Another Busy Week

Its been a fun and busy week.  We have been enjoying increasingly warmer weather ...it was 80 degrees here today!!  I think yesterday was just as warm but we spent the day four wheeling and were shaded by the roof of our razor all day.  I can't sleep right now so I am up on my computer at 1:30 am listening to the coyotes howl!!  Seriously!

Let's see - last Friday we drove to Blythe, California,  with Ed and Jo who are from Longview, Washington.  We found a fun produce stand and bought all sorts of fresh lemons and tangelos, lettuce and tomatoes, pistaschio's and dates!  Then we went to KMart and to Albertsons....much better prices than here in Quartzsite.  Blythe is just 28 miles from Quartzsite.

Sunday we drove to Dave and Rhea's winter home in Yuma to watch the Super Bowl. Betty and Don were there too and we had a fun time - Rhea had been cooking all day long I think and Betty brought some yummies and so did I.  (I took a small basket of dates and cut them in half, removing the pit, and then spread cream cheese on them and topped them with a half of a walnut.  Delish!!  We got the idea from the samples at the produce stand in Blythe.  I normally don't care for dates but combined with the cream cheese and nuts they were great.  So we visited and ate and visited and ate...the guys watched the ball game while we visited some more.  I was/am still gimping so they babied me along but I helped out where I could.  Finally about 9:30 pm Ed and I left and drove over to the Homewood Suites where we had a room reserved....and wonderful, wonderful, they had a BATH TUB!!!  After weeks of just showers I was able to soak to my hearts content and it sure felt good on my sore knee.

Monday morning we found a store about a mile away that rented wheelchairs and got one for $15 for the day and went to Mexico for the day.  We met Rhea and Betty and Donnie for lunch and had a fun time looking at all the stuff for sale.  Bought a few things, not too much.  Most snowbirds go for the dentists or eyeglasses or prescriptions.  It seems like they have the same merchandise for sale year after year and most of it comes from China...not Mexico!

Back to Quartzsite that evening and then we hopped up the next day and headed into town to do our laundry.  Ed carried all the bags of dirty clothes in for me and then he went looking for stuff to build a wind break (for those days that are warm except for the cold north wind) and I crutched around filling the washers with clothes and soap and bleach...then on to the dryers....it seemed like it took all day but we finally got home with clean clothes, towels, sheets etc

Wednesday was crafts day for me and Ed kept busy with odd jobs all day long.  Thursday we met our group of 4 wheelin friends at the guard station coming into LaPosa South campground where we stay with our rigs loaded onto trucks and trailers and headed East on Interstate 10 about 30 miles away.  That was at 8:30 in the morning so we were all well bundled to keep warm because it was still in the 50's when we got the bikes unloaded and headed down the trails.  I should say all of us were well bundled except for Edward who was in his short sleeved shirt and knee length jeans!  I got cold just looking at him!

 We went back into the KOFA Wildlife Refuge and saw some gorgeous country.  Here we are heading up a hill with Jo on her Polaris right in front of us.

 Lots of thorny trees, bushes and Rocks....that is what we see everywhere we look around here in this Desert of Western Arizona.

 I took several pictures trying to get the three or four machines all in a line going up this hill but the sun was right in my face and I couldn't get a good shot...so again, just Jo.

 I thought this escarpment was interesting - also the fact that it continued on in front of us across the road made it even more so!

 Looking down at a desert canyon as we drive along the route.

 One of our stops at an old  cabin built in the 30's - one of the few cabins built with wood in this area from long ago.  Most were built with the easiest materials at hand...which would be ROCKS.  There were 10 rigs with 12 people in our group.

 Kathy and Carolyn - getting ready to go check out the cabin.

 Just a beautiful mountain

 or should I say cliffside

 We got to see lots and lots of Saguerros, Palo Verde trees, Yucca plants, paddle cacti, Teddy bear choya, plus a few yellow flowers and lavender flowers!  By the time the day was over we had taken off the coats and hats and gloves and sweatshirts and were down to jeans and t shirts - nice weather for four wheeling in February.  We traveled a total of 70 miles on bikes over some really rough but beautiful terrain.  It was 5:30 pm by the time we got back to our trailers.  My poor knee was just aching from all the jouncing it got over those rough roads....and that was from JUST sitting in our side by side.  I wouldn't have been able to go if I had been driving my own ATV.

