Day 144: Christmas Eve in the Keys.
Christmas isn’t typically associated with coconuts and beaches. But that is exactly why we are here this year. We are spending an unique Christmas near the end of a very unique year in all of our lives.
Christmas isn’t typically associated with coconuts and beaches. But that is exactly why we are here this year. We are spending an unique Christmas near the end of a very unique year in all of our lives.
Since tomorrow is Christmas Eve day, we have one last chance to go to town and stock up on everything we need for Christmas. While we were harvesting coconuts yesterday, one of the kids accidentally broke the neighbors water hose so we are also here to buy them a replacement.
Not only is Luka now crawling, he is also pulling himself up on a regular basis. When the girls wake up in the morning, he loves to stand up on their bed and look out the window at our neighbors to see if there is anyone new.
Bill the mobile RV repair guy came by this morning to check out our battery charger problem. Luckily for us, we were able to use everything except for the inverter all day yesterday. Only when something is plugged into the inverter does the battery voltage start to drop.
Tropical hammocks are unique hardwood, broad-leafed evergreen forests that are only found in South Florida and the Keys. No, this is not a tropical hammock. This is the kind of shenanigans that happen in the Mish each morning when the kids wake up.
This morning we are taking one of these little ones to the doctor. Not the one with the apple skirt, not the one holding the ball but our cat Yoda. I suppose Yoda is not really a little one. At 10-years old in cat age, she is more like the oldest lady here.
Since we are planning on staying here at our walk-up site for as long as they will allow us, it might get pretty stale here on the blog in the coming days. But staleness is kind of what we have been hoping for. I have been looking forward to a couple of weeks of staying put. At $43 a night, this isn’t a cheap state park. But at the same time, since we are not driving anywhere and there aren’t too many restaurants tempting you to spend money at, it is a pretty affordable place to spend our days.
Our 5 nights at Bahia Honda have come to an end. I want to say that I am sad to leave but the truth is, we are kind of looking forward to leaving. Yes the view is spectacular and we have heard from so many people who said that this is the best state park for camping in the keys and we are in one of their few waterfront sites. The fact that we have had to run the AC non-stop for 5 straight days has really been a bummer.
The skeeters are pretty fierce in these parts of the keys. We have been trying to stay away from them by not spending much time outside which is a real shame. It is beautiful here. The biggest problem is that the air is so stagnant. There isn’t a breeze at all to blow the bugs away. Also since the sites are on ancient coral, asphalt and concrete instead of sand, water sort of just collects into pools and they make for a pretty ideal breeding ground for these pests.
During our only other time here at Bahia Honda, we didn’t actually get to stay at the campground. We drove through it and admired all of the waterfront sites like the one we are in now. It is absolutely stunning. We are backed all the way up against the water and if you are not standing up and close to the window, it feels like we are in a boat floating away.
We are back in Boca Raton visiting our old friend Paul. We have known Paul for almost 15 years. We met him when we were renting a house in Santa Barbara after we graduated college and needed a roommate. We have been friends ever since. He moved to Florida a few years ago and we make sure to pay him a visit when we are here.
Our plan to take a day off between our two days of Magic Kingdom seems to be working out well. We had a relaxing day yesterday just lounging by the pool, cooking in the Airstream and not doing much walking around. Today, the girls are fresh and ready to rock and roll again.