After Action Review

Cooler than Key West, but still Sunny and still pleasant

We’ve been home now for nearly a week. It always seems to take this long to settle down into a sense of normalcy. From unloading the 5th wheel camper, to mental reminders about little improvements that I wanted to tackle once home. The real good mind settling fact is that the weather is certainly cooperating! Sure, the nights are cool or even cold, but the sun has been shining and warming up just nicely. The afternoons are in the low 70’s degrees. This is perfect for outside work, play or just sitting by the outside fireplace and staring blankly at the brook, forest and wildlife.
It seems like it was ages ago that we were walking the beach, in Jacksonville, and thinking all of this was coming to an end. Our time, in Key West, was certainly a blessing this past winter. Our countless friends that we’ve met and continue to communicate with help from electronic devices keep the memories alive. Sally and her black Lab “Angel” took us to another level of friendship.

How's the Fishing?

All of this friendship, I attribute to our being banded together by our location on a military RV campground. With 172 sites and a potential of 344 spouses, we were exposed to a lot of same age military background people. This type of exposer has a different twist from being in the active military. Yes, I’m talking of spouses who play into the social mix of things. They are the organizers, doers who make things happen. Credit must be given to them!

Blue Angel "Our Protectors"

I can’t forget the active military, who train in Key West, FL. One does not see large groups of soldiers, airmen and sailors, but I can assure you there are many in the area or just off shore. Did I forget to mention the Marines? They are also here along with a healthy presence of Coast Guardsmen and Woman. My hat goes off to all and I salute you.
Along with the above, is the Border Patrol and the Joint Force Command, comprising of several nations from Central America. One of their big missions is drug interdiction in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
Key West, FL is military! When one walks the streets here, you can’t help but notice most of the manhole covers have large 10 inch letters embossed with “US NAVY”. They have been here from the beginning. They own large portions of Key West. They have given a lot away, including a good portion of the docking areas.
The ride home was as expected. Slow to start, visiting places and relatives. Once we were not that far north and the weather decreased in temperature, it was a no brainer to continue driving north to our warm home in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

That is what we saw and did!

The Last Full Week!

Reflections

1,000 mile mark ~ 500 this season 500 last season

Yes, as I sit here composing my words, on Easter Sunday, I can’t help thinking how short of a time we have here in Key West. My mind is racing of things we’ve done and things I wanted to do, but just couldn’t find a minute in the so called “Island Time” schedule. My biggest “to do” is to complete my bike odometer reading of 1000 miles. That’s actually 500 hundred bike miles here in Key West this season and 500 miles last season.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Happy Biker ~ 1000 miles in Key West

The last two days, I’ve been pushing hard on the bike. I’ve covered 50 plus miles in roughly four hours. I’m running out of time! The wind picked up late this afternoon. This is not the ideal biking weather. The wind did wonders to cool things down, but as for biking, well it would be great going in one direction, but not so in the other. If the wind is blowing at 20mph and I’m pedaling at 10mph that’s a 30 mph head wind.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Another early run on the bike. Started at 6:45am after breakfast. Goal for today another 50 miles which I completed by 9:15am. I can now see the finish line! The weather looks promising, at least in the wind forecast. By Friday, I should be up to and over my 1000 mile goal.
This workout is doing the trick, because after the 50 mile jaunt, I tackled some of the pre-packing chores without any lost of stamina. I took everything out of the truck, installed my homemade tondo cover, packed away the BBQ grill, stored a half dozen folding chairs, dismantled an old radio and many other little to do things on the check list. I was careful not to dehydrate and drank plenty of water. This afternoon, we went over to Truman Annex (Navy side) and walked the beach. The ocean water is getting perfectly warm to the touch! My kind of water to swim in. I collected more coral sample to bring home. Oh, on the way to the beach, Helen stopped in to Kino’s and finally got a red pair of sandals. She had gone there three times, but her size was always out. For those of you that don’t know about Kino’s, they make leather sandals right there in the store.

April 2, 2016

Air Show at Boca Chica NAS! Great air show, got interesting photos! On the down side, it was boiling hot! In the 90’s with a humidity to match. The skies were hazy white, not the best for a Blue Angle background. A crowd estimated at 36,000 endured the heat and watch the show. Besides the Blue Angles, several outstanding stunt planes performed unbelievable maneuvers in the sky above. My face got sunburned, even though I was wearing a large bream hat, but it was worth it.

Sunday April 3, 2016

Went to mass this morning and spent the rest of the day picking up odds and ends around the 5th wheel. Still recovering from sun exposure, but not in any discomfort. Went for a long walk in late afternoon around the permanent military housing area here at Trumbo Point. Watched videos on You Tube Sunday evening. Also watched our local, back home, TV stations on the internet. Time is really winding down.

Monday April 4th, 2016

Last Happy Hour at Thai Restaurant ~ Garrison Bight, KW

Programed our RV GPS for our trip home. This time I divided the trip into segments to better adjust more stops and options, in case we want to divert from our planned route. I’m still experimenting with the software.
We might be joining up with our camping friend Sally in Jacksonville and convoy North together for a ways up I-95. We might also divert to Columbia, SC to visit Helen’s aunt Simone and cousins Chris and Sandy. Ironically, we might visit with another KW camping friend, Joannah, who lives a mile and a quarter from Chris and Sandy. It’s not that we are not anxious to head home to New England, but as I type this blog update, the forecast for New Hampshire is 4 inches of predicted snow. No rush to get into shoveling!

Tuesday April 5th, 2016 (3:30am)

As I had planned a few days ago, we would be leaving mighty early and we did at 3:30am. The plan was to drive up through the Florida Keys before the invasion and exodus of hundreds of cars that come and go into and out of paradise everyday. I also wanted to make it all the way to Mayport Naval Station. Our friend, Sally, said she would be there and we could link up and possibly convoy home for part of the way.
The trip was 513 miles and took, give or take 12 hours. Upon arriving at the Naval Station, at Pelican Roost, we discovered that they were booked solid with no sites available. I asked what we could do and the office girl said that Walmart was available or we could drive out the main gate and take a left to the “Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park Campground” (City Park) next door. We did and were surprised at the 420 acre campground. Full hookups and needless to say happy campers tonight.
Sally, who was at her cousin’s home, 20 minutes away, drove over the next day and we got sites next to each other. That evening we ate at Singleton Seafood Shack down on the waterfront. The next morning, we headed out together for Fort McAllister State Park on the South side of Savannah, GA. The campground was well laid out with large, tall pine trees and live oaks trees. A large visitor center, with a historical museum was at the entrance to the Fort. This Fort was strategically placed along the Ogeechee River. From this location, the river bends back and forth three times in front of Ft McAllister. Its cannons could engage enemy ships three times before reaching Savannah.
The guided tour was long and a major drawback was the no-see-ams that attacked us tourist who were wearing shorts. We finally retreated to our campsites. After going to dinner and coming back to the campground, we all did some exploring down at the river, walked the many loops of the campground and finally hit the sack.

That is what we saw and did!