Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2004: 3

      Tuesday, January 13 was a beautiful day. After breakfast and our routine campsite chores, we drove to a few stores to run errands. We picked up Cathy's anklet from a jewelers where it had been repaired and stopped at Home Depot to get a few items. We needed the sales receipt for our broken Cyber-shot camera, so we got the email printed at an Internet service company. Then we went to the UPS Store to send the camera for repair. Finally, we shopped at Publix for supplies. When we returned, we went for a run/walk on the old Seven-mile Bridge. Bill ran for a two-mile segment for the first time since his leg injury last summer. It was still a bit windy, but yet delightful up on the bridge. After lunch we drove up to the dock for a party boat we had planned to fish on. The boat turned out to be the Starlight from Wildwood Crest, wintering in Marathon. Not only was the boat from New Jersey, but so were most of the fishermen on board. It was a perfect day out on the water. We caught a bunch of Grunts and Cathy caught a Morey Eel. We took home the filets from the 4 biggest fish and stopped at Publix on the way home for a larger frying pan, a box of "striper helper" (red beans and rice) which maybe should be called "grunt helper" which doesn't sound very appealing, and some Cuban rolls. We had a wonderful fish dinner. Afterwards, we finished watching "Something About Mary." 

    Wednesday was bright and sunny with a bit of a NNW wind to keep the temperature in the low 70s. We walked the old Seven-mile Bridge after the usual stuff. We ate an early lunch and then Bill drove to Marathon Kayaks to rent a Cobra Tourer kayak for a half day. He carried his GPS and marine radio as well as a special chart of the area distributed by the renting company. Ever since the infamous Rum Runner 2001, Bill has wanted to paddle alongside of the Seven-mile Bridge, so that's where he headed. The current running under the bridge is notoriously strong, so the trick is to stay away from the bridge near land where the current is strongest. Bill closed in on the bridge as he neared Pigeon Key and then crossed under just past the key. There was a moderate wind coming from the Gulf side of the bridge and light chop, but conditions were good. On the way back, Bill startled a Manta Ray right off the bow of the kayak. It was amazing to see the fish "fly" away under the clear water. After coming back in to the "inside" waters, Bill toured the mangroves of Boot Key. The water clarity in there was startling. The paddle lasted just under 4 hours. Marathon Kayaks offers a day trip along the entire Seven-mile Bridge which would be fun to do. Also, they are planning a kayaking "vacation." Check their website for details. After the kayaking trip, we drove back to the Internet Café on Big Pine Key to process email and for Bill to do a bit of work. We returned to the camper for a wonderful lobster salad made from leftovers from Monday night's feast. We viewed "American Pie" for dessert.

    It felt a bit chilly on Thursday, but it was sunny all day. We went for a run/walk on the old Seven-mile Bridge right after breakfast. Our son Bill called while we were walking, so we caught up with him and Stacey during some multitasking. Paul, from Family RV Repair was supposed to come to install a battery at lunchtime. Bill worked on DCWUSAonline items and Cathy tried to keep warm by reading in the sun. After lunch, we called Paul and rescheduled for around 4:00 PM. We headed to Big Pine Key so that Bill could upload and test his work. We stopped at Winn-Dixie afterward and then headed back to the camper. Bill did some more work on DCWUSAonline and Cathy started to get organized for tomorrow's move to Key Largo. At 5:50 PM we called Paul and he said that he'd be there in 20 minutes. An hour later we rescheduled to call him when we arrive in Key Largo tomorrow. Wow! This guy makes Cape May contractors look good! We ate dinner at the Quarterdeck restaurant in Key Colony Beach. We had simple dishes of grilled grouper and dolphin which were excellent. We finished the meal with our first Key Lime Pie this year. Back at the unit, we viewed "Sixteen Candles", a chick-flick with lots of humor. 

