Sunset from our campground in Key Largo

We have been in Key Largo for almost two weeks now. We returned to one of our favorite campgrounds from last year, Calusa Campground, staying in the same site.   We were able to get it for 7 weeks, which was awesome as this is kind of our last hurrah. When we leave at the end of February, we will start our journey home to Washington State (we refer to it this way now, as most people think Washington means DC). This campground is our little slice of heaven. It is a mixed bag of full time owners who either live here or come in for weekends and a small percentage of people like us who are transients trying to soak up the low-stress lifestyle of The Keys.

Mike soaking it all in

Our spot on the bay.  The tent is for nighttime to avoid the bugs.

Our spot is right on the bay and Mike is able to fish daily. He landed a small shark the other day, which was pretty exciting. His hope it to catch the big one, the Tarpon that everyone is after. I have been walking every day, trying to get in my 10,000 steps, and we are using our bikes a lot. We have a Publix grocery across the street and there is an amazing fruit stand next door that we hit every few days. We have great neighbors on either side of us. Nick & Sherry from the Ft. Lauderdale area work during the week, then come down on Thurs for the weekend. Pete & Bonnie from Minnesota are renting like us. One of the best parts of the park is the huge pool, only about 50 yards from our site. We have been using it a lot, a great place to meet people too.

Mike’s big catch, a 3-foot Nurse Shark

The Manatee come right up to our site, they like the fresh water from the bucket

Mama and Baby Manatee

We have been cooking a lot at home, but have enjoyed hitting local places including Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill Happy Hour. Mike can get half-priced peel & eat shrimp and wings and Tuesday is ladies night, which means that my drinks are free. One day we drove about 30 minutes south to Islamorada to see Candy & Cheryl, who we met on a cruise last year. They own a few of the souvenir shops at Robbie’s Marina. We showed up out of the blue, but Cheryl was there and bought us a beer and we spent an hour catching up. They have a great thing going there and it was nice to reconnect.

Ladies night at the Big Chill

One day we went to Brew on the Bay, the annual Key Largo Brewfest. We love “lucking” into these types of events. This one was pretty cool. There were 30+ breweries there, the setting was amazing and surprisingly it wasn’t very crowded. There were a few of the usual breweries that we seem to always see, but most of them were ones that we have never sampled before including a few from the Keys. There were multiple bands playing, yummy food and overall a pretty great atmosphere.

Brew on the Bay

Taps right on the side of the car

This was the day of the game vs Carolina. Ran into this Panther fan.

We have really settled in nicely to our temporary home. This is the longest, by far, that we have stayed in one place. I struggle a lot with feeling like we aren’t really doing anything. I mean, we are busy with everyday type of chores and exploring, but the days just seem to be slipping by. I have this ridiculous feeling of guilt at times, but then I snap out of it and remember to embrace this time. Soon enough, we will be home working again and daydreaming about our time on the road. Now is the time to live in the moment!

Up next…Seahawks game on Sunday! It has been fun flying our flags. AND, our great friends, Sunny & Mitch Cameron, arrive on Friday for a week. Can’t wait to see them and share our lifestyle with them!

The water is just so blue!

We love the nightly sunsets