Sunrise + Craig's walk in the Atlantic

I got up early enough on Sunday to catch the sunrise. I didn't even have to get dressed or leave the coach. I watched most of it while seated in the passenger seat. I did step out long enough to take a couple of shots.

Sunrise, Long Key Florida

Slightly later:

We started Sunday by taking a one hour walk on the nature trail in Long Key State Park.  It was a nice walk, but not enough for a day's activity.

Karen had mentioned there was a weekend Flea Market on Big Pine Key where we could buy produce, so we headed that way. The pickings were pretty slim, so we passed on buying anything, but we did enjoy driving over the seven-mile bridge to get there.

It was still early in the afternoon,  and having driven this far we decided to go on to Key West.  

I'm not sure what I expected, but we didn't see much on our hour or so drive-around. The parking situation was as bad as we had been told. We saw an on-off bus driving around, and if we ever do go back we will look into using it. As it was, Craig wanted to get back to the coach for a football game, so our trip was limited to just a drive around town. In the older area the houses were quaint, and there were lots of people on the streets. We drove by Mallory Square and it was very crowded. Perhaps another time. We might have tried harder to find parking if we were there for dinner, but since we were not, I was fine with just a drive-by look and was happy to get back to our own little piece of paradise in Long Key.

On Saturday evening I discovered that if I walked west, up the beach for about 400 feet, I could see the sun set over just a thin line of land. I did not take any pictures on Sunday because it was quite cloudy on the horizon, but I'll try for some in the future.

Monday morning dawned bright and clear after a very heavy overnight rain storm. 

Craig had emailed Russ K about a football game Saturday night.  Russ replied, suggesting they bet going for a swim if their team lost. Craig didn't see the email until the next morning so there was no wager, but figured that going for an outdoor swim in Oregon would be about 10 times worse than here in Florida, so given 10-1 odds he probably would have taken the bet.

So today he set out to take a swim on our beach. 

A bit shallow to dive right in so he started to wade out.

And out ...

And out... a very gradual slope.

He said he thought he would soon need a passport when he reached Cuba!

Finally he ducked down so he could claim to have been swimming and came back in.

He says the water was not very cold, but he wished he had worn footwear instead of being barefoot. The ocean floor was sandy, but there were rocks and prickly things from time to time.

But a bet is a bet, and if Russ had lost he would have been a lot colder in Oregon!