Welcoming in the New Year in the Keys

For the first time in our twelve years on the road we celebrated the New Year in the Keys. There was a party at the Elks with an age appropriate celebration of the new year at 9 PM. I guess that was okay because by that time in most of the world, it was already 2019.

Gotta love this view of a Keys sunsets.

There is a transition here between Christmas and the New Year. Several people moved on and a few new people arrived. We had a little happy hour at our place to welcome some of the new people.

One of the better sunsets so far this year. One reason they have not been as good as in the past is that it has been windy so the ripples on the water don't reflect the glow. You can see here how the reflection near shore is bright orange, while where the water has ripples it is not very bright.

Another picture of the white heron. It jumped into the water from the dock and walked ashore. Very neat.

We can't get enough of these sunsets.

The local fisherman told us they call the heron Sam. Why fly when you can strut your stuff on the Elks pier.

Friday night karaoke at the Elks. Here are Pat, Diana, Nanc and Christine belting out the Beatles, Eight Days a Week. I will spare you the audio.

The only down side to staying at the Elks, is that we don't have a sewer hookup, so gray water must be dumped using the Blue Boy (aka Turd Trolley.) There is a pump out service for the black water. This is a small price to pay for the great location and view. 

It was New Years Eve so I did my traditional Polar Bear dip in the Florida waters. Really, I'm a coward and only go in when it is at least 80 degrees. That has been no problem this year. 

We have been carrying these beads since Mardi Gras last March. There were enough that Nanc gave everyone at the party beads.

Gene, Diana, Dick, Christine, Jim, Mary and Beth getting ready to ring in the new year.

Linda, Sue, Dennis, George and Linda at the party. The party was a big potluck dinner so there was a great variety of food for all.

Patty, Tim, Nanc and me enjoying the fun time.

Linda and Dave who used to be camp hosts here at the Elks. Dave was the DJ for the party and had the place Rockin. It was a fun party with fun friends ringing in 2019 together.

January 1 is a big day of change. Six rigs either left or had to shuffle to a new spot. By the end of the day the place was full with most of those folks staying until February.

STIX AND BRIX

As I write we are no longer fulltimers. This past Tuesday we went to Stuart and closed on our new condo. More on the adventure in the next post.