Florida Keys 2024 April

Key Largo, John Pennekamp State Beach  

This is another one of those premiere state parks that get sold out immediately.  This year we made reservations as Florida residents which  allowed us to make reservations 11 months before out of staters.  I got lucky and will have 2 weeks here in January 2025, but most days I still get nothing, even though I have done the 8am thing over 20 times. This is Day 5 at John Pennekamp, and the winds have canceled all the boat trips to the reefs;  looks like it’s not gonna happen this time.  BTW the snorkel reservations online sell out, but you can go in the on-site store and they hold some FF, the only problem is they keep getting canceled.   

Paddling  through a maze of tunnels that are formed from Mangrove trees was super cool.

We were pleasantly surprised by absolutely no bugs as we glided through the clear waters, seeing fish, crabs and even a stingray,  and not a single alligator.  

I’m glad because the passages are narrow, 6- 8 ft and that won’t be fun bumping into a gator.  It would be difficult to turn a round and retreat.  It was a bit windy crossing the wider motorboat passage to get to various mangrove trails as they started out wider and then little passage to narrow trails would appear.  Some just ended, others went through to other larger water paths. The peacefulness of being deep in a mangrove forest was calming, and of course John always has to NUTSUP (Nap Upon The StandUp Paddle) and it was so nice to do this in the shade canopy.    

Mangrove trees have special adaptations that allow them to thrive in salt water.   The banks are tangles of mangrove roots so thick, especially in the narrow paths that there would be no place for a gator to go up and sun himself, that’s after all what they like to do.  Well the John Pennencamp has big business renting kayaks and SUP so I think the threat is minimal.  No worries here!

We learned in Hawaii that  the chance of getting bitten by a shark is much less than getting hit by a falling coconut, and there was a grand coconut tree full of fruit right near our campsite. 

I wonder if the same goes for alligator attacks.  We have learned that they can be territorial, but generally are quite shy.  We have become relaxed SUP enthusiasts

Key Largo area bike riding to various establishments has been easy since both sides of the A1A have 8 foot sidewalks, excellent ramps into the streets, and most of it has a 12 foot grassy bumper median  between the wide bike path and the A1A where the 4 lanes of cars whiz by at 50+mph.  Although there are few lights to aid in crossing, there is a large grassy median between the two directions so you can patiently look and cross one way at a time.  One of the requirements for a great van life camping  experience is to be able to bike to libation/eatery stations and other places such as bike shops for flat tires, or grocery stores.  John Pennekamp sites are a bit close (a bit negative), but they have full hookups and Vinny’s AC has been getting quite the workout.  The SUP launch area is about 200 yards from the campsites making it an easy transport for Paddle Boy.  If the wind would stop blowing, the snorkel boats would also leave directly from the park, so that makes us carless van lifers happy too.

We biked south and found the Bayside Grill & Sunset Bar complete making for beautiful sunsets at this low key, mix of tourist/local suspects who were sitting at the bar.  We enjoyed the vibe and the evening music, and met a nice couple from Wisconsin who rented at the Bayside Cove Beach Resort which we rode through to get to this Bar/Grill.  It seemed like a very quaint place to rent little single unit cottages so close to the sunset.  Next store was Snooks Bayside Grill and Grand Tiki Bar which seemed a step up from its neighbor Bayside establishment.  There are just too many restaurants in this town !  Yesterday we finally decided to have a sit down dinner at Hobo’s Cafe where we experienced the first fresh Florida Grouper encrusted in Bacon no less,  how could you go wrong with that.  I had their Key Lime Mahi Mahi which was also excellent.  

One day we headed north to find Dagny Johnson Key Largo Botanical State Park which is a self serve bike/hike park only.  Luckily we had the $5 to cover the fee from this entrance but they say there is another entrance 5 miles up the Key.  There were very few other people as we rode through the tall tree lined paved paths that eventually turned to gravel or leaf litter coral rock dirt substrate, but were fine for our road bikes.   We did not see any signs pointing out natural fowl or fauna, but we did see some narrow dirt trails going deeper into the woods.  Although the path started out nicely paved it got rougher as we continued but just in a more remote sense; it was quite lovely.  All paths were passable except when we got to a place with lots of pink ribbons tied to the bushes because the path was under water that looked to be more than a foot deep.  

Good  time to turn around.  It was a warm day, and we decided to go to do a beer at the Shipwreck which we had seen a sign for on the road.  This was a rough marina eatery located dockside to many houses with slips across the canal.  Here we met Mary (retired law office manager) and Bill (on-call boat captain) and Brandy (Bill’s somewhat dachshund girl) .  We connected over music and just having a couple beers together.  They were headed to the historic Caribbean Club where Warner Brothers used this location as inspiration when writing the Bogart/Bacall film Key Largo.  This club was originally built by Carl Fischer in 1938 as a poor man’s fishing retreat that upon his death turned to gambling,  had several fires of suspicious origin, and finally was purchased by the Lefty and Ruth Whitehurst  in 1963 where it is run by the  family.  The Caribbean Club is a cash only libation station, ripe for beautiful sunsets and on the Wednesday night when we arrived there is Karaoke.  John connected with a young couple Amanda and Nick.  John’s thing is to find young in-love looking couples and tout the virtues of a good marriage, I guess it’s all those years of being married to me hah,hah.  He really borders on being pushy and I have had to curb the conversation on more than one occasion, but I was talking to Mary that night, and then next thing I know is he is dedicating his karaoke song to them and we are invited to their unplanned wedding. Bill, as a preacher for 20 plus years, just observed and kept saying John is changing their lives. Well, we had a really nice evening with Mary, Bill and Brandy and we exchanged phone numbers which usually we don’t do with many of the very authentic people we meet at bar stools.  Imagine we haven’t been to a single brewery yet.  But on the way to Key Largo we overnighted in the ChainBridge Distillery, between Pompano and Fort Lauderdale Beaches,  where we were good Harvest Host members and picked up several bottles of their spirits including a really interesting ginger vodka and a white whiskey.  

We took off from John Pennekamp rather early for us because John was in need of an Urgent Care as his lingering cough became full-on coughing fits.  So while he was getting his drugs, I did a shopping run and we were all stocked up.  Several days later he is feeling pretty good and has stopped with the coughing outbursts that we experienced for several days.  

Bahia Honda State Park

There is only a very small sandy beach area at John Pennekamp, but Bahia Honda is a different story and I discovered this on a bike ride on our first night.

No snorkeling for paddle boy, as he decided to rest and recup for Key West.   Luckily the snorkel trips were not getting canceled and I did two of them while he rested. Looe Key Reef is supposed to be some of the best snorkeling in Florida, but so far this is the only place I have seen.  

Both days were pretty rough, but the current didn’t really push very hard. One just did quite a bit of bobbing in the waves.  I actually started to feel queasy in the water after about an hour, and once I got up I went to my corner of the boat and did a quick barf over the side and then felt better; I didn’t really even have time to think.   The first mate in her morning instruction said it is best just to do this if you need to,  but make sure you lean out and there are no people because the fish will come up and clean up the mess.  Which they did in a furious frenzy.  I saw lots of these little yellow-striped white fish around the boat during both trips and can’t help thinking that this in general is a good place to hang out because they might get treats.  

Under the falling down Flagler railroad bridge we go. They have put warning signs of falling metal debris under it but have cleared sections for pass through

Luckily I was fine on the way back, and I had already signed up for the morning trip the next day.  As I waited, I met Richard and Sylvia from Germany.

They were traveling for about 7 months through the US and they had shipped their really cool combi to Baltimore (luckily before the Francis Scott Key Bridge Crash).   Really nice to meet up with them  and told us about the Shark Valley Tram Trail which is a fabulous bike ride.  They were also headed to Big Bend in Texas so look forward to hearing about all these places.  Sylvia also felt seasick on the way back and had gotten out early. Like me she also doesn’t usually get sick.  I just had a peanut butter sandwich and banana and not a chef salad (albeit 3 hours prior) like I had the day before and had no problem on this second trip.  John and I had seen this German License plated RV in the campground as we took an evening walk.  We stopped by on our way out to say good-bye and got the tour.  Very cool.  

They were shipping it back to the Munich area from Halifax in September. Thankfully John was on the mend and we headed to meet up with our long-time camper friends, Debby and Denny for an entire week. We had planned this last year and have been looking forward to seeing them again.  

Marathon

We should have brought our boat because the Grassy Key RV Resort has boat docks and a Kayak/SUP low launch dock, not to mention a nice gazebo seating area that overlooks the water and Cornhole too.   

Many snowbirds left on April Fools Day when we arrived, so we had no one to either side of us and we get to enjoy the lounging in the  MLE (Mobile Linck Estate)

which is a nice change from 160 square feet  Vinny, but I don’t want to make him jealous, so I’ll stop at that. Many amazing sunsets here at the Grassy Key.  

Marathon Turtle Hospital

This was an incredible experience as we learned about the seven species of turtles and the ailments they have. We learned how to spot a turtle in distress.  For example, bubble butt is when they have eaten something that did not settle well and  butt sticks up and they are unable to dive away like a healthy turtle should be able to do. 

This is when you call the Florida Turtle rescue hot-line and they tell you what to do depending upon the immediate resources.  If the turtle is rescued, you get to name it and they attach a tiny marker so that they can always be identified if found again. 

Don’t try to rescue a loggerhead turtle because their powerful jaws can snap off your fingers as they usually eat conchs.  

Lisa, brought in on my birthday this year, has a case of the tumor growth on her neck which is an auto-immune type disease that they treat here, sometimes with surgery.

The other big problem that turtles have is being struck by fast boats or tangled in fishing line/nets (lots of both here in Florida Keys).  They are brought here and released if they are ready.They have several permanent resident turtles who will never be released, and the green turtle is the most dominant patient in the hospital.  Interesting story of how the owner who retired here to fish, bought the motel property  and evidently did a u-turn on his passion and started saving Turtles.  Highly recommend the tour!

Marathon “Happy Jack” Bus Tour

Happy Jack was such a hoot and provided us with a whole bunch of info about the history of Marathon including the building of the 7 Mile Bridge which is really quite extraordinary for the time. Henry Flagler is everywhere in Florida from colleges in St Augustine all the way through the Keys. 

We stopped at what she calls the most underutilized park,  Marathon Community Park, where we also saw a manatee and her baby feeding in a small green inlet area.  Here there is pickle ball and donation yoga most days.   

So many good places to eat we would need to be here for a month.  But chose to go to the Dockside Grill because they always have local music. We heard local musician John Bartus who got A+ in looper handling and had some really good original music like “Sports Bar Musician”  Had a beautiful evening with the Lincks and watched two little girls dance and do cartwheels on the dance floor.  It was nostalgic and so enjoyable, as two boats pulled right up to the dock where we were seated.  

Crane Point Hammock Museum, Marathon

How about a Fish Pedicure?  This was certainly the most unique experience on what started out to be a rainy day.  A lovely walk through the gardens, mangroves, and even a spider from above, 

We even saw a prickly pear cactus and the unique shaving brush bloom on a dormant looking tree. 

Snorkeling Coffin Patch, Marathon

Evidently this is a place where a load of empty coffins got spilled into the ocean during a storm when they ran into the reef.  A large iron peg was erected to warn other ships, but legend has it was also run over/fell over in a storm and there it lays on the reef today.  

The reef was about 10 or 12 ft deep in most places making it more difficult to see the sea life unless you do a bit of diving.  So I made 2 minute video of the snorkeling highlights that was really only 90 minute of clips,but had to slow down my brain can’t absorb a pretty fish that fast 

The second stop was to a place called the Donut and I think it was much more geared to the half dozen scuba divers that were aboard because the water was really deep and we didn’t see much.  We did not go to Sombrero Reef which could have been one of the stops. So in general the snorkeling wasn’t great, at least in comparison to Hawaii. John of course entertained the boat on the trip back with Tom Jones singing and dancing. It’s Not Unusual.

Key West Day Trip 

Out the door by 8am as we heard the parking is horrendous in Key West and today was a Saturday.  Denny got us to the parking lot for the extra big,  $40 for the day space right across the street from the Hemingway Distillery. We had been headed for the Mallory parking lot where he had been recommended, but found this instead on quite empty st 10am on a Saturday. This may have been the parking lot that our Summer Crush neighbors had said they paid $40 to overnight in.  He had spots coned off for big wide bottom girls like Denny’s truck for a double wide fee rather than the $20 per day.  

Walked the town for a bit and ended up at  Sarabeth’s where two Cardinals Fans sandwiched a Cubs fan in this three table wide dining room for a delightful breakfast.

Hemingway House

Learned about the eccentric, depressed, drunkard writer and his wives who is so famous and tragically ended his life.  

The cats of the home are allowed on the furniture, no cash paying visitors though. The 60 cats, many with the 6 toes,  were all around on beds in chairs and outside in cat condos.

Captain Tony’s

A former Key West mayor, among many other less desirable occupations is quite a legend in Key West where he escaped from the New Jersey/York mafia.  The colorful character Captain Tony’s Saloon has its own grunge character as bills and bras cover the ceiling and walls portraying the special ambience of this establishment at 11am

Sat on the Bob Dylan Stool in honor of my friend Kate who is a diehard fan.  Interesting guy, this Captain Tony who died in 2008, after lots of famous people sat upon his barstools.

I guess it’s a thing to hang up dollar bills in bars – don’t see any undergarments in this one as we walked by. 

Harpoon Harry’s 

Serving breakfast all day long is perfect for John and he hoped to return for breakfast at 2pm one day while visiting.  According to our very friendly waiter/son. The proprietor(mom) picked the name because she had some old harpoons for namesake, but Harpoon Ron didn’t sound good (that was our waiter’s, her son’s name).  Cool lunch counter vibe with drinks (it is Key West) and lots of 50’s memorabilia and entertaining placards around the cheerful small place.

Hemingway’s Rum Distillery

Evidently he was quite the town drunkard when he wasn’t writing famous books. It was afternoon and Key West is basically a place to eat, drink, buy T-shirts and enjoy little town architecture and ambience between the scooters, bikes and walkers that are everywhere.  

We wandered into the distillery where it was delightfully cool and rather void of people. A bit of tasting was in order and we enjoyed talking to the blue eyed south African barista.  

Hogsbreath Saloon

Denny is with us and we are in Key West, so we must go to at least one biker bar.  Listened to a band from Michigan that was all tambourine and just sat in the back and enjoyed a reprieve from the hot sun.  We didn’t see any hogs but there were chickens running around.

Sigsbee Campground a Navy Base

Four Key West nights at the quiet Sigsbee Campground looked perfect as it was a 4 mile bike ride into the night life, but isolated from the hubbub.  Well, we never made it onto the campground as the Background Check System was not working and we had to leave after the really nice camp host waited with us for over an hour for security to come and do the check from the curb.  He came back another 30 minutes later saying the system was still down.  Decided to stay at Boyd’s Campground which was really quite nice for a closely packed RV park. Luckily the season was not high and we landed an electric/water site for $112 per night.   Too pooped to go out that night and thought we’d save it for the next 3 days.  Wrong!  System was still down the next morning and with 25 mph winds expected in the next few days, we decided to return north and I found a spot near Islamorada Elks Club for 2 nights.  Sigsbee will have to wait for next year 

Fort Zachary Taylor, southernmost US point

Waiting for the Background Check System made for the perfect time to take in the beach area of this Fort.  From my hammock, I rocked in the breeze as I watched boats rocking back and forth in the swell. 

