Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

We Move to Bahia Honda

Saturday and Sunday                                                        Most Recent Post:
November 14 and 15,, 2015                                                A Real BEACH in the Keys!
Curry Hammock and Bahia Honda State Parks

 

 

SATURDAY

Today is mostly about the sun and the clouds.  The sunrise is a real beauty beginning at dawn with the first colors.  I would rate this as one of the best sunrises I have ever seen.  The colors seemed to start at first light and go on and on until the white hot ball would allow no further photographs.

 

At 6:10 am.

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Still pretty dark looking north but the white heron really stands out.

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By 6:22 the pastel colors have arrived.

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6:36

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Turning my back to the sun I see the clouds have been colored pink.

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After this great color show, the sun breaks the horizon right on time, 6:41am.

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Within 5 minutes the sun has moved up behind the low gray clouds.

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In another 5 minutes we have celestial skies.

 

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I look over to the north west and what a beautiful sight.

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Normally when the sun is red hot white, the show is pretty much over.  But not today.  Look at these clouds coming in from the north.

 

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The subtle changes are by the minute.  I took 25 pictures of these clouds.  They were just fantastic.

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Slightly to the right and out of the picture is where the sun goes down.  This morning the clouds are putting on a show.

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We try to lay low on the week ends to avoid the crowds but today we do go over to the day use area in the afternoon and do some snorkeling in the water to make sure our gear is still OK and to see what’s out there.

 

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In a word, nothing but grass. The area for swimming/snorkeling isn’t large if you aren’t willing to go out into the boat channel which on a Saturday I am not. I do see one fish but take no pictures of the pretty much nothing we see.  Saturday is not a kayaking day for us either, too much traffic, so we pack it in and head back to Winnona.  Isn’t it wonderful to be able to sit out the week-ends?

Another reason for packing it in is that we see the clouds have massed.  It’s about 4:00.  Looking pretty ominous. But aren’t they impressive?  They day use area where we have come from is just out of sight along the shore beyond the trees on the left of the picture below.  Yup, right under those big dark clouds.

 

And here’s what’s in front of us as we return to the campground along the shore.

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The very dark area at the horizon on the left is rain coming down in sheets.

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Doesn’t take too long for the rains to come across the water to us and it rains all night long.  We’re moving tomorrow but luckily the rain stops just before dawn.

 

 

 

SUNDAY

 Today is the day we move but not too soon so I have a chance to go out at dawn again.  Notice how different two dawns can be.  Saturday and Sunday look nothing alike.  This morning it really looks like we are in for the predicted all day rain.  But it’s not raining yet thankfully.

 

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When the sun gets up in the sky, the clouds are still around but they don’t look nearly so threatening.  We’re thrilled that they’ve pushed the rain back a few hours.  I take this picture of Winnona in her sweet spot on her last day there for at least this year.  You can see the red and blue kayaks on top of Ruby parked next to her.   I’m up on the deck of the campground bathroom on stilts.

 

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We are packed up and ready to go but since we are only moving 28 miles down the road to Bahia Honda State Park in Big Pine Key, we don’t want to get there too early and have to sit around in the day use parking lot.

Our last morning in Curry Hammock is a memorable one since it is the first time we have been able to open all the windows and the door and not have to have the air conditioning on.  The temperature is perfect.  And it’s NOT raining right now.  The humidity isn’t even too bad.  So nice to feel the breeze blowing through the coach.  I’ll bet this is what it’s like for the lucky people who win the January and February lotteries for the Keys state parks.

 

 

 

We’ll be back here to Curry Hammock in two weeks and we’re hoping maybe these sea grapes will be ripe but not gone so we can taste them.  I’ve never had sea grapes and wonder how they can be sweet like their name sake growing in such salty areas.

 

 

During the morning Nancy Mills and I keep each other appraised of how the packing up is going for the folks in the sites we are each moving in to.  We are moving to Bahia Honda where they currently are and they are coming here for a week.

About noon both sites are empty and so we head south and they north.  We pass each other on the 7 Mile Bridge. 

