Alparon Park, Troy, PA

We left Willow Bay this morning. On the way, we stopped by a very pretty city park. There was a walkway around the lake. Someone had erected a small stone memorial to Sargent Maholic. Another plaque said "A son, a husband & a father". Wonder if his parents, wife and children thought the Sargent died for some grand & noble cause? Wonder how they are all doing five years later? Do they still come to visit the memorial? I look at all the guys my age who died in Vietnam. And for what? Is the world a better place for their death? Vietnam is a trading partner of ours. Saigon a major tourist destination.

Our destination was the Alparon Community Park in Troy, PA. What a find this was. It's basically a complex with the fairgrounds, the community pool ($3/day) and a nice campground. We're right on the edge of a small creek. The other side of us isn't nearly as pretty, mostly buildings associated with the fairgrounds use. $20/night for water & electric. There is a dump station on site. Tomorrow there is a auction taking place. That will be fun.

We finally have a good internet connection. I uploaded a bunch of pictures to yesterdays blog post.

Willow Bay Recreation Area, Allegheny National Forest

Monday the 27th:
Todays mission was to check out different Forest Service campgrounds located on the east side of the Allegheny National Forest. I learned that the Allegheny’s are actually a part of the Appalachian mountain range which was formed between 500 million and 430 million years ago. That’s during the Taconic orogeny; whatever that is. We stopped at the Kinzua Beach picnic area located on the Reservoir. Gopher had a good swim. This has been the first alligator free, fresh water since we left home. A chance to wash off some of the dirt.

We drove through Red Bridge, Kiasutha, Dewdrop and Willow Bay campgrounds before deciding on Willow Bay. We have a very nice campsite right on Willow Creek. There are some sites directly on Willow Bay but they are all reserved through the 4th , in fact almost everything is reserved through the 4th.
The sun’s out today; a noteworthy event so far on our tour through PA . Mostly it’s been cloudy or overcast.

There is no cell phone or VZ data service in this area. I was looking at my cell phone and saw a missed call from the head nurse at the place where my Mother lives. Melinda doesn’t call to just chat, so we packed up and headed towards Bradford, the nearest town, expecting some bad news. About 10 miles from here we got cell phone service. My mother has an Alert One system; one of the, “Help ! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” devices. Melinda had called just to tell me the system was giving a low battery alarm. I called Elizabeth, the women we hired to help Mom when we were gone. All’s well. Elizabeth was one of our better ideas in quite some time.

Tuesday the 28th:
The three of us took a nice walk to the picnic area located on the bay. Gopher went swimming again. The water here agrees with her fortunately. Sometimes after drinking from a stream, she gets diarrhea a few hours later then I wind up dealing with that mess for the next day or so. During the walk, Gopher alerted to something. Her ears stood up, she raised her head high and started sniffing the air. In a few seconds, a deer came bounding out of the woods just in front of us. A dogs sense of smell really is amazing and Gophers not even a scent hound. The two weiner dogs we had for years, Balou & Bagera, would have picked that deer up a block away.

Wild flowers are everywhere. The blackberry bushes are loaded but need another week or two. We saw hills covered with mountain laurel as we drove here but couldn’t find a place to pull over for pictures. This is a beautiful time to be in this part of the country. A little sunshine would be a plus, but at least it’s not raining. In the woods, an assortment of mushrooms grow. A friend of ours, Gail, is working on her Naturalist Merit Badge. As part of the requirements, she has to identify and eat wild mushrooms. Here are pictures of two mushrooms I came across. Are they edible? Not by me they’re not.

More & more people are pulling into the campground. Mostly families. Two or three kids and a dog or two, per site, seems to be the norm. We walked up to the check-in booth to see about sites for the weekend. There are five still available. Tomorrow we’ll decide what to do. Stay put, or set out and hope for the best.
I was doing a little cleaning today; mostly dog hair. I’m still coming across red dust from last years trip to the Southwest. We both like that area, but the wind seems to blow constantly and it carries a powder-fine red dust that covers everything. We’re talking about heading to the Southwest again this year right after Christmas. We’ll see. Ginny will be in Florida by then, so it will be her turn to take care of Mom.