The beach area was thick and sandy and the water so luscious, not to mention an excellent bath house.  I could imagine this place would be mobbed on a weekend. 

We did a bike ride around the park and did not dare ride into Key West which was just outside the park because doing so would be a $250 fine as we were warned when we passed through the kiosk to pay our daily fee.  

Fort Zachary Taylor may not be used as a Key West Parking area! 

Islamorada Brewery, A+ in our book.

The Dolphin Experience will have to wait because somehow we blew by it on our way north to Islamorada, maybe it was because they had two different porters listed on the website.  #56 COMMODORE PORTER, Porter brewed with dark chocolate and serrano, red chili, and scotch bonnet peppers made it into John’s top darks of all times. 

I had a seasonal thing with blueberries and coconut that I really liked.  Bud N Mary’s was a different blueberry brew that I had to get a 6 pack for my best friend Mary. There was a delightful outdoor area where John beat me at cornhole as we conversed with a live upon a boat couple.  

Seems like Distilleries are popping up all over (Wine and Beer is not enough) and we split a Chocolate Creamey shot with Chocolate Jimmies that was yummy. 

Tavernier Elks Club

This was our first Elk’s Club camping experience and we were wedged in a side yard under a nice big tree because our neighbor Van was out for a root canal and wanted to leave him room to get by us when he returned.  We had electricity and shade and AC running as it was becoming humid. The club had a location right on the bayside complete with dock and shade Tiki area and kayaks you could take out.  

It was quite the prime spot for a BPOE club.  Inside was basic and a poker tournament was going on around tables in the back.  We had a nice conversation with a pilot/songwriter and his wife/artist, but then vaccines were brought up, and of course we put in our two cents. The next thing,he brought up border control.  We should have stopped it right there because politics and religion are taboo at Elks clubs. We will keep this in mind in the future as the mission of BPOE is one of philanthropy and fellowship. We hope this is truly the case.  

The wind was still blowing strong on the water so we had a lazy morning, but I made a major lunch.  We were happy to have AC and be tucked away in some shade.  I zoned in on getting the Harvest Hosts as we traveled north along our routes as John double checked the beer selection at my proposals. We dId a bike ride into town and found Dillion’s Irish Pub.  No dark beers but all Florida establishments always seem to have a Yuengling for John.  I always like a Guiness that was properly poured no less, but that’s just not John’s kind of dark beer.  Stopped at the Dockside Raw Bar and Grill where the music was blaring from the street, but it was classic rock style, so we moved outside on the dock as far away as possible to enjoy the evening with this what seemed to be old friend jamming together with a really talented keyboard player. What do you want for a Wednesday Night in Tavernier? 

Flagler Beach Gamble Rogers State Beach

Well I scored a beach front night at Gamble State Beach which we had discovered earlier this year.  

Our 5 hour ride from Islamorada was uneventful except for the downpour around Dayton that provided Vinny with quite a wash down.  Unfortunately we had to traverse some big muddy puddles to get to our campsite and there was even a section of A1A that they had to close to do some mud abatement. As luck would have it, we can scored another cancellation moving one spot down allowing for those big mud puddles to dry up yet one more day.  And we will head back to Cajun Beach Boil and Grill to talk Hockey with the Minnesota Bartender.  We tasted the Alligator bites which were just like chicken and quite good.  Then we had to stop at Oceanside Beach Bar and Grill because the wait staff is so friendly there from our prior experience.  Here John and a guy had extensive hip replacement engagement.

Flagler Beach is just down the steps from our campsite is a beautiful walking beach but has sharp shells for swimming. On our walk back, we stopped at the High Tides at Snack Jack where the waitress had an Eagle cap on, so John’s enthusiastic Philly sports chat ensued, spilling over into hockey and baseball.  

After a typical late-afternoon nap, off to find the evening in Flagler. Although Finns was supposed to have music it was an afternoon show,  So we continued on to The Golden Lion Cafe which did have a Cyndi Lauper style singer with a rhythm guitarist and an electronic bass drum.  Somehow they could fill the space and this woman probably did Cyndi Lauper better than Cyndi. Not only that, but the stage was on a sandy dance floor and several adorable children were dancing, and it was spread out and not so loud, and the reason I decided to get closer to the stage was because I wanted to hear better.  When I get back to the bar, John is already in deep conversation with a couple.  He has determined that the man attended Brandywine High School, my rival High School  in Wilmington, Delaware. This couple had recommended Uncork’d so we decided to head there in our establishment exploration.  There was a talented guitarist playing songs from James Taylor and Don McLean was perfect for the intimate setting.  

Our favorite Flagler Beach places (not necessarily in this order), mostly based on the vibe as we interact with patrons and servers. John has gotten really good with chatting up with strangers and he says this is one of his favorite parts of our wandering lifestyle. 

1) Oceanside Beach Bar and Grill just really appreciates the friendly service from the first time.

2) The Golden Lion Cafe – even though it was extremely busy Saturday at 6pm the bartenders were friendly and you could step away and listen to the music from the sand-dance floor and they had several small waiting spaces around the stage.  We decided it was too crowded to wait for a table.  

3) High Tides Snack Shack- beach walk from beach, employees seemed happy. They only have Valet Parking on weekends,  because it is limited and the only restaurant that is on the beach. Most others, except the Pelican which we will need to save for later, are across the A1A.  

4) Cajun Boil and Sushi has a really nice outdoor area and patrons/owner/servers.  

5) Uncork’d, a wine bar(beer too) for a quaint atmosphere with music.  

Yesterday we headed up to St Augustine Beach to meet up with my brother and family for a few days.  We took a day off from biking since both John and I had minor incidents on our traverse home from Flagler to our campsite. John fell over into one of Saw Palmetto Palm Bushes as he was trying to get around an earlier downpour puddle at the campground on the first night. They don’t call them Saw Palmettos because they are featherlike.  On the second night, I did a nose plant down an embankment while I was  walking my bike.  My incident had a bit more commotion since we ended up getting a ride back to the campground in an ambulance while the fire truck brought our bikes.  Between the tissues in my purse, my bleeding lip was pretty much under control, when they arrived.  But facial gashes always bleed quite a bit and in the dark it’s hard to see, so a guy that stopped decided to call an ambulance.  So the really nice EMT just took a look and offered to give us a ride back to our campground which was 2 miles down the road.  

I have a bad habit of riding my bike in flip flops so I have made changes to my bike riding fashion statement to mitigate slippage, afterall my brother told me my flip flops are unacceptable and he now wears anti-slip crocs due to a similar wipeout issue. I wish Ofoos would make a non-slip!  Of course this had nothing to do with the two glasses of wine at Uncork’d. 

Lost Patient Podcasts

Our five hour trip went quickly as we listened to the NPR podcast called “Lost Patients” dealing with the mental health system in Seattle.    It was a 4 part series taking up almost 4 hours and had interviews with mentally ill patients, family members, authorities, even a 96 year-old nurse who worked at Northern institution in Washington State in the 50’s when lobotomies and shock therapy was administered.  It was fascinating, horrifying and sad.  How so many mentally ill medicate with drugs/alcohol and how they are in a constant churn through the prison, crisis, mental health facilities and emergency rooms, only to be released with no support like even how to obtain medications or housing.  Most large mental facilities that were closed down in the 70’s are riddled with inhumane experiments and people locking up their wives and daughters.  John F Kenedy, advocated for a more community based mental health system, familiar with mental health issues as his sister, Rosemary,  even had a frontal lobotomy in dealing with her mental illness. The 96 year-old nurse described one of the lobotomy procedures where doctors would enter the frontal lobes through the eye sockets and twirl around the probes. Even at the Cajun Beach Bar tonight, we got talking to a Contract Security Guard stationed in third world country and about his dealing with a extremely poor, mentally ill, substance abuser woman who had been raped repeatedly at a very early age. Like most conditions there is an element of heredity according to the reports, but there is usually some type of extreme happening which will start the spiral and many times it begins in the late teens and 20’s.  The last bill John Kennedy passed before his assassination had to do with de-institutionalizing mental health treatment; unfortunately the follow-on community based treatment seems to have been neglected.  This podcast was produced in conjunction with the Seattle Based NPR station and concentrated on information and interviews with people in this severely overwhelmed mental health system.  I highly recommend the Lost Patient podcast series and hope it sheds some light into what appears to be strung out homeless people who are commonplace in our cities.

The Keys Florida

Key Largo,   John Pennekamp State Beach

Bahia Honda State Park

Marathon

Marathon Turtle Hospital

Marathon “Happy Jack” Bus Tour

Crane Point Hammock Museum, Marathon

Snorkeling Coffin Patch, Marathon

Key West Day Trip

Hemingway House

Captain Tony’s

I guess it’s a thing to hang up dollar bills in bars – don’t see any under garments in this one as we walked by.

Harpoon Harry’s

Hemingway’s Rum Distillery

Hogsbreath Saloon

Sigsbee Campground a Navy Base

Fort Zachary Taylor, southernmost US point

Islamorada Brewery, A+ in our book.

Tavernier Elks Club

Flagler Beach Gamble Rogers State Beach

Lost Patient Podcasts

Manatees, Sanford, Flagler, Fernandina, St Agustine Beach

Blue Spring State Park – Manatee Central

Bo and Julie’s House Fernandina Beach, Florida January to April.  This is our home base and where we stay at our own Florida address much of the time, going back and forth between campgrounds and their home. 

We came for the manatee and they had record numbers at Blue Spring State Park where we camped and didn’t have to get in the huge lines that formed especially on weekends where many of the Florida springs parks would need to close down to entry for several hours because they were full. This was mid – February and there were hundreds of manatee in the Blue Spring that was about 1/3 mile long from then boil(this is where the spring water comes up through the limestone) to where it emptied into St. John River.

Blue Spring is a manatee refuge and rescue so there is no swimming in the Spring during this birthing season.  There are multiple observation decks and also places of entry where you would be right at water level to observe.  There were hundreds of big fish (20+ inches) clearly seen from the observation deck teasing all those fishermen who were  traversing the boards above them. Last year we saw one really big gar as we snorkeled.  

Blue Springs is another of Florida’s wonderful camping parks and there are some hiking trails where we can came across this little baby all by himself. 

Last year we had visited in the beginning of April, and were able to snorkel in the beautiful clear water near the boil where my best full on free-style only inched me up stream, luckily you could stop and stand-up to rest and the current was not strong enough to knock over this big momma body of mine.  This cave goes down over 150 feet and there were always a few scuba divers and long finned free divers who were exploring the depths.  

We had not seen any manatee last year in this Spring, but this year really enjoyed watching these floating gentle giants who move so effortlessly propelled by their single large tail fin, but can stop and go and turn by their small front flippers.  In spots the Spring looked like a giant manatee slumber party as they congregate for sleeping only needing to surface for a breath every 20 minutes without having to really to wake up which is what we were told by Park Ranger.  

While swimming, they need to surface every 3-5 minutes as they head out to the grassy areas of the St John River to eat the required 10% of their body weight in plants each day.  Manatee will not tolerate water colder than about 68 ℉ and they come back to these 72 ℉ to a warm place every year. Supposedly there is a nuclear plant near Tampa that expels warm water and the manatee count is the highest there during the winter month since there is little danger from collision because boats usually don’t run around nuclear plants.  Manatee have no natural predators except boat collisions and fishing line/garbage entanglement.  Many have large gash marks on their bodies or have large bobbins attached to them because the manatee experts have rescued them or identified them for study.  90% of all manatees that are older than 3 years, have some type of gash and evidently not from alligators who leave them alone, in fact they have been known to bother the gators on occasion.  We did see a gator swim in from the St. John River up about 50 yards and then went up the bank of the opposite side of the spring where all the observation decks were situated.  

Hmm last year in April a park volunteer warned a girl not to dangle her foot from the paddle board as the two  SUP paddled down the Spring toward the River.  Haven’t decided how comfortable I’d be paddling on a SUP.  If accidently hitting the gator in the water, my standing up would be turned into a knock over and fall into the water, just in the most inopportune time.  The thing is that you can see in the clear water so I guess you would kneel down if seeing a gator approaching,  so you could get really wide, more up close and personal,  but at least you have your inflatable board between you and those large powerful sharp teeth filled jaws.  Still getting used to the Florida/Carolina gator habitat, there is alot of not clear water bodies around that I would never SUP. 

Noseeums

Well another habitat of the south is one in which Noseeums inflicted their wrath upon us humans without the pain of a sting or bite.  They are tiny little bugs that are descriptive in their name,  they don’t really hurt when they bite especially if you are in deep conversation by the fire, play a intense game of bananagrams or maybe it was when John and I were huddled in the Clam as it rained and we played music.  He is more sensitive than I, and several times said I’m going in, as I sat by the fire until it fizzled and boy did I pay.  About 1 or 2 days later the welts itch and burn, and I really never felt the bites when they happened unlike mosquitos. 

I have started inquiring with fellow campers on how to prevent this.   One suggestion was a hair product used predominantly by African Americans called ORS olive spray, it is sprayed on and does not have the Deet that is not optimal for continual use. A clear ointment Preparation H formula was also recommended.  I found the Aloe Wipes also soothed the burn and provided a smooth way to itch but felt better after the rub down.  Always interested to find out more remedies. 

Sanford, Florida 

Okay enough whining. Another fellow camper discovery was a new App called Ride with GPS.  It will show you a map of bike paths or at least more bikeable routes through cities and towns and show you to some degree of certainty whether they are paved or gravel. We discovered the city of Sanford this way.  In the height of the noseeum itch and burn, decided to find a bike trail in the area and rode along about 7 miles to the town of Sanford on Lake Monroe. It had a wharf and restaurants, a community center, and just seemed to be a growing vibrant place.  

The clouds were a bit looming and we decided we should ride back so really didn’t get too much exploring done except for a walk down the wharf where a marina had 25ft + boats and even a tiny house boat.  

Well, as luck would have it and we decided to abandon the springs amid the itch and burn, I found a Harvest Host Brewery, in where else, but Sanford. Wop’s Hops Brewing Company was our escape and they had dark beers and great out door sitting area, but after a bit we retreated to the inside bar because the burn was increasing and I had Noseeum angst.  Evidently they have great food, but during the Porchfest 2024 the night before, they ran out of food.  So we had to go to Hollerbachs the authentic German Restaurant to eat before consuming more beer, not that they didn’t have good beer there too. There were a host of restaurants along our walk there as well other interesting establishments. Next morning we went to Foxtail Coffee for some Midnight Oil Blend – this coffee shop had something for the whole family including ice cream and a beer tap bar area with some local brews. The town was a wonderful mix of older homes and new stuff with construction going on all over from big apartment complexes on the outskirts conveniently located on the bike paths to smaller renovations in town to houses and buildings   Sanford had made our list of possibilities to rent for a month in the winter,  someday.  Met the welcoming owner the next morning and he is on the dark side just like John so always has something dark on tap at the Wop’s Hops.  The town and its people were friendly and a very cute baby mom told us about the kayaking on bioluminescence waves near Tampa in the summer months which sound hot but cool. 

