Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2009: 17

  Monday, November 23, Cathy went to her exercise class. Bill got his gear together and drove to the bait shop on Shadowlawn Road to pick up two dozen live shrimp for his new homemade bait bucket. Then he went out for a 7 hour kayak fishing paddle on Rock Creek and Gordon River. He had lots of action, but only brought 2 big catfish to the boat. He threw them back. The threatening weather made him stay close to the campground, but he realized later that he should have gone down Naples Bay and out to the Gulf or down the ICW for better fishing. There are a couple of bailouts along the way in case of bad weather. When Bill got back and cleaned his gear and himself, he went to Starbucks and Publix to replenish our water supply. We grilled burgers for dinner.

  Tuesday, Bill decided to do a brick while Cathy did the laundry. He had forgotten to charge his watch, so he took the opportunity to do an untimed workout of 50K on the bike and 10K on the run. By the time he was running, it was hot and humid with a burning sun, so he got some tropical running training. During Bill's 12 laps along the airport, he saw some interesting wildlife: 2 eagles in a dead tree, and a small group consisting of a wood stock, an ibis, a great egret, a snowy egret, and a green heron all feeding together in a small creek along the road. We ate lunch inside. We went to Publix and to the library on Central Avenue. Cathy had already done a 3.5 mile walk in the morning and did another in the afternoon while Bill organized and packed his stuff for Key West. We went to Happy Hour where we had long conversations about foreign travels with various people. When we got back to the RV, Bill showered and cooked a quinoa, yellow onion, dates, and walnuts dinner. Cathy heated a frozen entree for herself. We viewed and old movie, "Turbulence" and enjoyed it on many levels, including remembering how nice flying in 747s was in the good old days. In the present, only the President and people in third world countries get the experience.

  Wednesday started with a heavy rain that forced Bill to shut the RV windows around 5:00 AM. We got up a bit after 6:00 AM and got ready for the road. We drove to Starbucks for breakfast and then headed for the Keys. We had lots of rain on the drive, with some lightning. When we got to the Old Seven Mile Bridge, the rain forced us to cancel our planned 5 mile walk. We pushed on to Boondocks Restaurant on Ramrod Key and enjoyed Conch Chowder, smoked fish dip, and a blackened Mahi Mahi sandwich. After lunch, we drove to Key West and checked in at the Wicker House, where we occupied room 15. After settling in, we walked to Bad Ass Coffee at the top of Duval Street. We stepped into the cafe just when a supercell T-storm let loose and flooded Duval Street and its sidewalks. Bill had a quad shot cappuccino and then, when the rain had let up a bit, we walked barefoot back to the Wicker House. A set of entrained T-storms marched across Key West when we got to our room, so we got on our computers and chilled out for a while. It rained hard the rest of the afternoon. Bill took a shower and then we headed out in a light rain to Blue Heaven. We were seated inside with a few other patrons and were served by an affable waiter from DelMarVa. We had yellow and red snapper and finished up with bananas heaven. Fabulous meal as always! It was still raining lightly as we walked back to the room.

This is the end of "On the Road 2009." The action continues with "Happy Holidays 2009."

        Bill and Cathy