Friends, Art and Sunsets

When we went on the road one of our goals was to spend the winters where it was sunny and warm. We soon learned that unlike WashPA there are places where the sun shines almost daily with enough intensity to keep us warm even when the temps are in the high 60's or low 70's.  Another thing we learned was many warm places are also very windy, something we did not have to deal with that often up north. With that in mind I can say the weather in the Keys this year has been less than ideal with many overcast, rainy and windy days. One day this week as a cold (cool) front moved through people's chairs and rugs went flying through the RV park.  I thought the awnings were going to be ripped off Opus before I could get them closed.  That said, it has still been the best place to escape the cold so far this winter.  So we are not complaining.

Here is the proof.  While this map shows the great temps we are enjoying (we are down by the 70) it does not show the massive storm that is threatening the East coast.  Even with the clouds, rain and wind we will not be getting any s**w.

This week we got together with Dave and Lynda who were the park managers the first time we stayed at the Elks.  They are staying further south in the Keys in Marathon this winter.  We had a fun time getting caught up with them at Puerto Vallarta, our favorite Mexican restaurant.  Here are Bill, Mary, Kathy, George, Linda, Joe, Jim, Nanc, Dave and Linda.

A grand time was had by all with a couple glasses of wine and margaritas.

We did have a couple of nice sunny days of which Deb took advantage to get out the sewing machine to work on t-shirts and sweatshirts that she sews to sell at arts and crafts fairs held in the area.  I bought a very neat tie-dyed Steelers tee that has a very warm weather theme.  Too bad it came after that tough loss last Sunday.

A down side of the cloudy weather is that we have not had nearly as many beautiful Keys sunsets.  This was the only one we had last week.

It lasted for almost an hour and changed from minute to minute.

Very nice.

It is amazing how long the sunsets continue down here.

I liked the big X on the clouds and the reflection on the water.

If you are in the Upper Keys the third Thursday of the month add the Art Walk in Islamorada to your to do list.  There are several galleries showing works of art and local artisans' booths with a big variety of work.  There is always music and a great new addition this year, the Florida Keys Brewing Co.  We enjoyed looking and even bought a couple pieces of jewelry.  Of course I tried the beer and it was great. 

You gotta love the Keys.  Where else other than here can an old man meet a beautiful, young mermaid?  Our month here has been flying by and as always it has been fun spending time with all our friends and just kicking back while we wait for it to warm up.  I remember the first time we visited Key West and a guy in the band said, "I'd rather be here drinking a beer than freezing my ass off up north".  Well said, well said!!

Friends, Hollywood and Sunsets

We have moved to the Florida Keys Elks for the month of January to escape the winter chill the rest of the country is having.  While the weather has not been all sunshine and hot temps, it has been the best weather in the country, so we cannot complain.  This is our third January in the last four years here, so we now have many friends who we look forward to seeing.

A couple of mornings our view was a bit foggy, but still beautiful with the palm trees and tiki hut.

Several days that started overcast ended with sunshine that Nanc is really enjoying.

Here are Gary, Nanc, Joe, George, Linda, Kathy and Jean all gathered in the bar at the Elks and who were all here this same time last year.  It is always great getting together with friends on the road.  On our first afternoon here we were asking Joe and Kathy about their 2016 travel plans.  They told us the would be traveling toward New Orleans to take a cruise to Central America at the end of April.  Guess what?  It is the same cruise we are going on!  How neat!!!

Our favorite thing about this RV park is the wonderful sunsets we get to see by just walking 30 yards from Opus to the tiki hut.  The heading picture on the blog was taken here.

The Hollywood connection mentioned in the title is the filming of the Netflix series Bloodline.  We have never seen it but it is neat seeing them filming at several locations around Tavernier and Key Largo.  This scene was just down the road from the Elks.

They filmed into the night with big lights and reflecting screens that turned night into day.

About once a week a big food truck sets up at the Elks to feed the crew of Bloodline.  We did not see any of the big stars, Sissy Spacek or Sam Shepard, but it was still neat seeing the whole operation.

