Moving Day

We have really ENJOYED our few days here in FT Lauderdale. Marcia got to spend some time with friends that flew in from KY. (I was ran off with them saying it was a girl thing)

We spent a lot of time on the beaches soaking in the FL sunshine. Monday we got the severe weather that pounded the south earlier, but it wasn't bad here, and by 3 PM I was soaking in the sunshine on the beach. Sorry about not having pictures, but I value our marriage and if I took pictures of all the girls in them skimpy swimsuits I would wind up dead or divorced.

Tomorrow/today/ Wednesday, we will leave here and start towards Naples FL, or FT Myers FL for a few days. We had planned on two days but decided to wait around so we could go shelling with my brother and his wife on Saturday. (he still has a JOB and WORKS) (really dirty words)

Since we will be staying in Naples until Sunday AM I'm thinking we might just have to take an extra day getting across FL and maybe do one of the airboat tours of the Everglades, but that will depend on when they do the tours.

I guess last week when we left KW, we started our "meandering" back to KY to see family. A few days here and a few days there for the next few weeks. What a lifestyle............

Brakes????

When we left Key West we didn't go through our normal hitch up, the remote indicator for the Apollo braking system that shows us when the brakes are engaged was missed. We noticed the brake lights on the tracker when we stopped in Key Largo. The end result was fried front brakes on the tracker.
The Apollo brake system is really a piece of crap in my opinion! It only works if you are going above 35 MPH, if it works at all, unless you don't need or want it to work. It is a pain to hook onto the brake peddle, and moving the seat to hold it is trick to do.
I will be getting the SMI Air force one soon, but since we are getting Marcia another jeep to replace the tracker as soon as we get back to KY I don't want to install it on the tracker.
Friday I had to have new brakes put on the tracker, the front brakes were fried! We were lucky the rotors were not totally shot, and the rear brakes only needed adjusting. I guess the "self adjusters wasn't adjusting, but the mechanic got the new pads on the front and the rear brakes working so we are good to go.
Saturday we spent a few hours enjoying the FL Sunshine on the beach. I was amazed at how many people enjoy laying around on the beach. The Atlantic Ocean was still a little cool for most of the beach goers, and it was fun just watching the people easing into the water, or the ones that eased in until a wave came crashing in and then they would dive into the wave. The waves today were good ones, I guess the wind had something to do with that, and the breeze did feel so good!
Our friends called and informed us their flight from Knoxville TN was delayed because of the storms and they would call us when they got to Ft Lauderdale. I gave up at 10PM on us going to their motel to greet them. Marcia got a call from them around midnight telling us they had made it. So we will see them Sunday....

Ft Lauderdale FL

Yesterday we arrived in Ft Lauderdale, a few days before our friends arrive from KY. We are parked at a Passport America CG called Paradise Island RV Resort. The CG is nice, it is an older park and most of the sites are a little tight, but the price is OK and none of the parks around here had very good reviews.

Today (Thursday) we started off with a trip to the beach. We didn't see any sea shells but we did see a lot of people enjoying the nice WARM FL sunshine. It was a great day on the beach.

We were entertained by these two little ones, the smaller one is sporting a Mohawk just like my nieces boyfriend had when I first met him. ( he will always be know as Mohawk by me)


After we got back to the rig and washed off all the sea salt and sand we decided on the Jungle Queen for a dinner cruise. It also has two sightseeing tours daily. Our trip started out with the normal safety spill, before taking us through the Ft Lauderdale downtown by way of the river.

We saw some VERY EXPENSIVE homes, some even had multi ,million dollar yachts sitting in the river next to their house.

Some , no most these houses were over kill, they were not places to live, or vacation, they were places to impress people they probably don't even like.


Like this house, a total waste of money, but I guess the city loves it for the TAXES.


I was surprised to see an RV Park along the river. Yacht Haven had some nice views, and I was also shocked to see some of the RV's were older rigs, (wouldn't pass a 10 year rule).

This was some prime property for an RV Park when you consider homes along the river sell for multi millions, and as the guide told us, some of the people bought homes next to theirs so they could tear them down and build playgrounds and tennis courts.


