Cedar Key - Day # 31 - Exploring

Sunday started out a little foggy (see picture in Saturday's blog entry).  TLE and I were thinking about going into Pat's for breakfast....I really wanted to try another of their omelettes.   I messaged Debby (Bill and Debby's Wild Ride) asking if they were up to riding bikes into town to Pat's and got a pretty quick reply "sure".

We met out front by Bill and Debby's site around 10:30 and began our ride into town bundled against the cold damp air.  Debby set a pretty brisk pace while we all chatted.  Arriving at Pat's it was still a little cold and damp, but we decided to brave the elements and sit outside.  We were rewarded within a few minutes with clearing skies.  We continued talking about travel experiences, favorite places, places we had both visited at different times.  Eventually it was time to mount our two wheel steeds and begin meandering around the back roads of Cedar Key.  We passed by a yard sale and stopped to see what they had....nothing caught my eye, but Debby spied a purple haired Barbie doll disembodied head that she could not leave without.....the price.....25 cents.  I had no idea what she intended to do with just a doll head, but the mystery was quickly resolved.

What is Debby pointing to at the top of her bike flag pole?

OH NO! Poor Barbie!

From the yard sale we rode over to the long boardwalk next to the local cemetery that takes you out over the wetlands and along the water for quite a distance, and bikes are allowed!

From there Debby took us to another cool boardwalk that is way off the beaten path, and apparently, if you don't know about it you would never know it was there.  It's not even a place you might stumble across....it is just not obvious as you roll by.

Now this boardwalk was only meant for walking on, and in one spot it was a little sketchy, but we all made it out to the end and back without mishap, although Debby came close to sliding off the sketchy part on the walk back to dry land.

All told we rode just under 8 miles, and had a fun time see some more things we hadn't seen before.  I think we arrived back around 1 pm, but don't quote me on that.  I did not look at my watch, so it could easily have been earlier, or later.

Upon our return I found a message from Pat Bonish wondering if I would consider bringing back to life his GT STS-l full suspension carbon fiber frame mountain bike.  In a prior life he was an avid mountain biker (similar to moi), and rode several times a week, but since he has landed here in Cedar Key has not had the time to ride (there is a certain lack of mountain terrain to explore here in Cedar Key), so the bike has been sitting for a long time.  His bike has "good bones" and I'm looking forward to getting her back into riding condition.  The question is "can I get it done in 8 days?".....well, you'll just have to follow along to find out.

We walked over to the Tiki Bar around 5ish to watch our 31st sunset, and it did not disappoint.

 Well, now we are the short timers......this time next Monday we will be rolling our wheels south from Cedar Key with the memories of wonderful times spent with amazing people tugging at our heart strings.   The wanderlust of the road calls, and it is almost time to change our view again on a regular basis.  The almost 5 weeks we will have spent in Cedar Key has been full of serendipity, and has seen the deepening of existing friendships, and the beginning of others.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cedar Key - Day # 29 - Lovely Treasures

Thrice in as many weeks while meandering around the streets of Cedar Key I have found a small treasure in a yard sale.  Found these lightly used clipless mountain bike pedals at a yard sale behind Island Pizza......new these babies sold for close to $85.....got them for $10.  Nice to have an extra set of pedals in case I run into someone down the line who needs them......sweet!  (By the way G.A.S.S. stands for Gravity Activated Spring System).  

As is often the case, I get ahead of myself.....maybe I should just write this episode out of sequence, and stop trying to be so sequential......naaa.....my nature really likes things to be in order.....:D

Friday is the day when the empty sites here in paradise begin to fill up with short timers, and now our 5 pull site section is full.  The daily highs are beginning to creep back into the high 70's, and the skies continue to be mostly clear, but it still cools off fast as the sun nears the western horizon.

We kind of puttered around until late morning when Forest and Cindy came by to see if we were going to walk into Kona Joe's for a late breakfast......sounds good to me!  Within 30 minutes we were on our meandering way into town.  At just about the half way mark, as we were passing "Island Pizza" we spied a yard sale underway.  Not surprisingly, Krash and Karen were already there sifting through small treasures (Island Pizza is right across the street from their rental home).  While everyone else chatted my eyes kept wandering from table to table in search of that one special thing I could not leave without......eventually they caught a glint of bright yellow.....I edged around the table to find the KORE G.A.S.S. pedals previously mentioned.   Now, what am I going to get rid of so there is room for these pedals? No one else pulled the trigger on anything, although Forest came close, so we continued our amble toward Kona Joe's arriving there around 11.  It's great to have Joe and Edie back from their cruise......it's been too long since my last cup of Kona Coffee!  Eventually Karen and Krash appeared with their dog Pipa, and we all sat talking and laughing......all the while enjoying the great view of the back bay off the veranda of Kona Joe's.

