Another Volunteer Gig and Good-Bye KW

  Last weekend the Navy's Blue Angles preformed here in KW and Marcia had us down to volunteer to help. Once I found out she had me down to volunteer I quickly ask her to remove me from the list. I just had a feeling it wouldn't be a good thing to volunteer for.

 Marcia had told one of her BFF's from Middlesboro about the Blue Angles coming to KW and naturally Beth wanted to come down to see and help. Beth is always volunteering for something, she has been a volunteer for the Bell County Rescue Squad for years, she was there when Marcia and I was volunteers in the rescue squad back in the 90's.

 Beth ask her hubby Steve if it would be OK for her to come down and visit a couple weeks and Steve being the loving husband that he is said sure, but we all know he really didn't want her to be away from him, but considering the warmth down here and the cold up there he knew she would feel better here so he encouraged her to come. So she jumps on a plane and flys down.

 So Marcia and Beth did the volunteering for the Blue Angles Show. The Air show was two days and their volunteer "jobs" had them working Sunday, that left Saturday for them to see the show. Myself I've BTDT (been there done that) and wouldn't fight the crowd with all the crazy people so I stayed home and watched the Blue Angles from the CG. I did miss all the smaller planes doing their stunts, but I didn't get trampled by the crowds.

Here is the ONLY picture I took of the Blue Angles.

 

 

Another sponsor of the air show was Budweiser and they had the famous Budweiser Clydesdales down here. They had to  take the big horses down town Key West to make a few deliveries, we all know how the "PR" stuff works. Several bars in KW had made donations supporting Budweiser and the air show so the Clydesdales we used to deliver a few cases of beer.

 

Marcia and Beth were all excited about seeing them and wanted to go down to one of the bars and wait for them to make the delivery. I suggested we go to Truman Annex and watch them unload the horses and hitch them up. The crowd was a lot smaller at the annex than it was on Duval St and we all got a lot better and longer view.

 

Getting them ready for the beer run.

 

Rolling out onto the road to make the delivery.

 

As it turned out we had one of the best views and got to see a lot more and to top it off there wasn't near as many people crowding us.

 

 

Here in KW the bars came up with an idea to have a crawl, it's not a new idea but this one would be the Duval Crawl. You buy a ticket and that entitles you to a drink at certain bars from one end of Duval to the other. You get to start at the Atlantic Ocean and finish at the Gulf of Mexico. The cops will even stop traffic for you if you need to crawl across Duval.

 

In the same spirit the campground here at NASKW Sigsbee has what they call the "Campers Crawl". You can sign up to crawl or to host, we elected to be a host on this one. We broke out the famous MARGARATOR

for this special event. We were the first of four stops, (its almost the end of the winter season here and about 65% of the campers have left KW already) We had about 20 crawlers stop in for sample from the              MARGARATOR                 and I opened a bottle of chili pepper vodka we had bought in Mexico last year. I was surprised at how many tried and liked the hot chili pepper vodka, a few thought it was a little too hot. Everyone enjoyed the margaritas and when the crowd moved on to the next stop we fell in behind them and finished the crawl with them.

 

This was the second stop on the crawl, I stayed back away from the crowd so I don't even know what they were serving. Each host picked a drink (or two) to serve.

 

The last stop had made a cute little sign out of the cheese.

 

A few days later a cold front was making its way to KW. I don't understand how all the people north of us could let that happen, but it did. Now cold fronts bother my bones and I usually have a bad day or night just before a front comes through. This was no exception and it was one of those sleepless nights. But the weather was warm, about 75 degrees at 3:30 Am and I could see a string of thunder storms rolling by just north of us. A warm night, can't sleep, and a thunder storm rolling by, I had to go out and sit by the water and watch. It was very dark, but when the lightning flashed it lit things up pretty well so I decided to try and catch a few pictures. Do you realize how hard it is to anticipate a lightning flash? I did get a couple pics in the half hour or so that I was watching.

 

Lightning was the only source of light in these pics, other wise it was almost totally dark outside when I took them.

 

 

Our time here in KW is all but over, Tomorrow/ today now, we will hitch up the jeep and point the nose north. We plan on a long day, (150 miles) to the casino just outside of Miami, then on towards Tittusville for a few days or weeks. So until the next time............

Still Hanging Out in Key West

While we have been here in the Keys I have taken a few pictures, and thought it would be nice to share some of them with everyone.

 

This is one of our "dry camping" spots. This one was when we first arrived in Jan.

 

 

Marcia is always looking to help any way or any where. This is where we volunteered to help with the "Bone Island Tri-athalon", and they way we were treated it will be the last time we help them.

 

 

                             This is one of the flying fellows we have encountered here on the island.

 

An afternoon at the "Turtle Krawlz" and enjoying their "bucket of bones" (ribs)and this was our view.

 

 

Another volunteer gig that had us down town before sunrise, this was for the half marathon and they really treat their volunteers well. I ask them if the would wait until noon next year, but they said the runners would get too hot so I guess we can get up early one day a year.

 

 

 

We bought a Sea Eagle Kayak to enjoy here in the Keys, and anywhere else we may find a body of water to explore. It folds up pretty small when you let the air out.

 

Friends and Class mates Ron and Linda made it to Key West this year and what is a trip to the keys without a picture or two showing you were here?

 

This is one of the sunsets at Mallory Square.

 

When Bob and BJ arrived we had to have a get-together.

 

The famous, and endangered Key Dear

 

Yes the MARGARATOR has made a few appearances

 

Bob celebrated his 70th birthday here in the Keys and we were honored to help him. This is the view at Giger Key Fish Camp and Marina where we had his birthday dinner.

 

Wayne and Sandy, Ron and Linda, Bob and BJ, and Marcia and myself waiting on the birthday cake.

 

After a few drinks and a terrific dinner we stopped by the rig to mix up some more margaritas before heading down town to continue celebrating Bob's birthday. (as if we needed a reason to celebrate)

 

Several of the crowd were sipping heavy on the margaritas so a trip by the southern most point with pictures was in store. We did have designated drivers so all was good.

Ron and Linda

 

The Birthday Boy and BJ

 

Wayne and Sandy

 

Here is a view from the roof of our rig when we returned to dry camping.

 

Now we are in full hookups and this is the view I have while sitting at my desk.

 

And this is the view out the front window.

 

Life on the Island has been pretty darn good this year, The weather has been pretty good too, and some of the people we have met and spent time with is priceless......