What's Fifi Up To?

Lots of people have been asking this, I think. So here goes. She's back in Memphis prepping for the next trip in the V. Although the birding trip to AL was great, and the side trip to Scratch Ankle was fantastic, it's starting to heat up down there, so Fifi must head north. Anyone who has been around me when it's very hot knows I do much better where there is a breeze and cooler weather.

So I'll be heading to the Mid-Atlantic area, looking for a place to call home in the not-too-distant future. It's always fun to go back there to see friends and relatives and have a soft pretzel or two, the usual hoagie and assorted other Philly area types of comfort foods.

So from now until then I'm busily cleaning, waxing and buffing S Cargo. It's a tough job, but one that needs doing. I'm also learning from the first two trips just what is essential and what can be left behind. Less clothes, shoes, blankets, and heavy and numerous books make for a more pleasant and spacious-feeling RV. Bubba and Newbie (still haven't come up with the just-right name for him) will be tweeting along with me. They really seem to like the V - maybe it's the size that gives them a feeling of being in control of their space. Who knows. Tweet on . . .

Since I'm torn between two blogs, who knows, I might just keep on with both. I know Juanita will be adding her usual candor and humor to WWJBD. I will attempt to do the same. My other blog is a more serious one, mainly because I hope to look back at it when my memory goes (well, it actually is in the process) and delight in the places I went and the people I met before I lost it all. This blog will help me remember how much fun I had along the way.

Until then - here's a good one from George Burns. I didn't put it on the side bar because some of you, and you know who you are, aren't paying as close attention as before.

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."

FOOD

Somehow in all the excitement, we neglected to mention some of the wonderful dishes that were consumed while we were in the Pensacola area. One of the previously forgotten dishes was "crawfish etouffee." We had no idea what it was but ordered it anyway. We then tried to discuss crawfish with the locals, and all we can say about that exercise is don't try doing it yourself. Anyway, after hours at the Pensacola Reference Library, we found out that "etouffee" is a blond roux (made with butter and flour rather than oil and flour), though a cook says it means smothered and the French/English dictionary says it means steamed veggies or braised meat, so take your pick. Here is a recipe so you can try it yourself.


http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_17049,00.html


Then there was Piano Man's delicious Shrimp Stew which was consumed by us and about twenty of Piano Man's extremely-entertaining relatives. They were a delightful group and very kind to the two Yankee Strangers. Seems that Piano Man's whole family has the Pleasant Gene, whatever that is ... I certainly missed out on getting it. Anyway, back to the shrimp stew - here's a stab at the recipe, though Piano Man made it with Crisco instead of the oil, he completely peeled and deveined the shrimp and no eggs.


http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_12216,00.html


And finally, a couple desserts that were viewed, but certainly not eaten, were a secret recipe Key Lime Pie, and a secret recipe Chocolate Cappuccino Cake. I would not know what these taste like, though I assume they would be luscious. The cell phone is being shown to give you an idea of the size of these monstrosities. These were all homemade by the mother of the owner of the Cocodries Restaurant right at the entrance to Navarre Beach. She apparently makes all the employees leave the kitchen while she is preparing these delicacies. I do, however, have a scrumptious and very easy recipe for Key Lime Pie. It may not be a "real" KL Pie but it is quick, easy, and delectable and I am betting you will like it.

½ cup lime juice (Key Lime juice, Persian Lime juice, or bottled lime juice)
2 tsp lime zest, grated (I don’t use this myself)
2/3 cup plain yoghurt (one container)
14 oz sweetened condensed milk (one can)
1½ tsp. Knox unflavored gelatin
1 graham cracker pie crust – buy at grocery store

Directions

In a medium-sized metal bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, yoghurt, lime juice, and zest.

In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over 2 TBSP cold water. Let soften for 1 minute. Then heat over low heat, stirring until the gelatin is dissolved. Whisk gelatin mixture into the lime mixture. Set the bowl over a larger bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until it begins to thicken, about 15-20 minutes.

Turn into the pie shell and chill in the refrigerator until set – usually 5-8 hours.

You could add meringue but I usually don't bother. It is good just like this!

Only An Afternoon

It was just as though the first trip had never ended. Juanita and I met up at Piano Man's new digs in Milton, FL. We can't divulge the actual address for two reasons: one - no one knows the actual address, and 2 - if we did know it and then gave it out, why, everyone would want to come and party here. So let it be said that from Piano Man's house, you can see Blackwater Bay. He has enough bedrooms that Juanita and I could actually take up residence here next winter if we wanted. Of course, piano Man might disagree, but that would be his problem. Anyway, we are so grateful for the chance to hook up here and see local sights.

Last night, after catching up on recent events, we decided it was time to do what most folks do when they go to the beach area - eat seafood. We found a down-home, non-fancy type place and had a very good dinner of mixed seafood - fish, shrimp and oysters. Then it was back to base camp for some chit chat and then off to sleep. It had been a good day's drive for Juanita and we were more than ready to rest. We had such a good night's sleep that we decided to try it again, twice this morning. So we ended up with only an afternoon today.

It was a nice afternoon. We drove on down to Navarre beach. The island is not totally built up like so many beach places are these days. Many lots are for sale and many places are being built on the island. The beaches are beautiful, and the western end is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

We decided it was time to try some more seafood and had a late lunch/dinner on Navarre beach. Blackened redfish was the choice of the day. It was quite good.

Fifi wanted to enclose photos of Blackwater Bay and Navarre Beach. But the upload capability is not cooperating. So Please click here for the photos.

Tomorrow Piano Man is arriving and will be telling us about the hot spots in Milton. He might even show us around if he has the time. We are thankful just to have the hookup, whether or not he can give us any of his time will be a bonus.

News From Memphis

First - I must introduce our newest family member. As you know, Bubba lost his partner, Sissy, and was distraught. I was wondering if he would ever get back to some state of normalcy. Then, just when all looked grim and hopeless, I saw a notice in the paper of a bird show and sale. Yes - it was the same show at which I had found Bubba some years ago. I couldn't wait until Saturday. Saturday morning I took a cage with me (just in case) and went looking for a friend for Bubba. To make a long story short, I found Newbie. That's not his name forever, but until I can tell what he's truly like, I don't want to stick him with a name that doesn't fit. For almost a week after I brought him home, Bubba simply ignored him and stuck to Fifi like glue. It was very sad. Then one evening I went to cover both cages up for the night and, there sitting on the same perch in Bubba's cage, were both of them. Whew! That excitment was over. So now they are pretty much inseparable, though I have seen Bubba sneaking into the other cage to take a fiver from the rambunctious Newbie.

Second - An exciting milestone in the life of Fifi has passed, but will linger on in the way of $$$ forever - her social security birthday. Yippee! Most of us would rather not age, but if you have to, heck, you might as well get to 62, then slow on down and enjoy the rewards.

http://atasnailspace.blogspot.com - WHAT IS THIS? Read below

Third - Fifi is heading out on a solo trip to Dauphin Island, AL to go birdwatching and hang out. There should be much of that hanging out part because birding is best early morning and late afternoon to early evening. So this blog will continue when Juanita and Fifi have something to report, as tonight. My next blog (actually my first blog, but have not posted yet) is where I will be posting most of my journals. It is called "At A Snail's Pace" and can be found at: http://atasnailspace.blogspot.com/. So drop on by and see what's up with S Cargo. I have not lost hope that Juanita might be able to break away and hang out with me and the boys for a couple of days. Fingers crossed. Wouldn't that be great?

