It was another beautiful day in the Florida Keys. The water is smooth as a lake contrary to last week when winds were 25-30mph and there were small craft warnings. Yes, we are spoiled to this beautiful place.
Today was another Gumby day. Max and Anne went to Bob’s while Dan, Sue, and Jim went back to Dennis’s house, and Virgie and Sara went to Key West to have Sara’s broken arm rechecked. After lunch the team joined us at Bob’s. We are really pushing to get Bob’s house finished. We haven’t been given an absolute deadline but Jim Coffey has said ASAP. We are hoping to be complete by early next week. This morning Anne but another coat on the wall patch while Max finished installing the rest of the four inch tap cons to bring the front door up to hurricane standards. All new exterior doors have to be up to the new hurricane standards. They have to open out and the inspectors count the number of tap cons to be sure you have used enough. Then we worked on installing the new kitchen sink. When our reinforcements arrived after lunch, things really started to move. The closet shelves and rods were installed, part of the quarter round installed, part of the plumbing of the kitchen sink was completed, the concrete step was replaced at the kitchen door and new steps were begun out the back bed room door. Some of the electrical work was also begun. It was a busy afternoon. It’s amazing what gets done when we all work together. We love working with our NOMADS friends.
Anne and Max installed the kitchen sink
Jim marking studs for shelf supports
Jim and Sue installed these shelves in two closets
Step outside kitchen door had to be put back in place and stabilized
The deck outside the bedroom sliding doors was washed away.
Gumby struck again this morning after devotion. While the rest of the team went back to work at Dennis’s house we were sent to Bob’s house on Sugarloaf Key. The last time we were there was January 2nd when Max and Larry installed a new front door but had to leave it with temporary trim for lack of proper trim. Bob’s house has moved up on the priority list. The two main items on the punch list for today were to finish the door installation and fix the hole we left in the drywall after we found a roof leak. The drywall patch was fairly straight forward, but the door was a challenge because the new door was not the same as the door we removed and the masonry door opening was not exactly square or plumb. Anne patched the wall before lunch then spent the afternoon helping Max trim the door. Wood had to be custom cut and installed around the door frame so we would have something to nail the trim to and most of the brick mold outside had to be modified to fit the door opening. Very time consuming, but in the end it looks pretty good.
Yesterday we checked out of the RV park on Grassy Key around noon and traveled back to Big Pine UMC and rejoined the NOMADS team here. We are back with some of the same team members that we worked with last week and met a two others for the first time. We enjoyed our time off immensely but are also glad to be back with the team.
Today we attended church with the team and then walked for a while enjoying the cool weather. And Dan and Virgie, our leaders for the next few weeks, brought delicious brownies and ice cream for the team meeting this evening. They brought us up to date on what they accomplished last week at Dennis’s house and we will get pictures for you in the morning when we all go back there to work. Looking forward to another good week of work.
Monday started really early – 4:00am. Barry, Donna along with Max and Anne left Grassy Key at 4:50AM. We didn’t have to be in Key West until 7:00 but there is only 2 lanes of one highway down to Key West. There are no alternate routes/detours. This was our only chance for the four of us to make this trip this year, and we didn’t want anything like a wreck to keep us from arriving on time. We had no problems and arrived in Key West with plenty of time to spare. We had checked the forecast and knew we were going to have a bumpy ride to the Dry Tortugas National Park so we all took some meclizine to try to ward off any motion sickness. Out boat, the Yankee Freedom III, pulled away from the dock at 8:00. After a very rough ride, we arrived at the Tortugas, 70 miles west of Key West, at 10:30. Thankfully for us none of the four suffered sea sickness but a lot of the people on board were not so lucky. Dry Tortugas is one of the most remote and desirable fishing destinations in the Florida Keys. We, however were not there for the fishing.
It was a rough crossing, but we were well prepared.
Approaching Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park
After disembarking our boat, we headed straight to Fort Jefferson for our guided tour. Our guide, David, did a tremendous job with the tour. We were amazed at how they built the fort with the tools of the day. It is the largest all masonry fort in the US. The sea was so rough they did not recommend we go snorkeling so we had extra time to explore the island. We had a great time in spite of the rough seas and would certainly recommend the trip. We are trying to see all the National Parks so this is one more off the list.
The parade grounds inside the fort
The gun casements inside the fort
Relics in the fort
Shutters on gun ports. They were so well balanced that, once unlocked, the air rushing in front of the projectile would open them before the projectile hit them. Then after the projectile cleared the opening, they would close again.
Looking down from the top level of the fort
Seaplanes and private boats also come to Fort Jefferson
Long Key contains the only current nesting colony for the Frigatebird in the continental U.S. It is permanently closed to visitors.
