Can I Go Further South?

Big Pine Key, Florida

The cold front that moved south east came all the way down into the Keys.  Some fronts don’t make it this far south, but this one sure did.

Yesterday morning it was 65 degrees, and the temperature kept dropping throughout the day.  It was extremely windy, making if feel even colder.

Last night we turned on the heat pump and the electric blankets and snuggled under the covers.  The kitties were even cold!

Whenever it gets cold, the first thing Al and I say to each other, is “we need to move south.”   Now that we are in the Florida Keys and are just about as far south as one can get without a passport, where do  we go?  Key West is 40 miles away and is the southernmost portion of the United States?  Unfortunately, it’s no warmer there!

Yes, we have thin blood!  I guess 30 years of Florida living will do that do you, but cold weather in Florida always seems to feel colder.

It was 51 degrees when we got up this morning, but we shouldn’t complain because it was in the upper 20’s in Tampa last night.  I am sure not looking forward to going back!

Today, we may stay home, or we may head down to Geiger Key for a Hogfish sandwich.  Al wants to watch a game they play by the beach.  You throw little washers into a target, throw in some money and the winner takes the pot.  I’m not sure the name of the game, but it’s played by the beach and you can bring alcohol if you like.  It might get interesting.  It starts after lunch, so we’ll have to see how the day unfolds.

Our two weeks in the Keys is coming to an end…sob, sob.  I told Al when we got here that he was going to have to drag me away kicking and screaming….and I was right.

We have already decided that this is where we want to be next winter.  I would love to spend at least 3 months here….but the prices…..yikes!  We plan on coming back down again, possibly in April.  It’s an expensive trip down (for diesel fuel), but so worth it!

We did find out yesterday that our Thousand Trails membership will continue to offer the Max Pass membership.  The price is going up some, but not enough to make us cancel it.  We’ll be able to renew and come back here all we want.

We figured out with our TT membership, it cost us $6.82 a night to camp at the Thousand Trails campgrounds.  That was with us only being able to use the membership 6 months since we were either back in Georgia or at Lazy Days for half the year. 

We expect the cost to be less this year.  It has been money well spent for us, and even with the increase in price, we feel it will be very cost effective next year.  We got our membership last year at the Tampa Rv Supershow.  They were offering a great rate of $199 for the basic one zone membership and the “Max Pass” membership (which allowed an extra 6 parks in Florida) for an additional $199.  They also had a southwest zone with I think 9 additional campgrounds in Arizona . I don’t know if they’ll offer those rates again, but for us, as full timers, it was a great bargain. I don’t think we would have renewed it if they didn’t offer the additional Max Pass membership.

So, no kayaking pictures for todays post.  Today the pictures would show Al and I bundled up in jackets!