Leaving the WINs to go to Key West I stop off in Homestead, FL to overnight. I had been hearing a noise from behind the RV and while here I discover that I had broken the frame extension on the RV! Woa, this is serious! I left the trailer in Homestead and slowly continued 140 miles to Key West. At the campground I placed blocks and jacks underneath to see what can be done.
It took me several days, only a few hours a day actual work and more time collecting wood for blocks and exploring the best way to get around the tanks, generators etc underneath the RV.
So now I have removed the frame extension. Taking it too a metal fabricator who says he can make backing plates I am relieved. A week later I go by and he says he is so busy he cannot get to it until March. I find another fabricator who says he can do it but is heavily involved in selling his crane business and wait another week.
Now Tanya has arrived followed by my brother and his ladies so time for some tourist stuff in Key West.
Key Deer are indigenous to the islands, very small for the forage is poor, notice the chicken in the background - they are everywhere!
Brother Bob had planned on driving his RV from Oregon, but the "brain" was having issues and it was better to drive, then his truck broke down in Mississippi, so they finally arrive in a rental car. Once again fortunately being both retired from the Navy, he was able to get a room in the hotel on base just not for as long as we had originally planned.
Brother Bob's lady Bunny has this to say;
THE GREAT BLOUNT RV TRIP (without the RV) PART 3I really should be writing daily because I’m already forgetting stuff, but here goes: First day in Key West, we went down to the breakfast in the Navy Lodge and found there was NOTHING there I could eat. So we goggled and found a place nearby that sounded good, picked up Tom and Tanya, and headed there.
It’s a permanent food truck at the entrance of an RV park. I didn’t even think about the irony til just now when I wrote this. Anyway, after circling the whole park, we found it and it turned out to be pretty good. I can’t remember the name of it, but we liked it so much, we went there for lunch, too.
After breakfast, we headed down to the Southernmost point in the US for the obligatory photos. We then went to Mile O of the OverseaHighway, for more pictures. I didn’t take pictures on my phone, because everyone else took them, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to share them with all y’all (I’ve only been in the South for barely a week, but I’ve already picked up that vernacular).
Tom & Tanya had some things they had to get done, so we dropped them off at “home” while we went to another NAS (there are 3 in the Keys) in Key Boco Chica (I love that name) up the road a piece, to get me a military guest ID. Of course, as with any bureaucracy or military paperwork, it took forever, but we finally got it done. I haven’t had to show it anywhere yet, and I just remembered as I’m typing this it’s only good for a week, so we’ll have to go do it again in a few days. I’m thinking this should go a lot faster, because they already did the background check.
We spent the rest of the day at the MWR (Morale, something-I-forget-that -starts -with-W, and Recreation)* office getting discounted tickets for different touristy things we wanted to do the next two days. * I remember now…Welfare. I think we just relaxed and finished unpacking the rest of the afternoon, and I forget where we went for dinner, so it must not have been very special.
Wednesday, or day 2 in Key West, we went down to the South part of the Key again, and had a really good breakfast at a place called The Banana Cafe. Tanya is a vegan, so between her diet and my restrictions, finding places to eat aren’t always easy here. This place has crepes, and good omelettes and 4 different kinds of Benedicts. We liked it so much, we’ve gone back the next two days.
After breakfast, we boarded the Conch Tour. It’s open air, topless bus and the front looks like a train engine. There is guided narration and it’s hop-off-hop-on. I’m confused of the order of things now, so I’ll just say on Thursday we boarded the trolly, which was also narrated, and hop-on-hop-off, and went to a few the same places as the Conch Train, but it went farther (or is it further? I can never remember. It went more places.)From here on I’m just going to be relaying random memories, or things I find interesting, not in any kind of chronological or logical order.