Slideshow of Spring flowering things in Memphis to the right.


I'm having a 'Name Newbie' contest. So far two names have been suggested: Tommy and Elvis. If you look at him real close and think you have just the right name for him, let me know. Your name might just be the name.
Ciao

Well, Well

Well, it has been quite a while since the Florida driveabout, and even though the next trip for the intrepid S Cargo is imminent, I have been given the opportunity to add a few words to this blog.

It is spring now for most of us, and thought I should try to add a photo of one of my favorite April flowers here in Florida - it is the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow plant (Brunfelsia latifolia). The flowers are fragrant and change colors, starting out as purple, and then lightening to a lavender and then finally turning white.

I am frantically working to finish up all the details for the IRS, and unfortunately, this will also require emptying out the coffers and sending it all to the government. Hope some of you made out better this year than we did. Can't wait until my Social Security birthday kicks in and I start to get something back! And after that, I get to look forward to ye olde Medicare birthday.

I am also posting a couple pictures of the world's best doggie. She is the sweetest, nicest, kindest, bestest doggie anyone could ever meet. To the right, she has had her toenails done by one of her many admirers. And below and to the left, she poses in the world's messiest bedroom.

I am looking forward to the New Adventures of Feef and S Cargo. Can't wait!

Hey - It Worked

We want our readers to know that we are not just a couple of gals going all over the place having more and more fun and reporting it, but ones who make it our business to educate when appropriate. Even if it's not appropriate, that won't stop us if we want to include it in the postings. Case in point, Fifi's latest home improvement task. Fifi got to work and laid some carpeting in her 55-yr.-old bathroom over the weekend. It's important when one buys carpeting to, next, install it. Too many people have unfinished project pieces laying around in bags and boxes, waiting for that far distant day to come when they are going to "get to it". Well, after de-cluttering her house just a yr. ago, Fifi decided not to become one of those persons again. To the right, for those of you who are even the least bit curious as to how I did it, well, I have shown you in slide show format. In text it goes like this: 1) buy carpet remnant 2) here's the bare tile floor, 3)assemble the right tools, 4) make a full floor template, 5) Take lots of breaks, stay hydrated, and smile 6) turn carpet and template over, 7) transfer template, 8) cut 9) install-done! Ta Da!

Oh, and I also learned how to put a slide show on our blog. Yea!

Looking forward to getting on the road again - you can see why.

Columbus Took a Chance

It's officially Spring here in Memphis and, I guess, a lot of other places. (Just kidding - I know it's Spring in most places :-)) , at least in this hemisphere. Cheese, I'm getting a little bit off the mark here.

This is just a short posting to make certain that our loyal readers don't forget about us. Things are happening here and there.

Here:
Fifi planted some pretty petunias today. She knows she is taking a risk because Memphis' last day for a possible freeze is, believe it or not, April 15. But I couldn't wait. Here's why:






Yesterday, my beloved little girl budgie, Sissy, died. She is the little yellow gal in the photos. She was having a great time and had just laid 2 eggs. I guess it was too much for her. Bubba and I will miss her. We don't know how old she was, as she was "rescued". Bubba seems to be looking for her, flying back and forth all day long. I think he will be fine in time. I buried her today under a patch of pretty pink petunias. She had a problem flying and was quite timid - until she met Juanita on our Florida trip. By the time the trip was over, she was flying several times a day and actually flew onto Juanita's shoulder. That was the absolute first time she had ever gone to someone, even Fifi. So I think Juanita helped her enjoy her short life even more since our trip.


But all is not sadness here in Memphis. The Spring flowers are beginning to sprout and bloom, the weather is warmer, and the days are longer. In Juanita's territory, I believe Spring is in full force.

There:
From what I hear, things in Florida are going well. The carpeting is in at Juanita's house. She and the Duke will be entertaining several guests in the next month, and,
It's Strawberry time in Gainesville. Every time she looks at the following photos, Fifi's mouth gets to watering. How do they GROW them so big? And - Juanita hand picked these humongous, savory morsels. Gosh, you could make them into garages and park your cars in these things, they're so big. I also hear they are quite sweet and tasty



BTW - Fifi might share her carpet laying experience, as she purchased some to lay in the bathroom Piano Man style. Only difference is, she doesn't have a helper.Hmmmm

Now, in case you all don't know, Fifi likes to go bird watching. So she has decided to take a little trip south in April to a spot where migrating birds stop over after they cross the Gulf of Mexico on their way to their breeding grounds in North America - Dauphin Island, Alabama. http://www.dauphinisland.org/camp.htm You can probably guess that the blog will be continuing for sure during that time. There might even be other guests at that time, though nothing is for sure yet. Stay tuned, more to come.
I will be posting more information about preparation for my next trip, which might, or might not be, the Dauphin Island trip. Rumors abound that there might be one in between.

Readying the Rig

The nasty snow is all but gone, except for a few areas on the north side. It is over 60 degrees here in the Land of Elvis. As Memphians are starting to think about May - that time of year when they have music festivals and bbq contests on the riverfront, (usually in the rain Lots of locals like to call the festivities "Memphis in Mud".) Fifi is thinking about the high temperatures and the humidity that are so much a part of summer in E Land. I probably won't make it until May. I'll have to go somewhere before that; maybe a couple of short trips just to keep S Cargo in tip top shape and ready for the long haul.

Now to the nitty gritty of keeping an RV rig road ready. On our trip in Florida, Nita and I realized that we could have used a couple of tools. Duh! When our water line connection was a bit bent, we couldn't even get the city water (rv term) hooked up. So Fifi went out and started a collection of must-have tools for the road: vice grips, pipe wrench, pliers and screw drivers. (pictured below)

Now Fifi, not being mechanically inclined, probably needs other tools, but is at a loss to figure out which ones. If our readers have any suggestions, don't hesitate to let her know. After all, "A stitch in time, saves nine".

 




Next, Fifi, again thinking ahead, has purchased several other necessities/nice to haves to keep on hand in S Cargo. First and foremost is duct tape. Is there not one of us who doesn't know that a life without duct tape is a life without, well, duct tape? Heck, cargo planes are held together inside with it. I've seen it. I flew on one, hoping that duct tape would live up to it's reputation of holding just about anything together. In fact, Alaska is the duct tape capital of the universe - see

http://www.ducttapeguys.com/wasilla/index.html

I must warn you - this site can lead to hours of mindless, albeit, fun; following one url after another, searching for more, more, more information about duck tape. (Somebody stop me!)
Masking tape comes next. Though not so versatile, it comes in handy for any number of reasons, usually temporary in nature.









The other items are pretty much self-explanatory. Feel free to ask if you don't know for what the item is used.



That about wraps it up (no pun intended) for this post. Though not so interesting as others, it is informative, as usual. (read about Alaska)
Until next time,

Tautugniagmigikpiñ

Fifi

At Home with Feef

I'm back where my "stuff" is. It's a lonesome time - that time between the cold, hard Winter and the first signs that Spring is on its way. Poor S Cargo - she is sitting, cold and lifeless, in the driveway. Her little propane furnace is going nonstop today, trying to keep above the freezing-pipes state. So far she is doing great. This is what she is coping with today. Is this Memphis, for Pete's sake? Maybe this is the last of the cold stuff until next Winter.