We also went out to dinner with some new people who were here for a few days.  Here are Nanc, Maryann, Larry, Pat, Dave, Kathy and Joe at the Pilot House.  Good food, a fun time and friends.

Another day and another great sunset.  This one may be as good as the one we use for the blog.

They are the greatest when they reflect off both the clouds and the water.  There is no place else that we stay that we can view such beautiful sunsets without having to leave the comfort of the RV park.  Just wonderful!!

Many evenings the sunsets go on and on for almost an hour, changing as the sun is setting all the way down in Key West.  Very Neat Indeed!!!

A Mary Time in Jupiter

Of our nine Christmases on the road we have spent five with Mary Lou in Jupiter, FL.  We stay at nearby Jonathon Dickinson State Park that is very convenient being only about five miles from Jupiter.  In addition to getting to spend so much time with a good friend, the area has a lot of great restaurants and many other things to do.  Mary had us over the first night for a great meal and an evening of catching up.  

On Saturday we went to the Maltz Jupiter Theatre to see the play Billy Elliot.  It is a great play about a young boy, the son of a coal miner, becoming a ballet dancer amid the turmoil of the UK Miners strike of l984 and 85.  The music was by Elton John.  Interestingly, one of the young characters (Billy's best friend Michael) is a 9th grade Musical Theatre major at Lincoln Park near Pittsburgh.  It was a fun start to our stay.

As you know we love to search out music venues during our travels.  Last year we discovered the Double Roads where the Jupiter Jazz Society has a great jam session every Sunday afternoon.  We went both Sundays we were there.

You never know who will be playing.  We saw this young sax player, Dylan Thomas, last year.  This year he arrived with friends on skate boards.  He has a rock band but also has a great future playing Jazz.

Like I said you never know who will be there or what instrument they will be playing.  I don't know that we have ever seen a violinist playing Jazz.  Very cool!

Another day we went to see the new Star Wars movie.  It was very interesting seeing how all the original characters have aged and how there roles have changed since the beginning of the series.  We saw it in 3-D and recommend seeing it that way if you can. 

This is always a great place to bike, nice and flat.  One day we rode in the park to the top of Hobe Mountain, the highest spot in South Florida at 86 feet above sea level.  There is a great view of Jupiter Island and the park from the top of the "mountain". 

Another day we biked on Jupiter Island to check out how the rich and famous who live there are doing.  Looks like they are doing well enough to buy a two million dollar beach front home to tear down so they can build a new house.

My favorite restaurant here is the Food Shack and now as an added bonus they also have great music.  Every Wednesday it is Pam and Dave who play a great variety of contemporary music.  We had two wonderful evenings of food, music and dancing.

Another great part of travelling the country is all the interesting people we meet.  This is Jennifer and Chris who we invited to sit with us while listening to Pam and Dave at the Food Shack.  After talking to them for a while they related a hilarious story about their wedding in Key West.  They had a huge wedding attended by family and friends and were married by the local priest the hotel had recommended.  Eight months or so later Chris just happened to read an article about a guy who had been convicted for committing fraud all over the place.  It turns out it was the priest who had married them and he was not a priest at all.  Not only had he marry them but many, many other couples.  Needless to say they were blown away and had another ceremony eight months later.  They were a lovely couple and took it all in stride. 

On Christmas Eve we went out for another great meal at Portobella.  This has become a tradition for us.  

Every year that we are here for Christmas I take a swim in the Atlantic.  Growing up in Pittsburgh anyone who went into the water over the holidays became a member of the Polar Bear Club.  I guess this qualifies me:) 

Even Nanc got into the act this year, but only in the pool.

After the swim and some pool time Nanc and Mary cooked Christmas dinner.  As you can see they believe that a bit of wine makes for a better meal.

Mary's neighbors Jack and Mervat arrived in Jupiter Christmas day and joined us for dinner.  We met them here a few years ago and discovered they live on the same street as my brother in Pittsburgh.  Small world.