it was exciting to me to be driving down the Oversea Highway and to be driving between the Gulf of Mexico, or at times the Gulf of Florida, and on the other side, the Atlantic Ocean. Remember, I’ve lived on the west coast all my life. It was interesting to notice there were no waves, or currents on the water. That’s because there is a coral reef (the third largest in the world, next to the Great Coral Wreath, and I forget what other one) seven miles out, which breaks the waves. The reef caused many shipwrecks in the early days upon which an industry grew of salvagers, or Wreckers, as they were called. The men from the Key raced out in their boats and first rescued the people. They then went back to salvage whatever they could, including the cargo and the ship itself (the wood, the engines, etc). All the boats helped rescue the people, but the first boat to reach the wreck got to claim the salvage. The ship captain took what he wanted (which usually wasn’t much), then the Wrecker took what he wanted, and the rest was auctioned off once a month. The proceeds of the auction were divided evenly amongst all the members of the community, thus making the residents of Key West some of the wealthiest people in the world.
Other industries that made Key Westerners rich was sponge harvesting, and one man imported cigar making equipment from Cuba and made his fortune in manufacturing cigars. Now, tourism is the main industry.
Originally, the Key was owned by the government, and at one point it was sold to a man in Florida. He sold it for exactly the same amount to 3 different people. There was a big lawsuit, and one of the guys talked to the head of the navy base and told him if he won the lawsuit, he would give 25% of the land to the Navy. Not surprisingly, he won, and that’s why there are 3 naval bases on the key today. I saw a sign in a shop today which said “a good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows a judge”. You think it was inspired by that?
At the beginning of the Civil War, Florida ceceded from the Union. The Key however, being mostly a naval base, remained pro Union, and set a blockade, called the Serpentine Blockade because it would around like a snake, around all the ports and harbors on the key. The Confederacy couldn’t get any of its cotton out, nor get any supplies in, contributing to its loss of the War.
There’s an amazing Butterly House and bird sanctionary, run by the Nature Conservancy we visited on Wednesday. We also went to the Truman Whitehouse, which was fascinating. Hemingway also lived in Key West for a long time. He was a very troubled man, a womanizer, suffering from bipolar disease and alcoholism. He met his second wife in Cuba, and when they came back to Key West to get married, her uncle gave them an acre of land (an unusually large lot) and a home. That home is now a museum. Hemingway ‘collected’ cats, and the museum has continued the line of cats, which originated coming off the boats, and have big feet and more than five toes, which made them good rat catchers. The cats have the run of the property, so I chose not to go on the tour, and Jan went alone. I’m sorry I missed it, as Jan told me about many of the weird and quirky things he did. For example, he had a boxing ring in the backyard, which his wife hated. When he took off to go back to Cuba, womanizing and partying, his wife had the boxing ring torn down and put in a swimming pool, which was very expensive because the Key sits on a reef and it’s hard to dig down. When Hemingway way came back, broke and and dishelved, she showed him the pool, and he reached in his pocket, pulled out a penny, threw it at her and said “here, you might as well have my last red cent”, which apparently it actually was. She had it incased into the side of the pool to show people.
There are so many interesting things about the Key and people who lived here, like Audubon and Tennessee Williams. But this has gotten really long, and I’m getting tired, so I’ll continue tomorrow. Kudos to you who have continued reading this long. Good night!
Back to TOM
I now have a friend from the WINs traveling group that is here in Key West. We toured the town and each day watch sunrise and sunset. Gene Miller is a great friend to spend time with while on Island Time!
The RV repair is 100% completed finally, wow what a task! Now when I return to the mainland US I need to move the axle on the trailer so there is less tongue weight. I've got it all figured out! I really want to continue towing the enclosed trailer with all my "toys" and traveling full time it really makes a difference having your toys along! Toys are motorcycle, kayaks, bbq, fishing gear, bicycle.
As with other years I am grateful that this opportunity to camp in the warmest place in the US for the winter!
Mid February and I have returned to the mainland. A week in Homestead to make repairs to the trailer and now to catch up to the WINs and then over to Cape Canaveral to watch some rocket launches. On the Road Again feels so good!
Catching up with the WINs is great, more kayaking, hiking, touring.
Kayak Silver Springs State Park
World equestrian center
Hiking Silver Springs State Park
Tomorrow I fly to see Tanya before heading west for Solar Eclipse.