Wednesday, the 29th:

Woke up to a chilly, grey, misty rain type of day. We decided to go into Bradford to check phone messages, e-mail, do laundry & stop by WalMart. There is a wonderful bakery in Bradford. John Williams European Pastry Shop. I got a piece of apple strudel for us to share. We're trying to be good these days. Both of us have health goals. One big one is maintaining a healthy weight. We travel with our bath scale from home to keep track of our weight. We're both outside of the acceptable range so it's time to cut back on the calories. Years ago we were both fat people. We will never repeat that mistake.

Thursday, the 30th:
Took our morning walk to the picnic area. Some camping neighbors pulled in. Six RV's from an extended family group. They've been coming here each 4th of July for over 20 years. Real nice people from New York & PA.
If we wanted to stay here for the weekend there was room. As of this afternoon there were two vacant sites but we've been here long enough. We've enjoyed watching the families pull in, the children racing here & there,the barking dogs, on & on. Your typical, family 4th of July weekend. By tomorrow afternoon, this place will be pure bedlam. :-)

The campground.

d

The creek behind our campsite.

Eat this? Not me.

This one either.

Continuing west

The carnies started arriving last night and early this morning so we had to move on. Todays destination was the COE campground at the East Branch, Clarion River Lake near Wilcox,PA. Next weekend is the 4th of July; probably the busiest camping weekend of the year. We're checking our potential campgrounds that either don't take reservations, like this one, or have a good number of non-reservable sites. If we get a campsite on Thursday, we'll be good for the weekend.
This campground is OK, but nothing special based on our needs. The campsite itself is nice, but there is no special view and it would be difficult for Carol to get near the lake. We'll continue our search tomorrow when we drive through the Allegheny National Forest.
$15 w/o electricity, $20 with. Half price with the Old Age card.

On the way to the campground, there was a sign on I-80 that said this was the highest point on I-80 east of the Mississippi River; 2,230'. The highest point in PA is Mount Davis at 3,213'. Not much as the Western states go, then again, these mountains are very much older than the Rockies. They have had several million more years to erode away. Did you know that 60% of PA is in forest? I didn't. According to an article I just read, by 1900 there was no marketable timber left in PA. Everything you see today is second, third or fourth growth. When the loggers were finished clear cutting an area, they would leave behind the stumps, limbs & assorted trash. These areas frequently caught fire. When they do, they burn with such intensity and duration that the soil is sterilized for decades to come. Nothing but weeds will grow. Today there are laws that prohibit such destructive and short-sighted practices.
A few years ago we were in Minnesota and visited a Forest Service Visitor Center. About 1870, the timber interests in Minnesota were clear cutting mile after mile of forests. There was a drive underway in Congress to set limits on such practices. There was a quotation from the Senator from MN painted on the wall. It said "There is enough timber in Minnesota to last for all future generations". The legislation died. By 1900 all the marketable trees in MN were gone. We hear the same tune being played day after day. No quotas on fishing, global warming is a joke, restrain the EPA because toxic air & water isn't all that bad for you, plus it's very expensive to clean up. I suspect that fifty years from now we'll look back and just shake our collective heads at our short sightedness.

Snow Shoe, PA

We left Kutztown this morning about 8:00. We were about junked out. As I was getting ready to leave, I chatted with our camping neighbor. He sells Native American jewelery, mostly from the Southwest. Some they buy, some if from their personal collection. He said business was slow these days. People just don't have as much extra cash to spend. Tomorrow he & his wife head off to another venue.

Our destination for the day was the Snow Shoe City Campground (41.02498 -077.94395). $18/night. This place is totally unique. Something right out of the '50's & '60's. Virtually all of the park is occupied by full-time residents. The RV's in the photo are currently occupied. The newest RV is probably ten years old and there are a few that are ready for the dump. Everyone has to live somewhere. I suppose this is a few notches up from living in your van. Yesterday & today are Yard Sale days in the park. Lots of people have stacked their stuff curbside. If you're ever on I-80 in this part of PA, do yourself a favor and stop by for a night.

