John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

Well we are enjoying our two month stint as volunteers at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo FL.

This is the Upper Keys (first ones after leaving the mainland) vs. Lower Keys (100 beautiful miles further down US Highway #1, aka The Overseas Highway).  While we were not looking for a volunteer gig this Fall, they had an unexpected vacancy and we decided to grab it!  We have stayed in the Park a dozen times or more , but this is our first volunteer gig here. 

A regular park resident!

I have been catching up on my diving while here. Have been out with the friendliest dive shop in the Keys nearly every week. Conch Republic Divers in Tavernier is the best in my opinion.  They have two boats and you drag your gear directly from your car to the nearby boat! The crew is always customer oriented and they don’t treat you like a novice (unless you are one) and do all they can to make your dives enjoyable. 

On the way back from a good day diving!

We have been doing some kayaking in new to us territory and had some great weather to match.  As I write this we are over half-way through our gig here but far from half-way thru list of things we wanted to do while here!  But hey, we will just have to come back! 

 A nice day on the water!

A nice cool plane to rest out of the hot sun!

Card Sound mangrove creek

We will leave here Thanksgiving and stop for a few days in Melbourne for appointments then on West.  We will spend a week or so in Red Bay AL, birthplace of our valiant travel coach, to get some service done then continue westward.  We need to be at Santa Anna National Wildlife Refuge in SW TX along the Mexican border by 1 Feb for our 3 month volunteer gig.

In May after we finish at Santa Anna we will be northbound for AK for the summer. We plan on crossing into Canada in late May from MT and work our way north from there.

Always at home, no matter where we are!!

A Trip to Indian Key

Indian Key is a small key about a half mile off US 1 (aka The Overseas Highway) in the Middle Keys. 150 years ago it was booming town that was the capital of Monroe County which is the FL Keys.  The charter for Dade County was signed there.  It is not much bigger then 2 or 3 city blocks but it was very busy and its main business was salvage operations on the ships that wrecked on the reefs along that part of the FL coastline!

Preparing to unload the kayaks - Indian Key is in the background 

Today it is uninhabited and is a State Park accessible only by boat.  It is a nice paddle out and BJ and I have been there several times and wanted to go back.  

We dropped the kayaks in the water at MM 77.5  and parked Oscar nearby and headed out.  Waters were calm and sun was bright and we had packed a lunch! What a great day to be on the water.

When we reached Indian Key we decided to paddle around the key before landing. Much of shore line, especially ocean side is very rocky and rough.

The rocky ocean side shoreline behind BJ 

There was no fresh water on Indian Key, then or now! Today you bring your own water but it the day they had elaborate systems for catching and collecting rain water.  Most buildings had cisterns underneath them and there are still remnants visible where the buildings stood. They also had above ground cisterns for storing water and some of them are still there!  

One of the cisterns used to store rain water!

The streets are still there and the state has added some historical markers as well as the original street names to help you get a feel for what this busy town was like in the early 1800's!

The Native Americans were not too happy with the settlement and attacked it several times. The 1840 attack was particularly devastating and marked the end of Indian Key as a community. Many of the survivors moved their business to Key West and several years later the US Navy took over Indian Key as a supply depot because it had good deep water docks of which no trace remains today.

Deep water docks use to extend seaward from here!

We walked around the key enjoying the weather and sights and I found a geocache I was looking for, the only one on the Key!  And we found a nice shaded spot for lunch.

A geocache found!

This was the town Square back in the day!

We decided to do some snorkeling on the way back but it was a little too shallow and only the grass beds to see so we gave up after a short while on that!

A Jelly checks us out while we were snorkeling on the way back!

All-in-all another great day in the Keys!  We are enjoying our stay in the Upper Keys vs the Lower Keys where we normally stay at the Navy base.

Always at home, no matter where we are!!