 This was last months trip - you can see we were bundled.

 The Ocatilla have blossomed and now their fresh new leaves make them look so pretty - they are still covered with thorns though.

 A view up the hill

 I took these pictures from my 'front porch'....I wanted to get the skyline all lit up just as the sun is going down.  This is the view looking East.

 This is the view looking West....it is beautiful

 This is our yard.  As you can see, Ed has spent a lot of time laying out the driveway (hence the rock lines) and it lights up at night with our solar lamps.  You can see Ed and Jo's trailer ---they are are nearest neighbors to the South of us.

...this is the 'wash' next to our trailer...I just hung a hummingbird feeder in that middle tree yesterday as the hummers are starting to show up.

Just another view....you can see that we are well spread out here but we get together with our neighbors almost every day with different activities at the group Tent (BIG) ...dances, parties, TV, movies, karaoke, crafts, etc.

Next time I will take pictures of our trailer and 'front porch' or rather big mat that we set out chairs and chaise lounges on.

Anyway - that was the pictures (plus some) of Thursday's big ATV ride - we left our trailer at 8 am and got back home at 6 pm, so it made for a long day.  I figured that I probably redamaged my knee with all the bouncing and jouncing but my knee felt better the next day than it has in a long time!!

Friday morning we got up, ate breakfast and headed in to town to the 'QIA for their local swap meet and Ed set up his two generators that he is trying to sell plus his motorbike he wants to sell.  I added some necklaces and watches.  There are so many people here making jewelry that it is really hard to sell any necklace sets but the watches were popular.  I sold four of them.  Ed didn't sell anything.

Ed went over to K&B tools to get what stuff he needed to build us a five foot tall windbreak to go in front of our trailer while I went after groceries and the mail.  We met back up and headed back to the trailer about 2 pm - it was so warm in our trailer we immediately had to open all the windows and vents and the big back door to make it livable.

Today was a relaxing day - reading, making a new necklace, visiting with friends and then going over to the big tent tonight to see War Horse.  Goooooood movie!!  We thoroughly loved it both of us -- I cried the whole last 30 minutes of the movie.
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Tomorrow is church and Monday I need to go find somewhere to get  my nails done and then Tuesday is the poker run (ATV ride) over in Brenda.  Should be fun.

Friends

I truly expected that our stay down here in Quartzsite would be quite relaxing and somewhat boring. I knew for a fact that I would be chafing at the bit to get home and play with grandkids and visit with kids and friends. Plus my visits with dad would be far and few between.

Not boring...no!! In fact I told Ed yesterday that we needed a couple of QUIET days with nothing and no one but us .

We got back to Quartzsite on Friday the 6th of January, and yes, Saturday we did veg, except for going over to the tent for our daily gab fest at 4. Sunday was church and Monday and Tuesday were all day ATV rides. Wed I went to our ladies craft meeting at the tent where my good friend Patty from Bear Mtn taught us how to make bird feeders/solar lamps out of clear glass jars, bowls, ashtrays, etc. Mine turned out cute.

Then we headed over to New River, AZ to visit with Ken and Jane that evening where we stayed until Saturday. Home Saturday and we went to church on Sunday again. Monday ATV ride and then I hurt my knee Monday night. All day Tuesday in Parker at the ER/instacare facility at the hospital where I got x-rayed and examined and finally issued big knee brace and crutches. Wednesday was a quieter day ...didn't go to craft day. Thursday was the beginning of the WinterFest activities - it was a fun weekend with a Wild Wild West theme. We started it off with a poker run ...there were 27 of us on ATV's following the trail that Ed and I and Patty and Gary and Robert and Melvina had laid out on the Monday I was injured. We had hung blue and white streamers from the bushes and trees to mark the trail. Everyone started at the tent, signed in, paid their $5 fee and drew their first card. About 8 miles into the trail (mostly across the desert and through some beautiful washes) we stopped at the first station and drew a second card. Another 8 miles we ended up in the mountains West and South of Quartzsite at Deer Run - a fun spot on a popular trail, where we drew our third card. By this point I had a 2, a 5 and a 3. Your dad had a pair of 10's and one other card. Back on the trail again down the mountain and over to one of the old stone mountains that dot the area (original pioneer dwellings....built with rocks and mud as there was no wood around) now falling down...for card #4. I got an 8,,,your dad got a queen. Then the last leg of the trip was back through the washes and across highway 95 to La Posa South campground and back to the tent for card #5. Ed's hand ended with the pair of tens. I picked up a seven. We were actually a little bit excited about my hand because there were two prizes, one for the best hand and one for the worst (and lowest) hand. I had a chance at winning the lousy hand!