I've been keeping in touch with Juanita. She has come down from the high of our trip and is dealing with reality in her own way - installing new carpeting in her house. Today, in the torrential rain, is the day. It's almost finished and I hope she will send us a photo of the finished product soon.

In the mean time, Juanita has had another "opportunity" to deal with - Buster. You see, Buster is a frisky little guy who likes to move around a lot. It seems he might not be getting the exercise he was used to when Fifi was there, so he has taken to taking his own walks. Whenever he is outside now and Juanita turns her eyes from him, he merrily takes his own walk with any other dog going down the street. Piano Man had to bring him back one day, then another woman from the neighborhood who looked and saw that her number of dogs had increased. I'm certain he's looking for me. . .sigh

Another happy tale from Juanita's house. One night I got Juanita to load the Skype program on her computer. We got the audio and video working. Cunky was sitting on J's shoulder. I started talking to him and he looked at me on the screen and talked back to me. Gimme a kiss; Alex; Pretty Bird; and Fifi come back to see us. (Try to figure out which of the 4 phrases is not actually one that he said)

Now, so far as Fifi goes, she is trying hard to stay home until May. She has decided to go East and roam around for a while. She has not received a "go" from Juanita, as Juanita has a family to visit too. But if you are looking forward to having Fifi and Juanita together again on part two of our adventure in May, please send loads of encouraging comments and let her know how much she is missed and how much you want to have her stop by your house in the Northeast. I think that will help her make up her mind. Comments do count!

Next, Feef has something to show you that she got (hopefully) for our next trip:
We're looking for a great name for her. If you want to enter your name for her, please comment.



Next time I will show you some other things I am doing to ready myself for my next trip. Until then - Aloha
Fifi

Things to Come - Update-3/3/08

It seems that more than one blog reader is as lonesome for some blog activity as both Nita and Feef are. So let it be known that another post will be coming soon. It will deal with the trauma of being back in reality (so to speak) and what Feefe and Nita are doing during the hiatus in our travel. Things are happening, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, Fifi is taking a few days off to catch her breath. Heh Heh, like what we did was hard work or something.

Again, thanks for your continued support. We hope you are having as much fun reading as we are writing.
Signed,
Fifi and Juanita

***One of our loyal readers suggested that maybe Juanita and Fifi should make a video of our "breaking camp" routine, as those who don't already own RV's might not know the intricacies involved in setting up and "breaking" camp.
It's awesome to be sure.******

P.S. Comments = more posts = more comments = more and more posts
P.P.S. There is a rumor that there might even be a video of how to fold contour sheets during the next adventure.

Fifi Heads for Home

It's a sad day today. Fifi left G'ville, after making Juanita all but promise to go on another blog-enriched trip soon.(May) It's as though the world knows the initial trip is over. Amid claps of thunder and scary lightning strikes, Fifi sits in the parking lot of a Race Way gas station in Tifton, Georgia, her gps reminding her every minute or so that she is "off route". Maybe she'll stay right here until the torrential rain stops, eating from her Hershey chocolate bar she recently purchased at Crackle Barrel after a nutritious breakfast. Bubba and Sissy are in the second set of captains seats tweeting away, Sissy having had her bath in her water cup shortly after departure. They are really hearty travel bugs. Aretha Franklin is doing what the queen of soul does on the radio; belting out, Freedom, Freedom, etc...Think, think about what you're tryin' to do to me, aaaaah! (it could have just as easily been a song about Fifi and SCARGO)
Enough of poor me.

Last night the Duke made a lovely dinner. There were lamb chops left over in reduction sauce and he made a combination sauce with it. Again, the chops were fantastic, the brussel sprouts tender, the potato pancakes yummy.And, of course, the usual salad of many ingredients. And to top it off, besides the 2 or 3 wine choices, was a freshly baked rosemary baguette. Buster was taken for his last walk by Fifi.It had to come to an end. But we don't have to like it. So I will attempt to keep this blog alive, posting whenever I can, and including words of wisdom and wit from Juanita.

The temperature also dropped here in Tifton, GA. It is cold! And the windows of SCARGO are steamed, yet I continue to write, not knowing quite what to do next. Oh, I know, I'll get back on the road and see how far I can go until the next fill-up.

A Bientot!
Fifi

Wednesday - Feb. Something

The days just run together when you are retired and not looking at a calendar. I have just finished walking Buster (sometimes known as "Lassie") for the Duke, who arrived home from a boring trip to Las Vegas. Since we felt so badly for him, Juanita cooked a wonderful meal with 2 complementary wines. It was yummy. Fifi cleaned up the kitchen, as she needs to do something to show her deep appreciation for room and board.

Next the Duke came knocking at our bedroom doors to relay a message from their son, Prince Alex of Philadelphia. He wanted us to see the eclipse of the moon. So we all went out, including Lassie, to watch the moon do it's eclipse thing. It was very interesting, especially the times we could see it come in and out from behind heavy clouds. But I'm glad we saw it, as it doesn't come around every year.

Please go to this url to see a slideshow entitled: "Random Scenes from Florida."
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=p7h5wfi.etl5aby&Uy=-6pfjp9&Ux=0
It has lots of photos, some new of our trip around FL.


Today while Fifi was at the home of Piano Man, helping to fit a carpet in his newly redecorated bathroom, Juanita was having a Lassie moment. "Lassie" went running into Juanita's office, stopped, and made a series of Lassie gestures. Juanita asked,"what is it,Lassie? Is something wrong?" Lassie began making signals that could only mean, "Follow me, something is going on in the next room." Juanita quickly got up and followed Lassie to Fifi's bedroom door, where Lassie pointed at the door, as if to say, "Something is going on in there. We have to help." Juanita flung open the door to find Bubba and Sissy with their cage open, Bubba happily flying around the room. Alas, Lassie thought Fifi was in trouble, but it was a false alarm. But, what if it hadn't been and Juanita had not paid heed to Lassie's urgent request? Thank you, Lassie, you might have saved my life.

Now about Tuesday. We took a drive down the west coast all the way to St. Petersburg Beach. The day was lovely and the beaches were wonderful, as were the million+dollar homes along the Gulf. We especially liked Sand Key with it's wide, wide beaches. In the late afternoon we stopped at a local Cuban restaurant for lunch/dinner, then the drive home. It was another great day in the adventures of Fifi and Juanita.






P.S. On the way down to the coast we had an actual sighting of Elvis - no kidding - double click.

Sunday Feb 17

I am taken aback at the number of comments I have received for a blog with nothing in it. This shows me that people really do want to hear from us. We will not let you down.
The blog went a little haywire, then we had to go, and then we were invited down to Piano Man's house for dinner with him and Lolly, the twirling dustmop. It was very nice. We didn't get to go to St Pete or anything on Monday because it was threatening tornadic activity. And, while that would have made for a great blog entry - photos of Juanita and Fifi hanging from tree branches, etc., we thought it best to go another day - today.