There is a small community ballpark nearby. Gopher & I walked over and took in a few innings of ball. It's not quite Little League level because the coaches pitch to the kids instead of having a regular pitcher. One kid hit a pop fly. Four kids surrounded the ball as it came down then stood there and watched as it hit the ground. :-) A batter hit a hard grounder to second base, The second basemen caught the ball with his face instead of his glove. (they're still learning the basics). It took all the coaches, assistant coaches and the kids mom to get the kid to stop crying so the game could get going again. The boy finally stood up and dusted himself off to a huge round of applause.

In 1976 my father & I shared the cost of a 19' Class C motorhome much like this one. It was on a Dodge based chassis.

Snow Shoe City Campground will be remembered as another fascinating stop on our tour of America. The circus is coming to town tomorrow. All twelve of the RV spaces have been booked by the carnies so we need to move on.

Kutztown,PA

When we were leaving the Ephrata area we were driving slowly by a commercial campground. I saw a guy standing in front of a house by the campground and felt certain I knew him so I stopped. It was Bob Walton. I had a sister ten years younger than me. Lyn died of cancer perhaps 15 years ago. Bobby was Lyn's husband!! He is the maintenance supervisor for the campground. Talk about a small world.

We spent the night at the French Creek State Park near Elverson, PA. Each state runs their campground differently. At a PA state park, every site is reservable so if you're like us, and you travel without reservations, you take your chances. In addition, dogs are only allowed in a handful of the sites. At 4:00 when we got to the park, there was only one "dog" site left. There were lots on "no dog" sites. Going forward, we'll avoid PA state parks. $28.50/night. The going rate at the commercial campgrounds near Ephrata was $41 to $47/night.

The drive from Ephrata to Kutztown was very pretty. Windy roads, rolling hills, woods , farms and the occasional small town. We passed by Daniel Boone's original homestead and a log cabin occupied by his grandfather. This is a beautiful part of PA.

Last night, Thursday, and tonight we're "camped" on the site of the "Antique & Collectors Extravaganza" in Kutztown, PA. The overnight parking is free and if you want to plug into electricity that costs $5/night; we went with the electric. We're not collectors of anything in particular but we both enjoy looking at all the very interesting things. Stuff that was simply thrown away when we were kids; milk bottles, Pez dispensers, containers of different types, on & on. I like looking at the specialized tools and household gadgets and trying to figure out just what they're for. The ingenuity of the creators of those highly specialized items really is amazing.
The vendors are an interesting group. Most seem to travel from show to show in an assortment of older vans and RV's. Of the six RV's camped with us, we're the only one who is not a part of the show. There is a woman who has to be well into her 70's who appears to live in a very old van. There is an electric cord dangling from the back boor so I guess she opted for the $5 charge. I overheard a conversation between vendors discussing the relative merits of the different venues. We enjoy just observing all the different ways people seem to have discovered to enjoy life. Reminds us of the very old women who was the campground host at a campground on Moosehead Lake, Maine. It was her & her dog living in a VW van. She had recently through-hiked the AT and was set up to canoe the Allagash Waterway with a group. This campground had hand-pumped water and pit toilets. That's it. No electric, no showers, etc. I tip my hat too her.

Some vendors settled in for the evening.

A womens home?

There is an Amish food stand here selling all sorts of wonderful things. Tonight for dinner we had chicken pot pie and "mud" pudding for desert. Wow.

In the morning, we move on. Our destination is the Allegheny National Forest. The ten day weather forecast if for highs in the upper 70's and lows in the 50's. Just what we're looking for.

I've been working with Ted Houghten on his public campground database. A few days ago we broke the 15,000 mark. Finding new ones has become very difficult. I'm not sure we'll get to 16k.

Our public library in Fort Pierce, through an affiliation with the Alachua County Library in Gainesville, FL, offers library books in an ePub format. Carol opened an account and now has free access to hundreds of books. It works much like a regular library. You check out a book and in seven days from checkout, the book magically disappears from your eBook reader. If the book you want has already been checked out, you get on the waiting list. When it's your turn for the book, you get an e-mail from the library. Amazing what doors technology opens. A year ago, we were both very skeptical about e-books, iWhatevers, etc. Now Carol has an iPad and I have a Verizon iPhone. What used to be of no consequence has become indispensable. Much like the GPS unit and cell phones and internet access.