South Florida Christmas decor.  This was one street in a neighborhood where every house was decorated.

Very neat.

We visited the Loggerhead Marine Life Center the first year we were here to see the turtles.  The center's mission is conservation of the Florida coast with an emphasis on saving sea turtles.  They were returning two turtles, Jax and Dru, into the Atlantic.

The event drew a crowd of over 700 people who lined the beach into the water to cheer for the turtles.  After getting to swim with the turtles in Mexico it was very neat to see this release.

New Year's Eve was our last night in Jupiter and we celebrated the day in style.  Mary's friend Pat joined us for a great dinner at Seasons 52 and then we went to the Kravis Center in Palm Beach to see The Producers, a musical by Mel Brooks.  It was a very funny play and a great way to ring in 2016.

It has become a tradition for us to spend the holidays with Mary Lou when we are in Florida and even though we just left we are already looking forward to our next visit in a couple years.  Mary Lou is a great hostess and we thank her for her hospitality.  As we always say, being able to spend time with friends is one o the greatest things about our lifestyle.

'15 Travel Review / '16 Outlook

We are now in the ninth year of our RVing lifestyle and love it so much we continue to say we don't have an exit plan. This year we slowed down a great deal after driving to Alaska in 2014. We only put 5626 miles on Opus and 10,364 miles on the CRV. For the first time we are ending the year in the same place we started, South Florida. We began 2015 in the Keys then headed to New Orleans and Texas before a couple of months at Betty's. We then explored the Southeastern states and Eastern Pennsylvania, adding several state capitols to our list before our annual visit to WashPA. Then it was south to the Outer Banks for a month before heading to Florida in November. Our average day of travel was only 156 miles per trip, a new low for us. We stayed in 36 places and still managed to keep our camping expenses under $22.00 a day even though we only had free spots two nights. One area where we saved money this year was the cost of fuel. The most we paid was $3.20 a gallon in Pennsylvania, the only place above $3.00. In South Carolina we filled up for $2.20, the lowest we have seen since 2008. That sure is a big money saver compared to last year when we often paid over $4.00 and as high as $6.00 in Canada.

We had a great January in the Keys spending time with many of the people we had met there on previous visits. Tom and Georgie did a personal mail delivery and we did a day trip with them to Key West. The first couple of weeks of February we stayed in Central Florida waiting for the weather to warm a bit. While there we visited Nanc's sister Judy and her husband Bill and had a couple of repairs done on Opus. We then did a three day sprint to New Orleans for the Jonsson-Frayer Cultural Clash, a celebration of Swede Karl's and American Marissa’s marriage. It was great spending time with Marissa's parents Richard and Valerie while there. Next it was on to Rainbows End in Livingston, TX where we could leave Opus while we spent a week at Secrets Silversands in Cancun. When we returned from Mexico we found that Marvin, John and Joyce, who we met at Betty's, had pulled in and we spent some time catching up with them.

From Texas is was a short hop to Betty's in Cajun country for a two month stay. We try to get there every year and have made many friends both locals and RVers. Well over 100 people passed through the park while we were there and most of them we have met on previous visits. In addition to all those friends, Tim and Di flew down from WashPA and we gave them the full immersion Cajun experience including a swamp tour, music in the square and at the local bars, great food and of course a chance to enjoy Betty's hospitality. Even with all the friends we have there, the number one reason we return is Betty, she has become much more than a great hostess she is now a great friend.

From Abbeville we started our trip through the interior of the Southeastern states with a visit to Natchitoches, an historic old river town in northern Louisiana. From there we went to Jackson to tour the first of seven capitol buildings, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey on our way to WashPA. Along the way we visited many civil rights sites that celebrated to lives of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and others in Selma, Montgomery, Tuskegee and Atlanta. In Plains, GA we had one of those experiences that now ranks near the top of our RVing adventure when we got to meet President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn. We also visited the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta. In Columbia we were witness to another civil rights event when we were in the gallery as the South Carolina legislature debated the issue of removing the confederate stars and bars flag from the capitol grounds. It is not often one gets such a close up look at history as it happens.

