A Trip to a New Beach

This morning after breakfast, we decided to pack up the trusty bike trailer and bike to Sombrero Beach that was about 9 miles away from our campsite. Once again, we were able to bike the entire distance on the bike trail.

Sombrero Beach turned out to be a beautiful public beach with a nice picnic area, playground, etc. The sand and water was beautiful!

We sat on the beach for awhile and then ate the lunch we brought. In the early afternoon, we started biking back stopping along the way at the grocery store to pick up some more groceries.

Greg wanted to get back to the campsite to do some more windsurfing with his buddy, Jay. Jay and Greg met last year - they share a passion for windsurfing. Jay is 82 years old . . . . so Greg is very excited about all the windsurfing years he has ahead!

At the end of the afternoon, we went down to the beach to hear some music. Tonight's performance was given by two retired teachers from Michigan - it was fun. A lot of the songs were about camping in the Keys.

A Fun Day For Us Both!

The day started with a cup of coffee and some writing in my journal - it's wonderful to slow down enough to think and focus on all that I am thankful for in my life.

After cleaning up, Greg went for a long bike ride and I went for an hour walk. I'm working on my Spanish for the Mexico trip to the Casa Hogar orphanage, so I got an hour in with "Coffee Break Spanish." My goal this year is to be able to carry on some simple conversations! :-)

 We decided to go kayaking in the afternoon after lunch - we rented a double kayak at the ranger station. One of the features of Curry Hammock State Park is the large mangrove lagoon - there is a kayak trail that takes you through some really narrow passageways through the mangroves.

We had fun winding through the passageways as well as kayaking on the open body of water.

While Greg went windsurfing, I did one of my other favorite things - read a book! What a luxury to read a good book.

The end of the afternoon, we did some puttering - things like doing a little laundry, cleaning up, showering, etc.



We saw another wonderful sunset - Another great day in paradise!

Someone is One Happy Guy :-)

A perfect day . . . . first a long bike ride on a great trail!

Next a couple of hours kayaking in a beautiful mangrove area.
Mix in beautiful sunny skies, 82 degrees and just the right amount of humidity.

Finally, top it off with some late afternoon windsurfing.

I can see why Greg loves Florida so much! :-)

Unwinding and Finding a New Slower Pace

Here is our site at Curry Hammock - the ocean is just beyond the back of our motor home. You can see we have lots of privacy, too, with shrubs on both sides - why we love State Parks over RV parks any day!

After breakfast, we biked into Marathon to get some more fresh food - I made and froze almost all our meals for the month ahead of time, but we are supplementing with fresh fruit and vegies. The bike trip is about 15 miles round trip down a great bike trail the entire way - so the bike riding is very safe.

 Weather is spectacular - that's definitely the advantage of coming all the way down to the Keys. We've heard from others that northern Florida is cold, rainy and cloudy. You can see our weather is glorious - sunny with a nice breeze for an afternoon of windsurfing!

We also had a chance to talk to Mike and wish him a Happy Birthday! Hard to believe 26 years have passed since he was born.

 Here's a scene at the beach right behind our motor home - very beautiful. After admiring the sunset, we grilled some chicken and then headed inside.

This year I'm determined to outwit the "no see ums" (tiny, monsterous bugs that ate me alive last year) and not get bit up by going out unprotected in the dawn or dusk! :-)

In the Keys at Last

Greg picked me up at the Miami airport - other than lots of traffic getting out of Miami, the trip was flawless. We got back to Curry Hammock State Park (near Marathon, FL) at about 8:30 p.m. and enjoyed dinner in our "home away from home."

I didn't last much longer as I arrived very tired from an extremely busy week.

Betsy Left Town in the Nick of Time!

While Greg was enjoying record temperatures in the Florida Keys, Betsy was still back in Minnesota with a busy week and weekend working the Annual Home Remodeling Fair. All weekend long, there was talk about a big snowstorm hitting Minnesota - the first for the season. As the weekend went on, it appeared the snowstorm was tracking to arrive on Tuesday! YEAH! I flew out of Minneapolis without incident on Monday knowing that I was getting out of snow country in the nick of time.


(Snowmen courtesy of the neighbor boys!)

Curry Hammock State Park

On Wednesday, Greg drove from Sebastian Inlet State Park to Curry Hammock State Park in the Keys where he (we) will be staying for two weeks. He actually is staying in the same campsite as last year.

He arrived at the campground late in the afternoon and got all set up.

Another beautiful sunset!!