A visit with Alex & family

We're at Alex's house now, "camping" on the street as usual. Having a wonderful time visiting with two of our grandchildren; Finn & Teagan, aka "T". Finn is just finishing first grade. Teagan is 4 1/2. Both play soccer. On Saturday, Carol & I went to watch their soccer games.

Finn.

Teagan & Gopher playing one-on-one.

"T"

Finn

Alex is recovering just fine from her back surgery so on Wednesday, we continue our trip to PA Dutch Country. We heard about a giant antique show in Kutztown, PA that starts on Thursday so that's where we're heading. We're not antique collectors or anything; we just enjoy just looking at all the interesting things. A phone call to the show people indicates we can stay overnight on the market grounds. That should be fun.
We'll meet up with Alex & family, and Jennifer & Suzanne in July at the house we've rented on a lake in White Haven, PA.

In Virginia

We headed out this morning towards our daughters house in Annandale, VA. Tonight we're camped at the Newport News Park Campground in Newport News, VA. $30.45/night for water/elect. Driving here we got a good view of some of the Navy ships. There were two aircraft carriers and assorted destroyers and such. When I was in the Navy, we went through an overhaul at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Our quarters were in "temporary" WW-II houses. The claw foot tub had a piece of galvanized pipe sticking out of the wall that was the faucet. Every pay day, on the way home, I stopped by what used to be a Dairy Queen type place and bought a brown paper grocery bag full of jumbo steamed, spiced crabs. What a feast!!
The shipyard was my first introduction to strong unions. I was the ships engineer and we were having some work done on the ventilation system. A sheet metal worker was installing a new duct. Problem was, there was a piece of metal of some type that had to be removed before he could do his job. I saw him just sitting there and asked if there was a problem I could help with. He said he was waiting for an iron worker to remove the piece of metal. He explained that a sheet metal worker like he was, could only work on metal up to a certain thickness; after that it fell into the Iron Workers trade. I said, go have a cup of coffee and the offending metal would be gone when you returned. He said if that happened without the iron worker he called doing the work, the union just might file a grievance and shut down all work on the ship until it was resolved. That's the way the system worked and if you ever hoped to get out of the shipyard, you just didn't fight it. That plus swapping 5# tins of coffee and boxes of 45 caliber ammo. to get work done that had not been officially authorized. The Captain used to just smile when I told him what was going on. He'd been down that road before.

Leveling. Shortly after buying the 2000 Lazy Daze, I had Big Foot levelers installed. They are certainly convenient and gave me three years of trouble free use. On the other hand, leveling a 27' RV really is easy. It rarely takes more then perhaps five minutes; ten at the outside. Ever since I bought the new LD in April, 2008 I've made mental notes about just how often leveling was required. Not very often as it turns out. Only perhaps 20% of the time; maybe less. So far on this trip we've stayed in six campgrounds and have never needed to level. I'm going to skip the levelers, pocket the $3,000 and save the added weight. Besides, if Carol & I don't stay away from those bakeries, I'll need the surplus weight carrying ability just to haul us around. :-)

Alex called earlier. Her surgery went just fine. That's a relief. Anytime anesthesia in involved, there is a risk.

In the morning we finish the drive to Alex's house. We'll "camp" on the street as we've done in the past.

Oregon Inlet

We continued north staying the night at the Oregon Inlet Campground. There is a large marina, the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, just across the street. For a good bit of the day, we parked over there watching the charter boats come and go. A full days fishing on one of the large boats is $1,600. Maybe next time.
The campground is nice. There is a large dune line separating the campground from the ocean. We've stayed in all of the NPS campgrounds on the OBX. Ocracoke is our favorite.
Tomorrow we drive half the distance to Alex's house in Annandale, VA. Her surgery is tomorrow. We'll get to her house by about noon time on Friday.

