A New Year of Adventures

Helen, Me and John

Wednesday, or was it Tuesday or Thursday? Where does the time go? I guess I have to recall some of the events of the past few days. My old coworker, John MacDougall, spent some time with us exploring Key West. Lunch at Pepe’s (the oldest restaurant in KW est.1909) was the spot we picked for lunch. John’s dog Pappy came with us to the restaurant. Yes, most dogs are allowed in restaurants in Key West! Pappy is well behaved and was very quiet until the chickens started to come into the restaurant. Yes, chickens in Key West roam into restaurant at will. Pappy became the bouncer near the front door. One bark and a quick jump and the chickens retreated to the street in a hurry. The restaurant was crowded and we had a good half hour wait for a table. I had a pull pork sandwich with coleslaw…delicious! The wait gave us a chance to reminisce about our old working days for Brennan Inc. back in Berlin, NH. We talked about our coworkers who have passed on and the ones who are still kicking around.

Aqua Aerobics

Lori (Our Instructor) on the far side

The following day John spent some time on the beach and we went to our aqua aerobic class here on base. Our instructor, Lori, is one fit gal! She does this boxing routine with us, who are in the water and she on the deck. She’s got the jab, punch, hook and upper cut down to a science. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was into kick boxing. She can catapult herself with both feet in the air. I feel healthier just watching her do those moves. We have an hour of aerobics with her and after 45 minutes, we keep checking the clock thinking that time must be up. It is a real good workout! When we come out of the water, we feel like astronauts coming back to earth’s gravity. This is a MWR (Moral Welfare Recreation) activity and is free. A military ID card is all that is necessary to enroll in the class. The class varies, but on this day 34 was the enrollment. Eleven were men.

Pre-New Year’s Eve Party

Like the Christmas Eve party at the Pavilion, everyone brought a dish and our fellow camper DJ was on hand with the Karaoke for entertainment. This gathering was even larger than the Christmas gathering. Some old friends had just come into Trumbo campground and came to the party. Wow, we had a good time remembering last years’ gatherings. Many of the ladies were up dancing the night away. The party was a pre-New Years Eve party because KW is a wild place downtown on the actual eve event.

New Year’s Eve

The End of 2015 &
A New 2016!

On Thursday morning, aerobics class was our time to workout again. The afternoon was spent doing chores around the camper. John wanted to spend the day hanging around the beach and soaking in sun and the breeze. We had made plans to join other couples and have a picnic dinner over at Truman Annex (The Navy Side) and watch the last sunset of 2015. We had the beach to ourselves. The girls setup the food at one of the shelters and we all had chairs to line up on the beach and watch the sailboats sailing around in front of the setting sun. I feel we are so blessed to be able to share this type of moment not only with ourselves, but also with new found friends from all over our country.

Downtown Key West

Yes, someone drives that van
in Key West!

As expected, Key West has some pretty wild New Years’ Eve parties. Thousands and thousands of revelers crowd the streets in front of bars and along the docks to see many things drop at the stroke of midnight. It is very similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. All of this, I’m told from people who have braved the crowds and were there. We didn’t attend! After our sunset dinner with friends, on a private beach, we elected to stay away from the crazy crowds and head back to the ranch. Are we getting old? You bet, we are and not scarred to admit it. I just didn’t need to get into the pushing of the throngs. The fireworks were appreciated from the secure comfort of Naval Air Station Trumbo Point campground.

That is what we saw and did!