Our boat tour took us to an island somewhere where we were fed. I'm talking all you can eat BBQ Ribs, BBQ chicken, and steamed shrimp, along with coleslaw and baked beans. Robbie was our server, and she and I had a good time, but I couldn't convince her to bring me a pan full of ribs just before we got back on the boat.



After everyone had had all they could stand of the great food topped off with chocolate cake, we all moved to the stage area where we were entertained. First it was with comical singing, the singer/entertainer got his help from the crowd.
Then a ventriloquist entertained us. He had three dummies for his show. This elderly lady.

And then there was this 108 year old man, he dated "younger" women, not by choice but because there weren't any his age left.

His last act involved this young man. He is getting married on Saturday somewhere along the route our boat took getting us to the island. It was a pretty good act, and everyone had a great time, (except maybe the groom).


After we were fed good, and entertained we boarded the Jungle Queen IV again for the trip back. It was nice seeing all the fancy houses after dark, some were lit up and you could see people moving around inside, and some were just dark and empty.

This was one great day, and I am so happy I was able to spend it with my beautiful and loving wife Marcia.
If any of you reading this are ever near Ft Lauderdale, spend the $39 and do the Jungle Queen dinner cruise...........

What have we been up to?

Just an up-date as to some of the things we have been up to the past couple weeks here in Key West FL. As I have said before the touristy things will have to be in a separate blog someday, but here are some things we have been doing that I will share now.
Key West being a small island with the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east we have a great opportunity to see some amazing sunrises and sunsets. The problem with the sunrises is they come way too early in the morning for us to see them, but we do get to watch the sunsets
Like this one we took some pictures of from in front of our Kountry Star here in Sigsbee Campground.



I love it when the sun reflects off the clouds causing the bright orange colors.

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461700687511803746" />

Although we haven't had the courage to try this we do get to watch as others fly above the water. the boat pulls them along and the parachute takes them up into the air. 20 years ago I would have been out there doing this, along with the ones that use the wind, a parachute, and a surf board to glide across the water.



Marcia is big into collecting sea shells, and we have rented kayaks to ease along the water to spot them at times. Now she has started snorkeling so she can get a better view of the bottom so she can spot the shells. Here in Key West it is illegal to take any conch shell that still has a conch in it, but as we are told if it is empty you can take it.
Marcia went out to get herself a snorkeling outfit. She bought a "shorty" wet suit, and a "dive flag" down town, and the snorkel, fins, and mask at the Navy Exchange. It is a law that you have to have a dive flag floating when you are diving or snorkeling around here. I guess that keeps boats from running over you.






Now this is the first time Marcia has ever tried snorkeling, and without having any instructions I think she is doing pretty well. I do think we will need to find her some others to snorkel with her, and no it won't be me. I don't want to see what is down there, if she sees anything interesting that I might like to see she can take a picture of it.

Today we did the kayak and as the tide was going out the water was not very deep so we just got out and walked. We were about 100-200 feet from the shore and the water wasn't even knee deep. I did confirm the reason I don't want to see things on the bottom when I spotted a sand shark resting in the sand right in front of me. I'm glad they are not aggressive and that I seen it before it scared the ****out of me.

Any one around Key West will tell you there are no shells around Key West, they will say you have to go to the west side of FL to find shells.That didn't stop us from looking, and we did manage to find a few nice shells, (empty ones) that Marcia will clean up and show off in some way or another.

Now being on an island gives you ample opportunities to fish, you can go on a charter boat that will take you anywhere you want to go for the right price, or you can fish from many of the bridges, or you can do as this guy did and fish from the bank.
We were eating dinner and saw this guy through the front windshield pulling one in. I had to go out and watch as he fought the little rascal.

Once he had landed the fish and I saw it I thought it was a stingray, but he insisted it was a skate. Now I don't know what the difference is but he chose to cut this one up and use it as bait to try to catch more fish.




