December 09
Sugarloaf Key, Florida

2009

To see our complete Photo Album at our Webshots Site.

To see a summary map of our route, click here.

December
   31   New Years Eve Day!  We have a beautiful sunny and warm morning.  We had coffee on the patio and read the paper.  It’s a hot 80 degree day and sunny.  We headed over to the pool to soak up some rays. 
          We finished up our Oysters on the grill before heading to the KOA.  For New Years Eve we are heading back to the KOA to ring in the New Year with Howard Livingston and Mile Marker 24. 
           Linda told us she was getting there early and recommended we come so we can get our tables.  The 3 of us went over there at 5pm.  YES, 5pm.  Howard doesn’t start until 830pm.  So we have to pace ourselves in order to make it to midnight.  We got 4 tables and then Duane and Liz came so we got another one.  They brought some beads for the tables.  Lazy Lakes people started arriving.  John and I went for a walk to the bridge to see the sun set and the Blue Full Moon rise.  Well, that didn’t work out so well.  The sun is so much South right now, we couldn’t see it or the moon from the bridge.  So we headed back to our tables.  The moon started rising with a few clouds.  After a few minutes it cleared the clouds and it was a beautiful full moon. 
           Howard and the band was all set up by 730pm and played “Livin on Key West Time” for the sound and setup check.  They came back on at 830pm.  The Johnson came out and the 1^st margarita was auctioned for 400.00 with the proceeds going to Care Camp for Kids.  Duane and Liz brought jello shots and glitter.  So pretty soon, everyone was wearing glitter.  We all had a great time and rung in the New Year with Champagne. 

   30   Today we took a walk around our lake.  We relaxed around the cow and had Shrimp and Oysters on the grill for dinner.  We walked over to the KOA to see The Dave Aaron Band.

   29   This is a cool morning.  I have some TCI stuff to do and John is going to work around the cow.  At noon there were homemade soups from the Christmas Party at the clubhouse.  Then we played some 9 person jokers.

   28   This morning is cloudy and raining.  I am working on my TCI stuff.

   27   Even though there isn’t an official Sunday Afternoon Party, quite a few are having one anyways.  Today is BYOB and a dish.  Duane is DJing.  We watched football, played horseshoes and just hang out.

   26   Today is a nice relaxing day.  We took a walk over to the KOA and around the campground.  Since Christmas was yesterday, movie night got moved to tonight.  So under the stars and palm trees a bunch of us watched “The Hangover”.  We made some popcorn, put our feet up and enjoyed the movie.

   25   MERRY CHRISTMAS!!   We got up and had our Christmas morning around the tree.  After opening gifts and having our coffee, we walked around the campground and dropped off a few gifts and visited with neighbors. 
               The Weather Channel is broadcasting the Guaranteed White Christmas from Howard and Cyndi Livingston’s.  We talked to our friend Linda and decided to go over there and check it out.  It’s only 4 miles away, so we headed out.  It was sooo cool.  We were just hoping to get a picture of the snow, but we ended up in the back yard by the pool and in a bunch of the clips.  I posted all the photos on our Webshots site and on Facebook.  We had a great time and YES we had snow and even a snowball fight with the boats. 
               We headed back around noon to get ready for our Christmas party at our campground.  They cooked up 3 turkeys, a ham and a duck.  Everyone brought a dish.  We brought dirty rice.  It was a hot day and some were in the pool, some played cards, John played some horseshoes and some just visited and grazed on the good eats.  We brought wine with us.  A neighbor Judy had some homemade moonshine and was passing that around.  I didn’t indulge, but John had a taste and said it was smooth.  Judy had a few too many and mixed other drinks too.  So she had to end up grounding herself.  We got a little rainstorm and that cooled everything down.  We had a great Christmas. 
                We hope all of you had a safe and Merry Christmas also.

   24   Christmas Eve Day – It’s a bright sunny morning and John and I are having coffee on the patio and reading the paper.  We took a walk around our lake and visited with friends.  We started our dirty rice that we’re bringing to the potluck Christmas Party tomorrow.  It’s a warm day so we headed off to the pool.  Our friends George and Darlene only live a couple miles away and we are heading over there for their Christmas Eve Party.  There we quite a few people from the campground.  We had lots of food and had a great time.  Thanks George and Darlene!

   23   After coffee on the patio, we headed to the store to pick up a few items.  It’s a little windy today but warm enough for a pool day.  We took our books and headed to the pool for a couple hours.  After dinner our buddy Chuck called us for a jokers game.  We are getting better and tonight we played with 6, 8 and 9 players. 