After a wonderful interlude Forest and Cindy continued their walk into downtown, while TLE and I headed back to Sunset Isle......of course there was a stopover at Sandy's Produce to pick up some fresh eggs, and other produce items......Sandy said she had a fresh shipment of fish coming in later which would include swordfish......haven't had a good swordfish steak in a long time.....I think we'll have to return a little later for sure.

I spent some time putting a little polish on my yard sale acquisition for the week.  Out of the blue I look up to see a 6'5" gentleman smiling at me and waving me over.  Turns out his name is Joe, and he has been following our blog for a while.  He and his wife live in Lake City and had driven into Cedar Key for dinner.....as they passed Sunset Isle he remembered we were probably staying there, so pulled in to say "Hi" and talk for a while.....cool.....a little more serendipity.

Just a little later TLE returned from her short shopping excursion with the aforementioned swordfish steaks.......it was about this time Chris (Technomadia) walked over looking for an extra set of hands to help repair his punctured Sea Eagle....turns out he and Cherie got to close to an oyster bed, took a hit to the bottom puncturing the bottom air chamber.....fortunately they were not far from their dock, so there were no casualties.  I was glad to help, because I'm sure at some point I will suffer the same fate.  To be sure the process for patching the Sea Eagle is much more complex than fixing a flat bike tire, so I paid close attention.  Looks like she is fixed, but we won't know for sure until Saturday when it's time to apply air pressure again.

Medicinal chips and salsa for Chris and Cherie in the foregound

By this time the sun was getting precariously low in the horizon and it was time to head over to the Tiki Bar for some drinks, fellowship and our 29th sunset.  We walked over with Forest and Cindy.  I finally remembered to bring a California license plate from my small collection to add to Pat Bonish's massive collection lining the interior walls of the Tiki Bar.  Forest and Pat are both avid photographers.....Pat is a professional, and immediately recognized the equipment Forest was carrying resulting in another one of those spontaneous conversations that happen so often here in Cedar Key.  While they talked we walked into the Bar and got our beverages of choice and then headed over to the deck to be amazed again.  Soon Chris and Cherie drifted in, and were joined in short order by Kyeli and Pace.....there was much ooohing and awwwing, of course.

# 29

The afterglow

We watched for close to an hour as the sun set, followed by the long, long after glow that just lights up the sky.   Soon it was time to head home and get the BBQ out so we could dig into those two large swordfish steaks.  TLE made some great sides.....green beans with a balsamic glaze, and a nice chopped salad.  Of course Mr. Coppola was there to chase the great food!

This is so funny.....I sat down this morning to write about yesterday and was thinking...."not much really happened Friday....what am I going to write about?".....well, I guess I answered that question......sometimes not much is really a lot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cedar Key - Day # 27 - A 3 hour tour...

Why do birds sit on your car mirrors and relieve themselves down the side of your car......WHY?!  I know pretty much wherever birds choose to "sit", roost, or whatever it is called they are doing....they make a mess.....I just want to know what is so attractive to them about side view mirrors when they can do what they do most anywhere else....what is it about car side view mirrors?  Another question.....how does it harden soooo fast?  If you don't catch it quickly enough soap and water may not be enough to remove the effluent......I've been close to pulling out large hammers and chisels to remove our feathery friends offerings.  And when you think about it, how can they be so disrespectful to one of their own......are they jealous of my Bird's shinny white exterior?  I thought of taking a picture of the latest disgusting example of rudeness, but I know many of you read this blog first thing in the morning.......and, well.....you know.....

 Wednesday was the designated pontoon boat tour of the local waters and islands (keys).  Pat Bonish, who owns and operates Low Key Hideaway Resort (and Tiki Bar) with his wife Cindy, offered to be our captain and tour guide for the afternoon.  Eight intrepid souls signed up for "a three hour tour".......I apologize.....I just had to sneak in a Gilligan's Isle reference.....pretty weak, huh?  Actually it was to be, from the beginning, a 4-6 hour tour....the length depending on the 8 of us.  As it turned out we spent around 6.5 hours on the water visiting Seahorse Key and its lighthouse, North Key, Atsena Otie Key as well as the back bay areas around Cedar Key.  Atsena Otie Key was the original site of the town called Cedar Key, but after the devastating hurricane of 1896 the town was moved back one island (key) to its present site.

 Captain Pat

 Seahorse Key Light Station

 The ever lovely Elaine

A flock of white pelicans on a sand spit in the middle of the bay

 These are VERY LARGE pelicans....maybe a 10' wing span

Cemetery on Atsena Otie Key

 Our pontoon boat at the dock on Atsena Otie Key

Along the shoreline on Seahorse Key

 Chips, salsa and a Snowdrift Vanilla Porter near sunset on Seahorse Key

As we were sitting out in the Gulf awaiting the sunset we were surprised by serendipity....a pod of dolphins frolicked nearby as the sun set on another magical Cedar Key day.  They were so close you could hear them breath each time they breached the surface.

