Greetings one and all,
I would say greetings from balmy Key Largo but I think many of you would hop the next flight down here to deliver a smack in the face to me in person. I saw a T-shirt today that had a weather map on it and every region’s weather said “Shitty” except the Florida Keys said “Not Shitty.”
I have been too long away from the blogosphere. My only excuse (even though I don’t need one) is that we have been stuck on go. First to escape the awful weather that seemed to follow us all the way to Tampa, then stopping all along the way to visit with all sorts of people as well as cramming in as many sights as was humanly possible.
Since my last entry was when we were in Effie, Louisiana, I have much to catch up on. We stopped near New Orleans and camped for quite a few days in Fontainebleau State Park.

I managed to convince Kim to drive on the huge (23 miles long) bridge across Lake Pontchartrain to go visit New Orleans for a day. We managed to navigate into the city and park. We strolled through the French Quarter despite a smattering of rain.


We really enjoyed being able to stroll with our sippy cups out on the streets. We ate some great seafood and walked through the French Market where everyone was talking about the impending ice storm and that they were staying home and cooking gumbo rather than coming to work the following day. We toyed with the idea of bugging out to beat the storm but since we had been high-tailing it southeast since we left Colorado to evade the nasty weather, we finally decided to just hunker down for a few days and let it pass.

We watched a John Wayne movie (Rio Bravo) while Kim replenished her potholder inventory.
After two days ice, we decided the roads were safe enough to drive to Destin, Florida so we could camp on the beach for a few days. Once again, if you want to make God laugh, make plans. We got stuck in traffic on I-10. It took us 3 hours to drive 3 miles and as luck would have it, that stretch of 3 miles had absolutely no exits. The good news is that Big Lil ensured we were never too far from a restroom.
When we called the Florida State Park in Destin to let them know we would be a bit late, they informed us that they lock the gates at sundown and we really shouldn’t bother coming. Nice!
Not to worry, there’s always


THE WALMART PARKING LOT!!!
We stopped in Crestview, Florida which is not far from Fort Walton Beach, Florida (where I happened to attend junior high). Since it was cold, we chose not to visit MJHS (Home of the Wildcats) and instead ate a below average pizza. I did discover this free source of dinner in the Walmart parking lot but sadly it was after we had already eaten.

The next day rather than stopping again, we decided to just forge on to Kim’s dad’s house. We were tired and wanted a shower and as Kim so delicately put it, “our personal hygiene is suffering.”
We had a wonderful visit with Jerry and Cliff despite spending an entire day prepping for what was a fabulous Super Bowl party despite a totally sucky Super Bowl game. We tried to be cordial to everyone at the party but damn those Broncos made us so sad and a bit cranky. Luckily, I am a Cleveland fan so this type of bad disappointment and heartbreak was nothing new to me.
Jerry and Cliff are doing well and they send love and hugs to those of you they know as well as those they do not. That is just how they roll. We hung with them at their wonderful new house.

We ate a few cuban sandwiches. We decided we needed haircuts so all four of us descended on the nearest Great Clips. I guess when you pay $7 for a haircut, you can’t complain but we all agreed they “snatched us bald.” We had a really great time with the boys! They spoil us every time we see them.
Stay tuned for the next installment of “Snowbirds on the Run!”