Jan. 18 – Marathon, FL

Sombrero Resort & Marina

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” —John Quincy Adams

This past week (and most of the month) has been cloudy, rainy, windy and a little chilly. Very gloomy. I know it's January, but we're in the Sunshine State and in the Keys...you'd think we'd get a few more warm sunny days.

We woke up to a bright sunny day on Saturday (our eyes had to adjust) and we knew we needed to enjoy it. We took the bus to Big Pine Key to wander through their regular flea market and the annual Nautical Flea Market. We didn't find anything special but we did have fun bumming around, watching people and enjoying the sun. Just riding the Lower Keys Shuttle on a Saturday can be entertaining, but mostly it's a test of patience. Traffic moves very slowly in the Keys on a holiday weekend and bus schedules tend to be off, but the live feed of the buses helps you feel more confident that they'll finally show up.

Sunday morning we woke to a strange looking sky and knew we were in for a windy wet day as a strong cold front moved through. Just after sunrise the winds picked up and we had winds 30 MPH+ all day. We were glad we were tied to a dock and not anchored in Sister’s Creek or swinging on a mooring in Boot Key Harbor. It was a good day to watch old movies, work on my pine needle basket and surf the internet while stew cooked slowly in the crock-pot.

The morning sky before the storm blew in. This picture was taken in Boot Key Harbor by Maresa Casey.

White cabs on the creek...not your normal view

Can you tell the wind is a little crazy?

Another picture of Boot Key Harbor by my friend Prue on Exuberant.

The beginning of this year's first pine needle basket