Colonial Williamsburg VA

While visiting Williamsburg VA last month while we were staying in Norfolk  It was a wonderful day to enjoy being outside and I had walked the the William & Mary campus soaking up the history, such as the beautiful field

This where the students AND faculty mustered up before marching off to join George Washington!

where the students and faculty had gathered and camped in preparation to marching off to join

A couple of William & Mary students prepping for the test!

George Washington and support the revolution as it drew to a close in nearby Yorktown!

BJ really enjoyed the museum which an extensive and diverse collection of furniture, paintings and other early American artifacts

The original William & Mary college building, still functional and in use today! 

On the street in Williamsburg I was fortunate to run into Thomas Jefferson. He was enjoying the bright sunny day to and watching the people go by as he sat on a bench on the street!  He showed me a draft he had of the Declaration of Independence.

We talked about his visions for the future of the country and sacrifices so many had made and would make.  Before he left me he invited me to stop by Monticello, his home in Charlottesville VA When  I was next in the neighborhood!

Downtown Williamsburg

Williamsburg is a living history of the early formative days of our country and I would urge anybody that values the freedom and liberty we enjoy to visit it.


Always at home, no matter where we are!!

Back in Home Territory

We are on the road headed SOUTH away from the cold of northern VT!  It was 31 degrees the night before we left.  But, the last two days have been sunny and bright and getting warmer!  Yesterday we had a long day as our plans to stay the night at a convenient Wal-mart near Scranton PA were stymied by vehicle height restrictions entering the parking lot, but we found another one several miles down the road and it all worked out nicely.

We got an early start this AM and it got sunnier and warmer as we moved further SOUTH!  About 1445 we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line and really started feeling at home!  We don't normally stay at KOA campgrounds but this one was so convenient to I-81 we stopped early.

Tonight we dined at a near by diner, the Pink Cadelliac - and Elvis was there.

BJ and Marla, my sister, were little teeny boppers again at dinner.  We had some good Southern Comfort Food and enjoyed the visit with Elvis, he had NOT left the building!

Right to left - BJ, Elvis & Marla

I enjoyed liver & onions with the best gravey since my Mom last served it; BJ had chicken fried steak with a creamy gravey and licked the plate clean and Marla had fried oysters and some turnip greens!

Marla was the hit of the evening with her original Elvis pin directly from Tupelo!

We skipped desert!

Went home to RVs fat, sassy and happy!

Tomorrow we are off to visit another great American - Thomas Jefferson in his home at Monticello!

Always at home, no matter where we are!!

Historic Boston

We had to condense our visit to Boston since we have to be in Key Largo, FL for our Oct-Nov volunteer gig at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. But, we still wanted to see our friends Jim & Ann and some of historic Boston before moving on to short visits to NH & VT before turning SOUTH!

We enjoyed every day there but our time in downtown historic Boston doing the Freedom Trail was a great day, especially with Jim as our tour guide!

Faneuil Hall- one of the meeting halls in old Boston

Building was seat of British government

Grasshopper on top of Faneuil Hall!

We opted to taking a walking tour rather then the bus as we felt it would get us closer then riding around in a bus for most of the day!

North Church-one if by land, two if by sea!

Inside North Church

Durgin Park restaurant, been there hunnert+ years!

Quincy Market - a long time market area downtown!

Our guide for the Freedom Trail!!

Jim & BJ on tour!

MA State House

The next day was our last before hitting the road for NH and we had a great breakfast at Jo's Nautical at the end of the Hull peninsula.  They make the best Bloody Marys in the world. Each is a veritable breakfast with fresh vegetable selection topped off with a shrimp!

It was a suitable end to a great visit with dear friends.

On the porch at Jim & Ann's condo overlooking Boston Bay

The Breakfast is served!

Always at home, no matter where we are!!

August in Norfolk

We spent most of Aug in Norfolk and the pictures below have clues on what made that such a great time!

Catching bubbles in the air!

Pillow fight!!

Addison studying her options!!

But, also enjoyed some other things. We spent a day in Williamsburg where BJ visited a museum on early America life and I did a few geocaches!


My sister and her two 4-legged travelling companions joined us the last several days as we prepared to continue North for some more touring in New England.

