Back in Long Key State Park where every site is camping on the beach.  The view out our door is amazing.  I thank the Good Lord each day for this blessing of spending our January here.

 My sister Lori and her husband Chris came to visit for a few days.  We carry a tent and air mattress for anyone who can come stay with us!  The wind calmed down for a few days while they were here allowing us to enjoy the full moon with balmy evening campfires.  We also did some kayaking.  No, Les did not get a new kayak.  Our FL friends, Kathy and Bob, loaned us their kayaks.  Bob just made the one Les is using.  It was gorgeous!

 After Lori and Chris left the wind picked up again.  But there are no bugs.  Les had a repair to do on the trailer.  A tire developed a slow leak.  After taking it off and examining it, a staple was found.  He repaired the leak and we are set.  We had another maintenance issue last week.  Les found that the ball of the hitch had worked loose.  A nice mechanic in Marathon tightened it for us at no cost. 

 

This red egret hunts its food by spreading its wings and casting a shadow.  The small fish go for the shade thinking it is a rock and walla, dinner. God's creation is amazing.

We are here until Feb 7th and then we leave the Keys for this year. 

 Our second week at Curry Hammock SP.  The wind calmed here last week so we were able to do some paddling here around the mangrove coves.  We spotted a number of these invasive iguanas.  These lizards were pets and released to the outdoors.  Here in the Keys the weather is good for them and they are thriving.  The native vegetation is taking a hit from them.  They are defoliating too many plants and becoming a problem.  Les saw one he estimated to be 4 foot long.

 

Speaking of good weather, above are some pictures from a local community and their plants.   I would title this group of pictures "Houseplants gone wild". 

Sunday we headed to Islamadora just north of here and a bluegrass festival.  It was their first one at this location, Founders Park, and a huge success by our estimation.  Bands played from noon to 10pm.  Les and I only made it to 5:30pm as the bugs came out and were hungry!  It was a very nice day with good music and good BBQ!

 We say good bye to Curry tomorrow and head 10 miles back up Rt 1 to Long Key.  We will spend 2 weeks camped on the beach there to end our time in the Florida Keys.  The sunsets are lovely in the Keys.

 

Good bye to Long Key SP.  Above is the plovers and ruddy turnstones that forage the wrack of the surf just feet from our campsite there.  We left them for 2 weeks just a few miles south and Curry Hammock State Park.  Another beautiful Keys park.  A picture of our campsite here with our bouys to decorate.  No beach campsites but just a short walk to it.  Les loves the mangrove shade!

There is a great bike path along
Rt 1 in this area.  A 3/4 mile walk
take you to a 1.5 mile nature trail through the hammock.  Les is on the path and I'm pictured on the trail.  Below you see what these Keys are made of:  coral reef.  6000 years ago these keys were under water and were reefs.  The water level lowered and we have these beautiful keys to play on.  The first tree pictured is the Gumbo Limbo, or as the locals call it "the tourist tree".  Notice the red peeling of the skin?  Beside it is a tree we learned to be very careful of, the Poisonwood.  It is a relative of poison ivy and shares all its effects.  You are warned not to touch any part of this tree of suffer the consequences.

We have another week here to enjoy and then back to Long Key.  The temps have been wonderful.  Days in the low 80's and nights in the mid 70's.  Oh my.

  After a shaky start: snow, sickness and trips to the ER, we pulled out Friday, Dec. 28^th for our winter escape. This is our first night in a NC campground off I95. We needed the furnace and the heater to warm up the trailer!

After stopping to visit Les's brother in SC and a stop in Jacksonville to visit my cousin, we headed to our camping reservations. Jan. 2^nd we stopped at the Kennedy Space Center to look around. We were there from noon to closing, 6pm, and could have spent more time. There is a lot to see and do.

We toured the vehicle assembly building. Over 500ft tall. Saw the moon rocket and the lunar lander. This really brought back memories for us.

January 2nd to Jan. 5th we camped at Jonathan Dickinson SP close to Juniper Beach.  This is a nice park to stop and gather ourselves for our journey to the Keys.

January 5^th we arrived in our favorite State Park in the Keys: Long Key. Every site in this campground is on the ocean. Below is the view behind our trailer. The temps have been 70's at night and 80's daytime. It was very breezy the first day but today was calm so we could take the kayaks out to hunt bouys. There has been just enough breeze to keep the bugs down, that is a good thing!

We will leave this park Thursday and move a half hour south to Curry Hammock SP for 2 weeks. Then back here for 2 weeks. More on our Keys stay later.