Friday we had a weiner roast as a group and then a sock hop that night (no I didn't get to dance, not with my knee!! But at least I could hobble without the brace and the crutches.) Everyone brought munchies to share and we had some fantastic old 50's and 60's music...and the winners of the poker run were announced...and yes!! I WON!! for having the worst hand in the group

;-P But hey, I won fifty bucks!!

Saturday morning we all met for biscuits and gravy for breakfast. We carried our own hot chocolate as the other choices were coffee or tea. At 1 in the afternoon one of our neighbors gave a good basic class on how to protect and clean up your computer. We actually had 29 people show up at the tent with computer, hot spots, cords, and plugs---I was afraid we'd blow the generator but it held up just fine.

At 6:30 that evening was Casino night where we all paid five bucks for a handful of monopoly money and spent the evening having fun. I played poker bingo which is fun and easy and there were about 7 other ladies that played the whole evening with us. I won three hands and lost lots more. There was a costume contest for the best "western" dress and some of them had really gone to a lot of effort and made some beautiful dresses. We had cowboys and indians and dance hall girls. Next year I will do better costume wise but with a bum leg so I couldn't go shopping at the local salvation army store and no sewing machine to make something with, so we simply wore normal clothes.

After the games at 9 pm we took our winnings (and whatever was left of our losings) and spent the next hour in the middle of an auction for all sorts of fun stuff that was donated for the cause. I donated a pair of my feathery earrings, a couple of necklaces, a couple of watches and a pair of foot bracelets (more on that later). We had a great fun time with that.

Sunday morning we went back over to the tent for another hot breakfast of eggs and sausage and potatoes - delicious. Then Ed and I went back to the trailer and got ready for church and headed in for a wonderful Sacrament Meeting. Ed watched football games all day Sunday while I waded through 25 pages of paperwork on dad's VA application while writing up an email to send to Kelly and Jeff telling them what to do with it when they got it! After I finished that I pulled out the ward history and added the last three items (that we had been waiting a week for !) and emailed it to Ed so he could print it out for me so that we could mail it today too. Except Ed's mouse and mousepad has been going out and it died totally and he couldn't print anything out. So I punted - I emailed our counselor in our ward bishopric and also the stake historian and told them I was emailing them the written part of the history and mailing them the pictures and would they please put them all together when they got them. That worked.

So Monday, today we left our trailer at 11:00 am to head into town - generally a 15 minute trip but with the big show opening up this weekend the traffic was backed up the full three miles from Quartzsite to the entrance to our campground. So we crept into town and went to the post office - the line was impossibly long and I refused to wait the two hours it would have taken to get up to the window to buy the envelopes and have them weighed. Instead we drove down the street to the grocery store where we bought three manila envelopes and I put the VA paperwork on the grocery scale to find out how much it weighed and put my own stamps on everything and took it back to the post office and dropped it off. That only took us an hour and 45 minutes !!! The traffic is crazy in this one horse town right now.

Then we met up with Kitty and Larry who are spending tonight with us and then heading on North. We have Chuck and Donna from Bear Mtn who are staying Thursday and Friday with us before they head back to Idaho. At happy hour tonight Dave and Joyce said when things slow down with our schedule they want to take us out to dinner and Larry and Kathy invited us over for some games one night next week....we still want to go over past Brenda to find where Donny and Betty are living so we can visit with them....and Susan and Dell still want us to go down to visit with them in Mesa!