Flagler Beach, Gamble Rogers State Beach 

On to the coast where I had scored a CampScan cancellation at Gamble Rogers State Beach right on the bluff above the ocean.  

This is another beach gem because it has several of our favorite campground features, including bike path to town where food and libation may be enjoyed without risking life or limb.  The bike path is separated but runs along A1A on the Ocean all the way to Flagler Beach and way further than that and it is so smooth with the street ramps consistently surfaced for non-slip.   Only a few short miles will get you to places like the 2 miles Oceanside Grill (exceptionally nice staff where our desert was compted because it was the end of the night and the eclair cake looked a bit melted but delicious non the less, we had not complained but our waitress insisted as another server, hands full of bussed plates opened the door for us as we left), several huge outdoor rooftop restaurants, and the Turtle Shack (5miles).  Lots of construction on homes and buildings with a mix of old and new, but a lot of new,  There seemed to be an excess of land and houses for sale and I can’t help but wonder if the exit of insurance companies in hurricane and fire prone areas is creating a buyers market condition.  There was even a great little cafe that was ½ mile down the beach from the campground. And here as a west-coaster for the last decades, I saw the first sunrise for what has been a longtime.   This park is another super hard to get a reservation park and had better be there no later than 8:00 and 30 seconds, I tried for next year to get a gauge for its popularity. 

GeoCaching

Roger Gamble Riverside park across the A1A is where we found our first Geocaches.

No children, momma doesn’t have another App, dad is totally responsible for this one.   

While we were at Fort Clinch a few weeks prior, this park volunteer told us how he and his wife entertain themselves by geocaching, and it gets them out to places and find things and recommendations from people otherwise with whom they would have not come in contact.  This couple were retired science teachers and they try to get teaching gigs at state parks in exchange for campsites.  I believe among environmental things they also teach geocaching and turned us onto it.  But like starting anything new we usually forget to do it a lot of times.  The app guides you to a location and you have to find the box where you sign your name, leave a card if you want.  

On the way back to Fernandina Beach for the annual Amelia Car Show,  a stop in our favorite beach towns,  St Augustine.  Newest discovery was the Mellow Mushroom excellent service, food, great beer selection and music on the weekends and we don’t even need to ride our bike across the bridge to get into St Augustine downtown.  Good thing weather was ick and we were feeling lazy,

Bo’s birthday celebration would begin with the arrival  his sister, Mary Lou.  and more good food, good libation and good times would ensue.  Between Mayport Shrimp and Scallops and Blueberry Crisp we would play music and laugh and be horrified with the current news between the weather events and the politics. 

Jekyll Island, Georgia 

A Jekyll Island outing  and a walk along Driftwood Beach was incredibly cool but the noseeums were out,  and we came and left lickity split.

Jekyll Island is where the US Federal Reserve was created and is memorialized in the Jekyll Island Club Resort, and of course there is always an old fashioned bar in such places.  

We had cocktails and lively conversation with the bartender and other bar patrons at this beautiful resort.  

Bo’s new thing is mixing Old Fashions so we seem to always sample them and this was the perfect place, but John and I sampled in th St Augustine Distillery several days early and they had these cool rood ice cubes that were made instantly with these devices in less than 30 seconds in this heated press device. 

Fernandina Beach in JBo Land

Back to Fernandina, 2 Jays and Friends is what they call us when we play music together.  

We did a few open mic nights, meeting interesting fellow musicians,  and discovered the one right around the corner, the Brew Shed with a bonus of really good beer too.  Here, John would play bass for the first time with an all-girl band, the Pink Paisleys who really knew how to rock the house.  

He always seems to have a way of making it up to a stage of other musicians.  Like when we were at the Green Turtle a few nights prior and his getting a drink at the bar turned into him singing Brandy with the band, even though they introduced him and said they usually never do this.  Just never know what happens with John, at least I got him to wear pants that night.  

Another build on discovery from last year is that Fort Clinch Campground is less than a 5 mile bike ride into downtown where the music, restaurants and beer abound, and we pretty much can ride on an 8 foot divided sidewalk the entire way home in the dark without peril to life and limb. With the JBo house fully booked with nephews and their wives, John and I headed to Fort Clinch to give space but be close at the same time.  

PJD taproom has the best variety of beers around and the quaint outdoor seating is a regular, and beer-virgoso,  Ben returning from his annual Tampa Beer week trip,  always comes to share some new weird taste with PJD.

It was a “start drinking beer at noon day”.  The German influence in our group was more pronounced than typical as Ben/Lindsay and Joey/Natalie had visited the Munich Oktoberfest in September and Joey/Natalie even spoke German. 

This being the leaning of the group, off to Hofbrau Amelia we schückled.  The food and beer is excellent, but our group now with Kathy/Ralph  too,  took over half the barstools, and before we knew it the tech savvy Ben took control of one of the TVs with his Iphone and played DJ,  bringing up many German drinking songs.  Many Ein Prozit, Ein Pozit, Gemutlichkeit… followed by the chant  ZikiZaki, ZikiZaki, Hoi, Hoi, Hoi’s were sung.  The owner really liked the loudness to go with the Saint Patty’s Day festivities that started already in the 16th,  and we had many singers among us so we carried on into the dusk.  Across the street to the Green Turtle we wandered where John earlier in the week sang Brandy with the duo Hupp N  Ray. The Saturday night band at the Turtle was way too loud, and the secret is to go to the adjoining outside area of the historic Florida House Inn,  the oldest continuously run hotel since 1857. Here we enjoyed the pleasing audio level of the Green Turtle classic rock band and had to do an Old Fashion Tasting at the Inn since Bo is all about Old Fashion mixing these days.   It was late and we made it back to our beach site at Fort Clinch without riding at night issues, although we now are totally set up with multiple lights, front and back.  The Amelia Island Downtown is alive with great restaurants, music and general ambience.  Now that we can bike ride there from the beach at Fort Clinch we can pursue the “Beach and Beer Combo Camping” that we really enjoy.  

Fort Clinch State Park Advantages… You can also ride on the beach at low tide and camping in the Beach Campground make it oh so perfect for bike ride.  They even have a bike wash station at the state park as well as a bike tool station.  There is a single direction mountain bike trail system that goes along the main road to some degree.  Although we saw riders with more hefty tires than ours go through, there were certainly many muddy spots that we decided to bypass because the canopy covered State park road has between a 15 and 25 mph speed limit, so we felt safe even though the road was narrow with no shoulders.  And it is shady and totally canopy covered complete with the Florida Moss making it perfect for riding.  The historic Fort Clinch itself is a couple hour exploration that we had already done, but has an interesting story and they do re-enactments of the era and booming guns/cannons  can be heard every once in a while. Again this is about 1 mile or less from the campground, an easy ride or walk from both River and Beach Campgrounds.  

The River Campground has private very shady campsites and great bath house facilities.  

Okay back to the Fort Clinch beach Bike ride at low tide, so freeing to just be able to go pathless on a beach. So I rode several miles and guess what you get to the SandBar another on the beach eatery complete with picnic tables in the sand if that’s your style.  Yummy Florida style Shrimp and Grits which I had at a different time here while doing the road approach to the place. And then, there is a Salt Life Florida Franchise in the adjoining parking lot or beach if you are doing the beach ride.  If the tide was coming in and your quads are a bit fatigued from the ride on the beach to get here, then you just go back via the Fort Clinch Main entrance down the canopy covered road.  The entrance is only about 100 yard from these two hot spots which also have music regularly.  Also, after about riding 2 miles from Fort Clinch Beach campground, you can see houses on the beach and there are multiple steps up to a gravel road that runs along the beach so if your tire marks are sinking a bit too low, hop up on this gravel road and ride on to a nice cold beer reward that you deserve. The morning of my beach ride was too early, but I made sure to get reservations for next year on the beach side campground because riding a beach feels so energizing.  Fort Clinch is one of those difficult beach campsites to obtain,  but I have gotten days here and there using the App CampScanner.  Looking forward to our 10 days here next year. 

A bit of Corn beef and Cabbage for the Saint Patty’s Day good luck back at Bo and Julie’s house and off to one of our top three Florida Beach areas, Saint Augustine to become bonafide, card carrying Elks members.  We failed in this undertaking in 2023 because it is a three month process here at lodge 829 in Saint Augustine, but we enjoyed the Saturday band/dinner after being sponsored by member Jim.  We decided that Elk membership would give us a sense of fellowship in our travels and also a parking spot as many lodges allow members to overnight in their facilities.  And talk of politics and religion is forbidden in social areas. Amen.  We had played music at the Elks Club in Kernville, CA and really enjoyed the vibe there too and learned more of the specific benevolent support that they provide to the community and especially veterans. Well I made sure to redo our application in January, they accepted us in February and we were initiated in March.  

Saint Augustine is rich in history from the Fort,  to the Fountain of Youth, to Saint George outdoor Music Venue and our favorite coconut porter at Ancient City Brewery.  Here we took delivery of a Queen Brie from the next-store Grilled Cheese Gallery.  They also have Mac and Cheese creations. And this year we used our newly found Ride with GPS app to go on the backroads and over the Bridge into old town.  Although the A1A has sidewalks almost the whole way, it is a bit stressful with the four lane 50 mph traffic that whizzes by constantly. Again kudos to this App because you can actually plot a course through neighborhood streets and as you ride along you are instructed to turn, and always see your location on the map.  

Beaches in north Atlantic coast Florida have been windy and not so appealing as far as swimming goes.  As we are California desert rats, sitting out in the sun is not in our repertoire for the most part.  But Paddle Boy got the boards blown up and since we had to transfer campsites,  we loaded them up and drove over to the inland waterway launch area at the Anastasia State Beach campground.  

Negative of Anastatia State park it is a bit far for paddle boy to carry two paddle boards.  There are so many jumping little fish in this ocean dune bored estuary Salt Run, and lots of birds too.  A nice paddle to the lighthouse and the marina where there is an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.   

Upper workout complete, campfire tonight !!

We are headed to the Keys, actually we are there now as I finish this post !!

Manatee, Sanford, and Flagler Beach

Blue Spring State Park – Manatee Central

Noseeums

Sanford, Florida

Flagler Beach, Gamble Rogers State Beach

GeoCaching

Jekyll Island, Georgia

Fernandina Beach in JBo Land

Cold, Cold January 2024 –  Carlsbad Cavern, New Orleans and Florida

As I write this I have fallen behind with my blogging and will get it published today because we did the following over a month ago!  We are headed  across the country to Florida, but first, two awesome stops are Carlsbad Caverns and NewOrleans.  It was a record cold week for the country and Vinny had his first snow experience in New Mexico during the traverse of the country. 

Carlsbad Caverns NP

Wow, this place is amazing, but make sure to get a pass to enter from recreation.gov – it is one of those reservations required for National Parks.  This time of year wasn’t busy, but the ranger lead tour of the King’s Palace did fill up, and I would highly recommend this. BTW if you get the “King’s Palace Tour” you don’t need to get an additional entry time into the self-guided “Big Room”  

The elevator at the visitors center takes you down the 79 floors to these incredible caves where you will experience the cavern phenomenon of stalagmites, stalactites, flowstone, helictites, cave bacon, draperies, columns, cave popcorn, and soda straws. 

These geologic features of a cave have formed over hundreds of thousands of years as the mineral-laden water seeps through cracks in the rock and limestone. 

The King’s Palace is a one mile loop descending an additional 80 feet during the 1 mile loop through the deepest publicly available sections.  This chamber has some beautiful intricate stalactites and stalagmites that make it so ethereal, especially with the well placed lights that allow for the awestriking amazing work of mother nature to be seen. 

When we visited the Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota some 25 years earlier, I don’t remember quite the experience that we had here in Carlsbad Caverns, but I don’t remember all that lightning allowing us to see all these intricate formations. Taking photos in dark places back then was much more difficult and we had to carry our own lanterns.

The King’s Palace is the first of four chambers in the scenic rooms with the castle-like formation in the center of the 100 foot tall room.  

The Queen’s Chamber is considered the most beautiful of the four scenic caves. In this cave chamber, you can see delicate onyx formations that resemble the texture of lace and filigree. The rock curtains, fit for a Queen, include a 40-foot tall drapery column called the Queen’s Drapery.

The Papoose room is a smaller version of the Kings Palace and finally the Green Room has a green pool in one corner from malachite (copper carbonate) that is present in the water.

After this Ranger led “Nobility” cavern tour, we could roam around the “Big Room”   since we were already down under. Here a 1.6 mile paved path winds through this massive room that is 78 meters high in some areas. We spent about 3 hours which included the tour wandering around and enjoying the many different art works of mother nature hidden 830 ft below the Chihuahuan Desert.  

One can skip the elevator, adventurously hiking the steep 2-kilometer Natural Entrance route, twisting and descending 229 meters from the mouth of the cave. The Big Room’s mostly level, 1.6-kilometer paved path winds past intricate formations created by mineral-laden water that has dripped and solidified over hundreds of thousands of years.

From ceiling-hung forests of delicate, icicle-like stalactites to massive geologic features resembling frozen waterfalls, you’re immersed in a surreal world of folded, rippled stone. 

Returning to the parking lot, we found the sunlight entrance, or natural entrance to the cave where you can hike down the 2 miles instead of taking the 79 story elevator down.  This is also where the great bat flight is observed at dusk in the warmer months and thousands of bats leave the cave to hunt for bugs.  It is quite a memorable scene, but in January all the Brazilian bats have gone south but always return here to put on this show for Carlsbad Cavern Visitors in the warmer months.  There are a few bat varieties that call Carlsbad their permanent home but are not nearly as prolific.  

Carlsbad Cavern is growing as the newest Lechuguilla Cave at 150 miles long and 1600 feet deep is one of the longest/deepest in the world.  It is only open to NPS sanctified research, surveyor and exploration teams.  

New Orleans

What a place and we hit it during Mardi Gras season which evidently starts on Three Kings’ Day annually  on January 6th, but evidently this last weekend in January it really gets serious.   We did our share of cocktail touring as Margot provided us with a URL that had a map of where to get all the famous New Orleans Cocktails starting at the Apothecary Bar where we had the most tender short ribs and a baked brie.  

We heard a lot of great music from mature afternoon ensemble at Fritzel’s Jazz bar, to the upright intimate piano man at the Three Muses on Frenchman Street (bartender, Xicho, made me a personal concoction the was orange, yet spirit forward), to the full brass band at the BMC Balcony Music Club, then finding the Piano man playing with another full band on Bourbon St, to searching for the dueling pianos which were just a bit too loud for us to stay, then to a Cigar Bar (yuck although it was well ventilated) and then finally returning to Fritzels for an evening of the most incredible music show of New Orleans style music by the Richard Piano Scott band and his trumpet player Katie Rogers. 