For now, I must direct you to a spot where you can view our Butterfly rainforest photos from Sunday. Until tonight - Adios! Ciao baby, bye.I am re-sending this url because the computer told me it didn't 'send', yet people got it! hmmmm
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=p7h5wfi.mnk2o6m&Uy=t1wi6s&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

Quite a Neighborhood - Part II

Jimminy Cricket, what an afternoon. J and F helped her neighbor, whose name forevermore shall be Piano Man. (Not only can he sing, dance, and decorate, but he can play just about any song you throw at him on the piano. I am truly impressed.)And if that isn't enough, he is also fun to be with. He has a wonderful tiny dog named Lolly. She weighs between 3 1/2 and 4 lbs. When her head is down, she looks like a little feather duster swirling around. And, unlike many small dogs, she is not a nippy little yapper.


But Fifi digresses. The point of this story is to tell you about the encounter we had in a store called Home Goods this afternoon. Wish all of you had been there to witness this and the facial expressions and reactions. J and F went with Piano Man to this store. Piano Man was showing us a cabinet he had looked at that would be perfect as a small liquor cabinet, but the shelving wasn't quite tall enough. From out of nowhere came a well-dressed, elderly, but well-taken-care-of feisty lady. Picture the Audrey Hepburn type, about 85 years old. She wanted to know what the problem was, so Piano Man started explaining his problem with the shelves. Her reply "Well then you'll just have give up drinking." Piano Man - "Now what if I were to invite you over for drinks tonight, what would you like?" She answered kahlua and cream and Piano Man said "I have all of that." Hepburn lady: "Where do you live?" Piano Man taken back: "Right down the street." Hepburn lady: "Let's go right now." Now at the same time this was going on, a very embarrassed young lady holding her fragile grandmother's arm finally said, "Grandma, let's go find Grandpa." Piano man: "I don't think grandpa would want you to go." As the granddaughter pulled her away, her last words were, without skipping a beat through the whole conversation, "He doesn't care." It was hilarious. Did we laugh! The poor child was so afraid her Grandmother was going to go off with Piano Man.

The rest of today will be anti-climactic at best.

Tomorrow we plan a small trip to see some butterflies. Although it sounds not-too-exciting, I wouldn't count it out as another G'ville experience.

Fri - Feb 15 - Quite a Neighborhood

Just a short post to let our faithful readers know that there is more to come.

Today Juanita's neighbor stopped by to chat for a few minutes. We were getting ready to go to the store. When we left at the same time as the neighbor and noticed him getting into his shiny red convertible, Juanita had a fit. She turned around, went back into the house and came out with the keys to her blue Beamer convertible. We got in and it was just like my high school fantasy. There we were, driving along with the wind blowing like crazy through our white hair (just kidding), trying not to look at the under 40-yr-olds in sedans, suvs and sub-compacts all envying us. We remarked that they were thinking: "Maybe when I'm over 50, I'll be able to afford such a fine car and be the envy of other young people."

We were invited to an evening of Karaoke, but were just too tired. . .

Tomorrow we are sleeping till noon. Just so you know, we too are suffering from blog and comment withdrawal. All we want to do is sleep until we can check to see if any new comments have come in. Plus, the Duke of Earl is going out of town for a few days, so there is no looking forward to monumentally fantastic meals until his return. I hope his plane isn't delayed coming back.

Monday for sure will be a day for a new post. We are planning a trip via auto to the Clearwater area. So, stay tuned and make our day - send a comment.
Fifi and Juanita
Have a great bloggin' weekend!

Just When You Think It's Over

We thought the blogger was about to take a break when, another noteworthy event happened. The Duke of Earl prepared a fantastic dinner yet again. Is he trying to make Fifi beg to live here forever? Tonight's fantastic mid-week meal: fresh Spring salad, rack of lamb with a balsamic reduction sauce, roasted asparagus in butter, and Emeril's potatoes "New York". Red wines included pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon. On a Wednesday, for Pete's sake!

Then I was treated to a view of the allspice tree in bloom at night, displaying "points of light" from the moon's reflection. Life truly is good!

Other than that, Juanita and Fifi have been winding down from the trip, planning our next adventure. Clue - Somewhere in Mid Atlantic States area. Or - perhaps somewhere where they say "eh?"

Stay tuned. It's not over yet.

Santa Rosa Beach to G'ville

It's Tues. the 12th. We are back from this phase of our journey. It was a beautiful drive along the Gulf Coast. Our last campground was fine, but nothing spectacular. Had it been warmer, we might have opted to take the tram to the beach. Instead we opted to head for home (G'ville). Along the way, we stopped in Apalachicola for lunch. It was a scrumptious combo of scallops, clam strips, grouper, oysters, stuffed crab and shrimp. Additional items included cole slaw, hush puppies, garden salad and iced tea. We highly recommend this off-the-main-drag restaurant. http://papajoesoysterbar.com/
Also in Apalachicola at 88 Main Street, don't miss stopping at Chez Funk, where Fifi had previously posed for the portrait of herself and any friend of hers with blonde -to-red hair, titled "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler" (see the "About Us" portrait at the beginning of the blog).

Nothing is perfect. As we were about 200 miles from G'ville, it started to rain, the first rain we experienced in 3 weeks of vacationing. It rained harder as we approached town, but S Cargo brought us to our destination safely. Stay tuned for the next episode.

Monday - St Andrews St Pk to Destin to Santa Rosa Beach

Two owls called most of the night last night. This morning, I saw several birds, including the woodpecker pictured here. As you must know by now, Fifi loves birds, but she won't bore you with all the names of birds she saw but didn't photograph.



Today was a day of driving and sightseeing in the Florida panhandle. But prior to leaving, we had to break camp.




From Panama City, we drove along the shore as close as possible to the water. We now know why it is called 'The Emerald Coast.' The Gulf Of Mexico was several shades of green and blue, sparkling in the sunshine. We drove all the way to Mary Esther, FL, past Fort Walton Beach to see the beautiful homes, cottages and of course, the water. With all that water, we decided we needed to have some fish today. We stopped at a place called Grayton Beach where Fifi had been several times before. We ate lunch at a place called Picolo's at the Red Bar. Only two fish items appeared on the lunch menu, and we both chose grilled mahi mahi sandwiches. They were luscious! Along with a fresh salad of Spring greens, and a side order of homemade onion rings, we were begging for mercy by the time we put our napkins down on the table. We highly recommend this restaurant if you are travelling near Grayton Beach.

We then spent a lovely afternoon on the beach, and took a few photos for our faithful readers. Juanita is now conjuring up businesses she could run in order to afford the $$$ she needs to spend winters on the Emerald Coast.

Nightfall finds us hunkered down at our last RV campsite of this leg of the trip. It is in the Top Sail State Park in Santa Rosa Beach. It is quite beautiful, and has a tram that takes campers the .7 miles down a bike/tram trail to the beach. In the summertime, I expect it might be difficult to get a reservation here because it has extras that you don't usually see in State Parks -- like a swimming pool, tennis courts, and others.

We are probably going to take day trips during the next week. Fifi is waiting for the Duke's answer about taking care of her house across the street and dinner each night. But she thinks she'll probably have to go back to Memphis soon. The good news is that Juanita and Fifi tested all of the equipment on Fifi's RV, from windshield wipers to microwave and it all works!!!

Lastly, a special thanks to Cuz Cathy. We found that wooden coaster you were asking about. It's on Highway 98 in Panama City. They were working on it and said it would be ready to ride in a couple of weeks. It is called the Cobra.

