Saturday, February 01, 2014

Calm Seas and Sunshine

 

Sunshine Key Rv Resort and Marina, Ohio Key, Florida  (high 82, low 71)

 

The weather cooperated and yesterday, we finally got our early morning walk on the fishing bridge.

We took light jackets, but quickly found out they were not needed. 

This is what some of the streets looked like after all the rain on Thursday.

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Fortunately, there are no puddles on our site.  Some people weren’t as lucky.  The sites you see here to the right are right on the water but the first few don’t have sewer connections, for some reason.  Sunshine Key does a pump out service for these people.

Here is a picture of these same sites from the top of the bridge.

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We can’t get a reservation at these waterfront sites if we use our Thousand Trails membership with discounts, so I guess we’ll never be having this wonderful view.

Sunshine Key Rv Resort and Marina takes up the entire island of Ohio Key.  I guess they decided Sunshine Key is sexier than calling it Ohio Key Rv Resort and Marina.

Sunshine Key is right off the Overseas highway, which is the main road through all of the Keys.  The campground is quite a bit lower than the highway.   We walked up to the road and then on to the old bridge.  They were nice enough to keep the old bridge and make it into a very nice, and popular fishing bridge.  There are trash cans every few feet, but unfortunately some of the fishermen can’t be bothered to use them. 

This is the beginning of the first span of the fishing bridge.  Notice all the trash cans?

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You can keep going,  and walk or bike all the way to Marathon Key if you like.  You would have to walk over the 7 Mile bridge though. Actually you could walk or bike either up to Key Largo or down to Key West and have a nice bicycle trail most all the way.

The next picture is going over the 7 Mile bridge.  I wouldn’t want to ride a bike over it, but a lot of people do.  It looks like a good place to get hit by a car to me.

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We opted to just walk along the fishing bridge.  We like to look down into the water to see all the fish.  A little later in the year, we’ll start to see the beautiful spotted Leopard Rays.   We always look forward to seeing them.

The sun rises on the other side of the bridge on the Atlantic side.   Unfortunately, there is a busy highway and power lines that get in the way of a good picture from this particular place.

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One of these mornings we’ll take a drive to find the perfect place to watch the sunrise.

The next pictures are taken from the fishing bridge, overlooking the bay side of the island.   The Overseas Highway divides the islands. One side is the Atlantic Ocean and the other side is the bay.

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After the bridge walk, we walked around the park for a while.

Look what we saw?   No, this is not Baxter, and no, this is not our motor home.   It an exact duplicate of our motorhome, and an almost duplicate of our cat.

 

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A few minutes after we took this picture, the owner Len came over and we compared notes about our motor homes.  He was a diesel mechanic, so we picked his brain.  We told him about the coolant leak we had before we left the cold weather in Georgia.  He said that was completely normal with cold weather and it would have quit as soon as it warmed up.  He suggested we tighten the clamps, which is what Al did.  That made us feel better.

Len and his wife Gloria have a blog also.   We exchanged cards and  Here  is their blog.   I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

 

Yesterday was a work day.  The weather was calling for mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of rain, but it was a gorgeous sunny day with no rain at all.   Just my kind of day.

Al worked on the boat.  The tail lights on the trailer weren’t working, which is normal when you submerge your trailer in salt water.  It had submersible lights on it, but they still don’t quite last forever.  He decided to get completely new lights and wiring, because there was no way to open the plastic housing where the bulbs and wires were housed.  Fortunately our Home Depot has a good selection of boating supplies.  Only in the Keys, huh?

We were hoping to drop the boat off in Key Largo for the new motor today (Saturday), but he didn’t quite get the new trailer lights finished up.  I guess it will have to wait until Tuesday since they are closed Sunday and Monday.  We’re hoping it will be done quickly and we can start using the boat.  Yesterday was a gorgeous day on the water with flat calm seas.  We could have taken the kayaks, but the trailer lights got first priority.  Oh well.

I spent my day puttering around the house, doing some laundry and cleaning.  I rode into town with Al for parts and then sat outside and read for a while. 

At the clubhouse last night, they had a Blues Brothers tribute show.  It was $7 per person but unfortunately we weren’t here when the advance tickets were sold a few weeks ago.  We walked by and looked in the window.  It looked really good.  We were sorry we missed it.  This month they are having a Tina Turner tribute.  We’re hoping we’ll be able to get tickets for this.  There is a limited space in the clubhouse, so tickets are first come, first serve.

 

I managed to sleep in this morning….until 5:15!   I’m working on sleeping a little longer.  My problem is that when I go someplace new and fun, I’m excited to start my day.  Unfortunately, I was a little draggy yesterday, so I am trying to sleep in a bit.

Today is the flea market day.  We always enjoy going because they have wonderful fresh produce and often nice fresh pink Key West shrimp.   Al thinks he needs shrimp for superbowl.

It looks like another gorgeous day.  Maybe we’ll be able to get the kayaks out for a while.

11 comments:

  1. Fresh shrimp anytime is awesome.
    Soon you will have your boat out on the water.

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  2. The Superbowl is a good excuse to eat shrimp. :)

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  3. I wouldn't walk over that bridge let alone bike over it.

    When we had the motor home, we debated about getting Bella one of those window boxes. But since we were in warm weather most of the time, we just left her outside on her leash.

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  4. We are planning to cross off the Keys from our Life List this Fall...we are so excited. I have been there once but Jerry has not so we want to see it together. Enjoy the Shrimp, we never need an excuse for Seafood...

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  5. Isn't it amazing how the trailer lights (or anything on the trailer or boat) just has to come first. I can definitely relate. But you will have such a great time when it is running good. Beautiful park.

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  6. Great review of your spot in the Keys. Hope all goes as planned in getting the boat in the water.

    We had planned on heading to Marathon today but some family challenges are causing us to delay our trip south for two more weeks. Looking forward to kayaking in those beautiful waters.

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  7. You can't eat shrimp for the Super Bowl! They aren't greasy and crunchy enough and are too low in calories. You'll be setting an American tradition back 100 years! Just think of all the Rolaids employees you'll be tossing out of a job... ;c)

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  8. Fresh shrimp sounds great to me!

    Cool cat box, and they are up off the ground and safe from wandering dogs.... or other critters like gators, coyotes or javalinas if they were tied out on a leash.


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    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
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  9. The campground sure looks great from the bridge.

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  10. I like the fishing bridge...what a nice walk!! The 7 mile bridge is one I don't think I would want to walk or bike across. I agree with you, too dangerous!!
    Glad you all found your twin!! I'll check out their blog!!

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