Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2004: 4

      Monday, January 19 was a rainy day and it rained quite hard at times. After breakfast, Bill hooked his laptop up in the manager's office and processed email. He also made a reservation inquiry about a campground on South Padre Island, Texas for the week after the Mexico trip. He also found a state park in Galveston that might work out for a couple of nights when we first arrive in Texas. Cathy did the laundry while Bill cleaned off the trailer in between rain showers. We ate lunch and then did some shopping at Publix. Paul, from Family RV Repairs, finally arrived to install a battery on the trailer. The installation and testing took about 20 minutes. He charged $40 less than his estimate. We took a 3 mile roundtrip walk to Blockbuster to rent a couple of DVDs. The sky had cleared and the wind hadn't picked up yet, so it was pleasant walking. We had a large Caesar Salad (with chicken for Cathy) and red beans and rice for dinner. Afterwards, we viewed "American Wedding" which we both decided is pretty lame. We've discovered that all of the lots in the Calusa Campground are owned by individuals. The price was $35,000 for inland lots a few years ago, but they are going for $70,000 today. A waterfront lot went for $199,000 recently. Some owners store their RVs here for $25 per week and then allow the condominium association to rent their lots while they're not using them. Some people find this a good way to live in the Keys, but it wouldn't be for us.

    Tuesday morning we generated rain inside our camper. The canvas over each of the beds dripped water during the early morning. It was very humid and the outside air was chilly. We think that our boiling water for dinner the night before might have supersaturated the air inside the camper. We will try to cook outside as much as possible in the future. During breakfast, Phil called and asked that Bill upload some tables to DCWUSAonline. Bill brought his laptop over to the office and luckily was allowed to plug into the network. He downloaded email and then brought the computer back to the camper to prepare the table uploads. Finally, he returned to the office to upload the tables and test the results. It's not so easy doing business on the Internet when you're on the road. We decided to do some exploring of Islamorada. We drove to the visitor center and got some advice on where to take a walk. We parked on Tea Table Key and walked south to Lower Matecumbe Key. This part of the walk goes over 3 bridges and is quite scenic. We stopped at Robbie's Marina and ate at the Hungry Tarpon Restaurant on their back deck on the water. After lunch we continued to walk south along a beautiful stretch with flowering shrubs and waterfront homes. The area between mm 77 and mm 76 is particularly nice. We returned to our car after a 7.5 mile walk. It was warm in the sun and clear. We drove to the Theater of the Sea and paid the $20 admission. This is a well-kept complex rich in vegetation. They provide a guided tour and put on shows in different areas:

It is all well done and the crowd was small and enthusiastic, so it was very worthwhile. We stopped at Publix on the way back to the campsite. We cooked outside and enjoyed risotto and salad for dinner. We viewed  "The In-laws" after dinner and found it quite funny. We left the heat on all night because of the chilly air.

    Islamorada is touted to be the fishing capital of the Keys, so we decided to take a fishing trip on a party boat on Wednesday afternoon. After breakfast we took a 6 mile run/walk to the south on the Overseas Highway. It was another beautiful day. We stopped at Blockbuster on the way back to the campsite. We ate lunch outside since it was so nice and then drove to the second Robbie's location at mm 82.5. We boarded the party boat, Captain Michael, in a group of about 20 customers. The boat's first stop was in 116' blue water where we mostly caught Blue Runners. Then we moved to a second deep location where we caught a variety of fish: Vermillion Snappers, Porgies, and a Sand Tile Fish. Bill also caught a Dog Shark. We finally moved to a shallower location near the reef where we caught a bunch of grunts, a Strawberry Grouper, and a baitfish called a Speedo. It was fun catching a variety of fish for a change. We returned to the dock as the sun was setting. We took home the filets of the Snappers, the Grouper, the Sand Tile, and the Porgies. We made a stop at Publix on the way back to the campsite. When we started to rinse the fish we realized that we took too many home and had to waste a few filets. We cooked outside and pan-fried the fish in two frying pans and cooked Red Beans and Rice as an accompaniment. It was a good dinner. We viewed "Open Range" after dinner and were not too impressed by the dialogue.

    Thursday, our last full day in the Keys, we discovered the good, the bad, and the ugly about Key Largo. In the morning, we drove to Harry Harris park at mm 92.5 Oceanside. This park, which is free on weekdays, is large and full-featured. We walked through the surrounding neighborhoods full of middle class homes and reveled in the quietness of the area which is far removed from the highway. Afterwards we ate lunch outside the camper. We did the laundry and then organized some things for our five days away from camping. Later, we walked through some decrepit and depressing trailer parks along the bayside north of our campground. When we returned, we had a new appreciation of the cleanliness and neatness of our campground in comparison to the others. We saw an awesome sunset over the Gulf. During Bill's shower, he shaved without a mirror, a skill he has developed in Key Largo which will prove useful in the future. We ate dinner at The Fish House Encore and had an encore of Sunday night's meal for the most part. It was awesome and only cost $76. Wow! The stars shone brightly as we returned to the camper for our last night in the Keys.

