The Sigsbee RV park at the Navy base sits on the banks of the channel to the well-sheltered, Key West Marina. We were only 50-feet away from a ramp where we could launch our paddleboards and play with the dogs. There was also a secluded beach just 30 yards from the ramp. And we only had to drive three miles from Mallory Square and Duvall Street in downtown Key West.
After a swim with the dogs, we stopped for cocktails at the Base waterfront club. Then it was time to explore town. We found a great patio bar called "Hank's Saloon" where one of the best bands of our trip, The Glass Cats, performed. They played jazz, 70s and funk. Amazing solos on the piano, guitar and bass. One patron dubbed them the "Glass Cat's Pajamas", because they made every song they played sound better than the original. I love jazz-style solos between refrains. Yes, they played some Grateful Dead, and yes, I even liked that song better than the original studio version. Very talented group. They played straight through from 5-8 pm with no breaks. Garbo's food truck on site served up awesome sliders, yum-yum shrimp and korean bbq tacos. We arrived back at camp to a beautiful sunset over the bay.
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Carri gave us a grand send-off and we were on our way to Key West. Angie's trip plan broke the trip into two parts with one-night stop at a campground on the Tamiami Trail. About an hour before we reached the campground, we started seeing "Panther Crossing" signs. When we arrived at the campground, there were lots of signs warning us to keep dogs away from the central pond in order to avoid attracting alligators. Sure enough, when we took the dogs for a leashed walk, we saw a gator in the middle of the pond. The gator immediately started swimming toward us. He stopped when Angie approached the bank to take a snapshot.
The campground also featured bear-proof food storage lockers. Panthers and gators and bears?! Oh My! Angie got a great picture of an ibis in mid-flight. We also large flying grasshoppers and strangely colored dragonflies. It was like visiting a biology exhibit! Hank woke up feeling much improved. We had a late lunch/early dinner with Angie, Carri, Tracy and Tracy's father-in-law Dodd, downtown St. Petersburg at a sidewalk cafe. Dodd is a full-time RVer who has made a lifestyle of the trip we are doing this summer. He visits Tracy in his RV for two weeks every year.
We got some great pictures at a banyan tree across the street from the cafe. Tracy and Dodd headed back to Tracy's home in Duneden, while Cari, Angie and Hank headed to a waterfront bar for drinks. Then it was time to pack the trailer. Angie had restocked our stores during Hank's trip. Hank's departing flight was delayed by a 50 minutes, but Alaska Airlines made up time in the air, so he made his connection in Chicago pretty easily. Angie picked him up at the airport. Went to bed early to aid his recovery.
We had a pleasant drive through Oregon and Washington. Of course, the worst - and only back-up was on I-5 at the Tacoma Dome. All those years and all those dollars of construction and the traffic is still horrible there. Arrived in Medina in late afternoon.
Hank woke up with a sore throat and fatigue grew throughout the day. He thought he might have come down with COVID again, but tests and time proved otherwise. He got a lot of chores done and hit the sack early in order to catch a 6 am - washing Madeline's car and topping it off, dropping winter clothes from the trailer in the garage, shopping for chicken soup and cold meds. The Sacramento Valley was greener, with more hills than the San Joaquin Valley. I couldn't believe how low the water level was in Lake Shasta! The current drought is the worst California has seen in 1,200 years.
The drive from Redmond, CA, to Ashland is remote and beautiful. I-5 follows the twists and turns of the Sacramento River to Dunsmuir. Then you get great views of Mt. Shasta and Black Butte. Madeline enjoyed driving this stretch of freeway. Finally, the road crosses into Oregon and drops down into the Bear Creek Valley, where Ashland is located. It is a beautiful valley, dotted with vineyards and pastures. There were no plays being performed on a Sunday night in late June, but we enjoyed driving around the quaint, small town with its small victorian houses and beautiful parks. We stayed across from Southern Oregon University. Hank enjoyed a dip in the pool before dinner. After dinner we strolled through Lithia Park, where we saw many wild deer and a couple of wild turkeys. Hank hadn't visited Ashland in many years, the town hasn't changed much, except for the significant numbers of itinerants in and around the park. Forest fires and COVID have swelled the homeless population in the county. Daren and Tina took us up to the City for pupusas at a Salvodoran restaurant in the Mission Distict, followed by a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in the Yerba Buena neighborhood near Moscone Center. Pupusas are griddle cakes filled with cheese, beans and sometimes pork. Yum!
The Musuem was amazing with original works from Picasso, Monet, Dali, Picasso and Pollard, among others. They also had some really cool, interactive exhibits, including a light show synchronzied to a trap set played by visitors, a living outdoor plant wall and a suspended prism tunnel you can walk-through. We also stopped in at Restoration Hardware's amazing showroom, which was like visiting an open mansion. Daren filled his gas tank on the way home. The price was $7.09 per gallon! It was raining when we packed up and hit the road, but we quickly escaped the clouds.We had a delightful drive up I-5 through the San Joaquin Valley, then through the Pacheco Valley and Gilroy, where we stopped for some cherries, strawberries and honey-cinnamon roasted almonds at a fruit stand. Yum! We arrived at the home of Madeline's Aunt Tina (Lisa's sister) in time to see her youngest son perform at a concert at San Carlos' Home Days.
Tina's husband, Daren, besides being CEO of a 300-person company that produces a virtual reality social site, is a generous and gracious host. He made up our bedrooms and provided us with towelshile, while Tina readied the boys for their night's advenures. The younger son, Carter, was performing with the Middle School Jazz Band in a downtown park. He even had a saxophone solo! We had a lovely dinner downtown afterwards. The kids jumped out of the car on the way home to hang with some of Logan's friends at the Park. Logan is a senior who will be matriculating to University of Washington in the Fall. He plays a mean piano, too! We watched Game 3 of the NBA's Western Conference Finals. Golden State pulled off an amazing comeback to go up 3-0. Then we wathched Dune - Madeline's first time, but Hank's third. Madeline is a big fan of Timothee Chalamet. Hank rose at 4:30 am to shower and pack for the airport. Angie rose at 5:00 to drive Hank to the airport. The dogs eagerly jumped in the truck to accompany us. They will NOT be left behind.
After a 30-minute delay on the plane at the departure gate while maintenance cleared an engine warning light, we took off for Orange. Madeline doesn't like to drive on the freeway, so Hank took an Uber to her apartment. The whole area was abloom with purple flowers on the trees. I later learned that these are called Jacaranda trees, which bloom each Spring and Fall. Madeline was already mostly packed, so it didn't take much for us to finish up together. We made a run to the storage locker that Mad had rented with her roommates for next year. Then we went out for dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant. It was cool, so we sat inside. We had hard rain overnight. Attended a yoga class for only the second time in three weeks. It felt so good to stretch and flow and flex in Vinyasa. After a haircut and light lunch, we finished "Death on the Nile". Tracy arrived bearing baked goods and we enjoyed margaritas to prepare ourselves for a couple hours of karaoke at a private room at LaLa on Central Ave.
The gang wasted no time filling up the queue with songs and diving right in to singing classic rock and country tunes. We had a blast singing and dancing - aided by three more rounds of drinks. Got some great photos and videos. The videos are closely guarded, however, protected by an NDA with severe penalties. Two hours flew by. We could have easily carried on for another two hours! But we had to give up our room. Instead we ambled up Central Avenue to a sidewalk restaurant to enjoy a tasty meal while reviewing the pictures and basking in the afterglow of our revelry. |