Cedar Key - Day # 19 - Sick Birdie

My Tuesday started at 8 am with another 'Circuit Training' session with our friends Maria and Brian (The Roaming Pint)  I'm doing this workout with them every Tuesday and Thursday.  It takes about an hour, and then I have the rest of the day to continue soaking up the Cedar Key vibe.

Our first date, March 2006, San Antonio, TX

Our Thunderbird is "sick" again.......on our way into Chiefland the other day the engine started missing, then smoothed out, then as we were leaving Walmart it started again, and didn't stop, and eventually the 'CHECK ENGINE' light came on......shoot!  It came and went on the way home, but it was apparent to me there was an ongoing problem, so we decided to take her into the Ford dealership in Chiefland on Tuesday to get it checked out.   We have been together for almost 7 years now, and I think we're beginning to get the "7 year itch".

Ever since the alternator incident on our way back from Louisville to Campbellsville a few months ago TLE and I have been talking about making  a change in our transportation to something more practical for our lifestyle.  The 'Bird is only a 2 seater, and we have no way of carrying our bikes in, or on it.  Chris and Cherie have a Mini Cooper which they tow behind their GM bus when they are rolling the wheels.  They graciously offered to let us take a test drive to see if we like it, so this was the perfect opportunity to combine a test drive while we dropped off our 'Bird at the Ford doctor in Chiefland.

Chris and Cherie's Mini Cooper

I drove the Mini Cooper into town, whilst TLE drove the T'Bird.  TLE drove most of the way back.  The Mini Cooper has seating for 4, and we can add a small receiver hitch to which a bike rack can be mounted.  I found it very comfortable, and it was fun to drive a manual tranny again.....this one has a 6 speed.  It will still give us the sporty feel, but be much more practical.  We haven't decided 100% yet, but we are seriously considering making a change sometime this year.

Tim McClain greeted us at the service desk, took down our information, and we bid goodbye to our baby for a few days.  Tim thinks it may be a bad coil, and that would not surprise me as we had this issue about 3 years ago.  I hope he is right, because that is not a big bill.

We returned to find our "blog friends" Dan and Marlene (read their story at Mali Mish) had arrived, and were in the pull through site right next to us!  We are all from Southern California......they lived in Oxnard for a number of years, and of course, we in Ontario.  Despite our relatively close proximity to each other we have never been able to synchronize our timing to actually meet face to face, so this was a treat!  They have three children aged 6 years , 3 years, and 9 months.  They are currently about 165 days into their current long trip.  Mali Mish is Croatian for "little mouse".  We spent time catching up with them....they had just finished a 28 day stretch in the Florida Keys, and I was interested in how they cobbled together reservations at State Parks in the Keys by pouncing on cancellations as they came up in Reserve America.  Usually you have to make reservations a year in advance for these parks, but they only started to acquire theirs about a month before they arrived, and were still picking them up while they were in the Keys.

Back row: Dan, Luka and Marlene

Front row: Ava and Mila

Additionally, our friends, Krash and Karen, whom you will remember from our visit to my sister's home in Chelsea, MI, arrived in Cedar Key by SUV to spend a couple of months in a rental home.  You can read about our meeting here: Serendipity

They found our blog because we had been to Cedar Key last March, and this was a favorite place of theirs to escape the cold winter in Michigan each year.  We met up with Krash and Karen at the Tiki Bar for a quick drink, and to watch the first part of the sunset, then headed off walking into town to meet Dan, Marlene, and the kids at 'Big Deck' for dinner.  

On our walk into town TLE took this great sunset picture......

Much to our surprise just as we arrived at Big Deck we saw Chris and Cherie arriving with their parents who will be spending some time here in Cedar Key......another Cedar Key convergence!  Soon after Dan, Marlene and family arrived.  We talked, and talked about our shared experiences.  Here we have a family that is in a totally different phase of their lives.....a generation removed, if you will, and yet there is this unmistakable connection.  Sure, their experience will look different than ours as they travel with three small children, but we are all out on the road for the same reasons.