Ed and Jo are already making plans for the four of us to do some major sightseeing this summer in Washington where they live and then down to Bear Mtn for a few days and then to the mtns of Northern and Southern Utah......

we are supposed to be bored!! Things are simply getting busier and busier although we have to say we ARE HAVING FUN!!!

Thursday January 5, 2012 -picked up dad and went to visit the lawyer, Eric Barnes.  He is an Elder Care Lawyer and I was very impressed with his manner and knowledge.  He is going to help us set up dad’s trust from a revocable trust to an irrevocable trust so that we can apply for VA benefits for dad and still able to sell the house when in order to continue to keep dad in the assisted living.

After taking dad back to his apartment Ed and I headed South towards  Quartzsite.   We stopped for the night in Mesquite.  My cousin Brenda got us a really good deal on a lovely room for the night at the Eureka and then to top it off she took us out to dinner !!   Talk about service with a smile.  Bob and Maysen joined us. 

Friday - We woke up at 6:48 am (Nevada time) and got up and got rolling so we made it to Quartzsite about 3 pm.  Our little trailer was sitting there safe and sound just waiting for us.  Everyone at the circle welcomed us back.

Saturday we could have gotten up and gone back into town for the QIA (Quartzsite Improvement Association) monthly craft sale and booked a table for five bucks but we didn’t – we just begged.  It got up to 75 degrees – no wind….gorgeous day.  We laid out on the chaise lounges and read for quite a while. 

Sunday – Church – always feel so young among that crowd!!  It’s great.  Then we went on a fun ATV ride with a bunch of other people that afternoon.  There were a total of 12 rigs – about 16 people altogether.  Fun but we had a cool wind blowing from the north so we stayed bundled up the whole ride.  I got out to hike to the top of a little knoll and somehow walked through a bunch of teddy bear cholla and had stickers all over my shoes.  Even sticking into my feet.  Ed had to drive the four wheeler to the top of the hill to pick me up as I couldn’t walk.  I climbed into the razor and spent the next 30 minutes pulling needles out of my shoes and socks (plus the three Ed pulled out of my feet…OW!)

Monday – went into town to wander through the open air shops in Tyson Wells.  I wasn’t going to buy anything except a set of new sheets (I took my others home before Christmas and washed them and forgot to bring them back)  Well – of course these guys are all getting ready for the rock and mineral show so they all have rock beads ….cheap.  I had to buy a few here and a few there and I’ve noted where I want to go back to.  Too much fun.

Tuesday – another ATV ride – this time we hopped in the truck with Ed and Jo and my Ed and Patty and Gary came along too and we went to the Brenda Valley just to the East of Quartzsite about 13 miles. Gorgeous ride – pretty country…so much more interesting than just the hills and desert and cactus of Quartzsite. 

Wednesday – our weekly ladies craft group got together and we made the glass birdfeeders like we bought in Idaho last summer.  I made a cute one but instead of a birdfeeder we put a solar lamp in it so it will be a night light.  Now I need to go to the garage sales and swap meets and find some cheap crystal plates, ashtrays, sherbet bowls etc. to make some more.  I think I am going to show Jeff and see if he wants to make and sell them at his farmers markets that he goes to.  I don’t think we will stay home long enough this summer to do it ourselves.  After the class was over we hopped in the truck and drove East to Phoenix and then North up to New River to meet up with Ken and Jane.  We will be staying here for three nights!!   They are such fun people. 

We may not be resting but we are sure having lots and lots of fun!

Thursday January 12…We are staying with Ken and Jane in their RV…we headed out after breakfast to see the trail that Jane and Ken have been working on here at their RV park.  Jane is one of the most creative people I have ever made and she had come up with so many cute ideas for the walking trail.  In fact, they park their trailer here at no charge in exchange for the work they are doing on the trail.  She has made dinosaur island, and frog hollow is in the plans.  There are pixies and gnomes and alligator’s and bigfoots all along the trail.  It will take them several years to get it all done.  I hurt my knee walking about a week ago just before I headed down South – pulled a muscle and have been very thankful for the hot spot heating pad Mauri gave me for Christmas as it fits under my knee at the bend just perfectly.  It has really been bothering me the last few days and after our hike completely around the RV park I barely limped back to the trailer.  I have tried to keep it elevated.  Tomorrow I am going to try cold on it as the heat that really helped the first part of the week isn’t helping it know.