The Horror of it All

It is with extreme embarrassment that Fifi must bring something to the attention of her loyal blog readers: Fifi published last night's blog without the necessary editing from her steadfast editor/travelling companion, Juanita. As would be expected, there were several typos and wrong words due to the haste in which F tried to publish the blog and still have some fun in the campsite. Only trouble is, the editing feature on this blog site has crashed and burned, so she can't repair the damage. So - see how many errors you can find in last night's blog. The winner will receive a copy of his/her favorite blog photo. Hurry up, this offer ends when our trip ends.
Sincerely,
Juanita and Fifi

Another Day -Another Region

Well, here we are in the "Redneck Riviera" (their name, not ours), St. Andrews State Park on the Bay or something, just at the water outside of Panama City. It's a nice spot. We rolled in here just before dark. We like to get near the rest rooms in case we don't want to mess with our own facilities. You could almost spit on it from here, though it is mostly hidden from view.


This morning we had a little delay getting started. Buster decided he wanted to go along on the trip. We had set our beds up so we wouldn't have to do so if it was late and dark when we arrived at SAST. So Buster just hopped up on Juanita's bed and sat there until he was conned out of the vehicle to retrieve a ball. That didn't work so the Duke held him. Fifi closed the entry door of the V. By the time Fifi got around to her open driver's side door, Buster was back on Juanita's bed staring at Bubba and Sissy through the cage bars. Finally Buster was removed from the V for the last time and watched us as we drove away. We were feeling very badly that we had to leave him behind. Now Fifi is quite fond of Buster, but she has been told that when a person moves in the middle of the night he growls and nips at you. So he couldn't go this time. Maybe if he takes doggie etiquette classes, he can go next time.




Lunch was in the V (RV is just too long a word). Since our entire adventure is more or less a scouting trip to find out what areas and sites are worth returing to for longer stays, a lot of the trip is spent driving, parking, hooking up, unhooking, driving, etc. The drive was lovely, as we decided against taking the boring, yucky I-10 route. Instead we took the route 16 to something to 98 which meanders near to the coast and passed such towns with names like Apalachicola, Mexico Beach, Beacon Hill, Clarabelle. Some nice bridges over inlets, bays and the like. For awhile along a few stretches of beach, it looked as though EVERYONE was trying to sell their homes. Maybe they decided they have had enough of the hurricanes that plague the area, or maybe they all had sub-prime ARMs. Who knows. . .

After arriving at the site, Fifi took off for a few minutes while Juanita hooked the rig up. Then Juanita took off for a few minutes while Fifi cased out the wildlife. She immediately the familiar hoot hoot of a hoot owl (I think a great horned owl) It was difficult, but Fifi found it in the tree. She was alerted to it because various other birds were attacking it, trying to make it go away. It got fed up and moved ot another tree. The night was coming fast, so Fifi attempted to take a photo.(See if you can make out the image of the owl in the tree by dbl clicking)

Never Before Seen Photos of Key West

For some reason, only one of these will magnify. Kayak is inflatible and looks like a skin canoe. Sunset, bouy marking southernmost tip of U.S.A.,misc. birds

Juanita and Fifi continue to find wonderful things about which to write. And, before Fifi gets going about Saturday's adventures, she wants to say a hearty thanks to all of F's and J's readers. She especially wants to thank that anonymous reader who was so kind as to notice her unbelieveable syntax errors in a previous posting. How that got by the editor is beyond her. The sentence turned out to be a funny one though, eh, 'Contractor'? Keep those comment-reader edits coming. After all, this could go Nationwide!


True to form, J and F learned something new here at the G'ville home of the Burrows. You might remember my telling you how thrilling it was to learn how to fold contour sheets at the unnamed campground. Well - we decided to re-learn the Martha Stewart method of t-shirt folding that she learned whilst in the slammer. Fifi forgot, so both she and Juanita learned from the internet. We have it down to approximately 3.25 seconds per shirt. Try it yourself: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-fold-a-t-shirt-in-2-seconds


Next, we solved a New York Times crossword puzzle. It only took us 3 to 4 times the normal time it would take a seasoned solver. It would have taken us even longer if we had not found that the puzzle had originally appeared in December 29th's NY Times and not been lucky to find commentary and answers on the web. To round out our good fortune, we also had the aid of Roget's Thesaurus and several online dictionaries. J and F RULE!

It seems that the Rialta catches the eyes of more people than Fifi realized. Today, while working on the puzzle, a neighbor of Juanita and Duke phoned to ask to see the rig. Fifi was glad to oblige. By the time she was just finishing the tour, another vehicle slowed down and stopped out front. It was another set of neighbors. So it was like an open house day, only with more people looking than when Fifi was showing her non-mobile house in Memphis. The rig was a hit! The Duke said he guesses I've met about all of their neighbors now.





Now, on a more serious note. I must comment about the Duke of Earl. He has, and always has had, the most beautifully landscaped property on the street. Springtime arrives early in G'ville, so shrubs are flowering even now in February. Allspice, azaleas, camellias, geraniums, delphiniums, snapdragons, petunias, and others too numerous to fit in this blog. The Duke is also a gourmet chef. I haven't told Juanita yet, but I am going the buy the house across the street and eat here every night that the Duke cooks. He will also be responsible for the landscaping of my property AND the upkeep because it is too hot for me. He hasn't, as of yet,said "No!"

There could be more entries for today after dinner, cooked by chef Duke. Stay tuned.
P.S. dbl click on photos in text to magnify

I was right - we just ate a wonderful meal cooked by the Duke. Menu: salad of fresh mozzarela, basil from the garden and heirloom tomatoes; crispy French baguette dipped in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinagrette; chicken parmesan to die for, and the chef's angelhair pasta side. Wine was a California chardonnay, started prior to the dinner. :=)

Things are almost "go" for tomorrow morning's drive-off. A few food articles to pack, a few items of clothing (3/4 of what we started with) and we will be gone.

Friday - Day 14

Wakeup call this am at 0530. we had to beat it out of camp before daylight. But not for the reason you might be thinking. Sure we have had tiffs at sites, and sure, we've had to high tail it out, but today was legit. Juanita had a few urgent items to attend to back home in G'ville. So we hit the road by 0600 and were back in G'ville by 1100. Fifi cleaned up SCARGO.

Waiting for us at home was Buster, cuncky, and Chong.

After a day of r and r and catching up, we're ready to pick up and go to the Florida panhandle. So keep checking to see where we go on sunday. If you want to see anything special in the places where we go, just let us know,

thanks for your continued support.

Fifi and Juanita

Day 13 - Oscar Scherer St Pk -Osprey, FL

Gosh, another wonderful day here in RVville. As I told you last night, we got here after dark and could only appreciate the site this morning. It is a deep sight with vegetation all around, so we can barely see other RVers. It is also very quiet. It is a longish park with half of the sites along the South Creek, with Lake Osprey to the East. There is plentiful bird watching, swimming, fishing, lazing, picnicking and canoeing. The sites are shady, allowing one to keep cool on a warm day. Camp volunteers have sighted pileated woodpeckers, ( http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Pileated_Woodpecker.html )
and great horned owls, among many other species. ( http://myfwc.com/bba/GHOW.htm )
Although we heard birds today, the only one I saw was a female cardinal. One has to get up very early to see all of the birds at morning feeding time.

