Good bye to our Denver Friends

We’re still staying a Mangrove Marina.  This has worked great for visiting with our friends and giving us a place to work from to visit attractions in the keys.  It’s a good thing too.  We had some of the worst weather yet the day that Kurt and Colleen Schweigert arrived for their visit.  That night you would have thought we were anchored out in the middle of the ocean rather than tied up to a dock.  The wind had to blow at least 30 and sometimes maybe more.  We even ran our heater since it got down to 40 degrees two nights in a row.  Kurt and Colleen were real troopers though.  I know all my ND friends are not feeling too sorry, but being on the water in an uninsulated boat can get pretty cool.

The weather stayed pretty ugly the whole time Kurt and Colleen were here, but we managed to get to Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and take the glass bottom boat.  We also went over to the Everglades National Park on a Thursday, but couldn’t get in because the park was full.  So, we just drove around and looked a little and then went to visit one of the local indian casinos.  We didn’t do any gambling, but did go to their buffet which was pretty good.  We did play a lot of pinochle and unfortunately the women won the universe, not the men.

After a great deal of discussion, we have decided to try and sell 9 Lives, our floating home.  Every year that goes by it gets a little harder to pull up the sail and anchor.  We know it’s not going to sell in a week or two, so we thought we should start the process as soon as possible and see what happens.  If it doesn’t sell right away we can continue to use it just like we have been.  So if you know anyone who want to buy a great little sailboat, send them my way.

Good Friends on the Boat

Our friends Lon and Jen Romsaas arrived last Friday to spend some time with us.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do any sailing as the wind was blowing pretty hard.  So, we had to find some other things to do.  After a little investigation we found that Key Colony near Marathon had a small 9 hole par 3 golf course and the cost was very reasonable.  So, on Sunday we headed for the golf course.  The course was very small, but not very busy and we had a really nice time.

On Monday we headed for Key West to see if we could find any tourists.  Key West is as crazy as ever.  We toured the Butterfly House which is a very nice operation and experience.  The butterflies are everywhere and most are very beautiful.  We had some great food and then headed for Mallory Square to do the sunset.  Unfortunately clouds rolled in just before sunset, so we had to use our imaginations.  We headed back to Marathon after the sunset where we had motel reservations. We thought about staying in Key West until we saw the prices for lodging.  We could have found space at the last minute but it would have been $300 and $400 a night.  The next day on our way back to Tavernier, we stopped at Curry Hammock State Park and did some kayaking.  It was an interesting trip through the mangroves at low tide and we also saw some really big iguanas along the lagoon.

Lon and Jen left yesterday, Wednesday, Feb 4 to drive up to Orlando so they were ready for an early flight back home this morning.  Now we have a few days before Kurt and Colleen Schweigert come visit from Denver.  The winds are hit and miss, but the temperature continues to be pretty good with an occasional cold front passing through and bringing it down a little.  From what we’ve seen, it’s still better than the temps in Bismarck.

Short holes but still no birdies

Beautiful!!!

Marilyn and Jen at Southern most point