    Friday was moving day. We took an early walk on the old Seven-mile Bridge to get a photo of the sunrise over the water. We were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise. We also took a "money shot" photo of Pigeon Key with the "hump" of the Seven-mile Bridge behind it. We ate a leisurely breakfast and then started to break camp. As Bill was emptying the grey water tote, he got into a conversation with the driver of an RV with Pennsylvania plates. It turned out to be a man named Ron who lives in Scotland, PA and knows many of Bill's former colleagues at Shippensburg University. Ron said that one of our friends from the university, Bob Jacobs, was staying in Key Grove Colony, a stone's throw from where we ate the previous evening. Too bad we didn't meet in the restaurant. We felt much more comfortable with breaking camp this time and were on the road to Key Largo by 11:00 AM. The day was sunny, so it was the usual beautiful drive up the overseas highway. Sally the navigator came through like a champ in leading us through some unmarked roads to the Calusa Campground. This is a condominium campground where people buy their campsites and can keep their rigs on site. About 80% of the units were unoccupied, so an unusual quietness prevailed. We unhitched and drove to eat lunch at Hobos, a bar with the best Yellowtail Snapper sandwich we've ever had. Then we returned to our campsite and set up. There is no dump station at Calusa, so we will be dumping our tote and toilet in the sewer connection on our site. After setting up, we went shopping at Publix. The traffic on Route 1 is very heavy in Key Largo, so driving from point-to-point is difficult. We had set up our stove outside for the first time and used it to cook a meal of gardenburgers and red beans and rice. Bill cooked because it had become chilly outside. After dinner we viewed "Animal House" on DVD.   

    Saturday morning we successfully connected our tote to the sewer and dumped it without a problem. After breakfast, Bill connected his laptop to the campground network in the manager's office and worked for an hour. Afterward, we began a walk north up the overseas highway. We intended to walk 3 miles up the road and then back. When we reached John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, we walked in and paid a $1.50 per person admission. We had read a lot about this underwater state park and were anxious to explore it. We bought tickets for the 12:15 glass-bottomed boat tour to Molasses Reef. We had a nice half hour ride out to the reef. It was sunny and warm. It was just like dry snorkeling with a narrator when we reached the reef. We had decided to grab lunch on the boat, but found only cookies to eat accompanied by diet cokes. When we got back to shore, we explored the rest of the above water parts of the park on foot. Then we continued our walk to mm 104. By this time, we were actually feeling hot (we had read about the single digit temperatures in the Northeast in the morning paper). We returned to our campsite for some water and then drove to Publix for a few items. We picked up Conch Chowder and Yellow Tail filets at The Fish House Restaurant and Seafood Market. We heated the chowder and pan fried the fish with lemon - great meal! We viewed the last of our Christmas DVDs, "When Harry met Sally."

    Sunday began as a hot, humid day. After breakfast, we walked south down the overseas highway to the Holiday Inn, where there is a marina with charter boats and other boats for hire. We walked around the marina a bit and then crossed the highway to grab a cup of Cuban Coffee at Denny's Latin Café. We stopped at Scotty's on the way back to buy some cleaning supplies and a hose nozzle. We ate lunch inside because the wind was kicking up. The clouds from an oncoming front were thickening as we drove north to the top of Key Largo. There is a gated community up there call Ocean Reef Club, where our neighbors the Birsh's have their primary home. We toured a tropical hardwood hammock botanical park on the site of the almost-built Port Bougainvillea. Then we stopped at the Visitor's Center and finally the Disabled Birds Facility on the south part of the island. It was like Hitchcock's movie with the Pelicans and Egrets perched above staring at us as we toured. We returned to the camper so that Bill could get a quick shower and then we left just before a thunderstorm came through. We sat at the bar at The Fish House Encore and watched the end of the AFC Championship game and the first quarter of the NFC Championship game, where Phil was in attendance with his parents. We moved to a table in the bar for dinner. We had to leave before the end of the game. The rain continued off and on overnight.

        Bill and Cathy