Saturday, March 14, 2015

Interesting Scenes from Around the Florida Keys

 

Cudjoe Key, Florida (high 85, low 75)

 

Al is at physical therapy, and I am home waiting for the truck to deliver the new toilet.  We are hoping the installation won’t be a big problem, but with Al’s bad shoulder, and the tight space in our bathroom, we’re not looking forward to the job.  Rick has offered his assistance for the installation, but we sure hate to have to take him up on his very kind offer.   Replacing your own toilet is bad enough, but to do it for someone else?   Ewwww.

I have been taking some photos here and there in our travels and I wanted to post a few.

 

Key West is an interesting town with interesting people and places to photograph.

This is houseboat row.  I think it might be fun to live on a houseboat, don’t you?

houseboats in Key West

The drive around the Keys is always scenic.  I have no idea how many bridges there are.

IMG_8655

I believe these are Mimosa.  We had them in south Georgia and I never knew they grew here.

Mimosa

This is a shot from our rv site of the full moon last week.  It was huge and orange when it first appeared.  I never quite captured exactly how beautiful it was.

moon over VO

IMG_8694

IMG_8680

 

We got some pretty good rains yesterday, as you can see from our view from the window. 

IMG_8809

 

The March winds are blowing.  According to our Weatherbug App, we have 32 mph gusts.  I believe it.  We don’t mind, since we can’t take the boat out anyway.

After the rain, we decided to take a drive over to the Sugarloaf resort tiki bar for happy hour.  It was an interesting place, with a nice waterfront view, which I neglected to photograph.

We started seeing iguanas as soon as we drove up.

iguana

This guy was eating something in the grass.

IMG_8815

As we walked out towards the water, we noticed this popular pelican roosting area.

pelican roost

pelican roost

pelican roost

Notice the blimp behind the pelicans?  That’s Fat Albert, which is used to monitor drug smuggling.  I think they also keep an eye on the illegal boats coming here from Cuba.  If you missed yesterdays blog about that, check it HERE to see an actual boat that arrived in the Keys with 17 Cubans onboard and learn about the wet foot/dry foot policy on Cuban immigrants.

pelican roost with blimp

Along the pier, we noticed a small nurse shark peacefully swimming by.

nurse shark

It was an interesting area.  When we walked back towards the tiki bar, we had to cross this bridge.  Uh oh….there were two iguanas resting on the bridge and I wasn’t going to walk there unless they moved.  Fortunately, as soon as we approached, they jumped off the bridge and onto the mangrove shrub, and away from my path.

iguana

As we walked further, we noticed two larger ones on the rock embankment.  Our approach scared them away.  One made a running dive into the water and swam underwater all the way to the other side.

I missed the jump, but here he is swimming.

iguana

The next picture shows how far he swam underwater.

IMG_8842

Here he is, safe in a mangrove shrub.

iguana

Here are a few larger ones.

iguana

iguana

The iguanas are not native to the Keys are are causing trouble with the native species, but they are definitely interesting creatures, especially the large ones.

 

update:

The new toilet arrived right on time, but it was Friday the 13th, so things went downhill from there.  I’m not ready to post about our issues now.  More later.   grrrrrr       We’re off to the Seafood Festival in Marathon today, so it should be a better day.

11 comments:

  1. We're currently in the Keys so it's fun to see your pictures of things we've seen while we've been here!

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  2. The offer still stands. Just give us a call. With all the toilets I've changed in my life one more is no different.
    Have fun at the festival. With Kathy's allergy to shrimp we pass on those kind of things.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  3. A shrimp festival sounds a whole lot better than toilet duty any day!

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  4. I agree with Judy. sounds like it was a difficult install but you must have accomplished it if you are off to the festival. Would Iguanas bite you or anything? sounds like they were more afraid of you than you were of them or at least equally so. :-)

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  5. I'm debating purchasing the exact toilet we have in our MH and keeping it as a spare (don't know where I could fit it). The current one is working but worries me because it no longer operates smoothly. Our nearby Camping World has eight of our exact model on their shelves. With my luck, the current toilet will "crap" out right after they close for the day and we'll have to hold our water until they open the next day. :cO

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  6. I say "a friend in need, is a friend indeed." Take Rick up on his offer.

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  7. Do those house boats ever leave their slip? They look bigger than the house we used to own!

    Love the close up picture of the iguana. I love them, they are so prehistoric looking.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  8. Seafood festival sounds wonderful!!!
    Wish we were there.

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  9. I think a break from toilet stuff to do the seafood festival sounds perfect. Time to call in favors from friends :)

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  10. Hope all goes well with the toilet issues.... and have a great day at the shrimp fest!
    KarenInTheWoods and Steveio
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