Cedar Key - Day # 21 - "Gone With The Wind"

For most of the past 3 weeks the night time temperature in our bedroom at night has ranged from 78-80 degrees.  I know that may seem a little high to you, and we could probably get it lower by opening the windows at night, but we would also be increasing the relative humidity inside our coach.  We run a de-humidifier 24 hours a day inside the coach, it works wonderfully, and makes even 80 degrees inside feel cooler.  Anyway, my point is last night the bedroom temperature dropped to 58 degrees!  I knew we took that electric blanket off the bed too soon!

We were expecting a front to come through Thursday involving wind, low temps, and rain.....and that is exactly what we got.  Below is the view that greeted me around 7 am.....then the wind came up and blew steadily at 25-30 mph all day long, and into the evening.  Around mid day it got very cold, and is still very cold as I write....around 40 degrees at this writing.  Of course, that means it was probably in the high 30's last night.....BRRRR!!

As the wind speed increased we began pulling in the window awnings on the drivers side of the coach.....the side that faces the water.....and finally by late morning we had to stow the patio awning....always a really fun task when the wind is blowing hard.  Fortunately, as TLE and I were struggling to stow the large awning Forrest Clark (a NuRVer) walked by and immediately jumped in to give a hand, for which we are very thankful....when it's blowing that hard you need more than two sets of hands.  Thank you Forrest!  Forrest writes a blog about his retirement travels called Retired, RVing and Rambling, which presents another great perspective on this lifestyle, so give it a peek when you have time!

The only plan this weather interrupted was the "circuit training" with Brian and Maria, otherwise we had no real plans for yesterday, so we just hunkered down and stayed inside our rockin' and rollin' coach.  Fortunately the DVR memory had several TV shows recorded that we hadn't watched yet, so we passed some of the stormy day catching up on a few series we watch.

We knew that our friends Dan, Marlene and family (Mali Mish) would be pulling out around midday and eventually that time came.......time to say "adieu"....I'm getting more used to it, because I know we'll meet again, but it is sill bittersweet.  I was able to catch this brief video snippet of them disappearing around the corner.....:(  The background audio you hear is from the program "Top Chef", which TLE was watching at the time.

Around 5:30 I glanced out the window to see the beginning of the sunset, and ran over to Chris and Cherie's dock to capture it......I stayed just long enough for two shots and then retreated to the heated comfort of the Newell.  That water does not look inviting....not even a little bit!

Within minutes the sunset was obscured by the thick cloud bank off to the left, and Sunset Isle was quickly engulfed in the gathering darkness signaling the end of another Cedar Key day.

Thanks for stopping by!

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!