Our next stop was Lake Norman in North Carolina where we spent two weeks visiting with my brother Rick and sister-in-law Denise. While there we had a great time getting caught up and enjoying the 4^th of July with the Antonetti's, friends from our hometown. Also while there we had to have a new fan motor installed in the rear air conditioners. Next it was on to Virginia where we got to spend some time with Chuck Lee and our RV friends Richard and Val who took us on campus tours of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia. We then headed to Eastern PA where we met up with friends Mel and Alora, toured the PA and NJ capitols, Amish country, Gettysburg NMP, Valley Forge NHS, Longwood Gardens and the Brandywine Museum. We had another AC issue and needed a new board installed on the front AC while there. Hopefully this will be the final fix with the AC.

It was then on to Western PA where we first stopped in Confluence to do some biking before moving to WashPA for a two month stay. We had a great time with friends and family, supported many of our favorite local restaurants and took care of doctor and dentist visits. As always, at the top of our to do list was John's wonderful wood fired pizza, a Pirate game, some fishing, and Nanc running the Great Race. A sure sign I'm getting older, I had to have a growth removed from my back and was told I may need cataract surgery next year. Even though we have traveled to all 50 states and most Canadian provinces Western PA will always be home.

Our first stop when we headed south was to get new rear tires on Opus after which we discovered a problem we had been having with one tire loosing air was a faulty air monitor. That taken care of we headed to Hatteras Island for four weeks. I did some fishing and we just kicked back and enjoyed the beach. We did have visitors for half our stay starting with Mike and Sherri who stayed with us for a long weekend. The next week Tom and Georgie were at the Outer Banks Motel so we got to spend a lot of time together. We had a surprise visit when Jean Paul and Celine showed up at the Sands of Time Campground. And then Valerie and Richard stayed in Buxton for a long weekend and we got to show them around including a day trip to Ocracoke. We ended our stay celebrating our 46^th anniversary at the beach.

It was then on to Florida with a stay in Raleigh to tour the capitol. In Florida we had annual engine service done on Opus and then spent a week at the Escapees park in Bushnell where we gave Opus a much needed bath and got to see Wallace and Wanda. From there we moved to Tampa East RV Park for a month. While there we flew to Secrets Akumal in Cancun for a wonderful ten day stay where I got to swim with sea turtles. When we returned we got together with Mark and Renita and Jean Paul and Celine to get caught up with what they have been doing. We also visited the wonderful Dali Museum in St. Pete.

For the holidays and the last two weeks of the year we returned to Jonathon Dickinson State Park to be close to Mary Lou. This is the fifth time in our nine years on the road that we have been here for Christmas. Jupiter is a great area with a lot to do and many great local restaurants. Mary Lou kept us busy going to two plays, Billy Elliot and The Producers, and a movie, Star Wars. We also enjoyed the Jupiter Jazz Society Sunday jam session and a great local duo, Pam and Dave. We always have a great time spending the holidays with Mary Lou.

As we start 2016 we are once again at the Elks lodge in Tavernier, Florida for the month of January. In February we will be in Christmas and have reservations to take a four day cruise to the Bahamas during our stay. Cruises are part of the travel club we bought into, so this will be our first cruise to see how we like it. In early March we will be heading to Betty's RV Park for a two month stay. While there we will be taking our second cruise, a seven day trip to Central America out of New Orleans. In May we will be slowly heading to Vermont for the Escapade. Along the way we hope to add a few more state capitol buildings to our list and explore a bit of New England. In early August we will be back in WashPA for a couple of months. I already have doctors appointments in August. In October we will slowly head west toward Mesa (sure hope it is warmer there next year than this year) while adding a few more capitols to our list. As always, the plan is a mostly a blank sheet with where we will stay and what we will do being filled in as we travel. Of course, seeing friends along the way will be a big part those plans.