   22   Well we only have 2 weeks left in our football pool.  I have to get on the stick and do something.  I haven’t won a week all year.  Hopefully, this is my week.  We got our football picks all done and posted.
          John, Chip and I took a 4 mile hike to the other side of the burned out bridge.  The path starts at the curve off of Sugarloaf Dr.  There is a bridge there that people hang out at on hot summer days.  They jump off into the deep channel.  Chip decided to go for it.  Before we knew it Chip was up on the bridge and over he went.  We may go back there and check out the fishing.  There were a few people catching some snappers.
     Yesterday we found out our good friend, Craig Weldon lost his battle with cancer.  Life is short and goes by way to quickly.  For some like Craig, it goes by way to early.  We send Stella, Alex, Nicole and the entire family our thoughts and prayers.

   21   Well, it’s the first day of winter and you certainly know it.  It is only 63 out right now with a high of 65.  Tonight it’s going down to 58.  We have our sweat pants and sweaters on, but quite a few of our neighbors have their heat cranking.  Today we hung around the cow and did some power reading today.

   20   This morning is the coolest it’s been since last winter.  It is 68 and everyone has their long pants and coats on.  I did put on a pair of sweat pants and a sweater.  Since there is no Sunday party today, we are hanging around the cow and watching football.

   19   This morning is partly cloudy, windy and much cooler.  The morning temperature is about 65 very nice.  It’s only getting up to 72 today.  We have our campground Christmas Party tonight at 6pm.  Duane is DJ’ing, everyone is bringing a heavy appetizer and there is a keg of beer.  We had a gift grab bag, if you brought a gift, then you choose one.  I got tropical drink glasses.  We did lots of dancing and had a great time.

   18   This morning we are getting lots of rain.  It is coming down in sheets.  Chuck called us about playing jokers at the clubhouse so off we went at 1030am.  We did a jokers marathon.  At 430pm the rain was just letting up and John and I called it quits.  Chuck, Marty, Tammi and Nate kept on playing.  We went back to the cow, and got reorganized.  We still may get more rain, but John and I walked over to Mangrove Mamas for happy hour.  We had a few drinks and appetizers.  We listened to the guitarist and relaxed.  We couldn’t stay to long.  Tonight is movie night – “Julia and Julie” is the movie at 7pm.  Tonight will have to be in the clubhouse since it’s too wet outside.  We had quite a crowd tonight.  This Friday night movie night is great.

   17   John did the treadmill and I did some TCI work.  Then we headed up to the pool for some reading and rays.  We played jokers with Chuck, Marty, Terri and Floyd later in the afternoon.

   16   Today we went to the pool for a while then got ready for the Key West Parrothead Christmas Party.  Linda drove down to Key West with us.  The party was at Salsa Loca next to Cowboy Bills.  There were about 30 people there.  Howard and Cindy Livingston stopped in.  They had to fill us in on the good news.  They won The Weather Channels Guaranteed White Christmas Contest.  So on Christmas morning The Weather Channel is coming to their house and bringing SNOW! 

   15   Today we headed to Key West to do some Christmas shopping.  When we got back, we were hot and needed a break, so we headed to the pool.  There were quite a few at the pool.  We were getting some sun and reading when Laurie and Brian handed us some margaritas.  Then they went home and made a pitcher and soon there was a margarita pool party going on. 

   14   This morning we headed out to do some Christmas Shopping.  Then we got back and headed over to Kemp’s Channel Bridge for some fishing.  We caught some snappers and grunts.  We didn’t keep any this time.  John did have a big Tarpon but it got off.  There were two guys fishing right down the way from us and they had a Shark on the line, but couldn’t land it.  A few minutes later we saw a Shark about 5 feet long right below us.  Probably the same one he was fighting.

   13   Sunday is Football Day and Lazy Lakes Sunday Party Day.  Today the Dave Aaron Band is playing.  We have seen them last couple weeks at the KOA on Wednesday nights.  There is a keg of beer and Italian Sausages grilling on the new grill.  We are having record high temperatures of the mid 80’s today.  So we hung out in the pool and the patio.  John played some horseshoes.

   12   Another beautiful day!  John was off to the treadmill.  Then we had coffee and read the paper on our verandah.  We hung around the cow and made peppers and onions for tomorrows Sunday Afternoon Party.  Then we headed down to Key West to the wharf area.  Tonight is the Lighted Christmas Boat Parade.  We walked the wharf and stopped at Turtle Kraals and Conch Republic for a cocktail.  We still had some time before the boat parade starts so we walked down to Duval and listened to some music at Sloppy Joe’s.  We walked back to the wharf and found a great place out on one of the piers to view the parade.  There were one person kayaks up to yachts and the huge Coast Guard Ship. 