I did take a walk around the park and think it is a very nice place to go and stay a while. Nothing of great interest for our readers, we're afraid, but Fifi is getting photos to upload even slower than a snail's pace today. She will try to load a couple more before bedtime. After all, one doesn't live by blogs alone.

Until tomorrow - a dios! Tomorrow's blog will be coming to you from a new site. Stay tuned. For those who want to know, here's a link to this state park: http://www.floridastateparks.org/oscarscherer/default.cfm

Day 12 - Up and Down I-75 Again

Hmmmfh - I'm a bit miffed to think that Juanita thinks I am a princess. (though I did have a small problem the other night under my mattress topper. It was a seed husk from Bubba's cage. O0oh, did that hurt) I have been running myself ragged ensuring that Juanita has the best accomodations, the primo sleeping quarters (right next to the bathroom), and gallons and gallons of water with ice. But I really think that she is joshing our loyal readers. Actually, we can't BELIEVE how well we are getting along.

But I digress - we had a lot to do and see on our agenda, so we were up early. Juanita remarked at breakfast that when we get up early, the day has both a morning and afternoon. So we decided to try it again tomorrow.

First on the list of to do items was to find Pine Island, where the owner of Julia's (Juanita's daughter ) former horse, Awesome, was being taken care of and to visit with him. He was still so good looking and was happily living with a companion named Farrah. They can usually be found hanging out together in the same stall, even though each has his own. We stayed long enough to pet and feed them oodles of carrots and take a few pics. Then we were off to Sanibel Island.

By the time we left Pine Island it was afternoon and quite warm. Sanibel Island is a place Fifi has wanted to see for years, but never had the opportunity . Today was the day. After arriving on the island, we went directly to the "Ding" Darling National wildlife refuge. Even though it was mid-afernoon, we still took the 4 mile drive through the refuge. We weren't disappointed. We were able to go "at a snail's pace" and see many different birds, some of which appear in the blog. By the time we drove through Ding Darling, it was time to head to our next State Park experience. We were fighting for daylight all the way up I-75 to Osprey, FL. Would we make it to the campgrounds in time? Mile by mile we watched the beautious sun slowly sinking to the west. 5 miles to go, then the park exit. No more signs to the park. What happened? Finally, there was the sign up ahead, "Oscar Scherer State Park to the right 1000 feet". We made it! Well - not yet. The big iron gates are closed and it's dark! We don't have the combination to the gate. The park had closed at 6 and it was now 6:30. Fifi jumped out of the rv's cab and from out of nowhere, up drove a truck and stopped behind S CARGO. It was a Park Service guy from another area of the state park system. He got us in the gate, led us to the entrance and roused a park ranger who was banking the dineros from the day's take. Within minutes we were backing into the campsite with only the light of the backup lights on S CARGO- cheese it's dark here.

Having nothing to eat since breakfast, we quickly made sandwiches and drinks and settled into our site in another back of beyond .

Day 11 -Up and Down I-75

First of all, you can't believe everything Fifi says on this blog - for example, the aforementioned altercation ... though I do think that's what Jimmy Buffet would have done. Anyway, most of what happened on Day 11 has been censored by Fifi. I cannot talk about what we did in the morning, but I am able to mention that we went to an outlet mall in the early PM. I am not allowed to talk about food either, so keep this under your hat --> we each did have a slice of cheese pizza at the mall, and I proceeded to dunk my pizza crust into my diet pepsi. Fifi was appalled and claims she has never seen such coarse manners. She got up in a huff and tried to leave without me --however, I did eventually get her back and coax her to try it, but she was not impressed.

At the end of Day 11, Fifi took us to a campground in the back of beyond. It was 12 miles into the forest off a tiny country road. There were at least 50 black vultures circling overhead when we arrived. But oh no, that wasn't enough to make Fifi turn around ... Why not? ... because .... she had already paid for the night! There was no cell phone service in this place, no water, no Internet access, no cable TV, no pool, and the only functional bathroom was 200 yards away! It was "simply uncivilized" (Charles Barkley). So THAT is why there was no blog entry yesterday. As you can plainly see, it's all about Fifi!

Anyway, we're going to try to catch up tonight. Thanks for reading our blog!

R & R Day At the Unnamed Campground - Day 10

Took the day off to interview some snowbirds, do laundry and straighten up S CARGO. Bubba and Sissy have been our entertainment. Bubba and Juanita have become close. I hope he doesn't go into a depression when she has to leave us at the end of our adventure. I guess they can Skype each other.

As to snowbirds - they come from everywhere. They have small trailer homes that they live in during the winter months, then go back in March or April to wherever they came from. We think living here during the winter months must be good, because we spoke to a 75 yr old woman today who looked 50! Many snowbirds have boats and fish all the time.

You might already know that both Juanita and I love to learn at least one new thing every day. Well, this day has been no exception. We actually learned how to properly fold contour sheets while we were waiting for our clothes to wash this morning. It is truly an art! It felt the same as when Martha Stewart showed all of us on her tv show how she learned to fold t-shirts when she was in the slammer.

Now that the chores are done, we're sitting back and having a cold one - or two, while planning our next day. Tomorrow we will take a meander through Naples, then on to Sanibel Island, Pine Key and Points beyond. Juanita has a once-owned horse resting comfortably on Pine Key. We hope to stop by and say hello and see the key. Tuesday night will be spent at Myakka River State Park.

Oh, by the way, we're a little nervous about a litle tiff we had with an inconsiderate RVer this morning. He was taking too long to hook up and had his big truck in our way. So Juanita gave him a piece our our minds. Now we hope they don't throw us out of THIS park too.

Day 9 - Big Cypress to Marco Island Area

In the last entry, Fifi said how we went to bed with all windows wide open, it was so warm. Well, true to form, we woke up freezing on Sunday with dew running down the windows. Brrrr. By the time we hit the road again, it had warmed up.

Slim pickens today with photos. After days of cereal, F and J set their hearts on a high protein , hig carb breakfast at a famous high protein, high carb/fat restaurant in Naples. Fifi stopped by the other Rialta owners, Dennis and Irene, then headed out for Naples and Fifi's first cup of coffee in days. She had to put cruise control on so as not to speed toward the joe.

On the way up the Tamiami trail we saw various birds, such as anhingas, cormorants, a stork, assorted herons, egrets, killdeer, and others. There was not too much traffic on the road, so Fifi kept pulling over to the non-existent right shoulder and forced Juanita to take photos from the cab window. Only then did traffic appear from out of nowhere. But they saw the Tennessee tag on S CARGO and probably just shrugged their shoulders as they whizzed past at 70 mph.

It was still early to check into out next site, so we took a short deviation and went onto Marco Island to see how the rich people live. After driving past one manicured home/condo/mansion/ villa after another, both Fifi and I agreed that we still prefer the Jersey shore and Delaware Bay beaches.

We stopped for supplies, then headed to our campground, which will remain anonymous. It is a private site, not exactly what we like, but then that's how we find out our preferences. Fifi's mother, and I'm sure Juanita's mother also, used to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say about something, then don't say anything at all."

Fifi is happy tonight. She decided to make her own wine coolers. Fruity, yet not too much % of the good stuff. Juanita threatens to try one, but it hasn't happened yet.