Marla

TD & Chloe

Always at home, no matter where we are!!

On the Road Again - At Last (but what a day)!

We left Norfolk and the grandkids behind yesterday as, at long last, we resumed our travels.  BJ and I were glad to be back on the road after a relatively sedentary first half of 2013!  Marla and her two four legged travelling companions were in trail with us and we were headed for Boston, a two day trip at approximately 600 mi.

We did the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, a beautiful 20 mile over water route at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and continued north.  We planned on making it about half way today, finish up tomorrow.  We were not going to follow I-95 through New York City as BJ and I did several years ago.  Once was enough!  We were taking a I-287 around NY City this time. Figured we would find a convenient campground or truck stop to RON at along the way.

Our caravan stopped for lunch!

At 1530 we crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge into NJ and stopped at the rest area for a break. Looked at the map and decided 2 more hours would do it. We would be west of NY City on I-287 and should be able to find a place to stay.

At 1700, we were near there but in extensive construction on the Interstate.  Traffic jams were frequent, but always in the other opposite lanes and we were thankful as we kept making progress. BJ was continuing to search for places to stay and not finding much.  The road sides were so heavily overgrown with mature trees you could not see much and had to depend on the limited info signs at the exit.  We finally found a truckers rest area and pulled in there so we could focus on a search for campgrounds or some suitable place. Well, we could find none using several different algorithms. 

The truckers rest area was crowded and loud and we did not think we would be welcome there for very long. BJ did find a Pilot truck stop in Mawhaw NJ at the NY line on I-287 and it was about 40 miles further so we decided to make for it!  However about halfway there we took a wrong exit and ended up winding through small town USA with tight roads and low trees until we found a parking lot big enough for us to turn around in!  The whole city seemed to turn out for the parade!

Then I determined, in our best interest, I really needed to fuel up now rather then when/if we ever stopped for the night which had been my plan.  My low fuel light came on and I did not know how long that was for so we took the first next exit that showed diesel fuel.  It had 3 stations listed.  Marla needed fuel also so we were hoping for stations large enough to accommodate both rigs! The first one absolutely not! 

The second one was not much better but I came in to the island from our travel direction and BJ got out and directed Marla in from the other direction.  There was only one pump island and fortunately from the direction Marla entered and I exited there was some little bit of room; which filled up quickly with cars wanting to gas up!  

After fueling up we had to continue on in the "wrong" direction while Marla could depart the pumps headed in the correct direction.  We managed to find a Burger King with a lot big enough (barely) for us to turn around in and we headed back to I-287 to catch up with Marla!  

She in the meantime had found the exit to the Pilot station, but no station and was waiting for us in large nearby parking lot!  We missed the exit, crossed into NY and finally found an exit ramp in the dark and came back to her location.  

We found the Pilot which was a small one overloaded with trucks. I turned in and threaded thru the trucks to a point I could hold temporarily before exiting back on the road which had a 3 ft concrete barrier between opposite lanes. 

BJ was searching for alternatives and dealing with her i-pad and i-phone which were complaining because they had been worked too hard for the last 3 hours!  BUT, she and Marla both found nearly simultaneously a Home Depot about 2-3 miles down the road!

Camping at Home Depot

Marla is ready to go this AM!

But, remember that concrete barrier in the middle of the road, we had to go 5-6 miles before we could find a crossover. It was dark, it was heavy traffic, it was a strange road with poor lighting and we were tired.

But we made it! An, were we glad to see the big, nearly empty Home Depot lot!  We all three plus Kloe and TD our four legged travelling companions, enjoyed a really good G&T and quick snack/dinner before ending the day!  

So are Chloe and TD

On the pleasant side - we will have a short day today as it is only 200 miles to Boston. Yesterday we did 400 miles in 11 hours (9 hrs 40 min actually driving time. 

It all looks a lot better today then it did yesterday evening!  But, what's life without some adventure! 


Always at home, no matter where we are!!