We left the Keys at the end of April so that I could visit my doctors at home. This is the second time I left the Keys to seek medical advice from my doctors in Baltimore. While I now have several doctors in Key West, I feel more comfortable seeing my doctors at home. There are not a lot of specialists in the Keys, so I would have probably had to go to Miami to see a kidney specialist. Fortunately only watching things at this time. I have a follow up in October to see if surgery is necessary.
Continue reading “Start of the 2021 Summer Season: 05/01/2021 – 06/22/2021”Home for Two Months: Medical Issues and New Jeep Gladiator 10/19/2020
It has been great being home, but I am looking forward to heading South and finding warm weather again. We have had frost a couple of mornings and I had to break out the long pants. I even had to give up my flip flops occasionally because my toes were too cold! We are lucky that we have not had any below freezing temperatures, but we have gotten close at 35 degrees.
Continue reading “Home for Two Months: Medical Issues and New Jeep Gladiator 10/19/2020”Weather in May, Fishing and Manatees 05/14/2020
A tropical system near the Bahamas has produced rain and gusty wind in the Florida Keys, portions of Southwest Florida and parts of the Bahamas. The weather forecast is for Thursday, Friday and possibly part of Saturday. The wind picked up late Wednesday night with heavy wind and rain for all of Thursday. The wind pushed the rain sideways causing a steady leak in the bedroom slide. Fortunately we caught it early, so no damage was done, but we will have to keep an eye out to make sure there is no damage to the gasket. Randy had checked the gaskets around the slide the previous day, so he does not think anything needs fixing. The leak is probably just from the sideways-driving rain. But still something to put on the maintenance list.
Continue reading “Weather in May, Fishing and Manatees 05/14/2020”Back to the Keys 10/2019 – 11/2019
October and November were busy months. We had a lot to do once we got back home from our summer adventures. Just cleaning out the Dirt Yacht took quite some time. From storing our cold weather clothes to getting rid of all of the dust in the motorhome and outside storage compartments, Randy and I spent quite a bit of time organizing and cleaning. And that is never my favorite thing to do! While we were home we also caught up on some of our doctor’s appointments. I had a few extra tests to check on my kidney stones, but for now at least the doctor just wants to keep watching them to make sure they are not continuing to grow.
Continue reading “Back to the Keys 10/2019 – 11/2019”Telkwa, Totem Poles and Memories of 1966 09/05/2019
The time spent in Hyder was our last time in Alaska and once we left Stewart it was a push for 2 days of driving to complete our caravan’s journey. However, I think the drive to our next stop at Fort Telkwa RV Park was one of Randy’s favorite parts of this trip.
Continue reading “Telkwa, Totem Poles and Memories of 1966 09/05/2019”Seward: Alaska Sea Life Center, Kenai Fjords National Park, Salmon Fishing, Smoke and Wildfires 08/15 – 08/18/2019
The Dirt Yacht only stayed clean for one day. By the time we drove the 155 miles to Seward, it was dirty and dusty again. We had several miles of road construction that contributed to the grime. There was also smoke from a nearby wildfire that probably contributed to some of the dust. This wildfire was in the same general location as the one we saw on our drive to Homer; however, this fire was larger and spread out in several locations. We spotted a helicopter dumping water from a large bag on the fire. We watched the helicopter drop down to a creek between the fire and the roadway to refill the bag before again dropping its load over the fire. I don’t know how much water the helicopter could drop at one time, but it didn’t look like more than a thimble full in comparison to the amount of fire. The fire had definitely grown in comparison to what we spotted on our trip into Homer a few days ago. That fire and smoke was the first time we had seen any active wildfire on this trip.
Continue reading “Seward: Alaska Sea Life Center, Kenai Fjords National Park, Salmon Fishing, Smoke and Wildfires 08/15 – 08/18/2019”Homer Spit and Seldovia 08/12 – 08/14/2019
Since we had visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and the Portage Glacier Visitor Center while we were in Anchorage, we did not have to make many stops on the 227 mile drive to Homer. It was another beautiful drive along Turnagain Arm to Sterling Highway. Near Sterling we saw a small wildfire on the hillside. We had been warned by several people to expect fires, but this was our first encounter. Unfortunately, it was not our last. We did stop at the Welcome sign overlooking Kachemak Bay for our scavenger hunt photo before the steep downgrade into Homer.
Continue reading “Homer Spit and Seldovia 08/12 – 08/14/2019”Badlands National Park and Prairie Homestead 6/18 – 6/21/2019
I did not realize that the entrance to the Badlands KOA was on the other side of the Northeast Entrance to the Badlands National Park. We got in with no problem since Randy and I now both have a lifetime pass to National parks, but it did cause me some anxiety traveling over the winding, narrow road down to the White River KOA in our large RV.
The Start of our Summer Adventure: Kristina and Brian’s Wedding in Ocean City, Maryland, On The Road Again and RV/MH Hall of Fame, Elkhart Indiana 6/09/2019
After our stay at Treasure Beach RV Park and Campground in Selbyville, Delaware, to be close to Brian and Kristina’s wedding, at The Golden Sands in Ocean City, we finally hit the road again to start our summer adventure.
Continue reading “The Start of our Summer Adventure: Kristina and Brian’s Wedding in Ocean City, Maryland, On The Road Again and RV/MH Hall of Fame, Elkhart Indiana 6/09/2019”Back in Westminster!
It still doesn’t feel like we were in the Keys for (almost) 6 months. The last few days were really stressful with all of the packing needed and with Ty’s medical issues. Ty had his final checkup at the Marathon Veterinary Hospital on Monday morning as we were on our way out of the Keys. The Vet said all of his blood work looked good and he was over the 72 hour window where he was still in danger from the poison. They were so good to us there. They squeezed us in when they didn’t have an open appointment for Monday morning and saw us as soon as we walked in the door. It still added a couple of hours to the first day of our trip home, but it was a relief to know that Ty would be OK.