January 2024 travels!
After arriving home in July of 2023, we had some recovering to do before doing any more travel! Dan went immediately to an orthopedic surgeon, to find that he had some lower discs in his back pressing on nerves. He was in terrific pain, even using a walker for a time to get around. He started Physical Therapy three times a week, for over six weeks. He started feeling better, and was able to start enjoying life a bit more.
Gena enjoyed being home for an unusual amount of time and for a good part of the summer. There were flowers in our garden that she hadn't seen for years! She also enjoyed having time with her three grandchildren, now ages 14, 16, and 18. Her favorite thing to do was to grab one of them and go on an adventure, just the two of them. We also were able to attend our church regularly, and enjoyed that.
As 'winter started' we ‘suffered’ an unusually mild winter – no snow at all, temps mostly above freezing, just the usual gray, no sun, that we’re used to. We departed Michigan on January 11, just in front of a huge cold front that brought the first snow accumulation and single digit temps in the winter so far. We spent 2 nights on the road, in Cracker Barrel parking lots, before reaching the north Georgia area where my daughter, Laura, and grandchildren live. We ended up spending one night in a Walmart parking lots in Cummings, near Dan’s cousin Suzie and husband, Mark. They took us to dinner at a great German restaurant.
Next day, we moved to an RV spot near Laura’s home. We got to visit with Laura, her sons, Brody, and Rylan, Rylan’s girlfriend, Katie, and Laura’s boyfriend, Matt. Laura and Matt have been together for a year, and have recently moved in together. If was great getting to know Matt and Katie. We spent 2 nights there, then moved on.
Next stop was King’s Bay Navy Base campground. We just stayed there two nights, because it was still cold! We wanted to get further south and some warm weather!
Next stop was KARS Park, owned by the Kennedy Space Center. It’s located right on the Banana River, directly across from Cape Canaveral – best place to watch space shots! We enjoyed two weeks there. Another advantage of being there was its closeness to Orlando, where our good friends Dennis and Denise Sprenkle live. We exchanged visits each way a couple of times while we were there.
We left KARS Park on 1/30, headed towards our final destination of Key West. Our reservations in Key West started on 2/1. We parked for one night at the Miccosoukee Indian Casino in Florida City, had a nice dinner and quiet evening in their parking lot.
On 1/31, we arrived in Key West, and were allowed to go ahead and park in Trumbo campground and report to the campground office the next day, when our reservations started. We’ve been here many times, and it’s always good to reconnect to many of the same people who return year after year. There have been many changes in recent years – they’ve severely restricted the number of campsites and raised the rates. But, we still enjoy the ambiance and camaraderie there.
And so, we began our two month stay.
The weather, to begin with, wasn’t great – a big cool and very windy. But, the good times are coming! We love the sunny weather, especially when it gets into the high 70’s and low 80’s. It took us a few days of just relaxing, getting into the groove, before we actually started getting out into town and enjoying the Key West vibe.
Our first visit into town, we thought we’d go to a quiet bar, Heroes, for a beer and a sit down. We rode our bikes there, only to find it was swarmed with a huge crowd, many dressed in animal costumes! “What’s going one?” OK, next, we rode to our next favorite quiet bar, Tiki Bar, which is a great people watching place, right off Duval. We were surprised to find, once again, a swarm of people, spilling out into the street, most dressed in animal costumes!! We retreated to a seat across the street, in a good people watching place, ordering a burrito and a beer. Finally, I could stand it no more – I went across the street and asked one of the folks what was with the costumes. Turns out is it an annual event, a onesie pub crawl, an annual event sponsored by a Tattoo bar down the street. Both our favorite bars were on the list of 4 bars included! Cool. So, next time we go, we should be back in our familiar bars, able to just sit, watch people pass, and have a quiet drink!
