Fun in Paradise

Ohio Key, Florida  (high 82, low 72)

We arrived here at Sunshine Key Rv Resort on Wednesday.   Boy is it windy! 

The drive over the Overseas Highway was beautiful as usual.  Actually the water was even prettier than it was when we were here in December.

We checked in, got a list of available sites, then drove around and picked out our site.  We are in site 317, which is a huge site with no neighbors.   We understand there will be a rally soon and we will be in the middle of it.  That’s okay because we don’t think they will stay long.  We are a little close to the highway, so we get the constant sounds of the road noise.  We’re dealing with that, but we do have the option to move if we choose. 

Once we got set up, we met up with Margie and Roger and walked around the campground.

Lots of flowers…

The next photo is of a cute little dove eating food that belonged to  one of the Marina’s cats.  The cat was sitting nearby, watching.

Wednesday night, we had a few drinks, then sat outside and watched the stars.  They were amazing!  I don’t remember ever seeing that many stars except  when we were on a live aboard dive boat in the middle of the Bahamas.  There was plenty of light around the campground, but those stars were so incredibly beautiful.  I wish I could find the words to explain what an amazing night it was.  There was a wonderful  sea breeze with the smell of the ocean,  and to look up and see those stars, was truly a magical night.  It was a night I will always remember.

Thursday morning, Margie came over and had coffee with us for a while.  We made plans to go have a late lunch/early dinner at the infamous No Name Pub.  Margie wanted to see some Key Deer, so we also had to find some for her.

These deer are famous in Big Pine Key and are not at all hard to find.  They are a tiny version of the White Tail deer.  Very cute.  Very friendly.

Margie was the designated driver (thanks Margie) and we arrived at the Pub close to 5pm. 

The walls and ceilings are covered in dollar bills.  The waitress said they estimated there was $130,000 in bills.   We were in the upstairs which was a bit cooler and less dark than the main pub.    Roger wanted to try Conch (pronounced conk) Fritters.  He liked them.

We came home, sat outside and had another drink then it got too cold for us so we called it a night.

It was a good day in paradise!

The wind has been blowing and kayaking is on hold for now.  We haven’t really minded the wind because it feels so nice.  The days are very warm and the humidity is high, so we appreciate the strong breezes. Margie said its’ been blowing ever since they got here.  It was not like this when we were here after Christmas.  It was calm every day with flat seas. 

We have a little problem.  When Al hooked up the sewer hose, he noticed a little pin hole leak.  He got out a roll of Rescue Tape (wonderful stuff) and taped it up, but in the process found a few more pin holes….and then a few more!  We decided we needed a new sewer hose, but we’re in the Keys….there is no Camping World or Walmart within 100 miles.

We have a Rhino Flex sewer hose that we got in August.  It’s supposed to be one of the best ones on the market, but we’re wondering about that now.  It’s been sitting in the hot Florida sun though, so is that all the use we should expect to get?  I occasionally put some TSP in the toilet to clean the black tank and now we’re wondering if that caused the leaks.  I probably won’t use any more of that.   We drove up to Marathon and could only find a few short pieces of sewer hose with no connections.  You’d think you could find some decent sewer hose in the Keys, but instead of driving the entire Keys, we decided to go ahead and order one.

We like the Rhino Flex because the connections come already on the hose (less leaks) .  So last night I went online and ordered one for delivery tomorrow.  Yeah…that was $23 dollars in overnight shipping charges!  You gotta do that you gotta do and we felt we’d better get a new sewer hose ASAP!

Today (Friday) looks like the wind may be a little weaker.  The sun is shining and it looks like another beautiful day in paradise.  We have plans with Margie and Roger today.  We’re going to take them to one of our favorite places!