    On Friday, we arose at 6:30, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and were on the road at 9:30 AM. We are getting better at breaking camp. We drove up route 997 from Florida City to US 41 and then turned west for 5 miles to the Coopertown Air Boat Rides. We and 3 others enjoyed a fast ride through a portion of the Everglades where we viewed some Alligators and several interesting bird species. The best part was the ride itself through the Sawgrass. Cathy and I sat in the front seat, so it was somewhat like a roller coaster ride. We continued on US 41 across the Everglades. Cathy was able to spot many big Alligators sunning themselves as we drove along the 2 lane Tamiami Trail. We took a short detour into Marco Island looking for a place to eat, but all we saw were beautiful homes. We found our way back to US 41 and ate at a McDonald's for the first time in several years. Bill had a milkshake for lunch while Cathy had a chicken sandwich. Sally the Navigator was happy to keep us on US 41 through Naples, but the stop-and-go traffic made us bail out and get on I 75 for a 35 mile stretch to the Fort Myers area. We drove on route 884 toward Cape Coral with Sally nagging us to get back on US 41 to go many miles out of the way. Cathy and I were both calling her names before the afternoon was through. We finally arrived near our former sister-in-law and good friend Shannon White's condominium around 4:30 PM. We needed some guidance via cell phone for the last 1/8 mile. We parked in a vacant lot next to the condominium building. After some catching-up conversation, we went to Rum Runners Restaurant for a wonderful dinner. The geezer at the next table told Bill that he had a wonderful head of hair for someone his age. Bill told him that he wasn't as old as he looked. We're not sure whether he was complimenting Bill, telling Bill that he needed a haircut, or commenting on how old Bill looked. When Bill went to the restroom, after noting how clean it looked compared to the campgrounds we've been in, he did note how well coiffed he was and decided it was a compliment. We returned to Shannon's home for some more good family conversation after dinner.

    Saturday morning was in the 40s in Cape Coral when we arose. We ate breakfast and then took a 5 mile walk around the neighborhoods nearby. As we walked, the temperature rose into the 60s and the day turned quite beautiful. We ate a home made pizza for lunch and then drove toward Belleair. Sally the Navigator took us on some city streets in the St. Petersburg area needlessly, but did take us to Bob and Marianne's (Cathy's sister) house. We think that we need to do more of the large scale navigation via interstate highways before trusting Sally to do the fine-tuning on local roads. We arrived at around 4:30 PM. We watched a great sunset over the water from the deck during cocktail hour. We went to dinner at Island Way Grille near Clearwater Beach. This is a fairly new restaurant built in a low, open architecture and was filled with a young and noisy crowd. We had excellent meals. 

    First thing on Sunday morning, Bill tried to connect to the cable modem without success. Bob drove Bill down to the Starbucks inside the local Albertsons for a caffeine lift. We ate breakfast and then Bill took a 3 mile run along the water and the golf course while the others went to church. We all worshipped in our own ways. Later, Bill got the laptop connected to the Internet and was able to process email. We talked with our son Bill, and daughters Alex and Katie during the day. The four of us took a long walk on the Clearwater Beach strand. There were people on the beach in bikinis and jackets as each person reacted to the sunny but cool and breezy day. When we returned home, Bill discovered that anywhere that we might drive toward Texas on Tuesday would land us in sub-freezing temperatures on Tuesday night. Because we worry about pipes freezing and bursting on the trailer, we decided to hole up in Clearwater for another day and leave on Wednesday morning. We enjoyed a nice grilled salmon dinner and then watched the Golden Globe Awards in the evening. 

    On Monday, Bob headed out early while we other three took a walk with Sarah, a neighbor. After the walk and after breakfast, Bill put in a couple of hours work on documenting the DCWUSAonline dedicated server for a possible transfer to a new machine. Cathy and Marianne went shopping and brought Bill back a latte from Starbucks. Cathy and Marianne went to an exercise class while Bill continued working. After lunch, Cathy, Marianne, and Bill went out to run some errands. Bill bought a flashcard reader so that he can finally get the photos out of Tom and Katie's camera. When they returned, Bill spent some hours working on the photos. We all enjoyed a great dinner of pasta and shrimp.

        Bill and Cathy