There were dueling trumpets because renowned “Michael” showed up to play with Katie which was already super without his guest appearance. 

Fritzels is an intimate bar where evidently there is music all day and night and the German influence is apparent with many German posters that are around the place. The energy in this night band was incredible and the being 20 feet from the band as said Micheal used a plastic drink cup to resonate all kinds of sound from his trumpet was quite incredible.  

Learned a bit about the early history of New Orleans during a walking tour through the French Quarter.  At one point Britain allowed criminals to start a new life in New Orleans  if they would agree to marry a prostitute. The French influence is all around and Creole is the term that is given to very poor French people who were among the first inhabitants.  Also there was a short time under Spanish control and evidently they were the ones that brought the brick and stucco work to the city under their short rule.  Haitians were also exiled here under British rule contributing to the vibrant colors of New Orleans.  Finally, Napoleon needed more money to fund his war with Britain, so he sold the city to the US in the famous Louisiana Purchase that made the US huge and included the colorful city of New Orleans.  Enough History, will save drainage and waste stories of early New Orleans for another time, just say that the first floor roofs of the rich would extend into the streets so that “drainage” could go into the street where during rain it would flow out. 

Cafe Du Monde for authentic beignets and hot chocolate provided a late night wind down  between the music and the cocktails around Bourbon Street  

They always served them right out of the deep fryer with plenty of powdered sugar, even had some from a corner coffee shop as we waited for the Hop-on-Hop-off bus.  Very similar to funnel cake, although are larger and therefore less crispy.  Also making the eating of them quite the scene of powdered sugar all over your mouth and clothes as you try and stuff the 1 ½ inch cube into your mouth which is not that big.  I’m assuming you can only get them hot, and that’s what makes them so delicious. 

There also is the famous Sazerac House that evidently is a museum, distillery, place where you can get instruction on cocktail making among the tastings and gift shop offerings.  We will save this for next time as us old folk need to take it easy since we didn’t get home until 1am last night.  We did try the famous Sazerac Cocktail at the Apothecary which has a licorice-like flavor.  The Jazz and the Mardis Gras museums that sound cool and will have to be for a next time

Generally, our first New Orleans experience was a Monday and we found it to be less crazy than our contrived expectations ~ probably much different toward the weekend and two weeks before the day of Mardis Gras.  I think we will stop in New Orleans every year on the way to Florida.

The New Orleans WWII museum was  outstanding at depicting how our nation valued democracy and was willing to come together and defend the world against fascism and is such a contrast to Maga Republicans today that are just interested in proliferating their party power and disgracefully hold-up much needed aid to Ukraine after invasion by Russia.  Can’t help but feel ashamed –  all those young men that died for these principles and now we are abandoning that for which they sacrificed their lives. 

San Antonio, Texas – still cold,cold

It was freezing, and the normal warmer and outdoor establishments along the River Walk were just too cold to enjoy.  Sadly some of the plant life had frozen.  

We did find the 1930’s era Hotel Emma with dark wood and leather couches clustered around roaring fires which was perfect for the freezing temperatures.  

We also found a really cool restaurant called Cured where you could choose house cured unique thinly sliced meats and cheeses for your personalized charcuterie board – yum.  

Of  course, there is the Alamo to get a bit of history, but never quite understood how the US annexed Texas. It seemed like there was no fighting, it just happened and was so unlike the power controls between the inhabitants of the land and the Mexican and earlier the Spanish government. 

Although no war was a good thing, it seems like there is a history that I have missed.  We stayed in a really nice BoonDockers Welcome and were thankful we could get electricity to run our space heater that ran all night.   

What follows is just a recap Florida bound trip and good memories catching up with a few friends along the way.  Our first stop Maricopa, Arizona and a stop to see Terri and Steve.  It is here that we convinced our friends to sign-up for a windjammer sailing cruise on the J & E Riggins, a 120 ft schooner while we are in Maine this September.  Fall Colors with our friends, before we knew it Jim and Trish were to be on board as well and we were looking forward to spending more time with our good friends. 

Prescott Arizona and a stop to visit friends Dorothy and Rich and the Palace Saloon  Restaurant which had all kinds of period  western artifacts and an ornate gigantic wooden bar – very cool. 

We were happy to have our tiny 20 year-old space heater as our first stop in Gallup, New Mexico campground was completely snow covered and Vinny had his first driving on snow experience. 

The roads were fine, but boy was it cold and it was supposed to continue for the week.  No boondocking for us, our space heater was our friend ,and it ran pretty much all night long for about 4 days straight.  

Placitas New Mexico, the one outside of Albuquerque, there are two in NM, (we almost went south to the wrong one) to visit Try Number 3 with our friends John and Karen.  The first two visits had been sabotaged by Covid.  The Albuquerque Balloon Fest plans would have to be a do-over, as we abruptly returned to Ridgecrest in 2022, only seeing the hot air balloons from the highway. It became clear that the best alternative was to get back to Ridecrest ASAP  before I too would start to feel bad, and I would have to write a blog entry about “Covid Recovery in a Van”. Luckily, we made it home, and although I too would test positive, we pulled through with some old fashioned medical remedies.  2023 Try with a visit would be our friend John getting Covid and canceling their visit to Ridgecrest for my John’s retirement party in 2023. Well 2024 worked out and we had a nostalgic visit  with our once-upon-a-time Ridgecrest friends as the Eagles lost again, and we got a look at the night sky and the Pinwheel Galaxy, 2.73 million light years from earth.  

The triangulum galaxy is the third largest member of this three, and it along with andromeda will collide with the milky way so make sure your affairs are in order about 3 million years from now.  No more Karen horse stories, retirement is  all about photographing celestial events and cats too and wild horses.

I will try and keep up from now on. We are happily in Florida visiting ocean, mangroves, open mic nights and lots of music with our good friends Bo, Julie and Darlene

Maui – December 17-29, 2023

We are here for the snorkeling!

There are so many places to snorkel in Maui although the weather has been a bit uncooperative this year. 

Luckily the concierge at the front desk told us about the Maui Snorkel Report > The Snorkel Store >  scroll down to see the rating of the day at the North Shore, Ka’anapali, and South Shore.  I have also got the Windy App and it does a really good job at showing the 3 hour chunks for a week into the future.  This means we needed to head down south because the Kaanapali area was a bit wild and even got a 0 for one day.  

Upon arriving at Sands of Kahana resort it was wildly windy, but they had quite a nice small beach where many were riding the waves. The parking and going in and out was easy, and they had a complete set of vessels, surf boards and toys that could be rented, but it was always quite windy.

But of  course we couldn’t start snorkeling until we saw the Eagles game on Monday in the outside bar and beach restaurant that is part of the resort. And given the game we should have gone snorkeling, but at least they had Maui Coconut Porter to comfort my Paddle Boy. 

We scored an ocean view on the first floor and were happy we didn’t have to be in the elevator when the power went out all over the Lahaina area last night.  Instagram said snapped poles were reported and we were happy that it only lasted about an hour.  It was so nice listening to the crashing waves all night long they never lost power. Okay back to snorkeling, and our favorite spots within the weather recommended area. 

Ulua Beach

 This is where we saw our first turtles this trip. 

They are so laid back and graceful.  John found one hiding under a ledge and he eventually came out and gave us a show as whale calls could also be heard.  There was another that came so close to me I had to back away.  They are such graceful easy going sea creatures just like Hawaii.

In 2021, we had seen two turtles fighting over a piece of fish, and they were so engaged in the fight that we were able to get up close and observe.  No GoPro then, thanks Scott for this birthday gift and all those beautiful in-the-water memories of my travels from now on!!

At Ulua Beach we discovered a cute little fish that is called the Avela, or common name Christmas Wrasse.  How appropriate for our Christmas time sighting. 

We would later see a larger one at Black Rock that kept swirling around and around as the waves crashed on top. 

Another little shy speckled friend that never moved even when I tried to get up close.

We really like this beach because there is some shade, it’s relatively small, and there are nice rinse off showers. 

Po’olenalena/Changs Beach

After Ulua while still in exploring mode, was our next stop.   Although quaint, it had no rinse off shower. Perhaps it’s the reef safe zinc sunscreen, but I always feel extra sticky after a snorkel session.  Also we went to Makena State Beach which is a mile long with no showers but quite popular with multiple parking areas. This beach is not necessarily good for snorkeling, is what I found out later, but there is a clothing optional “Little Beach” if you make your way up a narrow path and over the hill.  

On our way back, we stopped for a beer at the Shops of Wailea.  Parking at the furthest end of the Wailea Shops Parking Lot will allow an entrance to the Wailea Beach Path. Here we took a sunset stroll along all the fancy hotels and properties of Wailea. In between the fancy hotels there are straight unmanicured paths to the Ocean which we saw in both Wailea and Kaanapali; this allows locals to access beaches without going through hotels. It seemed like this southern part of Maui was consistently better weather for snorkeling in December.  This area may be a “next time”.

It was nice using our legs in a non-kicking way as we took a sunset stroll.  We  would return again the next day because of the best snorkel reports in the area.  We would transfer to the Marriott Ocean Club in the Kaanapali area. The most difficult part about the area is how to pronounce Kaanapali; Gertrud tried to teach me our final night at Huggo’s after several Mitais.  

Black Rock Beach

was about ½ mile down the beach path.  Here we saw another Turtle, although he was far down in the sand and swam away quite deliberately.  We also found a section that was relatively clear and got to watch the fish swim through the crashing waves.  Specifically, this area is around to the right, of the point, but up close to the rocks.  

Further away in this area, visibility was poor, and we almost went back, but then we ventured in up close to the crashing and got used to the swells pushing us around.  It was a bit rough, but relatively shallow and you could see the fish up close, and they were getting pushed around too.  We swam out and took a bit of a break, but both of us wanted to go back for more.   Here we saw a large Christmas Wrasse  body surfing over and over again in the crashing surf. 

Another Black Rock advantage is the lovely eating areas.  We started with fish lunch at the Hula Girl and ended with Monkey Pod Happy Hour (great deal 1⁄2 price appetizers).  We met Nicole from Austin, die hard Pittsburg fan, who has a boyfriend from Jersey and his Aunt and Uncle live in Egg Harbor. Dad always gets super excited about these coincidences, and she had to text her boyfriend several times to get the details. 

Lots of smiles from people as we dressed up in our Hawaiian shirts and walked the two miles to the famous Duke’s for an early dinner.

The most popular Hawaiian fish, the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a , and we saw them consistently.

However, they are so skittish that it is hard to get close, but I really tried all week to get some good footage from Black Rock  We found  a new round yellow black dotted fish that were a lovely couple exploring the reef, just like John and I. 

There is nothing like swaying with the ocean watching fish in the blue, warm water in Hawaii. Another beautiful snorkeling day watching people jump off the 15 ft high Black Rock.  

Molokini Crater MLCD (Marine Life Conservation District) is a volcanic island that  has an area of 23 acres, a diameter of about 0.4 miles and is 161 feet at its highest point, and is located off the southern coast of Maui.  It is among the best snorkeling in Hawaii and we found it to be beautiful and clear and found many fish varieties (4min movie) that we had not seen before. We saw the coolest purple fish who just swam around in circles for a long time; we ended up leaving because he was making us dizzy. 

The problem is that it is pretty deep and most coral is located over 15 to 20 feet below, so to get close requires diving down.  The tour had something called Snuba for an extra $70 you could go down attached to the air tanks above the boat.  But then you are pretty tethered to the boat and always around the gaggle of Snuba Divers.  We found this to be way more crowded than Captain Cook’s Monument on the Big island with all the large tour boats that came out.  In the typical tour fashion, everything is extra from our wetsuit tops to the red filter I rented for the GoPro.  The photographer had me set the camera on  Wide Field of View but then everything was even further away.  I like to dive and chase fish, but I could hardly see because of the WFOV.  Crew was extremely nice and helpful.  Iit was a beautiful way to spend Christmas surrounded by fish rather than family and friends. 

We also saw our first whale tails and there were several different far-away encounters on the  boat ride out.  Evidently January/February are the best months for whaling off of Maui. 

Waihee Ridge Trail

Waihee Ridge Trail, 4 mile 1443 ft elevation gain,  Take 2.  We had done this in 2021, but it was socked-in with fog pretty early into the hike.  We decided we wanted to do it again.  

This time it was too, but only for the last 200 feet or so, so we got to see the actual ridge this time and our shoes got very muddy. 

Nakalele BlowHole

Is on the Northern tip of Maui was a bit of a disappointment because it hardly spouted even though it was supposed to do so.  We were a bit disappointed after I remembered the magnificent Halona Blowhole on Oahu from 20 years ago. We didn’t bother in 2023, although in 2021 we got a great photo of Scott holding up the rainbow in this area.

Iao Needle 

(2,250 ft peak of Kuka Emoku) is another interesting natural phenomenon where the sides are super steep but are lushly green.  From the Waihee Ridge you can see this deep green canyon like that of Iao Valley, 

Haleakala Volcano 

dormant since the 1700’s has an amazing view of the area and of course the crater and the many cones.  The summit was way up there and you could see down the crater as well as downward toward the ocean until the clouds started rolling in.

It was our last day and I had been trying to get the sunrise pass because recreation.gov only releases 50 passes, 2 days before and I was just not quick enough on the days we wanted to go. They also release passes 60 days before and if one is a bit organized like I usually am, I would have been prepared.   It had been forecasted to be cloudy much of the week,  so I was waiting for a clearer day.  

Later in the day, as the clouds roll in,  the rich colors become even deep shades of rust.  

A time-lapse  fog rolling in  at the end of the day gives an idea of how fast the change is; it was very cool and a rainbow peaked through. 

We went for the day and watched the sunset which was also quite nice.  We had also been warned that if you go for sunrise, bring warm clothes because it can be in the 30’s. If you take a tour they provide all that. I think that optimal would be to get up there by 4am and enjoy the stargazing that is also incredible on a clear morning. 

Slaughterhouse Beach / Honolua Mukule Bay 

was a lovely small beach with shade, but it was too rough for us to snorkel in 2021. Instead, we found a sleepy turtle who was all by himself on this really deserted beach.

We would return here later in the week because this beach was small, and the rocky outcrops looked like good snorkeling, but it continued to be too rough. Finally we got out early on our last day and had a nice swim.  I didn’t know about the Maui Snorkel Report in 2021, but it seems like the northern part of the Island where Slaughter Beach Is located had the worst conditions for most of the weeks in December 2023.  

Olowalu Beach Mile Mark 14, provided a nice snorkel place although it was quite shallow to get out and there were plenty of sea urchins to avoid as you entered the water.  There were a lot of fish to be seen and John even saw an octopus.  

The Road to Hana

Paia Coffee House

Was the first stop in 2021,  and we liked it so much that John and I would also return in 2022 before departing for our red-eye. 

They have a really cool music venue that is out-door and under  the covered patio where a highly energetic slide guitarist was getting down. 

