Key West…Sadness and Joy!

 

March 04, 2014

The sadness is getting stronger as we only have less than a week to enjoy this tropical land. Every day our new found friends are leaving for points north. When we arrived here at Trumbo Point every possible campsite was filled. Sites are starting to open and more open grass is evident. It is the friends that we’ve made that makes it a little sad that we are leaving.

We’ve already been contacted from our Key West neighbors who have traveled far from here. They had commitments of one type or another, hence their departures from the end of US Route One. Our turn is coming next Monday morning. My mind is building with excitement and anxiety. Things I want and have to do, but that’s always the way when we are getting ready for another adventure. We have learnt so many valuable bits of information from our vast pool of travelers around us. I can definitely see why so many people have sold their homes for a life of travel. No, I am not prepared to sell my home in New Hampshire, but, God willing, we will certainly do more traveling as long as we are able to. It is a great life and the people who become friends along the way make it worth while. We’ve met a lady who traveled fifty years with her husband until he passed away. She didn’t stop even after his death. She’s in her eighties and still drove their 35 foot RV down here to Key West. She is of Italian decent (the old country accent) and has traveled literally all over the world with her retired military husband. She has a cute nickname “Pokkie”. We met her one night on the Coast Guard pier watching the sunset. She said, “People don’t take the time to watch the sunset like they use to”. Helen and I have been going to this secluded pier nearly every night, not only the sunset, but for the twilight. A sliver of moon followed by darkness above with a shimmer of pale orange down to the ocean’s horizon. I can’t really describe in words what really transpires. I wonder about the sailors and explorers of 200 plus years ago viewing the same scene. Oh well, time to stop dreaming and start planning the next sunset, maybe out west.

That is what we did and saw! 

Key West…The Aromas of the Keys!

 

March 2, 2014

One of the spinoffs of riding my bike around Key West is the “Aromas”. Yes, there is more than to the old saying “Slow down and smell the roses”. When riding my bike around the circle tour of the island, especially, if the wind is calm, I can smell a lot of different things. The first that I noticed was the different ladies pedaling on their bikes in the opposite direction. Most were going to work. The perfume really sensitized my nose. “What a pleasant scent from that lady. Oh, that one has suntan lotion”. These aromas were present all around my ten mile ride. This wasn’t the only aromas or smells encountered. The Burger King hamburgers were sizzling on the grill. (keep pedaling…nothing good for my body here) The smells coming from ocean next to North Roosevelt Blvd were picked up next. Not all smells were sweet and pleasant. Going by a Waste Management dumpster kept me focused on moving forward on my power ride. Soon, I was approaching the larger hotels. Here the sweet smell of flowers filled the air. On South Roosevelt Blvd, Smather’s beach was filling up with more sun bathers. Here suntan lotion rules in the aroma department. Great place to take a break and watch the creatures laying on the beach. Enough of a break, time to move on.

Approaching the downtown area, the aromas intertwine…some good and some not so good. Once in a while, a whiff of urine from a street person floats by. More restaurants and different cuisines produce appetizing wonders. The mopeds, buses, cars and trucks now billow their toxic aromas. I’m on the home stretch and back along the water front on lower Caroline street. The Coast Guard guard shack is now in site. Very little left to smell. Everything on the Coast Guard side is free from any smells at least at this moment in time.

Today marks a milestone for me here in Key West. My odometer, on the bike, has passed the one hundred mile mark! I am eleven pounds lighter than I was when we first got here! I am hoping to shed another 10 or so pounds before we head out to Utah in nine days. I don’t expect to be riding as much, if any, once we start moving again.  

That is what we saw and did!