Fort Jefferson and the Yankee Freedom
After returning to Key West ferry port, we headed into downtown. First stop was at Mallory Square for the celebration of the sunset – everyone needs to do this at least once. It was a nice sunset, but not great. The crowd gathered in the Square didn’t care. However, being a Monday evening, the Square was not rocking like it does on the weekends. Next was Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe. According to Anne and Donna – THE BEST key lime juice for key lime pie. Of course all the wonderful samples were also a plus. Several purchases were made. By now we realized just how long ago 4:00am was so we headed back to Marathon. Dry Tortugas NP and Mallory Square – two more bucket list check marks!
Mallory Square is a popular place to watch the sun set …
… and this is why.
Tuesday was planned as our Dolphin Experience but since we were able to do that Sunday when the weather was great, today we had a relaxed morning. We did have the energy to go back to Sweet Savannah’s because the Tuesday special cupcake is Boston Cream. One of the best cupcakes we have ever eaten. We also checked in at George’s to see if the dedication was on as planned and in the late afternoon went to Big Pine Key to show Barry and Donna the key deer. We also had dinner at Kings Seafood – some really great Key West pink shrimp. So fresh! To somewhat off set our shrimp and cupcakes, had a nice walk on Coco Plumb Beach, one of Marathon’s public beaches. Weather was cold and winds 25-30 mph so no swimming today, either.
Shell hunting on Coco Plum Beach
Sweet Savannah’s cupcakes
A funny geocache we found Tuesday.
Wednesday, we went to Georges home dedication. So amazing the transformation of the park model in 2.5 weeks. While we have been playing the team has really been working. The counter top in the kitchen looked great as did the completion of the bathroom. Of course, it always looks better when the base board is installed. George seemed really pleased.
George’s kitchen finished except for a stove
George’s bathroom finished
George’s bedroom finished
Jim presented George a paddle signed by everyone who had a part in the rebuild of his house.
As is the NOMADS tradition, Dan presented George a Bible inscribed by all the NOMADS who worked on his house.
Afterwards we went to the National Key Deer Refuge Nature Center so we could get our National Park passports stamped. While back on Big Pine, we went back down to blue hole but the weather was still too cold and windy for the gators to make an appearance. Maybe Donna and Barry will see some gators when they go back through the everglades on the way home. On the way back to the RV park, we stopped to find a geocache and saw the Curry Hammock State Park nature trail and took a nice hike. In the afternoon we were walking around the RV park and down by the sea wall, it was amazing the quantity of sea grass that had been blown in. There was no way to use the boat ramp. Never seen anything quite like that. For our sunset today we visited Sunset Park in Key Colony Beach. Different experience. The people of the community gather every afternoon with their wine and other assorted drinks, watch the sun go down and join in singing their song about Marathon Key. They handed out copies of the song so visitors could participate as well. We had prettier sunset today and the entire experience was interesting.
Hiking the Curry Hammock Nature Trail.
Tons of sea grass washed up on the boat ramp and seawall at the RV park.
Waiting for the sun to set at Sunset Park
Sunset at Sunset Park
Thursday – our last day with Barry and Donna. We started our day with a bike ride on the Grassy Key Trail while we were waiting for the day to warm up a bit. We road the great bike trail to a big park along the water in Marathon. It was a great eleven mile ride. We planned to kayak at Curry Hammock State Park, but the attendant at the gate said there was still a small craft advisory and the state park couldn’t rent them. We checked the Weather Service web site and didn’t see any advisory, but knew it would do no good to argue. Very disappointing because we were not going in the ocean. We were going to do the tour of the mangroves. Not to be deterred, we went to the Crane Point Hammock, hiked, found some geocaches and spent a really nice afternoon outside. We visited the hammocks from land instead of by water. This afternoon’s sunset was viewed from our very own pier at the RV park. Nice.
Riding the Grassy Key Bike Trail
Where we turned around and headed back home.
Two African spurred tortoises at the Crane Point Hammock museum.
Some of the trails at Crane Point Hammock were a little muddy.
The Adderley house is the oldest house in the Keys outside of Key West. The house was built from 1903 to 1905. The house is made of tabby, a homemade concrete like mixture of burnt shell, ashes, sand, shell and water.
There were several birds in the bird hospital at Crane Point Hammock, including this osprey with a broken wing.
The view from Crane Point
We found several geocaches on Thursday, including this creative one …
… and this tiny one in a palm tree.
Friday – Early this morning we said goodbye to Barry and Donna as they started their journey back to Alabama. It’s been a great few days that passed way too fast. Safe travels and we will see you again soon. Our plans for the day changed because it rained. Not predicted! So today was a stay at home day for laundry, work and walking in the park. Tomorrow it’s back to Big Pine. What a wonderful week!
RVing With a Purpose 