Hookipa Surfing Beach 

which faces the North and the swells are perfect for surfing.  This is the longest ever surfer in action that I have ever seen. 

Ke’anae Peninsula 

and Aunt Sandy’s Banana Bread next all along the Road to Hana. This was the most beautiful rocky coast. And the banana bread was moist and delicious 

Wailua Falls 

a stop right along the Road to Hana.

‘Ohe’o O Gulch (Sacred Pools and Waterfall)

Unfortunately the pools were closed to swimming as it had recently rained but walking around the grounds was just beautiful and made for the best photo of the trip of the three us in 2021.     

Serpico’s for Pizza, this is one of the only restaurants open later and on the way home whether from a long day on the Road To Hana in 2021  or after the Sunset a Haleakalā Crater in 2023. 

The famous Lahaina Banyan trees, our 2021 afforded us a visit to this magnificent grove in the center of Lahaina, but the fire of August 2023 devastated the city.   There is a bypass that goes around the town and few burned out to be seen by the tourists except for the one area where school children have colored banners to place over the fence that allow for a glimpse of the devastation of this horrible flash fire that ripped through.  

Each resort area has a small section where tents have been allowed to be set up and there are meeting places for supply distribution and whatever else is being administered.  “Maui Strong” and “Lahaina Strong” signs, some temporary, some in permanent metal letters are displayed in the tourist areas, as people try to get back to business, scarred but going strong.  No doubt the people will rebuild Lahaina and the city will endure. 

Reflections 

Aloha is the word that means so much.  You can drive with Aloha, say hello and good-bye with Aloha, it is a word that means kindness and warmth with the business of human expression.  We heard Guitar Uncle Jimmy twice as we walked back from Monkey Pod and Dukes.  He exuded Aloha, and would get his looper playing and then go out to the audience with his guitar and talk to people.  He was a local for some 40 years and told stories of positivity. 

More Aloha, with Dr. Sova who offered us his SUP to use.  I had a knee issue that started when I twisted it on my way into the pool at Gertrud’s house.  The swelling and pain went away after babying for a few weeks, but oh, was it ever stiff when I had to move from a bent position.  I had never had arthritis in this knee, why now all of a sudden.  Dr. S said he thinks there is no damage after prodding, but I had wanted to get on the bandwagon with some Physical therapy if he thought it was useful. John and I got to talking with him and had told him of our van life, and John got his humor over some old Movie, and we actually chatted for quite some time.  He texted me the next morning and with a link to  copper knee sleeves he had found at Costco.  I replied that people who live in Vans give up their Costco membership.  It was then that he offered to meet us and give me one…then he said we should use his SUPs.  Not realizing that we were so far away as we were an hour drive.way. But this is Aloha to the stranger.   

December can produce not optimal weather in Hawaii, the swells are bigger and variable, looking out one side of the condo was raining and the other side sun, coming and going just like that.  Rainbows would be there and instantly disappear.  December is still a great time for us to get away from the non-optimal camping weather that is in most parts of the U.S. Good thing we decided to stay here for the month and so lucky that the week that the kids came for the week at the Big Island we had excellent weather. 

More Aloha on the Big Island as we met Shawna and Shelly, and Verna and Tommy along with other sister-in-laws and friends at the Ola Brewery.  

All started when we tried to introduce Gertrud to playing games at breweries, which is a thing on the mainland, but not something that is done in Austria.  Spades of course and we were relegated to a back room on a couch/coffee table situation, perfect for John as he prefers lounging rather up-straight sitting.  Of course there is alway lively discourse when playing spades, and before we knew it another party had joined us in the back room in the other couch setting.  Soon we exchanged conversations with much Aloha and they told us they come here every Thursday and meet family and friends since Ola has been in business and this coming Saturday they would be having their 6 year anniversary. John loved the Keawe Vanilla Porter, and we put it on our final night on the Big Island Plan.  Well outside there was lots of loud music and not our scene and they only serve Kiawe from the inside.  So there we went and found a table. The back room was having a private tasting of the brewery’s newest addition, not available for sale yet, Okolehao, This is a moonshine of sorts, brewed from ti plant (evergreen flowering plant) root that are oh so prevalent on the Islands.  Truly an entrepreneurial venture that is unique and naturally sustainable in Hawaii. 

More Aloha on the earlier on the Big Island as we went to a fundraiser comedy show right across the street from Gertrud at the Elk’s Club.  We were overwhelmed with the friendliness of Jessy and Trisha, and Gertrud was ready to sign up as a member, but she failed in the US citizen category of the four requirements.  We almost have her convinced to become a US citizen, after all I am working on becoming a German citizen. 

My pursuit of German Citizenship. Julie has spent the last 5 months in Germany trying to find an architectural job but not having too much success as her Visa will expire mid February.  Since it appears that I am eligible for German citizenship (I was born before Ma got her US citizenship) that would make my children eligible.  If she had dual German citizenship the extra hurdle that is required for her potential employer to sponsor her for a Visa, would not be needed and perhaps this is a reason that she has not been so successful.  The Miami consulate sent forms to fill out and get notarized and we don’t even need to apply in person.

Hawaii Big Island

 

Left Vinny on the mainland for a month for the tropical fish, tropical forests, manta rays, crashing waves,  dolphins, jagged lava rocks, and time with family and friends.    We went to Kaui for my 40th birthday in 2002

and we didn’t return until 20 years later. Now I have been here for the last three years in a row, just can’t get enough. 

Kealakekua Bay MLCD

Now I have a girlfriend, Gertud,  who has a Condo on the Big Island so Kailua-Kona will always be on the Hawaiian Itinerary.  My favorite place on the Big Island is Kealakekua Bay MLCD (Marine Life Conservation District), specifically at the Lawai’a Sea Lodge.  This year, it started with the Stenger-Smith “Circus” as Jenny, Mackie, Jazmine, Tony and Amy  joined us for a week at the paradise VRBO in Kealakekua Bay followed by several days at Volcano National Park. 

We were sad not to have Julie with us as she was having her own adventure with a job seeking VISA in Germany, but this was the last time she was in Hawaii.

Lawai’a Sea Lodge 

This VRBO had been found by the Radlers during the previous year when Gertrud found the low ceiling basement apartment, very last minute and the gem of this remote, right on the ocean accommodation was discovered.  No basement this trip, the Circus was in the main house where an incredible deck commanded the view of Kealakekua Bay MLCD (Marine Life Conservation District.) The VRBO came with Stand Up Paddle Boards, Kayaks, boogie boards and all kinds of items you could just go up to the tent and remove whenever you wanted.  

The Lawai’a House was a snorkeling paradise after you made your way through down the plank ramp and the lava rock crags that protected passage to the sea were beautiful tropical fish flitted about.

A bit stressful at first because this far from a smooth sandy beach, and as the waves crashed into the little lava rock lagoon and you had to time your entry so as not to smash against any of the boulders that lined the passage. This tiny protected“Circus lagoon” had an abundance of hiding places for all those colorful fishes and the clear shallow water made for excellent viewing when the waves were not crashing. By the end of the week, we had gotten our snorkel legs and this passage was a ho-hum act and we loved just being able to SUP or snorkel on whim.

Dolphins

Dolphins would frolic playfully through the bay as snorkelers, swimmers and kayakers were out not chasing them (another $1000 fine) but just happened to have inadvertent encounters.

We were one of those lucky ones and got to see the show as they came right up to us and I was GoPro Ready and got to record a bit of their show. In 2022 we saw dolphins swim up to snorkelers and just frolicked around; This happened on many days and one reason we wanted to come back to this place. Gertrud said that they swam with her in Kailua Bay. We were so hooked on dolphins and this was our closest recorded encounter, but there were others as the Circus act of the kayaks and SUPs paddled out to Captain Cook Monument.

It was about 1 mile long through choppy waters, not so bad for the kayaks but a bit challenging for Ringleaders John and I,  who were on the SUPs.  But we made it with the intention of stringing up the vessels and having one Circus performer holding onto them as the others snorkeled.  

Although I had been adamant about bringing a long rope (bright orange acquired from Vista) the Circus admin forgot it and the plan had to be abbreviated.  There was no organization in the Circus ring and the tie up job ended in the flotilla getting very close to the shore and the falling cliffs as it became windier.  Jazmine finally got the knots un-done and we all got some snorkeling in, but several show details will be amended if performing next-time.  

1)  Leave early before the tour boats get into the area because there is less chance of bumping into other snorkeling enthusiasts.  

2) Notice how the current/wind is moving so that the Circus starts up in the suitable direction.  

3) Don’t forget the props(rope) just to name a few.  

Needless to say, the ring leader’s act of SUPing  all the way to the Monument impressed/inspired the rest of the Circus performers to try their balance at Stand-Up. Somehow the acrobatic team had no problem with SUP. 

Dolphins perform jumps and twists several times a day, but then there had been a 5.1 earthquake near Volcano National Park which we had not even noticed, but we’re excited at the thought of seeing lava that sometimes spouts after earthquakes. No such luck.

During the last two days, we never saw any dolphins in our Kealakekua Circus ring again, even though conditions seemed the same as in the beginning of our stay. Perhaps, it was due to the earthquake.

Manta Rays

The Manta Ray Night Snorkel was the second most favorite Big Island Adventure. 

The manta rays were absolutely incredible as these gentle giant plankton sucking rays passed so close that they sometimes swiped us unexpectedly.  It was an exceptional night for manta viewing as our captain indicated about eight different 1000-pound rays traveled under our boards as we held tight and I had the GoPro Session of all GoPro Sessions.  

Evidently the Big Island is the only place where manta rays were discovered to congregate near the bright lights that attract plankton, their main food source.  Now they made it into a really cool tourist attraction complete with wet suit shirts and ankle floaties for comfort as you had your face in the water with snorkel equipment.  Here is 7 minute incredible video if you have time.

Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park

“The Place of Refuge ” was only a few miles up the road and is a very Sacred Place on the Big Island.  

This is where native criminals and prisoners would find forgiveness and a new beginning of life if they could only get there over the treacherous lava rocks and severe ocean currents. Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park was only a few miles from our paradise and during 2022, we happened to encounter a ceremony where long boats made a journey through several different Hawaiian holy places to mark this tradition. 

Lekeleke/Kuamo’o Burial Grounds

This is another sacred burial place that was quite beautiful with crashing waves, lots of wild goats and a stinky cheese Noni Fruit tree. 

Green Sands Beach

John and I stopped at the burial grounds on the way to Green Sands Beach in 2021, but we got to the green sand too late to actually hike the 2 ½ miles and then get down there with enough time to be back while still light. However, the Circus trip in 2023 was adhering to strict instructions to leave our Lawai’a House paradise by 9:30 so we could have an entire day for this hike followed by Southpoint excursion and Turtles at Black Sands Beach which is on the way to the Volcano NP where we stayed right in the National Park at the Kilauea Military Camp (KMC).

We opted out of the $20 pick-up-and-hold-on-for-dear-life rides 

that were available in the parking lot for a beautiful walk along the coast in red-clay soil that loved to stick to our mineral sunscreen lathered bodies in the wind. 

As we approached the beach and saw flip-flopped little children go down, John and I also thought we could too.  It was really much easier than it had looked in 2021.  

and we all made it down in one piece although John tested his hip replacement longevity when he had slipped earlier in the hike. He fell directly on it, but had no negative effects so down to the beach we ventured on ladders and switch backs.

 Perfect time for a nap under the eroded lava cave. 

South Point

After the Green Sands Beach hike, as per our strict Circus production manager’s timeline, a short drive to cliffs of South Point. The churn sea hole is also quite impressive.This is the most southern point of the US, where you can observe the curvature of the earth. The South Point 50 ft cliffs were supposed to be where natives dive into the churning waters below, but this is the third time I have been here and there are mostly fishermen on these cliffs. Best cliff photo was Caroline in my 2022 visit.

If you are making a day excursion, Green Sands to South Point to Black Sands and the Volcano NP, I would recommend stopping at the Punalu’u Bake Shop before hitting the Black Sands Beach.  Caffeination and a sweet were desperately needed as evening approached (closes at 5pm), and it’s right off the highway with lots of parking.  Hopefully some of the bread  pudding and malasadas, Portuguese donuts will be left.  There is a nice outdoor eating area too.  

Punalu’u  Black Sands Beach Park 

There are always been sea turtles resting on the beach and they are protected by the yellow caution tape so you can just take photos.

In 2023 there was a monk seal on the beach.  We had not done the Bake shop and were too tired to even get a photo of him.The black sand is really something different, and it is an easy walk to sea and the wildlife in this Park.  

If you have not planned well, like a Lasagna to pop in the oven, the Lava Lounge and restaurant is available to eat before falling into bed, ready to hike and explore the Volcano NP in the next day. 

Volcano NP

The Kilauea Volcano is not erupting currently so there is not really any glowing orange flow to be seen,  although in November of 2022 Mauna Loa did some spewing and Gertud recorded the molten lava as it flowed dangerously near the Saddle Road which is the main thoroughfare connecting Hilo to Kona.  Back to Volcano NP and Kilauea Ike Crater Rim, 3.2 mile Loop Trail is the most popular trail as you get to hike through the rainforest to the 1 mile long cauldron.  

John and I did it in 2021, and in 2023, we decided to do a rest day and not accompany the Circus that morning. We needed a rest after  Green Sands in 2023.  We met up for lunch at the Thurston Lava tubes which was on the loop.  A lava tube is a natural conduit that is formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the surface.  There are lots of these all around Hawaii, and you can walk through the Thurston Lava Tube and it is very cool and damp. 

Heading down Mount  Kilauea to the Ocean to see the most recent land increase to the Big Island, we stopped at the Mauna Ulu Eruption Trail.  Our enthusiastic Philly accented National Park Volunteer had told me this was his favorite hike in the park, and suddenly I saw it, and veered quickly off the main road with quite the uproar by the Circus.  

Lots of interesting lava presentations and deep cracks

And cool caves with ferns.  

Continuing to the sea, The Hoelei Sea Arch which someday may soon fall into the ocean was at the end of the road.

Our Gypsy Guide had severely warned us against going on these cliffs as they are unstable and could crash into the ocean at any time.  It was a bit underwhelming since it was probably at least a half mile away. In 2013 Gertrud was able to stand on it, but we couldn’t even get close.  

Eroding and adding land mass, as well as different lava presentation depending upon cooling time, heat and pressure of the eruption is all over this National Park.  

The other fun thing to do if staying at the KMC is to go bowling especially when we are all in our matching Hawaiian shirts.  The Lava Lounge, General Store and Bowling alley all within walking distance of the cottages. 

Snorkeling 

There are many places to snorkel and so much depends on weather and water clarity, but I will present a few of my favorites that I have hit for the last 3 years. 

Kealakekua Bay is the best at Captain Cooks Monument. 

The only way to get there is by boat or a killer hike which starts on the road and is really tough coming up with all your gear/water as per our neighbor and no kayaks may touch the monument step. 

In  2021 we took a catamaran tour that left from Kailua-Kona Pier. 

