KEY WEST TRIP #1

11/2 - A year ago when we first planned a trip to visit our Florida kids, I was arguing with Mike about how long we should stay. I have a rule that is based on historical fact, and that is "Dead fish and relatives, three days MAX." Anything longer than that becomes a burden. When we visited the kids in Arizona, we always could come and go as needed, or at least go out to The Dazy to get some quiet time. However, even at the low fares Mike found us, $99 one way, we obviously should stay more than three days, right? Somehow the negotiations ended up at two weeks. So, we decided that during this period we would borrow one of their cars and make a short trip down to Miami to visit dear old friend Julio and family, and then go on down to Key West for an expensive overnight stay. Years ago when we brought Miss Dazy to Florida to visit Julio and other old friends the Schwengers of Ft. Meyers, Julio found us an RV park in Miami and we had the little blue Geo Tracker to buzz around in. We didn't think we could afford an overnight in the VERY expensive Key West location, so made a LONG day's trip down and back in one day, which I wouldn't recommend.

We did the normal touristy things, took a tour trolley round town, visited Ernest Hemingway's home and saw his six-toed cats, lunched at the original Sloppy Joe's tavern, saw the stone indicating 90 miles to Cuba, etc. etc. The highlight of the visit was to go to the waterfront and see the world famous Key West sunset. They have this long boardwalk (concrete) where vendors and entertainers set up, making it quite a festive event. We were thoroughly enjoying the ambiance when just before sunset, a fog bank rolled in and engulfed the whole area. Poot! A vendor said he had been here off and on for six years and had never seen the even canceled by fog. Oh well, another defugalty.

It's around 90 miles to Key West from Miami, not very far, but the majority of it is two lane roads with lots of little settlements slowing you down. It seemed to take forever driving late at night. SO, one of our goals this trip, besides seeing Julio, was to experience the sunset again. I made up my mind I would just pay the motel cost at KW and not worry about it.

However, the Son came up with a brilliant plan which was to schedule one of his nuclear medicine camera P.M.'s in Miami on Tuesday, and then he could ethically write off part of the trip expense. Wowsers! I wouldn't have to drive, would save some money AND get some rare quality one-on-one time with the #2 son. He took Monday off so he wouldn't have to take a service call if it came in.

We left about noon Sunday for the LONG trip south to Miami, over four hours. But, great freeways, or turnpikes as they are sometimes called, and like I mentioned previously, minimal traffic, and very few big trucks to contend with. Julio and wife Rosanna planned a Cuban dinner for us when we arrived, around 5:30 PM. The Montejos live on a small lake and have a nice deck overlooking the water, but their home is located in a very complicated residential area, streetwise. Mike, of course, as all techies have these days, utilizes a GPS tracking system, and all we did was put in Julio's address and the dumb thing talked us exactly to his house with a voice telling us EVERY turn to make, the whole trip. Hmmmmm. This is the second time I have seen a practical use for GPS, the first being with our Lazy Daze friends finding a L.D. group campout height in the mountains above Patagonia, AZ, a few years back. Maybe I'll ask for one for Christmas.

After a delightful visit, enhanced by our drinks of choice, they served the Cuban themed dinner of pork, special black beans over rice, and a strange item called plantains, which are a deep fried banana type fruit/vegetable. Hmmmmm. Rather strange consistency for this farm kid, but everyone else loved them.

Mike came up with the idea of getting a motel in Key Largo (what an exotic sounding name - they ought to make a movie about it)(oh, they did). While his company usually allows him to stay in a $130-150 dollar motel for overnight service calls, he went on-line to find a cheaper place we could share cost on, one that would handle three adults. He found one that sounded half-way decent, and utilizing the GPS, we found it just south of K.L. Actually, come to think of it, he couldn't get the location to come up so we found it the old way, stopping at a Circle K and asking directions. Mike was a little anxious, wondering what kind of "dump" he might have found us.

Oops, before I forget it, a couple observations on the drive down. Instead of rest areas like we have along major freeways, this section of the turnpike had travel centers in the MIDDLE of the two freeway lanes, with parking, gasoline, mini-markets and restrooms. VERY slick, and about every 30 miles or so, like in Washington. As we came into one Mike stated he was feeling liquid dropping on them. OH oh, defugalty here! After checking carefully under the dash, he determined it was coming from the air conditioner and by turning it off, the leaking stopped. So, the rest of the trip, ofttimes humid, no A/C. The humidity is a strange beast, one minute you feel clammy and then you dry off. Plus, the passenger side window on the car we were in was acting up, so I couldn't run it up and down like I usually do. I solved this by getting in the back seat, trading with Mavis. She and Mike had a good visit as we had run out of things to blather about anyway.

Oke, back to our "cheap" motel, we went down a long side road, seeing no signs to the place along the way, and to our amazement, it turned into a huge complex with a manned, gated entry. Excuse me? Mike told the guard we had reservations, which he confirmed, and waved us in. Holey Moley! This was a huge condo complex with five big sections. It turns out what they do is when the owner is gone, they rent out the individual apartments. For a "mere" $98 we got a one bedroom, fully furnished apartment, with kitchen, washer/dryer, sleeping couch and an outside veranda overlooking a small boat basin and the Atlantic. We could not believe our good luck. Beautifully landscaped, with a cafe and TIKI bar, beach, swimming area, on and on. And, best of all, we had it for two nights, which gave us an hour + head start Monday morning on to Key West. The Kid came through fantastically. Since he could legally write off $130, our share for two nights was only $70, probably half of what it would have cost us staying IN K.W. one night. Remember the old adage, it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know!