Continuing north

This morning we took the free ferry connecting Ocracoke Island and Cape Hatteras. We had lunch at a great restaurant in Buxton. The Buxton Munch Company. The fish tacos and sweet potato sticks were excellent. After lunch we drove to the Hatteras Island Visitor Center area checking out the Cape Point campground. It's not much. Basically on open field with a view of a marsh area. Driving around we found a great day use area where we were able to back right up to the beach so Carol could get a good view. There was a Lazy Daze couple there from Michigan but they were just pulling out to continue the long trip back to MI.

Our view.

Gopher & I took some nice walks on the beach. There were lots of surf fisherman but I never did see anyone catch anything. Talked to a couple of guys about the fishing and they just commented that it sure beat working.

Need to be careful driving on the beach.

Another very enjoyable day.

Today is June 13, 2011

Five years ago today, June 13th, while hiking near Rock Springs, WY, Carol had a heart attack which was followed a few hours later by a stroke. On the 14th, we were to meet up with a group of friends to drive to the Lazy Daze Golden Caravan being held at the fairgrounds in Cheyenne. We made it to Cheyenne alright, but we were in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital. This was exactly 41 days after Carol retired from the college where she was the director of the Medical Technology Department.
During Carols four week stay in the Cheyenne hospital, the three dogs and I lived alternatively, in an RV park and on the street by the hospital. One day while I was in ICU with Carol, two police officers came in looking for me. Seems the bank near where I was “camping” reported me as a suspicious person/vehicle. After seeing the circumstances, the officers contacted their supervisor and then gave me permission to camp on the street as long as Carol was in the hospital.
Carol finally flew home on a special jet staffed by a flight nurse to continue her very extensive rehabilitation in Ft. Pierce.
While in Physical Therapy, we told the staff our goal was for Carol to be able to go up and down three steps; that’s what’s required to get in and out of the camper. If they can teach her to do three steps, the PT would have been a success.
On October 17th of that year, we made our first trip since the stroke. I installed a few grab bars here and there, and we traveled with a cane and a wheel chair and Carols electric scooter, but we were back to our retirement plans after only four months. A very difficult four months to be sure, but we’re back on track. Our days of bike riding, hiking & kayaking are behind us , but we have simply adapted to the new reality. Today we’re at the Ocracoke Campground, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina. Since the stroke, we have visited every state in the Lower 48 at least twice, five of the Canadian Provinces and bought our second Lazy Daze. We have no plans to slow down.

We got to Ocracoke on this mornings 7am ferry from Cedar Island, NC. We found a really good bakery. Searching out really good local bakeries is part of our new reality. :-)

If you have never tried the App. on your iWhatever, or the website, YELP! It’s worth looking at. It lists, and gives user ratings, for all sorts of things like restaurants, bakeries, etc.; a big help when you’re new to an area. It also will find barber shops, Laundromats, grocery stores and such. We use it often.

Tomorrow we plan on just drifting around here and there.

Cedar Island, NC

The original plan for today was to drive to the Cedar Point Forest Service campground west of Morehead City,NC. According to my research, it was a campground set in a pine woods. The more we thought about that, the less we liked the idea of a pine woods, no electricity, on a 90* day so we continued on. One thing lead to another and finally we wound up at the ferry terminal on Cedar Island. What a good "plan" that turned out to be. We're camped at a boat ramp adjacent to the ferry terminal. There is a nice strong breeze off the water. It's just us once again, as humans go. We have about 20 stray horses and a few cows as company. They just wander here & there munching on the grass up past the dune line.
There is a formal, private campground here but it's just a patch of dirt with hookups. Not a direct waterfront location like ours. Plus ours is free. Tough to beat free.
We had reservations on tomorrows 10am ferry but the reservation people called earlier to say that ferry had been cancelled. We're now scheduled for the 7am. We'll get up, board the ferry then have breakfast. It's a 2 1/2 hour ride to Ocracoke on the OBX.
Elizabeth, the women who is looking after Mom, sent an e-mail. She paid her a visit today. All's well. Hiring Elizabeth was a great idea.