   11   Treadmill again.  After I had my coffee, John, Chip and I headed to the Burned out Bridge.  That is a 6.4 mile round trip hike from our cow.  I was not up for that, so I drove to the KOA and met John and Chip there.  This way it’s about 4 miles round trip for me.  It was a good path and when we got to the bridge we took a short break.  After we got back, we visited with some people at the clubhouse and then headed to Big Pine for some shopping.  We got back and the sun was getting ready to set.  We made a sundowner and headed to the clubhouse for sunset.  Then we walked around the lake and back to the cow.  Friday night is movie night.  So we had some dinner and headed over to the clubhouse.  Craig and Debbie organize it.  Tonight is Angeles and Demons with Tom Hanks.  They have a big outside screen 15 feet diameter with a blue ray projector.  The sound was great.  It was like being at the drive in.  Movies under the palm trees. 

   10   John was up and out early again to do his 2 miles on the treadmill.  Today we were bums.  We hung around the cow, did some reading, then took a walk around the lake.

   9   This morning John was up and out early to walk 2 miles on the treadmill.  After lunch I headed to the pool and John went for a 6.5 mile hike to the burned out bridge.  When he got back we played some horseshoes.  We have to practice for the Lazy Lakes Sunday Party.  Then we walked over to Mangrove Mama’s with Traci.  We met Steve up there.  Dustin the bartender had us sampling different drinks.  We walked over to the KOA to see The Dave Aaron Band.  He is the same country singer we saw last week.  He will be at our campground on Sunday.

   8   This morning was laundry day.  As the laundry was doing it’s thing, we played some horseshoes and then headed to the pool.  We took a walk around the lake and had some sundowners with neighbors.

   7   This morning we headed out early to get an oil change.  While we were waiting we had breakfast at Sugarloaf Lodge next door.  Then we headed into Key West for some Christmas and grocery shopping.  When we got back we got our internet connection working, finally!  Then we went to the clubhouse to play and learn Marbles and Jokers.  This is a board game played with marbles and playing cards.  We had a good time and are ready to play again.

   6   John was up and out early again.  He went and did 1.5 miles on the treadmill.  Then we had coffee and read the paper on our verandah.  We had a cold front come through yesterday afternoon, so this morning is cool about 62.  We have the lazy lakes Sunday party today.  Free food, lasagna and beer.  Also Dave Herzog from the Mile Marker 24 band is coming in and we’ll play some horseshoes.

   5   This morning John was up before me, had coffee made and went to the clubhouse to do 2 miles on the treadmill.  I got up and he was just getting back.  We had coffee on the patio and read the paper.  Our neighbor Mark joined us.  We went in for breakfast and some big storms are coming.  We did some reading while the rain and wind came blowing through.  After it passed we had some neighbors stop by.  Then a few more and a few more.  We hung around the cow listening to music and visiting with our friends.

   4   I am on a mission to get the campgrounds wifi working for us.  I have been troubleshooting the equipment and working on it this morning.  John is cleaning and doing outside maintenance on the cow.  Then John and Chip went to hike to the burned out bridge which is a 6.4 mile round trip hike.  We ended up having people stop by and listened to some music.

   3   Today we are just hanging around the cow.  It’s a hot and humid day so we are cranking the A/C. 

   2   This morning started with a few showers.  John and Chip headed out at 8am for fishing on Chips boat.  Normally I would also go, but I just don’t trust Chips boat and I don’t relish the idea of being out in a really small boat on the ocean.  I am running into Key West today to pick up a cable modem.  Even though the campground has wifi, most of the time it just doesn’t work.  When I got back, John and Chip had just gotten back also but no boat.  About ½ block from the boat launch, the boat trailer completely fell apart.  So they carried the boat and launched it.  They went to the burned out bridge area.  They did catch a couple fish but didn’t keep them.  They had to leave the boat at the KOA dock until Chip could figure a way to get it back.  Then we started working on the wifi box that’s right outside our cow.  Around 7pm, we walked over to the KOA to listen to a country music singer Dave Aaron.  There were about 15 people from our campground.  Linda and Joe had their golf cart and gave us a ride back.

   1   Warm sunny morning.  We now have the local paper delivered so we had coffee on our verandah and read the paper.  Then we headed over to the clubhouse for some horseshoes and the pool.  It’s a rough life, but somebody has to do it!