We've settled in, started meeting our neighbors and getting set for the winter - and looking forward to a trip this Saturday to Tampa to meet the kids for Christmas.
Having spent a couple of months here last winter, it almost feels like home. We're only a short bike ride from all the amenities (grocery, retail, work out etc,) and everything else we might need is only a short ride off base. Even though the traffic is heavy, it's only a short drive to everything. Unlike our winters in Fort Myers where traffic was a nightmare and it was impossible to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.
It's so easy to meet our fellow military retiree RVer's. Military RVer's are a small subset of a small subset of people. Not a lot of people are RVers and an even smaller number of Rvers who are ex-military. It's easy to meet them and start a conversation because all us have something in common having served in the military and we quickly find that there usually only a couple degrees of separation before we have something in common - a base where we were stationed, a plane we flew or worked on, a base where we've Rv'd and some other commonality.
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| Christmas in Key West |
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| The Motorhome across from us decorated for Christmas |
After a comfortable 7+ hour drive, we arrive at the condo's we're renting within a few minutes of each other. The kids have been at Disneyland in Orlando for a few days so they had only a short drive.
This is a first for us, never having celebrated Christmas away from home. But we find that it makes little difference where - it's all about who! And we have the who. And we find that we can make as big a mess in a condo as we can at home.
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| After having watched a glass blowing demonstration, it is hard to believe that someone was able to create these beautiful pieces. |
Monday, we head back to Key West on what turned out to be an agonizingly long drive. We don't have any idea why, but around Key Largo, traffic was nearly at a standstill and we lost an hour and a half just getting through there, ending in an almost 10 hour drive. I guess the lesson is - stay in Key West.
Now that we're back, we're really settling in for the long haul. We'll probably rotate to a full hookup site in a week or two. Meanwhile, we keep the batteries charged with the little Honda generator, supplemented by the big boy in the motorcoach.
On Friday, Dec 30, we had our first cold (cool) front come through, and the temperatures Friday night dropped down to 60. Good sleeping. It's supposed to be back in the low 80's now for a while. It's always surprising how cold 60 degrees feels after getting used to the warmer weather.
I did take a swim in the Gulf one time this week. The water is comfortable, but it's easier to go the pool to swim.
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| New Year's Eve Party |