Tomorrow is a day of R&R for the travelers. We will be relaxing and cleaning up the RV and doing some wash before heading out on Tues. am to our next adventure. That's not to say we might not have one or two of those while hanging out at the laundry here, or maybe by the shuffleboard court. One just never knows. Ciao for niao!

Day 8 - Long Key to Big Cypress Nature Preserve

We didn't want to leave, but they would have forced us to go, so we left Long Key SP of our own volition. Both Juanita and Fifi agree that if they could have found more sites in State Parks on the Keys, they never would have left. Well - sigh - perhaps next year.

Just an aside: For those of you who enjoy Outback Steak House restaurants, there is an unusual one located on Islamorada. Fifi's cousin, again, put her on to it. It serves lunch (unusual), and serves meals on a wonderful outside deck practically on the beach. Thanks again Cuz! Oh, and we found a wonderful gift shop right next door at a nice Hampton Inn that sells unusually nice items that are relatively inexpensive for the Keys. Both Juanita and Fifi recommend it highly.

From Islamorada we retraced our route until we veered off to find a cutoff to the Tamiami Trail (http://www.sptimes.com/2003/webspecials03/trail/ to Big Cypress National Preserve. We got onto route 997 near Florida City and hooked up with route 41 (Tamiami Trail). After driving through Homestead, we were blown away by the miles and miles of seemingly endless sub-tropical plant growers' nurseries. All of those lovely flowering plants we buy for the summer, then have to throw away when the first frost comes are sitting by the thousands in pots and bags, ready to be sent up north in big eighteen wheeler tractors.

Camping sites there are first come, first served, so we took a chance that there might be a place to park our weary bones. After all, vegetating takes energy, as does laughing, which we also do a lot of. There are a couple of places to camp at the Preserve, one called Midway and one, Monument. Midway was full when we arrived, and it was getting near dark. So we ended up at Monument, which had no hookups for power, etc. But it was nice, and we parked alongside the small Momument Lake. As we were setting up for the night, a fellow camper came by to see our rig, as he and his wife also have a Rialta. As we were exchanging Rialta stories, Fifi, 'nita and Dennis notice a very long figure of something in the lake, quietly drifting mostly under the surface. It was about as close as Fifi had ever been to a live gator ever! Dennis went back to his Rialta to tell his wife about it, as they had a dog with them which would have been a week's worth of food for this gator. Our coach battery, which gives us light when there is no electricity, showed low, so we called it an early night. We left our windows wide open because it was a very still, hot night. We we pretty sure that alligators don't know how to open RV doors.

Tomorrow off to Naples, FL.

Last Day on Keys - Friday 2/1 -Day 7

I-inhale-hope you can - -inhale - tell by my voice - -inhale - that this sight is breathtaking! Yesterday Juanita and Fifi got their bathing suits on and strolled into the just-under-bathtub-temp water along with the gulls, terns, herons, egrets and assorted shorebirds that are hard for an amateur to ID.

While walking along the beach, Fifi took some of the photos our faithful readers have seen in the most recent blog. Fifi was extreeeemley glad she asked a conch (local) what that beautiful purpleish thing with a blue balloon top was that was seen floating on the water and sitting on the beach among seaweed. Holy cannoli! Portuguese Man o'war. Those babies pack a punch. So we learned, among other things, that one shouldn't touch beautiful things on the beach without knowing whwat they are. That was added to our list of things we have learned (or re-learned) on this trip so far, such as:
-pack light,
-turn wide,
-you CAN teach an old dog new tricks,
-you can't judge the coffee by it's smell,
-no tops-no problem.

We managed to get a little down time for reading, blogging, snorkling and wind surfing.

A CONVERSATION WITH JUANITA AND FIFI

{This conversation is taking place just after sunrise on Long Key}

Fifi: "Juanita, did you ever think traveling in a 22 foot, 13 year-old RV would be this much fun?"

Juanita: "Noooo!" said with force

Fifi: "If you had to stay on only one spot where we have been, which spot would it be?"

Juanita: "The Keys"

Fifi: " Dearest friend, Juanita, Fifi meant which of the spots on the Keys would you choose?"

Juanita: "Lignum Vitae"

Fifi: "But we haven't been to that key. What makes you think you would like it the best?"

Juanita: "Because it is hard to spell and I like Latin."

Fifi: " J, you are really something! And I can see that this conversation is going nowhere 'velox'"
I guess we will try this live stuff at another time when Juanita is awake.

Last night we poked around the island, checking out bath/shower facilites,which,by the way are almost new. Six feet of water covered Long Key during the hurricanes of 2005.

Today (Sat) we head out for a little road trip to Cypress Key .

Thursday - Day 6 -Onward to Long Key

We pulled up stakes at Stock Island around 10:30. We're getting lazier and lazier with each passing day. Must we drive all that way to Long Key? I guess we must. F and J met Marco, a friend of J's hubby, the Duke of Earl, in Islamorada, and were treated to a most wonderful chat and lunch at Zane Grey Lounge. Fresh, fresh seafood abounded, with conch chowder, a luscious sampler of tuna, lobster, and shrimp salads the menu choices for us. Enough, in fact, for a wonderful RV-side dinner at our new campsite here on Long Key.

Fifi, always the optimist, stopped at the local K-Mart and picked up a pair of water shoes so she can go out through the seaweed and who knows what else on the bottom into the ocean on Friday.

Next was a trip to Winn Dixie for the basics- milk, cereal, fruit because we will be at the State Park for two nights and don't plan to leave until Saturday morning when we head out to Big Cypress Preserve in the Everglades.

As an aside, Fifi would be remiss if she didn't relate the small miracle that happened on Wednesday. As some of you might know, the hip Philly gals are travelling with two equally hip Budgies. (Bubba and Sissy) Sissy rarely ventures out of her cage, and when she does, it is only to sit atop the highest point of the roof. Well, Wednesday morning Juanita, who seems to have a way with Sissy, coaxed her out of her cage, onto the cage door, where she took a leap of faith and flew like a helicopter that just lost all power onto Fifi's bed. Sissy was very happy. I know, because she sat there for some minutes before attempting any rush to escape.

We got to the entrance to Long Key Campground and went in to register. It was about 5:30 and the office closes at 6. Two young rangers were in there to greet us. The young blue-eyed male immediately put his hands on his hips and said, in a clipped,scolding tone, but with a twinkle in his eyes: "Where have you been? We've been waiting for you." We assured them that we had gotten here as fast as we could. From there we went to our site. (we have to move again Fri. to another site). The rest of our evening was "at our leisure. " It was fantastic. The site faces the ocean, about 30 feet from the back window of S CARGO. And last night the wind was blowing about 30 mph. We opened all screened windows and let the wind rip through. Photos and more tomorrow.

Day 5 - Key West

Don't know where we girls got the energy, but we surely managed to do a lot on Key West Wednesday. Well, for us it was a lot.