Dali Museum -- Escher

For our last day in Tampa we decided to go to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.  They have a wonderful collection of the works by Salvador Dali that was collected by Reynolds and Eleanor Morse. The collection was first displayed in Cleveland before being moved to Florida in 1982.  The current building opened in 2011.  In addition to Dali there was a special exhibit with works by Maurits Cornelis Escher. 

We knew we were in for a very neat experience as soon as we saw the unusual, beautiful building. The entrance is surrounded by a Grotto, a Fountain of Youth and a Living Wall covered with native plants.

Here we are in the Grotto by the Fountain of Youth.  We were very tempted to take a sip of that water but we passed.

The back of the building is part Dali abstraction and part Buckminister Fuller geodesic dome.  The round shape makes for some very interesting reflections.

Behind the building is an interesting garden.  What would a Dali museum be without a giant mustache sculpture.  While Nanc has never seen me without a mustache, mine was never quite like Dali's.

Even the bench is pure Dali where relaxing just makes time melt away.  The garden has outdoor seating for the cafe, the above sculptures, a labyrinth and a wish tree where you can make a wish as you tie your wrist bands to the tree,  are all very neat.

The unique style continued inside with a spiral staircase that appears to climb to the ceiling as the steps stop and the spiral continues to rise.

From below the spiral looks like it touches the geodesic skylight.  The building itself is worth a look even before you check out the art.

Dali, who was born in Spain in 1904, began painting at an early age.  This painting of a coastal Spanish village that he painted when he was 14 is one of his earliest works. 

As part of his classical artist training Dali painted this self portrait.

This painting is one of his first surreal works where he started using the technique of painting people from behind and using distorted shapes.  In this case the woman being so large in the foreground.  

This painting, Gala (Dali's wife) Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea, is the most unique painting I have ever seen.  When you are standing close to it you see the nude figure and the sea beyond the window.  As you get farther away it becomes a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.  Truly unbelievable!!  

One of Dali's early surrealist works, The First Days of Spring, (1929) is loaded with the symbolism of sex and Dali's fears that became part of all his work.  If you look closely in the upper right corner you can see the reflection of Lincoln from the previous painting.  

This is the same painting from a distance and as you can see it has become a portrait of Lincoln.  I have seen many paintings that have faces or figures hidden in the work but never one that changes so dramatically according to how close or far away you are standing.

The Ecumenical Council is one of several large (118 in X 110 in) Dali paintings on display.  It was painted in 1958 as a celebration of Pope John XXIII reaching out to the Archbishop of Canterbury, an act that reflects Dali's hope in religion after the destruction of WWII. 

Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man, painted in 1943, reflects Dali's belief that America was the emerging power with its hand crushing Europe as the third world continents South America and Africa grow in importance.

The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory shows Dali's interest in the atom with its destructive power while being what makes all things.  Just the chance to see so many works by Dali is well worth a visit to this museum, but they also have the works of others on extended, temporary exhibits.

We were happy that the current special exhibit was the works of M. C. Escher. We have seen Escher exhibits at other museums, but never one that was this extensive with 135 pieces.  The work on display includes his woodcuts, lithographs. wood carvings drawings and sketches. No photos were allowed in this exhibit, but here are a few I found on line that we got to see.  

Belvedere is an example of Escher's works that show structures that would be impossible to build.  Here the tops of the columns are in the back of the structure while the bottom of the same column is at the front creating a strange illusion.

Bond of Union shows portraits of Escher and his wife Jetta that are intertwined on what looks like a fruit peel.  

This picture does not do justice to the woodcut print, Metamorphosis II, that was displayed on one 13 foot long print.  The inspiration for this work came from Escher's interest in math and his interest in the mosaic floors he viewed during his visits to Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.  It was printed using 20 blocks. 

This piece, Relativity, depicts a world in which the normal laws of gravity do not apply.  The figures that meet on the steps are not only going in opposite directions but are on different planes.  

While the Escher exhibit will be over in early January we highly recommend a visit to the Dali Museum.  They always have a wonderful display of Dali's work along with other special exhibits.