Score

 

Cudjoe Key, Florida  (high 79, low 67)

 

Notice our predicted temperatures for today and tonight?  It’s about 10 degrees cooler than it was yesterday.

We had another cold front move through late yesterday afternoon bringing some gusty winds and a fair amount or rain.  As soon as it arrived, the temperature started dropping and it feels wonderful this morning to have the windows open and a nice cool breeze.

Yesterday, before the storm, it was hot, muggy and miserable.  It was making me start to think longingly  of the cooler temps in the Georgia mountains.

Our mission yesterday was to get Al a bike.  Since we’re not going to be here too much longer, we want one ASAP.  Tim may have one in a week or so, but we’re not sure, so we continued to look on Craig's List.

We found one that was located in Key West, so we were back in Key West for the second day in a row.

We love Key West, but it can be exhausting getting around.  Parking is difficult, navigating the narrow one way streets in the downtown area with all the pedestrians, bikers and scooters is very stressful.   We will NEVER ride our bikes there, although many do.

The main road around KW is Roosevelt.  They have been widening the road on North  Roosevelt for well over a year.  It’s finally getting better and I think it will be a pretty drive once they complete the construction.

Whenever you go to Key West, you are sure to see strange things.

This is just one of the unusual sights we saw yesterday.   I don’t know what the sign means.  There are a lot of chickens running around KW.  They are described as:

“The feral fowl that frequent the streets and alleys of Key West seem like the perfect metaphor for Key West -– historic, colorful, sort of wild, a little noisy and occasionally annoying.”

People either love them or hate them.  We like them.

They can be trapped, and  relocated to organic farms in central Florida where they are prized for their eggs and ability to eat bugs. 

Maybe the guy in this car was a trapper?

 

We really wanted to find a Trek bike for Al.  My bike is so nice, we would love to find something similar.

We went to a few bike rental shops but none had any used bikes for sale.

We ended up buying Al the cheap Huffy bike we found on Craig's List.  It’s actually a woman's bike, but the owner decided to get a scooter instead and was selling it after only 2 weeks.  We priced the same bike at K-mart for $99, but we got a deal for only $40.  We decided to buy it so that Al will have something to ride for now, and then we’ll sell it if and when we find something better. 

Here is Al’s new girly bike.  My bike is much nicer, but this will work for now.

We rode around KW for a while and saw a few more interesting things.

In KW, everyone brags that they are the “southernmost”  something.  Hotel, bar, bike shop, whatever.

I thought this one was kind of unusual.

Since getting around in KW is so difficult, many people ride bikes, scooters or golf carts.

Check out these cute golf carts.

Like I said, you always find interesting things to see there.  We decided since it’s going to be very windy today, that it might be a good day to go explore KW a little more.  There is so much to see and we’ve only made a small dent in the things we want to see.   It should be nice and cool, so that’s the plan for today.

 

We’re going to go for a bike ride now.

New Geezer Bike

 

Cudjoe Key, Florida  (high 85, low 71)

 

Rain and thunderstorms are predicted today, so it looks like another day landlocked.

A few days ago when we heard about the earthquake in Chile, my first thought was to wonder if they might have a tsunami.  My second thought was to wonder what would happen to us if a tsunami should hit the Keys.  It could get interesting, since we’re all of about 3 inches above sea level.   Well, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration.  I just looked it up on my phone app “My altitude”.  We are officially at one foot above sea level.   We wouldn’t do well during a tsunami, would we?

 

Since it was too windy for boating yesterday, our goal  was to find Al and I a nice used bike.  We want something that is comfy for riding around the park.  You know, a good geezer bike.  Big cushy seat, nice curved handlebars.

We looked on Craigslist and found one for me.   The guy selling it was your typical Key Wester.  He looked like a hippy from the 60’s.  He was a real nice guy and was selling the bike for a friend who had a family emergency and had to leave the Keys.  He fixed up her bike for her before she found out she wouldn’t be able to come back.

As it turned out, he (Tim) was a cat lover too and had three beautiful Jungle Curl cats.  I had never heard of them before, but they were beautiful and sweet cats.

This is a picture I found on the internet.  Notice the ears and stubby tail?  This is similar to one if his cats.  The others had long tails.

We decided to buy the bike he had for sale.  He had experience working in bike shops and had fixed the bike up, to include a snazzy new paint job.

Pretty cool huh?

It’s a Trek brand.  Notice it’s a Key West Cruiser?   I don’t know if it is actually the type of bike or he just thought it sounded good, but its pretty appropriate, huh?   Tim completely re-did the bike, with new tires, seat, handlebar pads, basket, paint, and lights so that it’s street legal.  He re-painted it to look “Key Westy”.  No gears to mess up and it’s all aluminum so it shouldn’t rust, which is a good thing here near the saltwater.

I took it for a ride this morning and it rides so nice.  I guess he was right when he said it was a nice quality bike.  I love it.

We didn’t find a bike for Al yet.  Of course we could go to one of the many, many bike shops in Key West and buy a brand new one, but we’re looking for a nice used/cheap one.  Tim is going to help us find something.

We sat outside last night for happy hour.

I managed to get a picture of the campsite at night.

I guess the red lights made the white table appear to be pink.