Watching a storm develop....

Even a bad day in Key West is better than.... but today looks a little threatening! Two different weather map views of the same situation, top one is Windy (degrees Celsius) showing direction and strength, the second is Storm Radar.

Fishing in the Florida Straits....

Ocean to plate! Morning fishing run with Emerson off the Marquesas Keys, some 20 miles south-west of Key West, where we caught Hogfish, Atlantic shark, Black tip reef shark, Grunts, Porgies, Yellowtail and Grouper with Captain Josh Collins who did a great job locating fish and skillfully making fillets for us to take home to the Southermost Beach Cafe for our delightful dinner!

Latitudes Lunch

Going for lunch at Latitudes on Sunset Key feels like an airport security check! Your reservation time is based on the ferry shuttle time and woe if you try to come early or late. Identity and number of guests is verified by radio with island security control and you are allowed to board. A peaceful five minute cruise later you arrived at the covered dock and walk ashore to the restaurant which features photos of the life of local legend Ernest Hemingway. Lovely lunch by the large windows as it was too windy and cool to be on the terrace. We had lobster, grouper and shrimp, with chocolate dessert of course. Our truck was comped for four hours of free parking in the hotel parking deck and we needed every minute of it!

Evening light show!

Just to add a little sparkle to our sunset evenings in the Keys we have strung a double chain of red chili pepper lights throughout the Tiki hut and fired up a discrete blue laser moving starfield.... great reflections off our shiny aluminum!

Dinner at Geiger Key

Sunday evening dinner at Geiger Key Marina and Fish Camp.... sitting on the dock of the bay.... far enough away from the band so that we can still talk!

Arrived in Key West

Moved into our new site #17 at Geiger Key, enjoyed yellowtail snapper for dinner, then woke up to sunrise over the inlet. A balmy 74F breeze and a few F-18 jets from the local Naval Air Station got the day going!

Project completed!

Some projects fall outside the realm of tweaks and should really be considered significant upgrades. The drawer unit was a month long project with lots of challenges! We sacrificed 2 feet off our port berth bunk and a small pull out bed and replaced it with a five drawer unit, with 6 cubic feet of storage, purpose designed cabinet. This took us into the realm of cooking rather than camping with an entire 24 x 24 drawer for cutlery and kitchen tools, a complete spice collection with cutting boards and blenders, a drawer of 15 pop-up containers for all the culinary staples, and two spare drawers with books and computers. Topped off with an exotic wood butcher block counter top, it transforms our Airstream function and appearance! More info to follow on this project.....

So much for Privacy!

Margaret and Claudia checking out Tiger Woods private yacht "Privacy" at North Palm Beach, Florida. Tiger's yacht is registered in George Town, Grand Cayman islands in the Caribbean, a well established tax haven. No sign of Tiger or any of his groupies!

Testing new antenna system

Having spotted an excellent idea on the Alaska caravan I ordered a telescopic flagpole and converted the mast to accept two aluminum channels to support the cell phone booster and the wi-if booster antennas. Weboost is giving us an additional two bars above normal cell phone reception! Visiting the splendid Jonathan Dickinson SP near Jupiter Florida.

Titusville Florida

Ah... leaving the north and the first day of warm moist air in Florida is quite unforgettable. Shirts and t-shirts get taken out of storage and sunglasses are needed! Catching up with David and Diana Spahn ( of SW Adventure and Alaska Caravan fame ) in their new house in the The Great Outdoor community dedicated to RV travelers! Every home comes with a 13 ft tall garage to accommodate motor home or trailers!

Welcome to 2019

What a start to the New Year! Margaret's crack of dawn photo from our bedroom on January first! Is this an omen? Red sky in the morning.... Sailor's warning! Usually we start our trek south just after Christmas Day but this year due to an injury we delayed a week. Our reservation at Geiger Key, 1,200 miles away, starts January 8 so time to start rolling! Time enough to visit friends along the way!

Airstream Improvements

Last few days of December and recovering from damaged hamstrings but still a few projects to complete before departure. From top: Black walnut custom made mirror in bathroom; Cup and mug storage in galley; Telescopic flag pole which is really an antenna booster mast; Secondary 30 amp inlet and breaker box to support additional heating systems; Stainless steel water inlet panel replacement.