Bought gas today in Myrtle Beach. $3.41/gal.

Buck Hall, SC

Yesterday & today we camped at the Buck Hall, Marion National Forest campground. It's just off Hwy 17, about 30 miles east of Charleston,SC. Buck Hall is part of a pre-Civil War plantation. This place is a keeper. There are only 12 RV sites with water/electric, widely separated from each other and a dump station. $20/night or $10 with the Golden Age Pass, aka Old Age Pass/Geezer Card. The campground is adjacent to a canal which is part of the Inter-coastal Waterway. From our campsite we get a nice view of the water. There is a trail running through the woods; a part of which is accessible for Carol.
There's a troop of Boy Scouts from McBee, SC camped nearby. The scout leaders brought their boats & kayaks with them. Great fun for the kids. I suspect they're having more fun then the slaves that lived here 150 years ago. A few years back, I read a wonderful historical novel called Charleston by John Jakes. If you like historical novels, give it a try. He also wrote The Gods of Newport about the golden days of the obscenely wealthy during the late 1800's. Two great novels.
Tomorrow we continue the slow trip to Alex's house in Annandale,VA via the Outer Banks(OBX) of North Carolina.

Most recent tank of gas: Brunswick,GA, Flying J $3.499 less 2 cents Loyalty Discount.

Huguenot Memorial Park/Mayport, FL

We left home a few minutes after nine and arrived at Singleton's Seafood Shack about two.
For lunch we ordered the Mariners Combo For Two. It was a huge platter of shrimp, deviled crabs, oysters, scallops, clams, fish & hush puppies. We ate more then our fill for lunch and had leftovers for dinner that fed the three of us. As you come in the front door of the restaurant, there is a picture of the guy that hosts the Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives show.

The ferry ride across the St. Johns lasts perhaps five minutes, if that long. Reminds us of the Aransas Pass ferry in Texas which is about the same length.
The campground was mostly empty so we had our choice of spots. We're in site 60 which is on the bank of the river. We're just across from the Mayport Naval Station. There is a helicopter training facility at the base so most of the day, there are noisy helicopters doing touch & go's. Jacksonville is the port of entry for Toyotas for the Southeast Toyota dealers.
We had an enjoyable day watching all the activity on the river.
The campground was $16.95/night for a campsite with no hookups. There is water and a dump station on the property. We're really spoiled after spending last winter in the Southwest. Our there $6 would be a typical no hookup campground or you could simply park in the desert for free. We spent two weeks on the Texas coast for a grand total of $14!!.
We're just glad to be traveling again.

We're on our way again.

All's well around here. My mothers arm is on the mend & the house is all ready for a hurricane. Our fingers are crossed for another uneventful hurricane season but you just never know. A few years ago we replaced the exterior doors and all the windows with the new hurricane resistant products, has the roof structure brought up to current code, replaced the shingles, etc. We're as ready as we can be.

We leave in the morning. 56,856.5 miles on the odometer. The camper just turned three this past April; that's just under 19,000 miles per year. My goodness,how did we manage that many wonderful miles?
To date there have been no significant issues, either with Ford or Lazy Daze. Just your basic routine maintenance.

Our first stop this trip will be lunch at Singleton's Restaurant in Jacksonville. We first heard about Singleton's in a book we both read. The main character, a Navy captain stationed in Jacksonville, used to hang out at Singleton's. On our first visit, we kept looking for the captain. Never did see him. The restaurant has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. It's not much to look at but the food is superior. Certainly among the best seafood restaurant's we've ever tried. It's right on the south shore of the St. Johns River, about a block from the ferry that crosses the river.

We'll stay the night at Huguenot Memorial Park, a City of Jacksonville campground about ten minutes from the ferry crossing. The campground is on the north side of the St. Johns River just across from the naval base. Most of the campsites have an unobstructed view of the river. A few years ago when we stayed there, we drove the camper onto the beach and spent the day a few feet from the ocean.

One of our daughters, Alex, lives in Northern Virginia near DC. She's having back surgery a week from Friday so we're going to her house for a while to lend a hand as needed. Alex lives on a large cul-d-sac so we simply "camp" on the street. There is an electrical outlet available so it works out real well.

