Sugarloaf Key: Just hung out today. Mike went over and played shoes with a bunch of guys. Temps in the mid-70s. Another beautiful day in paradise.

Sat, 1/5/08

Sugarloaf Key: Mike put the awning back up this morning and everything is back to normal. Cleaned. Then we met Floyd and Betty over at the clubhouse and we played cards. We have a new neighbor, Sharon. She drives a big Prevost tour bus for a living. Actually, it’s some musical group’s tour bus. She’s here by herself. She left Nashville last night at 5:00 and drove all night. Guess she’s used to that. After playing cards, we played Jokers for a while. Went out for dinner and then drove down to the Blue Hole. Saw 8 Key deer. One was a doe with two yearlings. She looked very healthy—a good thing.

Fri, 1/4/08

Sugarloaf Key: Couldn’t sleep last night because of a headache. So felt like crap most of the day. Just laid around and read/dozed most of the day. It did clear off and was sunny, but still windy and chilly.

Sugarloaf Key: Key West hit a historic low this morning. Beat the 1898 record of 46. It went down to 45 this morning. It’s still really windy, but the sun is shining and the sky is clear. Highs only in the 60s today though. Add the wind and it’s not very pleasant. So we’re going to head into Key West and do our laundry and then see the new Tom Hanks movie.

Sugarloaf Key: The wind howled all night last night. Mike brought the awning in this morning before it got damaged. Needless to say, we stayed inside most of the day. Early afternoon we drove into Old Town Key West and went to the Tropic Cinema on Eaton just off Duval. Saw “No Country for Old Men”. As a friend put it, it was like Fargo on steroids. There was a lot of traffic going and coming. Must be a lot of vacationers here yet. Tonight is supposed to be the coldest night down in the Keys for several years. Supposed to be back in the upper 70s by Friday tho. On the walk back to the truck we found a bookstore on the corner of Simonton and Eaton and stopped in to see if they had the book “Matecumbe” which was written by Michener back in the 70s and just found. They didn’t have that one, but we bought a couple of books by a local writer. Stories take place down here in the Keys.

Tue, 1/1/08

Sugarloaf Key: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Our friend from Maine, Lance, stopped over for a while and his friend, Nancy, joined him. They stayed for quite a while and we blabbed about all sorts of things. Then we went in and watched the Missouri/Arkansas bowl game. Making a pork loin for dinner. No hangover. Life is good.

"Spy" baloon that is a constant presence in the lower Keys. This is the view from our campsite.

Close-up View

Mon, 12/31/07

Sugarloaf Key: Mike went over to the clubhouse at 1:00 and played shoes. I stayed and read my book. At around 5:00 we drove into Key West, parked and headed to the Roof Top Café which is around Mallory Square. But they were booked up with reservations. So we kept walking and stumbled upon a Jamaican place that had an upstairs deck, so we had dinner there. Not very good and pretty expensive. Last time we’ll go there. After dinner we walked around Duval for a while. While walking we found the Red Barn Theater on Duval. They’re putting on “Bark” right now. A canine cabaret. All dogs. We’ve gotta see that. Then we walked over to the historic seaport to see what was going on. Lots of boats all decorated up—leftovers from the boat parade a couple of weeks ago. Then we headed back home. We were supposed to hook up with some people and play Jokers, but there was no one around. Watched the ball drop. And in Key West they drop a drag queen, “Sushi” from a red stiletto. CNN actually had coverage of that also.