Joys of Christmas!

Should be joys of the Christmas season as it certainly was not snowing at Christmas! This was taken on December 9 between our return from Alaska and departure for Florida...

Cross country breakfast

The only way to face up to a 1,700 mile across the continent speed run... a Cracker Barrel breakfast experience! Ditch the menu... order a la carte to get exactly what you want!

Flying visit to family!

Margaret's brother Andy (right) and wife Gail live in southern Illinois and that happens to be on our route from South Dakota to Virginia! Wonderful overnight visit, terrific dinner prepared by Gail and onwards we go towards home! Ella at bottom of photo is eagerly awaiting a treat!

A Fine Swine

A detour is always warranted when fine BBQ is spotted somewhere near the itinerary! Somewhere near St Louis we deviated and lunched on smoked brisket and smoked turkey! Always a pleasure to check in on the country gems - you can tell it's a gem when it opens at 11 am and the car park already has 20 empty vehicles lined up! Never disappointed! Bought additional take out of competition rib racks and smoked sausages for treats along the next 1,000 miles of highway! A quick inspection at the rear of the restaurant and the smoker indicates oak and cherry are the woods they smoke with!

Quick lamb chop diner

Split a rack of lamb from Costco into individual chops and grilled them on hickory. From the time we arrived at campground, lit the earthenware Japanese grill, then connected up trailer utilities, settled down in our camp chairs for cocktails, allowed the hickory to go to embers and grilled the lamb till it was ready to eat was a generous hour! Just enough light before the sun sets tonight to be able to see if the lamb is done! Along with steamed asparagus we had a splendid dinner and were ready to slumber! Such an efficient camp site arrival we have developed after three years of training and practice!

Two keys!

Two keys from the deactivated Minuteman control room that Initiate the launch of the nuclear ICBM missile from its South Dakota silo. Part of a three site National Park location featuring Minuteman visitor center, location of missile squadron control room and a dozen individual silos with deactivated missiles under the START treaty. Some of the missiles in North America still remain on active duty!

State Game Lodge dining

Enjoyed an evening at this fine dining lodge in Custer State Park. Particularly recommended are the sublime buffalo ravioli and the pheasant spring rolls! I had buffalo ribs for the main course but the appetizers were truly memorable!

Skylight leak

I thought that I had solved this nasty problem but a heavy downpour in Custer SD reminded me there was still a serious problem! Applied a temporary tarp to stop water coming in and now making a rapid journey home hopefully without major rainfall so that I can get our independent technician to diagnose and fix this mystery roof leak!

Crazy Horse is having his hair done!

Just 5 minutes out of Custer SD, Korczak Ziolkowski's family is continuing with the vision of this mammoth mountain carving hewn out of granite in the Black Hills. Begun in 1948, only the face so far has been completed and off the cuff estimates suggest 10 years to finish the hands and 50 years to complete the horse's head!

Needles Highway

South Dakota Custer State Park has some amazing highways especially designed by state governor Peter Norbeck to be driven very very slowly through magnificent scenery! Needles Highway was deemed impossible to construct by its critics nevertheless it was built in 1922 and included three tunnels, 14 miles of sharp turns and towering granite needle spires. We traveled slowly at about 15 mph through magnificent forests of aspen, birch, pine and spruce. Ended up at Sylvan Lake and stopped for a splendid light lunch at Sylvan Lodge.

Custer, South Dakota

Nice campground abutting National Forest.... two barbecues going... bonfire... first day relaxing since left the caravan and six continuous solid days and 1,600 miles on the road south east from Canada! Now we can visit four National Parks within an hour drive of our site and use this as a base for the next week... then the slog home!

Devil’s Tower, Wyoming

Nothing devilish about this igneous volcanic rock plug with 4, 5 snd 6 sided rock columns! Hiked the circumnavigation track some 2 km and watched many climbers on the various rock faces and talked to a couple from Belgium who had just returned to terra firma! This is a sacred Indian site with many prayer flags hung on trees around the base.