It was beautiful and Captain Cook Monument was among the best as far as variety of fish and the long reef. Therefore I was determined to do it again, this time on kayak in 2022 and on SUP in 2023 both from the Lawai’a Sea Lodge VRBO. 

All the time, it was exquisite and I made a 5 minute movie of the best clips from 2022.  If you can’t get this VRBO or boat, there are two places nearby to get in and snorkel.  (Manini Beach near Napo’opo’o Park and Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park.  Captain Cook Monument is still 1 mile away but the snorkeling, especially from Manini Beach is very good, but you need to avoid rocks and sea urchins, not for the beginner. Since Kealakekua Bay MLCD is Marine Life Conservation District you can not set foot on the beach around the Monument or anywhere north of Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park.  In 2022 there was a massive fish ball that we observed on two different days,  mostly the reason dolphins came through several times a day. You are not allowed to chase the dolphins, but there are inadvertent encounters like we had as these creatures are naturally curious.  The cliffs can be unstable and we were warned not to get too close. I plan to do Captain Cook every time I am on the Big Island. 

If you are staying in Kailua-Kona, Kamakahonu Beach right in front of the Marriott Courtyard, has an amazing variety of fish for this busy area.  This is a public sandy beach that turns rocky after 200 feet and there were a surprising number of fish although sometimes it is a bit cloudy, no coral unless you swim out around the point.    If you swim by the historic area of King Kam sacred Area  – going onto land near these grass/reed structures is forbidden, but swimming around it has lots of fish and it is so easy to enter this water, great place for timid snorkelers.  My favorite little black and white spotted puffer fish gave me a show very close to the entry. 

You can even do Stand Up Paddle Boarding.  Showers are right there on the pier and easy to get out and have ice cream or drinks at the outdoor cafe at the Courtyard. Downside is it can get crowded and since it is small. There is a Kona Boys rental shack for kayaks, SUP, Snorkel Gear, Chairs, Umbrellas etc – bring your money because it’s expensive.  There is very little shade although we set up in the grass and sometimes one can find a bit, but it is perfect for the beginner snorkeler, and so easy to get in and out.  

Beach 69 has shade, but watch out for the thorns from the tree.  It is very pleasant to sit and relax as well as swim and snorkel, on the point of the northern end of the lava rocks.  

The 2023 visibility was bad, but in 2022 it was excellent and we went up the north side to the point of the cove where there is a cool hole in the coral and a very timid spotted fish. Going north along the cove has a more protected sandy beach for swimming and entry, but if you turn left and head south, it is less crowded and you still can enter easily.  Lots of shade.  

Kahalu’u Beach Park has a covered area, bathrooms and volunteers a great place to snorkel, but a bit crowded.

I love the parrot fish.  In 2022, we arrived via hitchhike because our trolley stop was on Hawaiian time and never came. 

Beaches 

Kohanaiki Beach Park a good surfing beach, and is a bit of a secret beach off Hulikoa Dr.  This land borders a very exclusive golf country club and is a supreme surfing spot. 

Beaches in Hawaii must be accessible by the public,  so the developer put in a road so that surfers could get to the beach. With the new pavement on Hulikoa road came the understanding that there would be no advertisements on the main road or tourist brochures ~ making it a local phenomenon that Gertud knew about. We saw acrobatic surfing here.  

Ala Kahakai a Natioanl Historic Trail is found from Kohanaiki Beach Park and there are some exhibits including a hale which is a thatched reed hut used for Hawaian ceremonies and so many different types of birds and banana trees. 

Perhaps the Aloha spirit is brought out in a map that is displayed here as it shows how each tribe has a small section of ocean and their land area moves to the mountains. No fighting over beachfront property.

Spencer Park is on the northwest part of the Island near Waimea. There is shade and we saw many Nene,the protected Hawaiin goose of the many goose crossing signs you see along the Hawaiian roads.  This is not a good snorkeling spot.  This park closes one or two days a month for maintenance so make sure to check before driving all the way up there.  

Rainforests

The Big Island has 8 different climate zones including an unexpected desert area.  The rainforests make it optimal for growing coffee and chocolate and there are an abundance of farms.  

Thunder Mountain Coffee up the mountain toward Mauna Kea is where we learned what makes peaberry coffee so expensive (a mutation of sorts producing small not flat beans that are hand sorted).  Walked around the plantation in the gentle rain and got some delicious samples.  Not sure the extra expense is worth it in my palette.  

Rainforest Hiking at Makuala O’Oma Trail is a 3.4 mile loop trail located near Kailua Kona, Hawaii, Hawaii that features beautiful wildflowers and is rated as moderate. If you don’t want to hike in the rain,  you need to look up to the rainforest from Kailua in the morning and only set off if the mountain is clear.  It rains there often, almost every afternoon.  Thunder Mountain Coffee is a stop on the way up to this trailhead. 

Hilo on the East side of the Island claims to be the wettest city in the US and is home to a Rainbow Falls and a beautiful Banyan Tree and can easily be the day after the Volcano National Park excursion.

Lavola Chocolate Farm near Hilo on the covered extendo-golf cart was where we learned from where all those chocolate delights come. We got to taste the raw coffee beans (each one having antioxidants equal to 40 blueberries)  before tasting many delicious varieties of the finished product that we know and love as chocolate.  

Never made it to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Farm but this is in the area and surely there are free samples. 

Waikoloa Village has one mainstream Vacation Timeshare Villa after another, but I think you can get into the very upscale Waikoloa Hilton Hotel if staying in another Waikoloa Hilton property that is nearby and on the free tram that takes you all over the village.  

The Hilton Hotel at Waikoloa Village is an older hotel compared to the huge amount of timeshares. It is like an art museum and has so many impressive artifacts around the ground, not to mention a tram and fleet of Hilton Motorboats.  

It has an incredible outdoor protected snorkeling area with big fish that is perfect for children, 

not to mention a waterfall that one can go through in the pool area.  

A short walk to the Anchialine Pond Preservation Area, complete with wandering goats for a beautiful Hawaiian sunset with your Honey.

Hawaii Big Island

Kealakekua Bay MLCD

Lawai’a Sea Lodge

Dolphins

Manta Rays

Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park

Lekeleke/Kuamo’o Burial Grounds

Green Sands Beach

Southpoint

Punalu’u  Black Sands Beach Park

Volcano NP

Snorkeling

Beaches

Rainforests

California Central Coast– Big Sur, Pt Lobos, Carmel, Monterey

Vinny VanGo has completed the first circumnavigation of North America,  and we are back in California for a month of November, well not John he is off to Philly to do his annual Eagles game with the siblings. He made it as far as San Francisco where we spent the evening with Brynn and David and then had to have Paddle Boy to the airport for a 6:15 am flight. 

 I continued on visiting more friends and having  California adventures. 

A spent the week with my Radler camping girlfriends beginning at Pfeiffer State Park at Big Sur.  

This area of California has the most incredible ocean views and I had never been this far South on infamous Rt 1 before the closure that’s been going on for years due to cliff slides. 

It is on my way here that I had stopped along a pullout and happened to notice the exhaust pipe to the generator was hanging and luckily we had gotten a set of wrenches for the valve repair job in Wenatchee so I was able to remove it.

Pfeiffer Falls Hike right from the campground with a bit of cool off was in order.

Buzzards Roost Hike through shady redwoods to an exposed sunny ridge with a panoramic view of the ocean, Sycamore Canyon and the Santa Lucia Mountains was a bit warm even on this November Day.  The Radlers were having a week-long reunion at Gertrud’s house. 

Monterey Bay Fisherman’s Wharf was the first destination  as we were part of the welcoming back to Monterey this historic “Western Flyer”.  Some call it the most famous fishing boat as it depicts the 1940 expedition to the Sea of Cortez that was written into a book by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts.

 Luckily the small fleet of yacht club sailboats did not crash into the flawless showy vessel of the celebration because it sure seemed like they were going to do so. It was an afternoon of music and fan-fare and there was even a suitable tiny house on the bay for living small like we do in Vinny. 

Just Another Monterey Monday and off to the Aquarium where we saw an exquisite array of marine life.

Between the octopi, fish, otters and other sea creatures we were  so wowed by this incredible display.

Point Lobos State Park has an amazing trail system to hike along the bluffs and experience the mighty pacific waves crashing against the cliffs on the especially beautiful day. 

On the way back, Carmel -By-the Sea by sunset where the houses have names and there are no numbered streets for a square mile.

Elkhorn Slough was on the burner for our final day in the Central CA as the weather was superb.  

The paddling was exquisite as we saw an abundance of harbor seals, sea otters, pelicans and other sea birds.  

I was San Diego bound, as I am headed to Jenny and Mackie’s House in Vista.  Here Vinny would have a complete workover in Carlsbad including new rear brakes, oil and filter and transmission fluid changes.  He endured his first full-timing adventure unscathed although John became quite the YouTube Repair guy as he replaced holding tank valves, refrigerator clasp springs, generator exhaust pipe,  and toilet valves.  Although, while at the Blackwood Penitentiary he had a bit of a run-in with a saw blade.

John would return to LAX from Philly and we stayed with Jaz and Tony for several days.  Of course, the reunion of John and Ziva and Duke was quite emotionally charged.  We enjoyed this relaxing time in Ventura between bike riding to Emma Woods State Beach, 

Breweries and   John taking the dogs for multiple walks each day.

We made a quick trip up to Ridegcrest where we would meet up at the Flight Line Tap room with friends and Gloria shared her signature Curry Katsu and Pineapple Buns. John had wanted to take Duke out into the desert hills like he had so many times, but as luck would have it there was rain the entire day.  Oh well,  I did a bit of wandering the town and ended up at Maturango Museum  which is where I was inspired to write one of my first songs “The Maze of Life”

Thanksgiving Week was between the feasting in Vista and more Southern California adventures as Caroline took us sailing into Mission Bay. 

No load motor boats are allowed around in Sail Bay for the most part.  John remained on this boat at all times even though I have capsized small sailboats in both lake Saranac NY and Jamaica.  

Caroline said the type of boat we had is impossible to capsize.  I would have brought a paddle with us because getting back into the dock would be a bit overwhelming at my experience level. One can rent all sizes of boats from the Aquatic Center at the Bay.  

Mission Bay SUP provided another beautiful relaxing day 

before a gourmet cast iron seared steak dinner at the Kelly Condo in Vista complete with homemade ice cream. 

I got all my photos and writings safely archived onto my Dropbox for the day when the traveling adventures and blog ceases and I can remember all these adventures. Time with family and friends has really got me quite behind with my postings and as we get ready to fly to Maui this morning, we have already spent 2 weeks on the Big Island with our girls and significant others.  I got to get a move on it.

We are totally thrilled with going for another go-round as we have a 2024 spreadsheet that has several camp reservations.  We will concentrate on the East next year as we head to Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, and Prince Edward Island.  Of course,  there is New England and we hope to pass through during the Fall next year.  For now it’s Hawaii and Vinny gets a bit of a rest!

Oregon( Silver Falls, Sisters, Bend)

Silver Falls State Park is in my top 3 for state parks.  

You can walk behind four of them as the spout drop some 170 feet ft from the rock ledge. 

There are rock amphitheater-like alcoves that have been carved away, I think they need to be man-made, but John thinks otherwise.  We will have to wait for a subsequent trip to visit the museum.  

We had the most beautiful fall day and the yellow of the deciduous trees were popping, and the trails were just the right amount of up and down for a bit of a workout but leisurely.  

Except of course when you leave a 4pm for a 6 mile hike and sunset is at 6:26. All Trail says this is the Short Trail of Ten Falls and we did it counterclockwise.   It was not so leisurely on the first day hike, but the second day made up for it, leaving by 1pm because there was an incident in which Lisa’s sunglasses fell out of her pocket and then when we back tracked and found them, John happened to run them over and break them anyway.  This is the third pair of sunglasses that were broken not lost on our adventures this year.    

We were able to take the bike trail to the trail head loops and then hike to Winter Falls and Upper Falls, back tracking to see the Double Falls which is the highest at 178 feet but only a trickle compared to the others.

We saw a gaggle of ladybugs, not sure if this is the right term, but this one bush had hundreds of them on leaves and in bunches. 

Silver Falls has a nice paved bike trail as well that leads to the hikes.   There are less than 100 campsites, and they say it gets really hot in the summer, and the swimming hole at the end of October looked dismal, but maybe they fill it up because there looks to be sloped concrete slabs that border it.

A definite place to experience in the fall.  This will be a return to park in the fall.   

Over the Edge Tap House in Crooked River which is about 30 miles North of Bend would be our next landing spot where we met lots of friendly people and a great kiddie play area,  and our overnight was so quiet.  

This area reminded us of our desert home but very rural, no main street area, but had a golf course and RV park and there was one other saloon eating place too. Smith Rock which some call the birthplace of Rock climbing is located here, but that will have to be a next time because we never made it back to the Chilli cook off

Sisters, Oregon

The nostalgic location of Sisters was the next destination and the place where John talked to his Father for the last time.  He was here doing a South Sister mountain climb with our friend and former next store neighbor, Dave Wash. 

The town of Sisters  is so cute and they have a Folkfest at the end of September that includes an American Songwriters Camp.  We took in show at the Belfry which is a music venue, about size of Ridgecrest USO club that has been renovated from a run-down church.  We really loved the local opening band, Skybound Blue, a husband wife duo and a bass player.  It really seems like is a nice small venue and some of my favorite like AJ Lee and Blue Summit and Steve Poltz have scheduled dates there.  The first whole day while wandering Sisters, we heard two old guys, who played Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald followed by Nights in White Satin,  and the lead guitar player had a thing he called Fritz and it made all sorts of interesting instrumental sounds.  

They were really good and Open Door was a lovely small stage and restaurant. This town is a tourist destination in the summer, but we really like the vibe.  Many neighborhoods had a short walk/bike into the town main street area and then there was a parade through the center of town and we realized it’s homecoming in for the Outlaws.  The place is expanding for sure, reminds me a little of Bishop but since it is off the main drag between Bend and 97 South it is less busy, but with the Sister peaks in the Landscape, Three Creeks Brewing, a Community Theater and only local grocery stores (even ) and shops it feels so nice.  

There is even a Sisters Creek Campground that is a ½ mile walk to the Belfry downtown and if that is full, there is dispersed camping down Pine Street again very close to town with great bike paths. We even met a woman who knew Ridgecrest and whose aunt and uncle worked with John at Cerro Coso, small world.  Our first long term summer rental is now between Wenatchee and Sisters, we are just not sure which year that will be, but both are on the short list.   

But then there was Bend to investigate. 

The population is over 100,000  compared to Sisters with 3,000 (these are both 2021 census I think they have both grown significantly).  The spreadsheet pretty much failed to exist in the last week; this was on purpose since there is much more campsite availability and we have been deciding where to go day to day.  We had seen the at Blissfest in Michigan and they were playing a concert at the Volcanic Theater Pub in Bend, and in the accompanying parking lot there is the Good Life Brewery, with Snickers Imperial Stout (delicious dessert beer not too sweet and thick like some). An oh the Turkey BLT with bacon and turkey that the owner smokes meats on premise.  And as the bartender noticed we were on the dark side he offered samples of other darks.  We had “bartender” permission to camp in the parking lot, and although a bit too well lit all night, it was really quiet and bordered an industrial area and neighborhood.   We are headed back today to watch the Eagles game. 

