Island Life, and Other Stuff

 

Cudjoe Key, Florida (high 82, low 72)

The winds have picked up and we haven’t been able to get out on the boat lately.  It’s been breezy enough to bring the seas up and  we are now fair weather boaters, so we stay on land unless the seas are about flat lat calm.  Since we live on an island with an elevation of only about 3 feet above sea level, when the winds blow, there is not much land to break the wind. Going to the other side of the island doesn’t help you to find calmer waters.  When the wind blows, we stay on land.

So, we’re waiting for the seas to calm down and finding other things to do in the meantime.

We made a trip up to the Key Deer National Wildlife Sanctuary.  It’s never hard to find a deer or two.

They have a nice trail to walk, but of course we never saw the first deer on the trail. They were all out on the roads.

Many of the pine trees on the preserve were killed from the storm surge from Hurricane Wilma. The Keys didn’t take a direct hit from Wilma, but apparently there was flooding.  I had to Google Wilma. There were so many hurricanes those two years that I couldn’t remember. 

Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Part of the record breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the six most intense Atlantic hurricanes ever (along with #4 Rita and #6 Katrina), Wilma was the twenty-second storm, thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, fourth Category 5 hurricane, and second-most destructive hurricane of the 2005 season

 

Some areas were perfectly healthy.

We took a drive “uptown” into Marathon the other day.  On the way, we noticed a truck, pulling a pretty large travel trailer, which was pulling another truck.  We call that “triple towing.”

He had just crossed the 7 Mile bridge, going about 35mph following behind this hazard.

The hitch on the trailer looked like it was mounted on the rear of the trailer, and not the frame.

He had no license plate on the last truck, at least none that I could see. One tail light didn’t work.

This is him.  You can see what a dilapidated mess this was.  Notice how low the front truck sits.  We estimated the trailer to be about 30 foot, but it didn’t look that large in the picture.

There have been a few fatalities here recently involving head on collisions along the bridges.  We felt this was extremely unsafe and weren’t sure the last truck wouldn’t come loose from the travel trailer.  We decided to call the police.  We followed along (from a very safe distance) behind and sure enough, a few minutes later he was pulled over by a police officer! 

Two minutes later he was back on the road, still towing illegally.  In the state of Florida this is not legal, but I guess he must have been a buddy of the officer, and he obviously did not get a ticket or made to disconnect the last truck.  If I find out he had an accident, I’ll be sure to show these pictures to the insurance company, or claimant attorney.

I was very disappointed the officer let him continue on his way. 

 

The flowers are really starting to bloom round here and the  Frangipani are starting to bloom.  They are the flowers that are used in Hawaiian leis, and are very fragrant  beautiful flower.  I’ve seen them in yellow, white, and pinks.

I found a guy nearby that trimmed his tree and made some cuttings, so I got a couple yellow ones.

Here is what they will look like (if they don’t die).

 

After the storm last week, I noticed a large branch had broken from a white frangipani near West Marine.  I asked the owner if I could snip a piece off and he said I could have the whole broken  branch.  Since I was prepared with a big pair of loppers, I quickly got my new cuttings.   I’m not exactly sure how to plant them.  Put them directly into the ground and hope for the best?  Or should I put them in a pot and plant them before we leave, or put them in a pot and carry them around until next year?  They are definitely a tropical plant and won’t tolerate cold, so I’ll have to protect them if I take them with me.

 

Some other yellow flowering tree that is really blooming now. I’m not sure what exactly it is, but they are everywhere.

 

When we go to Key West, it’s rare that we don’t see something interesting.  The other day we saw these signs.  Only in Key West.

Here is a closer look.

Actually, the homeless people in Key West seem to be well fed and we don’t really see anybody panhandling.  We see a lot that appear to be homeless, but they don’t ask for money.

 

We got together with Rick and Kathy one last time before they started their journey north. I finally remembered to bring my camera and take a picture.  See ya down the road guys!

We’re heading down to Key West tomorrow for the annual Ocean Fest.   It’s held at the Eco Discovery Center.  If you visit Key West be sure to visit the Eco Center.  It’s free and there is a lot of wonderful information about the environment, the oceans and the marine life.  They have a great movie and a 3D underwater video where you feel like the fish are swimming right up to you.  It’s a good way to spend a few hours in air conditioned comfort and see the beauty of the ocean reefs.

Tomorrow, they have live entertainment and our favorite band, Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band will be playing.  We always try to catch their show, and it’s free.

Parking will be a problem as usual since it’s Easter week-end and everybody and their brother is here. 

Here are a few more pictures from our beautiful islands.

Key West chickens.

A beautiful fountain with a family of iguana who appear to be living there.

 

And as requested by Kathy, a picture of Baxter.

Ocean Fest today and maybe a Key West sunset celebration tonight.