Key West 2007 Sunday Back in Des Moines

The Key West adventure is over. We arrived home at 4:30 Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately we couldn't find our key to the house so Kathy had to drive to our son's house to get the extra one. Tomorrow we'll start the process of unpacking. What a great trip this was. But, it's great to be home!

We thought this picture best sums up the beauty of our trip to Key West. There were beautiful sunsets, ideal weather with plenty of wind and a quaint town to explore. But certainly the best part of the trip was the time we spent with friends who joined us during our stay.

A special thanks to Keith and Betty Gordon for luring us to Key West with their stories from previous visits.

Key West 2007 Mt. Vernon Walmart

When we awoke this morning at 7:30 the temperature at McKinney campground was in the mid 20's. That's about 25 degrees colder than their average temperatures this time of year in the Atlanta area. When we arrived here we thought about staying fir an extra day since we had heard it was so cold up north. Unfortunately the cold front dipped all the way into the south.

(No, the photo is not from Mt. Vernon, just another pretty shot in Key West)

So we continued our trek north to Des Moines. We drove about 450 miles today and arrived in Mt Vernon, Ill. about 4:15. We stopped here on our way to Key West in February and found a Walmart with a nice flat lot in which to spend the night.

Since Sunday was Easter we found a Catholic church to attend Easter Vigil on Saturday evening. It was an extremely long service that started at 7:15 and wasn't over till past 9pm. When we arrived back at the motorhome Kathy watch a movie as I dosed off for the night.

Tomorrow, Des Moines and the cold!

Key West 2007 Hot to Cold

Last night when we arrived home from Universal Studios the temperature was still in the mid 70's, having reached 80 earlier in the day. Early this morning the temperature dropped to the low 50's. The forecast for today was for a high in the low 60's so we decided we had better look for our long pants and sweatshirts.

Our goal for the day was to drive to McKinney State Park, northwest of Atlanta, about 435 mi. We made pretty good time until we got to Macon. Then the slowdown began. First the traffic built until we could only run about 50 mph. Then about 30 miles from Atlanta the real backup began. It was stop and go for the next hour and one-half. As we approached the bypass a traffic sign said I-285 was backed up due to an accident. So Kathy suggested we take I-75 straight through Atlanta. Aside from a slow down through the center of town it turned out to be a good call. We drove our 60 ft. rolling rig in the far left carpool lane right through the city. We received some funny looks but not any tickets.

We arrived at McKinney Park about 5pm and got the last campsite. This is a beautiful park about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. I read some glowing reports about it on the Internet. The sites are humongous and totally surrounded by trees. Tomorrow we'll decided whether to stay another evening or continue north into the cold.

Key West 2007 Marilyn Leaves Me

I met a cute young gal today named Marilyn and fell instantly for her. We visited a number of attractions at Universal Studios. In all, we saw at least ten different shows but the 2 best were "The Mummy" and "Terminator". In order to avoid the long lines I bought each of us an Express Pass. They sell a limited number of these passes and it allows the holder to bypass the long lines. It's spring break and there are a lot of families making for long lines and waits. Some of the attractions had more than a 1 hour wait.

Marilyn and I had pizza together and watched a great Rock'n Roll group at Mel's 50's style diner. Unfortunately at the end of the day she dumped me for a younger man.


But as luck would have it I met another gal. Her name is Kathy. We jumped into a time machine at "Back to the Future" and the next thing I new, we were married for 38 years, had 3 children and 7 grandchildren. Boy time goes fast when you're having fun.

Tomorrow we head for Atlanta.

Key West 2007 Monaco Regional Center

There are a couple of things on our motorhome that are not working properly so I thought we would stop by Monaco's Regional Service Center in Wildwood, Florida. This is quite a facility. They have an RV park with 50 full hookup campsites and room for an additional 20 in overflow. There is no charge for use of the campsites while your coach is awaiting or undergoing repair.

Our fuel gauge has been working sporadically, our main slide does not fully extend and the ice maker has quit functioning. We thought we would have the problems checked out since the facility was only 10 miles from our route and we had a couple of extra days before we headed north to Des Moines. Appointments are usually made 2-3 months in advance, but they have emergency repair for those with problems traveling through the area. Unfortunately it may take a couple of days before they can find an opening.

Today we drove down to Orlando, about 39 miles, and checked out all of the attractions. Tomorrow we plan on going to Universal Studios. It will probably be crowded so we will by the "Fast Track" pass that will let us by-pass the long lines.

Key West 2007 A Visit with Tom & Marilyn

We had a good nights sleep. Tom stopped by with breakfast from Dunkin Donuts. Tom is an real estate agent and gave us an excellent tour of the surrounding area. We visited a number of new developments with furnished model homes. They ranged in price from $300,000 to $5 million. Several of the communities were on waterways and had a boat hoist. It's easy to see why so many people move here.

Following a nice lunch at a Bradenton Marina we headed to Wildwood, Florida. Monaco Motorhomes has a regional facility here. We have a couple of items on our motorhome that we would like them to checkout for us. This facility is equipped with 50 full hook-up sites in which you can stay while they are working on your motorhome.

Key West 2007 Monday Another Skyline Chili

I know it's hard to believe but we found another Skyline Chili Parlor, (Cincinnati's favorite), in Naples, Florida. You'll recall that early in our trip we found a Skyline in Ft. Myers. Kathy and I are crazy about their chili, our kids are too. Finding a parking spot was the toughest part. There is no parking on the streets near the restaurant and the lot was full of cars. We ended up pulling our 60 ft rig onto the grass on a side street. We gambled that we could eat before the police showed up to ticket us. We were successful!

Following lunch we drove to Bradenton to visit Kathy's brother Tom Moeddel. He lives in a beautiful gated community west of town. Since RVs are not permitted in his complex we parked in a lot near the guard house over looking a beautiful pond. It was one of the most peaceful and pretty sites we've had on this trip. Tomorrow, Tom is going to show us around the area.

Key West 2007 Dolphin Stadium

We headed out today at 8am because we wanted to go to the Dania Marine Flea Market. I hear it's the largest in the country. It's held at Dolphin Stadium parking lot, Thursday to Sunday at the end of March. There were about 500 exhibitors. They have everything you can think of for boats. Some of the items are salvage from hurricane boats and misc stock overruns. About half the stuff is new and half used. Our goal for the day was to find a new inverter for our boat. Kathy would like to be able to use our microwave when we are anchored. We found a 1200 watt continuous duty Coleman for $80. They typically run about $200. We think we got a good deal. Time will tell. We also bought a new life ring for our boat for about 30% of new.

We headed for Naples around 3:30 with tired feet and a lighter wallet. We found a nice campground about a mile off I-75, Club Naples RV Resort. Following a swim in the pool, Kathy made dinner and we tuned in the satellite TV. Tomorrow we head to Bradenton to visit Kathy's brother Tom and family.