The Steel Wheels were more incredible than we had remembered from our seats in the field at the farm, definitely a follower now.  They have incredible harmonies even when only accompanied by their unique Jingle Stick.

Drake Park in Bend is where the “Munch and Music” free concerts are held in the summer, so we arrived at this 13-acre manicured dual path park with footbridges across the Deschutes River and the trees bursting in color.  Then walked up the path to the downtown to the Commons Café and Tap room where John exchanged stories about visiting Veterans Stadium with their fathers in the 70’s (His bum fight compared to John’s  keg under the wheel chair story – that’s Philly)  They even invited us to stay in their driveway but we had concert tickets in Sisters.  Evidently this river is filled with tubers in the summer although we saw a few SUP and kayaks on this late fall day.   As we drove out, there appears to be named neighborhood sections of Bend, making a section seem small as we noticed restaurants in these neighborhoods off the beat and path of the downtown area. Bend would be another consideration for a long term rental, but a bit on the large side

Well I will sign of for a while as we are in back to California mode and visiting friends and dogs, children too. Had an overnight at Mount Shasta and stop by for a small hike at Castle, Craig State Park for some cool looking crags. Don’t think we’d ever venture up there – looks more difficult than Ha Ling 

Washington Central – Rivers, Lakes and Oktoberfest

Projekt Bayerischer Oktoberfest, Wenatchee Washington

Projekt Bayern Oktoberfest in Wenatchee – this was on the spreadsheet all along, since they had advertised many months ago when I was doing my planning.  

Seems like the Bavarian Town of Leavenworth (20 miles away) has their own Oktoberfest going and there is a big kerfuffle between the two.  But we went back for two days to enjoy the music, drink the beer and eat the Bretzels. 

Happy Hans was our favorite and could he ever sing, yodel and play the buttonbox. 

After seeing him the first night, we had to go back for his solo noon German traditional session.  The complete marching band then got the fest rolling on Saturday morning to begin the beer keg tapping. And of course there needs to be an Alpenhorn. 

Happy Hans band played again that evening including  American favorites like Sweet Caroline and the most impressive Burning Ring of Fire when he and his son would also do the trumpet solos.  Of course, I both waltzed and yodeled with two Lederhosen clad men. 

Gertrud always likes to dress up for the occasion so she attended Oktoberfest  in her own non-traditional Bayerische outfit. 

Just as we were thinking we had had enough beer and needed to accomplish the 3-mile bike ride home, on came a Vancouver Canadian band, the Gordanairs.  

They had about seven members and their lederhosen did not mean they played mostly umpah, they broke out into great dance music and we decided to stay for another round.  The young head guitar player was amazing and even did a back bend on stage while continuing to play in his lederhosen. Of course, John had to inquire after the show if anyone knew Robin Trower just like if we meet someone from England he wants to know if they know Catford, Robin’s birthplace.  So, we found out one of the older vocal and harmonica players was the father of the young guitarist with the moves.  We found out they normally don’t wear lederhosen, his backbend while playing guitar  in leather was very impressive. There was a sweet woman who during their set got people up to dance and she ended up being the girlfriend of the drummer and boy could they dance.  

Of course, mixed in there were the Tyrolean dancers from Oregon who did bell ringing and the Schuhplatter and other cool dances.  And alway in between there were chants of  ein zwei drei tiki taki tiki taki, hoi hoi hoi.

We visited the Bavarian town of Leavenworth twice, not their Oktoberfest.  The second time we visited was planned, as Gertrud was meeting us there the day before we were to meet up at the Wenatchee Confluence Campground and do the Projekt Bayern Wenatchee Oktoberfest.  We actually spent our first night a motel, the Ritterhof in Leavenworth since we had been Vinny VanGoing.  

Leavenworth is a delightful Bavarian town with a fussgaenger zone and beautiful flowers hanging from the shops and restaurants. 

Set at the base of the Cascade mountains, murals and architecture all in the Bavarian style made it a fun evening, but then the outdoor garage type doors at Icicle Brewing came down and they played “Closing Time” at 10pm sharp as were sipping our last beer ~ 

Gertrude said this early closing time was not like she remembers in Austria.

Well maybe they were saving up for their actual Oktoberfest the next day.  

Word has it that Leavenworth broke away because their Fest turned a bit Wild and not family oriented, but who knows.   All their Oktoberfest tickets were sold out so we couldn’t go anyway.  

There is a delightful park along the Wenatchee River walking distance from the town. Well Jack Frost was not nipping at our nose, so good thing Princess Google recommended skipping our planned roasting of these “Horse Chestnuts” by the fire that we had gathered on our walk. 

The first time John and I visited Leavenworth was in the rain, but looking for good bread and beer.  

We were in Dan’s Market getting that longed for Das Brot, (could not find a standalone Bakerei with bread, just gingerbread, sweets and coffee shop combos)  when John comes to the single picnic table in the back of the store, housing the deli, bakery, coffee area, singing with the store sound system the Beatles Song “All You Need is Love.” Before you know it, there were about 5 different people full on singing “Love, Love, Love” ~ The bakery lady, a coffee customer, us and another guy , of course both of us.   Everyone had a really good voice and one coffee sipping women did an echo thing.  It was just a moment that happened and wish we could all live this message in our very fragmented society of today. It was so spontaneous and positive and feel good!

We found the bread, but as usual we are always in search of dark beer and so many places don’t have it, even though they are on the menu.  Bluette Brewery and Pizza and we were starved and had a fabulous thin crust pizza, but then decided to move along in search of the dark side – John even wore his beer diversity shirt.  Icicle Brewery and the blue sky was visible, and they had a fire table to warm, of course a bench rain wipe down was necessary. 

Here we met an Austrian Couple and got to practice our German a bit. Good thing because then we were off down the street to Muenchen House where we met another German mom, dad and 25 year old son. Etienne, studying in London for masters in sustainability, was so articulate in the topic as John lectured in his usual teacher manner.  Another full night of meeting different people and John placed the burden of the environment on this young man to solve, and he was knowledgeable and passionate about his duty.  John says his favorite part of Vinny VanGoing is meeting people.

After our first trip to Leavenworth from Lincoln Rock Camp Ground, a passing couple had recommended the Pybus Market, a renovated train depot in Wenatchee.  Here the Hellbent brewery was a delightful place to eat drink and chat. 

We had been contemplating going to a community theater production “50th Birthday Present” which we learned about from the restaurant bulletin board at Bluette Brewery, but then we met Glen 451 at Hellbent.  Glen educated us in the pronunciation, Wenatchee, has the short “a” sound not  “ah”; this is the same as Chelan.  At his recommendation,  we were off to the next adventure to hear live music by the Chumlillies since Glen was tasked to build a fire (hence 451 after Fahrenheit 451) at the Old Barn Drinkery.  

Evidently, they have event/weddings here on weekends and every Wednesday and Thursday throughout the summer they had local musicians play.  The owners are musicians themselves, and the sound system was excellent and were able to hear all the words to the song “Cascade Smile”. Unfortunately. we are gonna miss the Dark Side of the Moon Laser Music show at the end of October here at the Drinkery.  Great vibe, people and location, Wenatchee, along the Columbia River.  

We had stopped at the Rocky Reach Damn Discovery Center where a huge amount of electricity is generated for all those Teslas.  We were able to see a fish ladder in progress as these companies try to mitigate the damage from the damn for all those Teslas.  John got to drive the ship through the rocky waters of the Columbia River which were full of many shipwrecks in the day before the railroad took over. 

 Wenatchee is the Apple Capital of the Country, looks a lot like Tehachapi area with the large brown rolling hills, and there is lot of local produce stands not mentions Bosket Bread Bakery rising since 1987 out of Leavenworth.  

Evidently it is desert, but enjoys the Columbia River water in many different ways. 

Wenatchee was really growing on us.  One such way is the Confluence Wenatchee Campground where the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers converge. 

Here Gertrud and I paddled around for several hours and were able to maneuver through a side creek that connected these two rivers as fall colors were popping.  

A nice place to paddle even though it was way over the lake size that John and I have established as optimal for SUP. 

At the campground we also discovered the fully paved Apple Capitol Bike Trail which led us easily to the Toyota Center where the Wenatchee Oktoberfest site and also right to our favorite Pybus Markert of all places.  

So of course that meant a stop at Hellbent to show Gertrud the place and read the monthly local arts Wenatchee newspaper that we found there that was chock-full of information about Wenatchee town events.

This was good news for John because as Gertrud and I paddled, he was able to watch the Eagles win their fifth game at Hellbent and bike home not on a main road because there was celebration and after all he was at Hellbent Brewery.  He met the same regulars that we had met the week before, and just made it home before dusk. 

The Bike trail is a 10-mile loop that crosses the Wenatchee and the Columbia River twice, going through lovely parks with permanent Art exhibits, swimming areas, soccer and football playing fields, Marriot Residence In and Hilton properties, fancy private neighborhoods and condos. 

Wenatchee was really growing on us and we decided if there was a place to rent for a month it would be Wenatchee.  The only down side is SeaTac airport is 100 miles away a bit further from a major airport.  Evidently it gets cold here and snows too, so would never make it permanent anyway, but it has the right amount of civilization (beer, wineries and music), beauty, and convenience, evidently it has a Costco too. The campground had beautiful deciduous trees and they were popping. Unlike many deserts,  the Columbia supplies water and the vast fields at state parks are watered and green. Vinny looks good in yellow. 

As we drove east word from Wenatchee, wow was it beautiful on Route 2. 

The couple that we had met from Hilo had said they drove all the way across the country on Route 2, only in the summer.  

Wenatchee National Forest went along for quite a while, outside of Leavensworth, and there looked like there were many hiking and camp grounds along the way. Looks like most of them do not have electricity. But the hiking looked incredible especially on this color popping October day.

The drive in to Leavensworth was also beautiful, and there were so many orchards as Leavenworth is the pear capital of the country, at least that’s what they say.

The above account of Wenatchee and Leavenworth were the highlights of the Central Washington State Area, but we also had other good times mostly meeting people and also had our Lake Chelan week and Covid Shots too.  Those memories follow here.  We had decided to leave Quinault Lake in Olympic national park a day early since the rain in the rainforest was scheduled full on mode for several says and get to Aberdeen a day before our Covid vaccines scheduled at the Rite-Aid. 

Steam Donkey Brewery in Aberdeen was the destination where we would sort out a place to stay for the night since we were again off the spreadsheet.  Got to talking to a nice couple who lived in the area and before you knew it, they invited us to stay in their driveway, and they even brought fresh from their tree, apple crisp out to us.  They were off fishing in the morning and we off to our shot appointments.   After a bit of Rite-Aid debacle with our Insurance Company changing our group number, but forgetting to tell us,  we got the shots.   Again, it was getting late but Lisa put her foot down and we went to the Mermaid Museum and Westport Winery which was a Harvest Host location where we knew we could stay overnight if needed.   

We were too late to go to the museum, but never too late for a nice dinner at the café and some chocolate, wine and coffee, chocolate rum purchase. 

Although it was almost dark, and we were feeling no vaccine side effects, John wanted to get back on the spreadsheet even though it was a 3-hour drive, and who knows how we would feel tomorrow.  Which, I was fine, and John slept all day at our first Finger Lake experience at Ike Kinswa State Park.   It was the perfect day to hang out because it rained the whole day, and I got to do lots of communications with people whom I had been missing.  It was so quick how we were driving in mountain forests and then boom, we were in the desert near Wenatchee right along the Columbia River.

SUP stayed tucked away and we were off to Lincoln Rock State Park Campground again with a bunch of rain scheduled for the next day which is how we veered off the spreadsheet and instead of paddling on a part of the Columbia River protected by a huge Rock. It was a 20-mile drive to the Bavarian town of Leavenworth for the bread and beer as explained above.

Lake Chelan, bound from Lincoln Rock Campground.

Back on the spreadsheet now, Chelan, a 45-mile-long finger lake is a tourist hot spot in the summer, but pretty empty at the end of September.  

The lake is clear and gorgeous and evidently you know it is the desert in the summer, but there is the luscious lake in which to cool.  

We finally had a high of 70 and sunny which made paddling delightful, but a bit too cold to frolic in the water for someone other than Pink Fins.  There was almost no one on the lake during on these first days of October even though it was beautiful and the sun was warm and the lake was placid. 

We had two days of wonderful all-day paddling, although on the second day there seemed to be small waves coming out of nowhere ~  it wasn’t even windy. They were small and rolling and not a problem, but a bit strange.  We stayed at two different Campsites the Lake.

1) Lakeshore RV Park located was very conveniently located to a Laundromat, Chelan Market (great little market) and close to a Safeway, as well less than a mile walk into the main street. It had a gate to the Dan Morse Park where you could swim, launch SUP, play in the extensive grass, or even rent kayaks and fix bikes (John’s gears were needed some work) The spots were a bit more spacious than most RV Parks, but location, location, location made this expensive ($168 for two nights). Center spots are best because there is a nice green and tree covered field, and not spots near the highway.  I would imagine it would be a zoo in the summer near the water, there were tons of empty slips and I could imagine holding about 30 power boats.  I believe you could SUP under the bridges and could get out at the city park for a picnic. People say the water here is warmer. Here we did the Brews on the Bridge, there’s a lot happening in Chelan. 

2) Lake Chelan State Park about 10 miles up the west side of the lake was typical RV packing (few trees between sites but open up to a huge field where the deer regularly grazed. Paddle Boy had to carry the boards down 2 flights of steps to get to the swimming/launch area.  

There was Little Bear Trail, was a 3-mile hike up in the hills from the campground, but it was not so picturesque although it had lots of lusciously vanilla, butterscotch smelling ponderosa pines.  

Evidently there is Twenty-five Mile Creek State Park that is 10 miles further up the road, we decided that was a bit too ambitious for our day paddle. There is something about this State Park which may interest Pink Fins because it looks like there are boat slips, 4 brand new metal docks and accessible to what looks like some primitive camping tent spots, they may be boat-in sites.  

Pink Fins, I also read that Lake Chelan has a sailing Regatta too.

Would I come back to Chelan?  I think if we wanted the more near city and to stock up yes, although we never really found that brewery or restaurant that we really liked…Although Myth Pizza was excellent but small and a bit crowded to hang on a Saturday Night.  This size Lake in general is not optimal for paddling, but if I found myself needing a place in the heat of the summer, Lake Chelan is very inviting.  I wish there would be a SUP wine Tour on the Lake because Mason on the other side had all kinds of vineyards, four are Harvest Hosts, and from my podcast it said Rio Vista Winery will let you overnight as well. In fact, as we drove into Chelan, we stopped at the Tsillian Winery, and I drank several glasses while we listened to an excellent classic rock band, Legacy Mukilteo for the entire afternoon because they were so good.  John got to have some canine time with two sweethearts. 