We went into Cave Creek, AZ for lunch at a fun Mexican restaurant and then walked through a fun store called the City Dump!!  It has all sorts of yard and house art – it was fun to walk through it but it didn’t help my knee any.  We headed back to the trailer for naps and reading and then this evening we watched Jeff Foxworthy and his group…hilarious.  Finished off the evening with lots of visiting and then a trip over to the hot tub.  Fun day!

Quartzsite in November

We got here Monday and the temperature was 74.  It has gotten warmer each day...today it was 79!  The wind did pick up but at 10 pm tonight it is still 65 degrees outside.   I don't know if the wind is bringing in a storm or not...we still don't have our DISH set up so we haven't been able to watch the news.

 If you look closely you will see the 'friend' that came to visit today...a baby tarantula.  Probably and inch and a half in diameter.  Surprisingly enough I didn't immediately smash him...I took his picture instead.

 I'm sitting here on the chaise lounge and this is the view I have.   Lots of rock and dirt and cactus!

 A better view of the greenery!

Tomorrow we are going on an ATV trip with a bunch of friends.  We are driving the truck South (with the Razor in the back) to the stone cabin halfway between here and Yuma and then we will four wheel into the back country down there.  It should be a fun day.  Its supposed to be windy but warm.  We have a lunch packed and are looking forward to it

The Cruise

 Tuesday October 25 we hopped on the cruise ship at the Ft Lauderdale port and headed out to sea.   We headed to the Bahama's first of all to a gorgeous island called Half Moon Cay.  We got there and immediately signed up for the sting ray excursion.  They took us about five miles from the port to a quiet little bay where we got to snorkle and swim with some wonderful sting rays.  I was amazed at how soft they were.  We got to feed them baby squids!  We swam with them about 40 minutes - saw lots of colorful fish and sea cucumbers.  Then they took us back to the beach where we soaked up the rays for about 3 hours.  The sand was the softest finest sand I have ever experienced.  Almost like sugar but not so sticky.

 I had to add all the towel art that we enjoyed each night as we got back to our rooms after dinner - that plus chocolate candies ...

 I loved it how he used my sunglasses with most of them!

 Cool rabbit

 I guess crabs don't wear glasses!!

 Then we headed to Key West - we spent Friday and Saturday night there.  We got chased back to the boat both nights with HEAVY heavy rains.  Here we are on the trolley ride through the streets of Key West Saturday night.  This is the famous Green Parrot restaurant in Key West.  This was the beginning of a 7 hour day that included a one hour tour of Key West, and a six hour catamaran trip out in the ocean.  We started with a nummy breakfast of quiche and juice and muffins as we rode out eight miles to the barrier reef where we snorkeled.  Ed jumped off of the side of the boat into the water while I took the easier route of climbing down the steps into the ocean.  The seas were somewhat rougher and the water wasn't as clear as we had hoped for.  Within 15 feet of leaving the boat I watched as a six foot long SHARK swam right in front of me.  I quit moving (DUH!) and thought ..what is the difference between a dolphin and a shark (I really wanted it to BE A dolphin!) but then I thought, no way is this a dolphin...it is so sleek ...but he wasn't the least bit interest in me....I kept looking behind me to make sure he didn't turn around and come after me but I didn't see him again.  The guides told us that if we ran into something scary we only had to swim faster than the guy next to us ;-D...but there was no one close to me!  So I continued swimming over to the reef and thoroughly enjoyed all the gorgeous brightly colored fish.  They had warned us that we may see jelly fish and to stay clear of them.  These didn't have a REAL bad sting ...it would only hurt for about 20 minutes.  I saw three of the ethereal floating jelly fish -  pink in color.  I swam away from them but thoroughly enjoyed them.

After we left the reef then they took us over to mule island where we got to kayak - saw some gorgeous birds and learned a little about the flora and fauna of the area.  We also swam in the ocean but with the strong waves we didn't stay out long. They set up lunch for us then - wonderful salads, everything was delicious including the four inch fresh shrimp - a huge bowl of them - yuuuuummmm!  Then they raised the sails and we sailed for about an hour.  We had hoped to see dolphins too, but there were none to be seen.  They took us back to the port and we got to walk through Key West about a mile back to the boat.  It was a seven hour tour - we left at 8:15 and arrived back at port at 3:30 - what a fun fun fun day.