Life on Key West can be a lot more than hitting every bar on the island, or spending all of your kids inheritance on boat rides, para-sailing, buying souvenirs or taking the tours.

Until the next time, be safe and ENJOY........

Key West Navel Air Station Sigsbee Park

We are here in Key West FL enjoying the weather. I really like it when the highs are in the mid to upper seventies and the lows are in the low seventies, and that is what it has been this week down here.
We are very thankful that we have this opportunity, and I am very thankful that the military has changed since I was a soldier back in the seventies. Soldiers now have a lot more options in the uniforms they wear, and they are respected by the public. I am also glad I don't have a uniform to put on, I like my shorts, and sandals.



We were excited when we saw these little creatures that we are sharing this island with.

We saw 5 of them one morning when we were leaving our site, they ran off into the mangroves as we drove by. We did manage to get a couple snapshots before they hid in the mangroves.

From our site here in Sigsbee we can see the Gulf of Mexico, and we were treated to an air to water jump the other day. As the plane flew over a boat was dropped out, and then several soldiers followed. Once they hit the water they had to deal with their parachutes before they swam to the boat they had dropped.



From our site we can enjoy amazing sunsets through the front windshield, and the view from my window is awesome. I watch boats going by all day, some are under sail, some have big motors, and then there are the jetskis and the paddle boats.



I will have to do downtown Key West on a separate blog one day.

On the ROAD AGAIN

Today I finished my doctors appointments until I have to be in Lexington KY on the 12th of May. So with the waiting out of the way we will start touring FL again. Tomorrow AM we will leave Patrick AFB and start meandering towards Key West FL.

We were in Key West back in January but it was so cold then that we couldn't enjoy it like we want to, so we will return for a week or so. When you are in Key West and everyone has a coat on you know something is wrong.

Our time here in Cocoa Beach has been great, we have seen a lot of sunshine and we have had shorts on so LIFE IS GOOD.

Space Shuttle Launched

We were up early this morning to see the launch of the space shuttle. We drove over to the east side of the base where we had a pretty unobstructed view to the north.It was still dark outside as we waited for the rockets to flair.



Being on the side of the road with nobody else around we were surprised when we saw the bright glow over Titusville, it was the rockets fired up and them starting to push the space shuttle towards outer space.



Then we could see that the shuttle was on its way. We watched the bright light rise into the air. Although we couldn't distinguish the shuttle its self we knew what the bright light was.



We watched as the bright light got smaller and smaller, until it was completely out of our sight.



We had an insight as to what was happening this morning because we had visited the Kennedy Space Center a couple days ago. The first picture is as you walk from the parking lot into the space center through the ticket booths where you purchased your ticket or exchanged the ticket you had previously purchased for the one their card readers would read.



Here is one of the display signs.



This is a picture of the type of rockets that propel the shuttle into space. The smaller one on the outside has another one like it on the other side and these are the first ones to lift the shuttle. After they lift the shuttle so far up they are dropped off into the ocean where they are recovered, cleaned, and reused. The larger one is the big one that pushes the shuttle into space, and it is not reused, it breaks up as it returns to the earth. (I think that is what they told us)



A new attraction to the Kennedy Space Center is the simulated space paunch. You climb up a ramp and into the building where you are instructed to enter a room that has a set of about 30 seats simulating the seats in the shuttle. Once you sit down and strap in the whole room turns up on end, then the rockets are lit and things shake, and then you are off into space.





In the space center like most attractions they gouge you on food and drinks. We bought this cup filled with a drink for $5, but we did get free refills the rest of the day.


The I-Max movie was the most impressive thing I saw, it was a 3-D movie of the Hubble Space Telescope. They gave a lot of information about the Hubble, and showed some of the astronauts actually working on the Hubble in space.

The next impressive exhibit was the bots. As you walk into the building you are instructed to go from one station to the other via and intercom system. each station tells or shows you some of the robots used by NASA, and if you ever make it to the Kennedy Space Center be sure to visit the bots.







We are enjoying the east coast of FL, since this is our first time in this area everything is new and exciting for us. We will be spending more time in this area in the future....