Key West…The Exercise Routine

February 24, 2014
As you probably know from previous blogs, that we’ve been using our bikes as primary means of transportation. This is a healthy means by itself, but not necessarily a way to loose weight. Helen has started going to exercise classes three times a week. I have decided to use this time to power ride by bike around the Island. It is a ten mile circle and relatively flat terrain. My goal is to pedal in both high gears to get the best workout possible. The first two to three miles are in downtown Key West which means traffic, traffic lights and a lot of stop and go on the bike. The itinerary goes something like this: from the campground heading towards the man gate at the dock, taking a right onto Caroline St, all the way to Whitehead St. (more traffic lights and four-way stop signs), left on United St. now the going is getting better. All of the tourist traffic is behind me. The blocks are longer and I come to a rolling stop and look both ways. Next is a right on White St. toward Atlantic Blvd. Here begins the bike lane that runs the rest of the way around the Island. Now, I’m warmed up and pedaling hard. A guy about half my age, about the same weight and riding a mountain bike goes by me and is moving. I’m thinking of by old buddy Jerry D. and his story of leaving way after his troupes started their morning run. Jerry takes off and soon passes all those young guys. Back to me on the bike. The younger guy is now about a hundred feet ahead of me. I started to crank it on until I’m directly in back of him. He has no rear view mirror, but occasionally tilts his head left and right for a glimpse of me. He knows I’m there, but can’t figure out who or what I’m doing. A mile goes by, we are now on the very wide bike path along Atlantic Blvd. Finally he stops! I whiz by him and never look back. Two more miles down the road I come to a park bench and a stop for me and a well deserved drink of water. I just had my first real workout with the bike. Two minutes later, here comes the same guy. He’s booking at top speed, I get on my bike and start pedaling. He is continually pulling away. I stopped trying after he was 500 plus feet ahead. Hey give me a break, he’s about 30 years old and I’ll be 69 years old in a month and a half. I still feel good about my first hard workout.
On the back side of the Island, I stopped at the Home Depot for (cold water) a restroom break and especially an A/C break in the store. I walked the isles in order not to have leg cramps. It certainly is a nice place to walk and checkout what is new in the store. I am now only two miles from the campground. The new bike lane is 10 to 12 feet wide. I feel good and pour on the power. Stopping at the gate to show my ID and back to the camper. Total mileage on the odometer is 10.64 miles.

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Helen caught my cold and today February 26, we did the round island circle, but at a slower pace (because of her cold). We actually reversed the course and went the other way. We stopped at many places and enjoyed the ocean views, especially watching fish just swimming by and doing their thing. This afternoon it was very hot and humid. Time to sit under the canopy and hydrate.
That is what I did and saw!

Key West…Farewell to New Friends

 

February 20, 2014

It is simply amazing to see the number of people we encounter on our journeys and befriend. Dan and Jan, whom we met only a couple of weeks ago are an example. They left this morning for their home in Congress Arizona. Normally, they would have stayed here in Trumbo Point until May, but Dan needs a shoulder operation and needed recovery time at home. Both Dan and Jan are wonderful people. Dan always has something good to say. Something like “A happy wife makes a happy life’'. We wish them luck in their travels and a safe return home. We might actually meet up with them next month when we head for Utah. A slight swing to the south into Arizona would bring us into their neighborhood in Congress, AZ. If we do go in that direction, we would also want to stop in Apache Junction and visit our old neighbors Vi and Norm. Time will tell on our route of march.

It is 8:41am and this morning. I am a little under the weather. I came down with a cold a couple of days ago. Last night I wasn’t sleeping as soundly as I should have been. At 11:11pm a Ranger platoon came jogging over the bridge, and of course, they always start singing a cadence song. I love it! They’ll jog off base and crisscross the Island of Key West before returning back over to Fleming Island. I still love it, as the saying goes “Freedom never sleeps” Go “Airborne Rangers”! I also discovered when and why they jump off the channel bridge into the swift tidal channel below. It is part of their graduation exercise ritual. All in all, I am so proud that I can be part, although, a small part of this mighty military family.