First thing, we left S CARGO at the campgrounds and taxied to Hemingway House. Ernest lived there for 10 years in the '30s. He was quite a character and had a beautiful home: two stories with a second floor covered veranda all around, reminiscent of New Orleans. Today there is lush vegetation and 47 descendants of Hemingway's polydactyl cats. (Hereafter referred to as dits) There were dits everywhere. Two on Ernie's bed. Almost all of them were afraid of no one. Juanita was able to go up to many of them and talk dit talk. They didn't flinch. Anyone who enjoys dits will love Hemingway House. By the end of the home tour, both Juanita and Fifi were ready for a sit down and a cool drink, in the form of fruit smoothies at Ernest's Cafe across the street form HH. It was at that time, while pondering what place of interest would be next, that we sighted one of the soon-to-be ubiquitous electric cars.

Both agreed that was the mode of operation for them. Fifi quickly called the phone number and within 5 minutes were picked up at Ernest's Cafe and swept over to the elec car rental place where we agreed to rent the car until the battery ran down. We tried all night, running up and down the 3 main streets, along the beaches, down back streets, over hill and dale. We ran down to the southernmost point where there is a buoy marking the spot. We spent a long time trying to find a swell restaurant on the beach named Kelly's. It was remarkably easy to find after learning from a native (called a conch) that the place we were looking directly at WAS that place, but the name had changed. (Fifi wasn't going nuts afterall) So we decided to try dinner there as long as we were there. It is supposed to be a great breakfast spot right on the beach. Fifi had Chicken Marsala with rice, steamed carrots and broccoli. Oh, and a strawberry daquiri. Yum. 'Nita had Mahi Mahi in some kind of mango something sauce, same rice and veggies. While Fifi was attempting to finish off the daquiri, Juanita was trying key lime pie, searching for the elusive "Best of the Keys."

After dinner we scooted up to Mallory Square to see if any street performers were still at it. The place was quiet. We wandered into what can best be described as a "bust" yard, containing pillars topped with busts of famous Key West people of old. It was very difficult to read the aged bronze names and information on each one. Daytime would most likely be a much better time to get the full flavor of this unusual site.

Then we scooted around and around the town just because we could, and because Juanita confessed to really liking driving the baby car. No sides. Photos to follow.

Finally it was time to end the night. We dropped the car off, called a cab and returned back to the campground.

Many thanks for your great comments, and please keep them coming!

Tuesday - Day 4

A leisurely day at the campground while having a minor RV repair. With everything A-OK ,we proceeded over to Mallory Sq. to catch the sunset and some street jugglers, tightrope walkers, magicians, mimes, etc.

F and J decided to have a small meal at Kelly's Caribbean Bar and Grille. (Whitehead and Caroline Sts.) The restaurant is located in the house and grounds of the birthplace of Pan American Airlines. The majority of the tables are downstairs in a courtyard filled with trees, tropical plants and decorative lights. Fifi didn't feel like embibing on Tuesday, so she couldn't comment on the wines. Dinner was a sharing of items: Caesar salad, bluecrab/avacado/mango martini, and jerk chicken egg rolls. Yummy! The egg rolls were a bit more spicy than expected, so Fifi had to finish them off, while Juanita indulged with the martini. ( I know - with a name like Juanita, one would think she would love spices)

After dinner we walked down to Duval St., one of the 3 main tourist areas. walked down to Sloppy Joes, one of Hemingway's main hangouts during his 10 year stint in Key West. We were able to avoid stopping at the Key Lime Pie Factory. Having accomplished that feat, we decided to quit while we were ahead and head on back to camp. (Once on Key West time, one finds what we did on Tuesday was quite exceptional, as everything slows down to a crawl here.)

Wednesday will be the Hemingway House tour and a more intense tour of the island.

Key Largo to Key West - Day 3

The drive to Key West was as beautiful as everyone says it is. Caribbean blue/green waters off either side of the road; mangroves growing into small keys everywhere; cormorants, terns, gulls, and assorted hawks flying overhead -- not to mention perfect temperatures.We decided to drive right into Key West before checking into our waiting campsite just over the bridge on Stock Island - oceanside. Without looking at a map, we took several wrong turns and ended up on Duval St. Then we chose a circuitous route onto and around A1A along the south beaches. Photos show some of that short excursion. Finally, being creatures of habit, we saw an Outback Steakhouse, decided we could go there and eat and still have time to park the RV before dark. We had jumbo coconut shrimp and a juicy medium sirlion steak, perfectly steamed assorted veggies and ice cold water to wash it down.

Early in the trip Juanita couldn't find the bag with her towels, soap, shampoo, etc. So the only feasible way to find them was to purchase replacements. It worked! Just hours after shopping the bag was found tucked beside a seat.

Our digs at the Boyd's RV park on Stock Island are fine. We are next to many, many humongous RVs to our left, and a dozen empty tent sites to our right. Behind us are boats owned by the humongous RV owners in the waters of the smallish marina. Dozens of brown pelicans and egrets seem to be resident in mangroves and the boat docks and surrounding waters, occasionally flying in unison to their next free meal from successful fishermen.

The first little blip in our perfectly wonderful trip was the inability to connect the water to S Cargo. But thanks to Phil, the ace mainentance person at the park, the water was finally flowing freely.

Dinner consisted of a variety of aged cheeses, french baguettes, and a wine from Australia. red grapes topped off the picnic meal at the waterfront.

Tuesday 'nita and Fifi plan a leisurely day at the park, perhaps a few swim sessions at the pool, some reading, then off to Key West Tuesday night for dinner and watching the sun set at Mallory Square.

Day 2 - Key Largo

Sunday was another leisurely day. Now some people would be scrambling to the nearest Jimmy Buffet type restaurant for breakfast, but Juanita and Fifi ate leftover crab cakes, rolls and shrimp from last night's dinner at Conch House. Lunch was leftover sandwiches from the Saturday trip down and delicious peach iced tea. We're not really sure if we just wanted to savor the delicious meals we had had already eaten once more, or if we were just too lazy to pull up stakes and drive somewhere. The weather was so wonderful - temps overnight were so cool, we had our blankies and comforters on.
There was some actually activity during the day. Juanita was eager to sit out in the fresh air and sunshine in one of our fold-up chairs and read about how badly we have screwed up our food supply in this country. Fifi, being the curious type, set out to find adventure at one of the two beaches on the premises. North Beach was your typical small keys beach, with various smaller mangrove keys offshore. But South Beach turned out to be a bird-lovers delight! To Fifi's surprise, there on a nesting platform just off the beach were two osprey. These birds are not always easy to see, especially within about 20 feet of humans. Photos of this will follow if J and F can figure out how to add them to blogs.
Sunday night was so laid back that we cannot remember what we did! Monday morning's schedule is to pull up camp and drive to Key West. Juanita's dream come true is to visit Hemingway's house and see some of the Hemingway cats.

Day 1 - G'Ville to Key Largo

After arriving here on Key Largo yesterday (Sat) afternoon, and finding our RV spot, we headed out to a restaurant recommended by Fifi's cousin, Cathy. So many fish - so little time. The restaurant: Conch House @ MM 100.2 Fifi and Juanita shared conch fritters, while Fifi insisted on a celebratory glass of wine. Dinners included crab cake and shrimp salad with hot rolls; lobster bisque and crab cakes. Desert was a generous slice of Key Lime Pie. Fifi agreed with Cathy that the pie was extremely yummy. Exhausted from our long drive, we conked out early and slept late. The overnight temp was perfect for sleeping, and along with the gentle humming of the overhead fans, all outside sounds were blocked out.