After that, the only commitment we have is the family get together in Pennsylvania starting July 9th. Every year, our three daughters meet up someplace. This year it's at a lake house in PA.

The general summer plan is to just drift around the Great Lakes states. We've been through that part of the country twice before and really enjoy the area. Baring any medical problems with my mother, and assuming our house doesn't get blown away by a hurricane, we plan on staying out until mid-October.

End of the Keys trip

We got tired of the view of the vegetation from our campsite at Curry Hammock so headed over to Long Key for Wednesday & Thursday nights. Much nicer. Still no vacancies anywhere for the Memorial Day weekend, so we headed home Friday morning.
Our future travel plans are contingent on the results of my mothers follow-up visit with her broken arm doctor next week. We'll see.

Curry Hammock

The weather has been just perfect for late May in the Keys. Hot, but not terribly so. Humid as always but tolerable. There is a wonderful breeze off the ocean.
We all took a walk to the day use area. There is a small, out of the way spot past the kayak launch, where Gopher could go swimming. State Parks are very strict, as they should be, about dogs being on the swimming beaches. After getting thoroughly soaked, she took a good roll in the sand. I'm convinced she enjoys traveling as much as we do.
The Sea Grape bushes are just loaded with fruit. The grapes are eatable but somewhat bitter. They are best used for jelly. The coconut palms are also full of nuts. As you walk through the park, there are very informative signs by a lot of the plants. It's nice actually knowing that plant you're admiring.
Today we're staying put. Tomorrow we're going to have lunch at a highly recommended restaurant in Marathon.

Key West

We took a ride down to Key West yesterday. Looked around at some places we remembered from when we lived there in the late '60's. How things have changed. I was thinking that if we went to KW on Sunday morning, the traffic wouldn't be too bad. The place was a madhouse. We drove down Duval Street. What a collection of tourist junk stores. Finally we found a parking place on the ocean near the airport. We saw the Naval hospital where Jennifer was born then headed out. No more Key West trips for us.
Later on we were looking for a lunch place and spotted a small combination convenience store/Cuban takeout place around Summerland Key as I recall; Five Brothers II. What a great find. Apparently a very popular place because by the time our lunch was ready, the place was standing room only. We split a Cuban sandwich and an order of conch fritters.
Continuing north we stopped at Bahia Honda State Park to see if they had any room in the campground for one night. They did. The first site they assigned us to was right next to the dumpster. The smell was rank but for one night we thought we could live with it. As the day went on, the smell became more then we could handle so I went back to the office. There were other vacant sites for one night so we were able to move. This morning while walking Gopher, we went by the dumpster site to take a look. Some poor couple in a tent were there. The smell was bad enough inside our motorhome with the windows closed and the A/C running. I can just imagine how bad it was in a tent.
The campground itself at Bahia Honda is just OK. Unless you get sites 13 through 25, there is no view at all; just your neighbor. On the other hand, the park itself is wonderful. Nice beaches, snorkeling, boat rentals, snack bar, nice places to take a walk, etc. We'll go back.
When we lived in Key West, we had a salt water aquarium. The reefs off Bahia Honda were a prime source of things for the aquarium.
We stopped by Publix in Marathon then went to Curry Hammock SP where we have reservations through Thursday. With Memorial Day weekend coming up, we were not able to get into any of the SP's for the weekend. Curry Hammock used to be our favorite Keys SP. In the past, there was a very nice ocean view from the ocean side campsites like we have now. That's changed. The vegetation is now so tall, that unless you stand up you can't see the ocean at all. We much prefer the unobstructed view from the Long Key campground. Next trip, if we can't get a waterfront site in Bahia Honda, we would go to Long Key. The only downside to Long Key is the daytime traffic noise from very nearby US #1. The cars aren't so bad; it's the Harleys. Seems like people who like Harleys like lots of loud noise. Wonder why that is?
Just checked on-line hoping for a cancellation is a SP for the weekend; no luck so far so unless that changes, we head home Friday.