Remember that all of the people here in the campground are former military of all branches of service. When a person is on active duty they always seem to say that their branch is better than the other. All of that is forgotten here has we mellow in the sun. With one hundred and fifty RV’s, most having two occupants, it makes for a sizable community. At any given time of day, you will find their doors unlocked. Now, that’s trust! Need anything? A neighbor is there to lend a hand or a tool.

That’s what we did and saw!

Key West… The Iguanas…The Tortoise and The Hair

 

February 18, 2014

I have to tell you the story of these unusual creatures. It seems that there are a lot of them in Key West. What brought  my attention to these guys was a drive on a back street in Key West. I always assumed that Iguanas were very slow moving. Well, let me tell you that this one Iguana raced across the street as fast as a cat would. We were both shocked, with our mouth opened, to witness this. That’s when I decided to capture more of them with the camera. The beach at Truman Annex is beautiful and no Iguanas present, but on the south end there is a huge breakwater with a quarter mile of huge rocks… a perfect place for Iguanas to live. I’ve seen them from a distance, but now it was time to get closer. Of course, I am also using a 300mm telephoto lens. I have included a few pictures of these creatures. There is one reddish Iguana that is huge. I have not been able to get a picture of him yet. The Iguanas only come out to sun themselves in the mid afternoon, when it’s very hot. This big guy only shows up if it’s close to 90 degrees. It hasn’t been in that range for a couple of weeks. I’ll keep watching for this Iguana which I believe is in the neighborhood of five feet long. Most others are a couple of feet long.

Anatomy and physiology[edit]

Iguana can range from 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) including their tail. The two species of lizard within the genus Iguana possess a dewlap, a row of spines running down their backs to their tails, and a third "eye" on their heads. This eye is known as the parietal eye, visible as a pale scale on the top of the head. Behind their necks are small scales which resemble spokes, known as tuberculate scales. These scales may be a variety of colors and are not always visible from close distances. They have a large round scale on their cheeks known as a subtympanic shield.^[2]

Iguanas have great vision and can see shapes, shadows, colors, and movement at long distances. Iguanas use their eyes to navigate through crowded forests, as well as for finding food. They use visual signals to communicate with other members of the same species.^[2]

The tympanum, the iguana's ear drum, is located above the subtympanic shield and behind the eye. Iguanas are often hard to spot, as they tend to blend into their surroundings. Their scale colors are a mode of hiding from larger predators.^[2]

Male iguanas, as well as other male members of the order Squamata, have three hemipenes.

Damage caused by iguanas includes eating valuable landscape plants, shrubs, and trees, eating orchids and many other flowers, eating dooryard fruit like berries, figs, mangos, tomatoes, bananas, lychees, etc. Iguanas do not eat citrus. Burrows that they dig undermine sidewalks, seawalls, and foundations. Burrows of iguanas next to seawalls allow erosion and eventual collapse of those seawalls. Droppings of iguanas litter areas where they bask. This is unsightly, causes odor complaints, and is a possible source of salmonella bacteria, a common cause of food poisoning. Adult iguanas are large powerful animals that can bite, cause severe scratch wounds with their extremely sharp claws, and deliver a painful slap with their powerful tail. Iguanas normally avoid people but will defend themselves against pets and people that try to catch them or corner them. The teeth of a green iguana are designed to shear plant material, but can deliver a painful bite to people and pets.

Credit:

Karen Wheeler, University of Florida, Ft. Lauderdale

As for myself, I am undecided wether I like them or dislike them. They are gross looking from a distance. When you look at them close up, I wonder what all of their features or parts are used for. Are the males multicolored to attract females? Yes, I’m told.

That is what we did and saw!

Key West…The Army Connection

 

Feb. 17, 2014

Key West is loaded with military branches. The Navy, Coast Guard, Naval Air Force and also the Army. What does the Army do in the Keys? The unit is called “1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne)” and according to the Naval Air Station “Flyer” news paper the unit was recently recognized by U.S. Army Operations Command for training 256 Special Forces, Ranger, Air Force, Marine Corps and Allied soldiers‘ students, who conducted more than 3,848 military dives, five static line airborne operations, five helocasting operations and 15 military freefall operations. Go Army!