# 27

To be sure, it was a chilly day on the water.....never got much above 61 degrees, but the breeze was light, the skies clear, and the water mostly flat all afternoon.  We arrived back in the harbor just after dark with smiles on our collective faces.  Over 6.5 hours we covered many nautical miles, and got a completely different perspective of the area surrounding Cedar Key with Captain Pat providing us with a wealth of information about the area.  The cost per person broke down to $26.25......not bad for a great afternoon of site seeing.

One might think this day was over, and could not get any better, but there is more.....our good Newell friends, Forest and Cindy, arrived in their 1993 Newell (39') while we were out on the water.  They have just recently sold their sticks and bricks home, divested themselves of a lifetime accumulation of stuff, and hit the road full time for a few years.  We first met them in Creede, CO at a Newell mini-rally, and then again in Santa Fe, NM.  And we have parked on their former property in Thibodaux, LA.  We made a quick change of clothes and walked over to greet them around 7 pm.  After a glass of Pinot Grigio we headed into town for dinner around 8 pm and found the Blue Desert Cafe open!  Cool....I thought they were closed on Wednesdays.  We sat talking for a couple of hours, and enjoying another amazing meal....I had the grilled tuna steak special with zucchini and rice.....everything cooked to perfection!  As I have mentioned before, the Blue Desert Cafe is only open for dinner each day, and opens at 5pm.  This quirky, funky place is not open every day, so check ahead for their schedule.

Okay, this day of serendipity is now officially deemed over.  Thanks for stopping by!

Cedar Key - Day # 18 - Accents

Wow......18 days already?  It seems much, much longer than that to me.  Monday  broke clear, a little cooler, and a little less humid.  After getting the ball rolling Sunday by finally fixing the loud shower fan I was in a good place mentally to tackle another long delayed repair.  Each of our overhead cabinets has a small light that comes on when the door is opened providing sufficient light, even during the day, to see what is in the cabinet.  All the lights have worked since we bought our coach, except the one in the cabinet over my left shoulder as I drive.  I like things to work, but had let this slide for a long time.  I didn't want to spend $10+ to fix it by replacing the old light, so I decided to use a small strip of LED lights in its place.  There were only 3 lights on this left over strip from another project, but I believed they would be enough to equal the light output of the defunct light.  As it turned out, they were actually a little brighter than the old one.

It is amazing how such a small thing can bring such pleasure to me.  I am glad I waited to fix it because I like my solution better than buying something off the shelf.  When the others start to burn out, and I'm sure at some point they will, I now have an easy fix......took me less than 15 minutes start to finish.

Once I had crossed one more thing off the fixit list, which is not really that long now, I decided tackle a new project I had only just conceived a few days before.  I had spent the last few days figuring out how to do it.   I have wanted to add some accent lighting in the salon area (living room, if you will) that was more indirect than what had been installed.  My friend Chris (Tales from Technomadia) had just installed some LED strip lighting in his kitchen, and living area and was using a 12 volt dimmer switch to control them.  He got the dimmers from Amazon for $8 each, and was ordering some more, so I asked him to include 4 for me....I've got a few more projects for lighting in mind.

Once the dimmers came in Saturday's UPS delivery I was ready to start the project, and Monday was as good a day as any.  Once I gathered all my tools, my supplies together, and with TLE's advice and assistance it was less than two hours until the new lighting was installed, and here is the finished product!

I installed strip lighting between the curtain valance and the curtains by attaching it to a wood strip to which the valance is attached.

Here is the dimmer switch, installed upside down to hide the wires.

Here are the lights with the dimmer at 100%, and below with it at around 50%.

I had an idea this lighting would look good, but the effect, and how this inexpensive lighting changed the feel of the living room area is immeasurable.   Basically I used around 28 feet of LED strip lighting, about 2 feet of 18 gauge stranded wire, a little solder, a few connectors, and one dimmer.  Total cost less than $20.

The Tiki Bar at Low Key Hideaway has been closed for a little over a week as the owners had gone on a cruise.....well they are back, and the Tiki Bar 'OPEN' sign was back on the street, so TLE and I headed over around 5:15 to grab a couple of brews, and watch the sun set.  As it turned out, many of our friends had the same idea.  We stood there talking, while snapping pictures of yet another great sunset!  There is such a feeling of serenity, and quiet as the sun dips below the horizon one more time, closing out another great day in Cedar Key.

These soft flowing colors just blow me away.......thanks for stopping by!