’m waiting for my new Spanish course to be delivered. Still not here. We went over to Pizza Works for lunch and then Mike picked up a few things at the grocery store. One of the guys in the campground sprung for a bunch of shrimp. We’ve been invited over to join. Should be good.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentines Day! Went over to the pool at about 10:30 again to practice with snorkels and masks. I had the pool all to myself. Swam several times around the pool, then got out and read for a while. After Mike got there I went back in. Tried a couple of surface dives to see how the snorkel works when water gets in there. The purge feature works really well—on both the snorkels and masks. Swam around some more and did some more dives, then got out to dry out and read in the sun. Went back and washed out my suit and a few other things and hung out to dry. Took a shower and washed my hair. Sat outside to read for a while. We have reservations at the Hideaway Café in this cute, retro motel on Marathon. Had reservations on the “porch” overlooking the beach so we could smoke, but were told no smoking. Didn’t want to put Mike through that so we left and had dinner at the Island Fish Co. which is all outside seating on the Gulf side. Had a great dinner. Talked about taking the sea plane out to the Dry Tortugas. Sounded like a good idea with two drinks in me. We’ll see.