All of these operations are within site of our Coast Guard RV Campground. I have witnessed the static line drop from a C130 aircraft and the helocasting from a Coast Guard version of the Army Blackhawk helicopter. Unfortunately,no camera in hand when jumping out of the C-130. The helicopter operation was at night and very little illumination involved, hence no pictures. 

Last evening, we were in the truck with all of my camera equipment and it was just about sunset. I said it would be nice to drive over onto the Coast Guard pier and shoot a few sunset pictures. I headed over to dock area when a uniformed Coast Guard lady put up her hands in ordered for me to stop. Another Coast Guardsman told me they were ready to lower the colors. For you who don’t know what this is… it is when the flag is lowered at sunset (a serious and formal time of day). I got out of my truck and stood at attention and saluted when the flag was being lowered. Thank God for this great country! Oh, no sunset pictures tonight. The flag goes down when the sun hits the horizon. This also applies to all ships. I did get a picture of this the night before on the same dock.

The same night that we were on the dock, we also observed, sort of a strange behavior, at least to us. There are always people fishing at the end of the dock. Also, we noticed a few Pelicans close by watching the fishermen and women. What really surprised us was to see the Pelicans dive after the fish on the hooks. Yes, a battle between bird and man. Now think about this, the Pelican tries to swallow the fish and remember there is a hook coming out of the fish’s mouth. Yes, the fisherman is now angling for a fish an a bird. The bird finally freed himself and the fish was landed.

I noticed on one Pelican a fairly large lure suck into his neck. I don’t know how recently the lure got stuck, but it didn’t seem to phase him a bit. What could one do after all? You can’t get close to the Pelican…he flies off when you get ten feet from him. The birds will come close to the bait box and if you don’t watch them the bait will disappear quickly. That is the extent of my fishing story for this blog.

The temperature has been cool the last few days. In the lower sixties with a wind. We actually had to wear long pants in the morning. I can only imagine how extremely cold it was in New England.

That is what we saw and did!

 

Key West…The Night Stalkers…Pictures in the Night

 

February 13, 2014

It was a windy day here at Trumbo Point. Most “Trumbonians” stayed inside their campers or did chores like groceries, laundry and such. We basically followed the crowd. The temperature this morning was 71 degrees and it actually did feel cold with the wind. My little “Tiki Bar” shelter blew over during the rain storm and lightning last night. I decided to wait a couple of days until the wind changed direction and decreased in speed to set it back up. The airport recorded a wind gust of 50 miles per hour. Twenty and thirty miles per hour was normal all day. Remember, this is the southern end of the storm that is or I should was dumping 18 inches of snow in New England.

This evening we walked to Front Street and ate at “The Commodore” …half price appetizers 4 to 6:30. We got Coconut Shrimp, Boathouse Bread and Boathouse Fish Bits. The best thing was meeting a couple of Trumbonian couples. We all sat together and had and enjoyable evening. The walk home was also a neat experience. A full moon followed our path along the many docks leading back to Trumbo. Incidentally, the full moon for this month is called the snow moon. Good luck New England with your 18 inch predicted snow fall!

The moon was a beautiful full yellow/orange. A photographer’s dream! I headed up the small and only hill to the channel bridge crossing. Time was a factor when shooting the moon. Only a few minutes before the moon rises too high in the sky with no reference to mother earth. Pictures of the moon by themselves tell no stories. You need backgrounds to show how the moon light pulls everything together. I did manage to scoot up onto the bridge, but already the moon was climbing higher in the sky. No earth shattering “Ah!” pictures tonight. I’ll keep trying, as they say practice makes perfect.

 

That is what we saw and did!