 Here I am heading back to the ship with my towel slung over my shoulder.

 Another day at sea (they were the relaxing days while the days in port were busy)  Then we landed at Grand Turk, part of the British West Indies.  Here is the view of the beach from where we got off the boat.  We had time to go and grab a bite to eat at Margaritaville - the only place to eat, before we caught the van to a spot on the other side of the island.  It was another beautiful beach.  They proceeded to teach us how to SNUBA...another great experience.  We were able to swim right down along the sea floor about 15-20 feet down.  Ed and I are now talking about maybe taking scuba lessons.

  Did you know that Grand Turk island was the landing area for John Glenn!!  They had an interesting display.  You can see Ed standing with our swim bag in his hand.  We were finally able to buy a few souveniers for family members here at Grand Turk.  We had planned on buying them at Key West but got chased back to the boat both nights with heavy rain.

So we had another wonderful day at the beach - both snuba'ing and snorkeling and shopping at the little native stores.

One more day at sea and then back to Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday morning.  We ate escargot and frog legs and all sorts of wonderful meals.  We met a lot of warm and wonderful people and make some fantastic memories.

Parrot Island

 Sunday we got together with Ken and Jane and headed to Miami to see Parrot Island.  It is a nature park with all sorts of Islands.  Kind of expensive but not when you realize that alot of the monies go to research to help many of the endangered species of birds and animals there.

 As we headed into the Serpentariam we saw this cute pirate ship heading out into the ocean with a full load of passengers.

 Somehow the pirate ship loses a little of its reality when put in front of one of the MANY high rise apartment buildings right on the ocean front.

 This is the serpentarium and we figured it would be a show about lizards and snakes but actually it was a fun active show that took us around the world with all sorts of different animals - from monkies, to alpacas to lemurs, to the Everglades Alligator.

This little guy had just pulled the elastic out of his workers hair - he really like playing in it!

 He was really just adorable though

 Did you know Lemurs JUMP??  They are amazingly agile.  And soft - one of the handlers walked around the whole crowd brushing us with his long tail

After we finished at the Serpentarium show we walked through the park looking at all of the beautiful displays and fun animals.  This was a stream running under a bridge we walked over - we could see a Blue heron under and through the trees but couldn't get a good picture of it. As we stopped and watched the heron we realized the turtles and gar fish were gathering in the water under us

 It was as if they were waiting for us to feed them.  So I bought a quarter's worth of food and boy - it entertained us for a half hour -

Ed took this picture - the turtles head is just above the water after he ate one of the food bits

This is a sausage tree!!  there are some fascinating trees and flowers and bushes in Florida

We got to feed the parrots

If you look in my hand you can see the cup of nectar I fed him with

This is Jane and Ken who went to Parrot Island with us - fun fun couple - good friends of Kitty and Larry who we invited on the trip

Fun picture of the three of us (grin)

I am surprised these guys don't weigh 20 pounds each, they were greedy little buggers!

Cute picture of my boyfriend!

Loved the soft cream coloring of this cockatoo

Isn't this one gorgeous

I am hoping that these flamingoes will look better if you double click on the picture - they look washed out here but were a fantabulous coral in real life

We had a fun fun day.  Yesterday we spent at Haulover Beach in Miami - we are sitting in the lobby of the hotel right now waiting for the shuttle to come and pick us up and my camera is lost in the depths of my suitcase so I can't download those pictures yet.

So long for at least a week until we get internet access again.

We flew to Ft Lauderdale on Monday Oct 17th - it was warm but very overcast.  The humidity didn't seem too bad.   It was rainy when we headed out to dinner that first evening but not too bad.  You can imagine our surprise when we watched the news that night and saw the coverage of the tornado that had hit in Ft Lauderdale.  We didn't worry - its a big city...until Ed got online and discovered that the tornado had hit less than five miles away from the Hampton Inn we were staying at!  I guess all in all about 20 homes were demolished.  A few people were injured but thank Heavens there was no one killed.  About the time we were trying to go to sleep I heard a low rumbling outside and jumped out of bed expecting to look out the window and see another tornado heading towards us and it was barely raining...it was a truck going down the street.