 

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But, when we both get to the parks, we are told the sites are not “ready” so we both end up amusing ourselves for about 30 minutes in our case and over an hour in theirs.  Seems the folks in their site claimed they thought it was only 11:30 when the camp host came at about 1:15 to see why they were not gone.  I had seen them packing up the last of their things at noon before we left.  Something’s fishy here.

But given that check out time is 1:00 and check in is 3:00, we’re both pretty happy to be able to move in early since it still looks like that rain is going to show up.  We don’t set up anything with that in mind.  Notice the water at the front edge of the site.  Luckily sandy soils drain fairly quickly from last nights all night rain.

 

Looking down the street of the campground.  Bahia Honda has two separate campgrounds one is for tents only and is on the water.  The RV campground has 49 sites about a dozen of which are on the water.  Ours, obviously, isn’t one of them.  Just getting a site in Bahia Honda is quite a feat.  You have to have the charmed life of Nancy and Bill Mills to be on the water which they have been twice this year.

 

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21 comments:

  1. The many changing moods of your sunrises at Curry Hammock are wonderful. So glad to hear that the humidity and heat has abated! Enjoy your time at Bahia Honda -- it's a pretty sweet beach there, I think you'll enjoy it. (Although it is definitely more crowded than Sombrero.)

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  2. The title of this one made think of a Travis McGee novel... that was a nice sunrise!

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    1. I had never heard of Travis McGee until this year. Now I've read all 21 and reread some of my favorites.
      His trips go the keys remind me of the areas around big PINE Key.

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    2. Travis McGee was my hero a long time ago.. About 4 years back I tried to get into them again & something was missing.
      Time to try again!

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  3. Those sunrise shots are gorgeous! Normally skies like are reserved for summertime. Glad you shared it! I can't wait to see your Bahia Hondo pictures.

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  4. A friend of mine who worked for me out west relocated to Florida for work. When I visited her, she laughed and said, "We don't have mountains here in Florida, we don't need them. We have the clouds." Loved your cloud photos.

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  5. It seems as though our 40 ft would fit at this new State Park you are in. . .I will need to check it out online. . .

    great pics today. . .

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  6. Love your Curry Sunrise photos...they really are magical!!!

    We "must have done something good" to be rewarded with 2, 2 weeks stays on the water at Bahia;o)) It really was the best camping spots we have ever had!!!

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  7. We don't always have the cloud cover here to make for spectacular sunrises or sunsets, yours was simply amazing. I know one day I'll have to do some serious future planning if we decide head to the keys.

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  8. Those are some amazing skies! I too love the show mother nature puts on for us each day!

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  9. Gorgeous sunrises-wow! Even ominous, they are beautiful. Too bad the snorkeling wasn't better there...still neat to try it out. Wonderful that it sounds like the temperatures are cooling perhaps. Now you're onto a new place to explore :) Pretty charmed even if not waterfront...no doubt 'water close' :)

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  10. Too funny you passing Nancy and Bill! You seem to orbit around each other in your travels. Nothing better that life in the Keys. :c)

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  11. Those clouds were definitely not letting go of that first sunrise - looks like they were enjoying every minute of it! From the soft pastels to the intense dark hues on the second day, it was like Disney princesses giving way to the dark, but beautiful, villians. We've only had to wait one time for a spot to open for an early arrival, but I think where you are you were lucky to have only a short wait - can't wait to see what this new spot is like! And so glad you used that delightful photo for your profile shot - such happy faces :-)))))

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  12. With those gorgeous sunrises I'd have a hard time moving anywhere. Sure hope that rain goes away and you get to see more of the same at this park.

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  13. Enjoyed your blog. Many very nice pictures. Good to see you love kayaking also. One of my greatest joys is fishing out of my kayak.

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  14. The sea grapes are pretty but I wonder what they taste like. I'll stick to California grapes.

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  15. I'm jealous of your peaceful sunrises. Just lovely!

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  16. I love that you made it out for every sunrise which is why you saw this one, and 'Sometimes David' did not. I really missed a beauty there. You never know what you will see if you don't just go to find out. Beautifully captured and presented!

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  17. Beautiful! Thank you for showing us all those gorgeous sunrises.
    We did not get a spot at Bahia Honda but we visited that park several times. I think yo will enjoy it there.

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