He also had to break out his air guitar as they played Eruption by Van Halen.  They will be hard to find again since last Facebook post is from 2021 and that was how they keep in contact.  There is a city called Mukilteo, and they seem to play for Untapped Public House as well as local events in this city near Everett Washington.   The winery staff were very attentive, and an older gentleman who looked like the owner came around said he was family, he said we could stay at their winery if needed. 

Great venue to listen to music – no good beer though.  

We have one more day in Wenatchee, Gertrud has left for a spa in Carson and it is supposed to rain for the next several days.  before we head to our friend Scott’s house for a few days and then fly to Margot’s Wedding in Houston.  Stayed at a ½ price Passport America RV park ($17 with electricity/water), Wenatchee County Park excellent Wi-Fi and facilities and cool sculptures even in the rain. 

  And John finally got to see a moose. 

Olympic National Park, WA

Olympic National Park, diverse with a capital D. Rainforest, Ocean, Mountains, Glaciers, Rivers and Lakes and we have been running around here for about 2 weeks.  

 This is my second visit to Olympic NP, the first was with my girlfriends in 2022 when we did out trip to the San Juan Islands.  Caroline, Ala Pink Fins 2022,  justed excited about the water and responsible for our SUP enthusiasm. 

 And now we returned to our favorite place Log Cabin Resort at Crescent Lake, spending a week here and meeting up with friends from Ridgecrest and our college days friend, Scott, who lives in Washington.  

The lake is clear and perfect sized for Stand Up Paddling Even when ducks jump on your SUP, and the campground is only about 30 spaces in one loop. 

Although small and RV Park like, the easy access to the water and a big field area right on the water make the living area seem much bigger.

  There is a delightful lodge and café that is totally glass enclosed affording lake views.  

Wi-fi is there, but not really, and we were able to successfully set up our booster to go to two bars and use minimal internet.  

This time we daytripped to the Crescent Lake Lodge (Marymerre Water Fall Hike from here) across the Lake and they too have nice access and an early 30’s lodge and eating area overlooking the lake.  

Seemed a bit less windy than the Log Cabin resort side of the lake,  the beach slope much more gradual but they had no camping.  I guess there is a Fairholme Lodge to be discovered for next time.  Our Log Cabin Resort had all kinds of boat rentals too and there is the nice “Railroad Trail” – looks like you could mountain bike it if you want, but we walked with Gloria, Ryan and Toddy, their adorable new Romanian puppy 

 The Lake can get windy and when going out the waves can make paddling a bit rough, so we didn’t paddle everyday.  

 The fire ban was lifted our last night we so enjoyed the warmth and ambience after  a lovely paddle across the lake to the Punch Bowl

A fairy tale day in our lives is a long hike followed by a relaxing event (no breweries in sight so not our usual option) but Sol Duc Hot Springs was.

Unfortunately, our long hike had to be curtailed because the Lover’s Lane portion of the loop hike had bridge repair work and was closed.  

So the 7 mile turned to more like 5 miles, but the hike was easy and beautiful through the rain forest with plenty of old moss covered trees. 

We got back in time for quick dinner and hit our 6pm, hour and a half Hot Spring reservation time.  We stayed our entire slot talking to a young couple who were traveling and worked as horse stable hands in various locations.  I enjoyed plunging into the unheated swimming pool, and after being so warmed through from the hot springs, stayed in for much longer than I would normally under such conditions.  We felt like our skin was softer than usual and I even slept until 930 the next morning, so I guess the whole hot spring relaxation thing was in deed a thing.  

FYI The above photo is not the hot springs but a fish hatchery exhibit. The hot springs were circular cement pool not nearly as picturesque is the pool for fish.   

Just a bit of clarification, the Sol Duc Hotspring Resort maintains the pool area and there is a small lodge/store for food.  The RV area is a gravel parking lot with electricity and water at each site that is a 150 yard path to the Pool area.  There is another Sol Duc campground about ½ mile from the pool area that has rainforest thick wooded large camping spots, much nicer than our gravel parking lot area, but I think we may have become a bit nippy if we would have walked back to a campsite.  Trade offs – for us since we were only an overnight, it was fine.  They seemed to have several very warn looking cabins in a field  around the hot spring pool area too, not inviting at all. 

I just thought I heard a cow mooh and the next thing I Look up and there is a heard of 10 black cattle running across the Rainforest Resort here at Quinault Lake. Luckily I wa sipping coffee in the van and not in their path.  Hmmm,  it’s interesting the dynamic between the National Park Lands, private and tribal lands. 

I had chosen the Resort because I though we were in need of some electricity as we had been several days on the coast with National Park  basics.  Handily, a resort usually has laundry facilities; we have already done two loads and been here less than 24 hours.  And then across the field, Salmon Restaurant was top notch and we had dinner there two nights in a row because the salmon was that good and we have been seriously behind in our Omega 3’s.  All advantages of the private sector because the contracted Armark hospitality of many NP are run of the mill, and suffering from the “help wanted” signs.  Each of these evenings we dined with a different delightful couple  who we met at the campground. Barbara and Kurt who gave us the book “Lessons in Chemistry” and Vicki and Mike who live in Hilo.

We inquired about launching our SUP into the lake, and need to pay an extra $20 to the First Nations for vessel inspection and permit..all administered at the our resort.   The resort is basic, friendly, nice general store, and charming and has the worlds biggest Sitka Spruce adjoining the property.  

Half of the clothes dryers are out of order as usual (not at the Whistler Resort $5 a load; however,  compared to $1.75 here).  No SUP,  but had two of the best hikes through the rain forest which started conveniently at out resort.  We did  2 miles on the first day to  Gallup Falls, perfect for the 60 minute dryer cycle which started right from resort laundromat, then went back for several more miles afterward. 

 The next day, set out on a longer loop that brought us back down to the Quinault Lodge, a beautiful 1930’s style interior and we broke up our 7 mile hike with a libation on the back patio overlooking the lake.  Quinault Lodge is fancy shmancy compared to our Rainforest Resort with a restaurant, and patio seating where there is a beautifully manicured  green field overlooking the lake, but no campsites. 

When I think about all the rain forests we have been in so far this one has been most beautiful. 

The downed logs and trees are beautifully carpeted with moss and there are these large oversized clover plants that grow among the ferns and remind me of how lucky I am. 

There is enough of the green hanging moss which I have come to associate with the definition of rainforest although not sure. 

When I went to the Hoh Rainforest in 2022 there was tons moss everywhere, so perhaps this is my association. 

 I think the stuff is a bit creepy and gives you the impression of being haunted, not such a big fan. 

As far as Hoh Rainforest goes, I don’t plan on ever going back. First it is off the main road about 20 miles of slow driving, then when you get start getting close the traffic stops and there are signs along the road that say you are 20, 40, 60 …. Minutes from being allowed get into the parking area, and you’ve just driven over 45minutes down the road to get here. The hikes are relatively short and swarming with people, all be it in high season August, but none the less late about 5:30 pm and was still a huge wait. I remember relatively few freshly cut down trees compared to the Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island, but had the same feel and you didn’t need to spend half a day to get the experience.  Ok, enough Hoh whining. The rainforest hike in Sol Duc was quite nice and had that dark woods feeling and a waterfall not to mention the hot spring afterward, but the rainforest here at our Rainforest Resort at Quinault Lake is the most beautiful and peaceful. 

 Add to it, the Quinault Lodge libation/restaurant luxury and our Salmon restaurant basically on property, this is a high recommendation from me if you want to do the rainforest.

 Of course, I sit here and it is supposed to rain for the next 4 days, but after all it is the rainforest. 

As I mentioned above,  we had two days of no electricity along the coast.  First, we stayed a Mora Campground which again beautiful deep dark forest sites not right on the ocean.  So as the rain stopped briefly, we sprinted up the road 1.5 miles to Rialto Beach so we could get back before night fall in this land of darkness where the clouds and canopy made 7:40 required headlamp usage.  

Saw the timber strewn driftwood trees that we now associate with Washington Seashore because subsequent visits to both Ruby Beach and our campground at Kalaloch Beach had similar huge logs and tree that bordered the shore right along the bluffs above. 

 Evidently a few fall off the bluffs, but most are a result of storms that down trees upstream depositing them finally into the ocean to be swirled about and finally end up on shore. Kalaloch Campground has some nice sunnier on bluff camping, but we were one of the many spots that were deep in the dark forest canopy. 

 After the first day of rain, we were very happy to walk the beach at Kalaloch at the most perfect enjoyable temperature, but were bummed out to have no firewood to be found as they just lifted the ban in the National Parks.

As to be complete about the Olympic NP experience I need to add in Hurricane Ridge, which reminds me of the being in the Austrian Alps.  

John and I did not visit here, but I went in summer of 2022 shortly before the Visitor’s Center burned down.  One can actually drive quite far up and hike along the ridge overlooking the snow capped mountains.  This year they limited the number of cars through permits, so we didn’t venture there, but I would highly recommend it .

Cape Flattery, Neah Bay and the Makah Tribal land is another incredible daytrip that I did in 2022 with the Radlers.

It is quite a drive to the end of the Olympic Peninsula, but the views of cliffs with crashing churning sea is just incredibly beautiful. 

We were on a bit of a cloudy day and saw relatively few people and also stopped at the Makah Museum which had excellent exhibits, and I am not even such a museum type.   I believe one can even arrange to see the authentic village, but it was closed on our visit.  This is not so far from the Ozette Lake Area (seems big and would have coastal winds for SUP) but they offer a variety of boating possibilities according to our NP newspaper. 

Vancouver Island BC, Canada

Surf, Surf Surf – If I were to try surfing, I would come to Vancouver Island in the summer. 

 I have never seen so many surfers in thigh deep water riding waves, not like in California where you see tons of people out there, waiting and waiting and waiting for that perfect wave.  The two famous west coast beach towns, Tofino and Ucluelet, are full of surf lesson offerings and gear rental (it’s still the Pacific and wetsuits are a must if you’re not a penguin-Waikiki no wetsuits sounds better to me). These towns have a collection of tourist shops, libation centers and restaurants. 

Ucluelet has a beautiful two-mile easy hike, “Wild Pacific Trail,” that goes through lush cedar forest with so many beautiful lookouts to the crashing waves on rocky cliffs and islands.

It was my favorite thing we did while on Vancouver Island.  (Reminds me of the Hike near Trinidad Head Trail Loop in California ) 

Ucluelet is probably a bit more surf oriented than Tofino which seemed to be more whale watching oriented and to its east there are several smaller islands to explore.  

These are only reachable by boat or water taxi of which the town is full of offerings. 

The Pacific Rim National Park, Greenpoint Campground, lies between these two towns on this 24 mile peninsula which has an excellent paved multi-use bike trail for the entirety – no highway riding here, just smooth relatively flat pedaling unless you go down to one of the many beaches along the way. 

There are all kinds of beaches to stop and enjoy on this trail, but really no real libation stations or snack bars that I remember seeing. 

The beaches were very flat and perfect for getting in all those steps that old people like to do each day or even ride a bike.  The first campground I booked before the magic Pacific Rim National Park book date was a surfing campground and I wonder if our experience would be different if we had arrived here. Our Greenpoint Campground had beach access and we even watched the bioluminescent waves crash on the shore in the dark after we were clued in my Jimmy Sims the auto racer who we had met the night before at the Tofino brewery and then again when we wandered into them on the “Pacific Wild Trail.” No photos of this phenomenon but a really beautiful sunset instead. 

 The campground has excellent new facilities and is nestled in long thin evergreens making it almost dark in many areas, and we even had a primo site that sat on the bluff overlooking the Ocean. 

The Ucluelet Brewery is a renovated church and was quite nice I really liked the bitter orange lavender cider, but John has not found a dark that he liked even though there was a porter on tap. 

Butchart Gardens was busting with the blooms and beauty as and our 3 hour wandering was an incredibly beautiful day even though it started with a bit of some dark cloud action.  

The sun was out in the afternoon and the colors were brilliant and the so many different greens so varied on this Monday.

As I was looking at the aetherial fountains, it is here that I found out my Tante Cilli, my moms oldest and last living sister at 99 years of age had passed. Her single swirling stream joined by an array of others, was the 5 Rockel sisters finally excitedly joined together once again, and I found comfort in this.  

Victoria, the city that we have heard is so beautiful and finally our ferry ride would allow us to walk around the harbor area for a bit.  

Like all the Fairmonts in Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise, the Empress Hotel in Victoria is one of those grand places where you can have high tea. 

The Harbor area is bustling with yellow/black  checkered water taxis, seaplanes and whale watching tour boats and more flowers and a bagpiper playing America Beautiful, but not so crowded on this 9/11 afternoon.     

Qualicum Falls Campground and hike presented yet another impressive waterfall surrounded by fencing as the cliffs drop offs and many treacherous edges. 

On our way to there, we took in a short walk in the Cathedral Grove with its 800 year old growth forest carpeted with ferns and draping moss. 

very similar to the Hoh Rainforest In Olympic NP.

The drive on Route 4 west across Vancouver Island was beautiful, but slow. The road was in surprisingly bad shape with large dents and would definitely not do at night when you can see them. 

We took Sunday for the birds, that is the Eagles and went to the Canadian Brewhouse in the Uptown Outdoor Mall.  There were TV screens all over the place and luckily the birds eeked out a win, so Paddle Boy was in a good mood.  We stayed the night ant Goldstream Campground before doing the Gardens on our final day. 

When we arrived by ferry in Namaino there was no allure to the famous Vancouver Island. It was bustling with all the stores on the main thoroughfare including Costco like any other city outskirts.  Driving out it is much like Oregon and Washington with tall spruce trees.   Rathtrevor Beach, our first night campsite  had the very tall thin trees that made much of the campsites very dark, but the campground was quiet and had a great bike bath and ran along the bay.  We were able to ride bikes to the brewery on nice wide shoulders.  Unusual that we had very few people interactions here except coming across a black rabbit near our bikes. 

If you read until the bitter end here, you will be rewarded with this great tip I received from the Ferry personnel.  You can start parking your car/van as soon as the prior ferry departs.  Meaning you could park at around 330 pm and not have to be back to your car to meet the custom agent until 6pm.  A free place to park and wander around the harbor area for a few hours.  He volunteered that if you take the first ferry out in the morning, you could park the night before which would be handy for us.  One could go out and paint the town and come back to sleep where we do every night.   

Next time- Before going to ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay on BC mainland,  we stopped at a Park that had a dive air dispenser.  It may have been Lyons Park, but not sure.  The area was beautiful. 

Although Vancouver Island was beautiful the $150 ferry cost each way with Vinny, and the fact that the beauty was much like Oregon and Washington, and we are not surfer dudes, we will probably not return. I do envision taking the ferry from port Angeles to Victoria and doing a high tea at the Empress or taking a sailing day trip 

Also as a highly recommended venture was Salt Spring Island that is a ferry ride from Vancouver island.

I was reading through my blog and somehow the whole post got lost, so I am copying it from my documents and re-posting.