Since it was too rainy the next morning to go sightseeing or to the beach we decided to drive down through the Keys.  It was a fascinating drive.  It took us all day long but was definitely worth it.

This is one of the many bridges - we are heading up and over the bridge to another key.  I had no idea there are that many different islands...some are big and some are teensy.  

This is one of the teensy ones~

I just noticed the date is wrong on these pictures.  This was Tuesday the 18th.  As we drove through the many keys we found it was difficult to see past the 8 foot tall wall of greenery that was growing - actually large bushes that totally hid either ocean (or gulf) or houses.  We got pretty good at picking out the larger islands very quickly by the quality of stores along the highway.  If they were rundown and dilapidated looking then it would be a little island.  If there were nice stores and banks and hotels then we could see that behind all of the greenery there were streets and homes.

There were some gorgeous homes right on the ocean - I can imagine the cost of property anywhere along the keys.  One thing we did NOT see were any beaches.

I heard that the keys got about 21 inches of rain Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  There was water standing everywhere we looked.

If you look closely you will see that 10:28 am that morning the temperature 78 degrees.    By 2 o'clock that afternoon it was still looking like this (heavy heavy rains) and 84 degrees.   Everytime we stopped the car to get out we expected it to be cold but it was soooo warm instead.


We Finally got to Key West about 3 1/2 hours later - found a cute little restaraunt and had some fantastic sandwiches.  We walked down Duval Street to the end - Ed took a picture of me in front of marker showing the most farthest South point of the continental United States.  Of course - that picture is on HIS camera.  There was a little bitsy beach with actual sand there...but we figured they probably brought it in.

So then we walked back to the car and drove the last two blocks a different direction to the end of US Highway #1....note the green mile marker showing "0".  We finally got back to the hotel about 8:30 that night ....long day!

Wednesday morning it was still rainy so we called Ed's brother Allen and got the phone for our niece and her family.   Melissa and Beau moved to Naples Florida this last Spring.  Looking at the map of Florida we realized that Naples is almost straight across the state from Florida.  We talked to the Manager of our hotel and he said it would be a straight shot due West across the State.  He said it was not a pretty drive and we just looked at each other and said - how many times have we driven across Utah or Idaho.  We talked to Melissa and decided we would aim for about 5 pm.  We had some time to kill before we headed to Naples and with the wet weather we wandered through a huge mall in Ft Lauderdale.

We drove the two hours due West across Alligator Alley (didn't see a single alligator the whole day!!) and had a fun visit with Melissa and her girls and Beau.  Avenley and Paisley very quickly as another set of grandparents.  They had a beautiful apartment and we were quite impressed with the areas of Naples that we drove through.  

We took them out to dinner at Moe's which is very much like Cafe Rio only without the barbacoa pork ---but it was delicious anyway.  We had a wonderful visit with all four of them and they seemed tickled that we would take the time to drive to Naples and see them.

After dinner we headed back to Ft Lauderdale and got back to to hotel about 9:15.  Long fun day.

Thursday we checked out of the hotel and headed North to Palm Beach where we had reserved a cabin at a resort.  It was sunny and in the mid seventies and it was hilarious to hear the complaints of all those around us concerning how cold it was!!  To us it has been just perfect - not too hot, not too cold.

Thursday was quiet and Friday much more busy.  Friday night I got to go to a 'gong temple' and have a sound wave relaxation therapy.  It was relaxing and quite beautiful.  I lay on a massage table with a huge gong on each side of me and the couple that did it created some gorgeous tones with the gongs.  I could feel the stress roll out of my toes!!  Quite interesting.

Saturday Kitty and Larry and Ken and Jane and Lee all showed up at the same resort.  We knew they were coming.  All of us are from Utah - and we are all going on the cruise together.  We will all head back to Ft Lauderdale tomorrow - the cruise is on Tuesday.  We haven't decided what we are going to go do or see tomorrow - it would be nice if we could find an LDS church to go to.

More to come....