After a very pleasant meal, eaten very slowly, TLE and I started our 1.50 mile walk home....I'm sure we could have hitched a ride, but you know, there is nothing like an evening stroll in Cedar Key with a 'fingernail moon' to light our path.  We arrived home with big smiles on our faces, and an inner satisfaction derived from another day lived well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cedar Key - Day # 15 - Chiefland and Drop Tops

I had this dream the other night in which I could not remember what day of the week it was.  I was convinced, in my dream, that it was Tuesday, when it was really Friday.....it seemed so real to me.   I joke about this all the time with people who share this nomadic lifestyle.  Sometimes......sometimes you do forget what day it is and you need a visual aid to jog your memory.  This ever subtle device works for us!

Our plan was to drive into Chiefland later in the day, so I went outside around 11 am to wipe the dew off the car and get it ready to take the top down.  While I was finishing up with that task Jimmy came by walking his dog and struck up a conversation about the Thunderbird.  He just recently purchased a 1956 White Thunderbird, but it was back home in Nashville.  We talked for about 30 minutes.  He travels part of the year, lived a few years in Wilmington, CA (next to Long Beach, CA) when he was younger, and is a writer by profession. He has published over 600 articles, and is now working on his first novel.  A very interesting guy, and one of the reasons I love this lifestyle.....you meet a lot of interesting people.

Friday it was time to make a trip into Chiefland where the BIG stores are to pick up some staples not available here in Cedar Key, and others that are much less expensive.  We haven't had the top down on the Thunderbird since we drove over to Lorretto from Amazon to tour the Maker's Mark Distillery one Sunday back in our Amazon days.  We left around Noon to drive in, and I got to drive!  We cruised north up State Road 24 with the wind in our hair, the sun at our back, singing along to a Neil Diamond CD.......years ago when we did a lot of snow skiing at Mammoth Mountain in the Southern Sierras we would sometimes ride with my Dad.  He also loved Neil Diamond and we would sing along to every song for hours......good times.....listening to that CD yesterday was like being in a time machine for 30 minutes.  There is not much to compare to driving a drop top down the open highway....I know you know what I mean.

Our first stop was the liquor store, Chiefland Liquor and Tobacco.  Since we left California we have been paying in the low $50 to high $40 range for Dewars Scotch....in Kentucky we paid over $48!  This store was selling it for $36 (in California we paid around $28)!  They also carry one of our favorite Pinot Noirs made by Francis Coppola Winery, which we haven't seen since Spokane.  While we were checking out TLE asked if there was a thrift store nearby where we could make a donation of some clothes she was no longer using.  He directed us back one block to Haven Hospice Attic resale store where they gladly took our donation......of course, we did a little shopping....TLE found a cool summer dress for $1.99, and I found a NIKE soccer rain jacket for $1.99....brand new!  Then it was off to Walmart to do more staples shopping.  While we were walking up and down the isles I noticed a trend occurring...every time there was an item on the bottom shelf, TLE (aka: the human scanner) was asking me to get it......I felt like I was back at Amazon for just a second......it also made me realize how stiff I was from my circuit training the day before.....:D  Need to do some more stretching.

We arrived back home a little after 3 pm....wow, where did the day go?  I took care of some insurance business, while TLE re-organized the pantry to accommodate the influx of staples. Around 5 pm I got out the Sea-B-Que so we could grill some chicken thighs, and roast some vegetables.

Once the chicken and vegetables were on the grill we scooted over to Chris and Cherie's dock to spend a few minutes capturing another gorgeous sunset.  People here just seem to know the exact minute they should be in position to watch the sun set.....when I first arrived at the dock it was just Chris and I, but just after I took this picture I looked around at the surrounding docks and people had "magically" appeared.  We all gaze at each other with this knowing look and smile.  Ahhh...the end of another great day in Cedar Key.

Thanks for stopping by!!