Sugarloaf Key: Drove into Big Pine and got my hair cut this morning. I love this guy that cuts my hair. Always interesting to talk to. Came back around 12:30 and Mike left shortly after that to play shoes. I relaxed and read outside for a while. A beautiful day—breezy and warm. After shoes Mike showered and we went over to the KOA for happy hour. Met a couple who just came into Lazy Lake a couple of days ago from the Montreal area. Came back and watched the Ohio State/Texas bowl game. The low tonight is supposed to be only 73. Hard to take. Low 80s today. Beautiful.

Sugarloaf Key: Rained last night during the night. Cleared off mid-morning. Bonnie and Ray, who are in the motor home across the lake from us, came over in the afternoon and we talked about Utah. We’re planning on going to Arizona and Utah over the summer and they’ve been there a lot. So, they gave us a bunch of good tips on campgrounds and places to see. Left-overs for dinner.

Old Customs House--Key West

Sugarloaf Key: Spectacular morning—not a cloud in the sky. Made smoothies and sat outside reading for a while. Talked with Debbie and Craig, the neighbors across from us in the motor home. Craig gave us a DVD they watched last night at the clubhouse—“Ghost Town”. Cute movie. Made Mexican lasagna for dinner tonight.

Sugarloaf Key: Another beautiful day. Mike took back some videos we rented. I did some cleaning. And then we headed to Key West to see Valkyrie—the new Tom Cruise movie about the attempted assignation of Hitler. It’s playing at the Tropic Cinema on Eaton St. An okay movie. Not as good as I thought. After the movie we walked down to Mallory Square and watched the sun set. The huge yacht is gone. There’s another one there—they’ve been there for a couple of weeks now. Not as big as the other. After watching the sun set we walked through the Truman Annex and looked at some of the fantastic homes there. The base there was started in 1823 as a pirate fighting base. 1823!

Sailboat heading out--New Year's Eve

Thu, 1/1/09

Sugarloaf Key: Happy New Year! Had a very relaxing day today—but we have a very relaxing day here every day. Read a little bit. Watched a movie and worked on the computer for a while. It was really quiet here today. Probably a lot of people hurting. Upper 70s today.

Huge yacht--probably 200 ft. long

Wed, 12/31/08

Sugarloaf Key: Took my bike to the bike shop AGAIN to get the front tire fixed. Dropped it off and picked up some groceries (big mistake—grocery store packed) then went back and picked the bike up. We’ll see how long this one lasts. The tire is Kevlar so nothing could puncture it. It’s the tube that’s the problem. Around 4:30 we headed to Key West. Parked at the Westin garage and walked around the Mallory Square area for a while. The biggest yacht I’ve ever seen was tied up there. A beautiful thing. Probably belongs to someone from AIG, Fanny Mae, or some Wall Street bigwig that just got bailed out. Walked over to the Roof Top Café for dinner. We sat out on the deck overlooking Front Street. I had lobster and Mike had prime rib. Another beautiful day in the Conch Republic—upper 70s.

Old County Road

Tue, 12/30/08

Sugarloaf Key: Another beautiful morning. Floyd and Terry wanted to get together with us and go biking, So at noon we headed out to the old county road. Parked just off Hwy 1, rode through the residential area, but instead of turning left onto the blockaded part of the old county road, we went right and biked to the end of that road which goes by some pretty impressive properties right on the Atlantic. The road dead ends and then there’s a hiking trail through the mangroves which goes for quite a way we’re told. Biked back to where the road is blocked off and rode to the lake, which is not as crystal clear as it was last year. Stopped at the little lagoon and had some snacks. Then started back to where we left the trucks (several miles). But, at about the same spot as on Sunday, my front tire went flat. So, Terry and I walked back to the blockade and Mike and Floyd biked back and drove the trucks to us. We were all really thirsty, so we stopped at Mangrove Mama’s and had a couple of drinks. Get back to the campground and it is like a zoo. There were people everywhere. Can’t wait until the holidays are over and things get back to normal. The new owner must be really happy though. Oh, and Mizzou won last night in overtime. Mike is very happy.