Picture if you will, a tropical paradise. A small island only accessible by boat. It has 30 private bungalows, a restaurant and every spa service imaginable. It has docking for yachts up to 100 feet in length, rock stars, millionaires, billionaires and lottery winners. During the high season (January though April) a couple can expect to pay $13,000.00 for a week long stay. Imagine now that same tropical paradise having a very difficult time attracting and keeping responsible, hard working employees. What could possibly be the problem with working at such an interesting and beautiful place? My guess is the pay scale. They will pay a person with a wonderful employment record, brilliant references and 20 years of experience at a skilled trade, exactly $12.50 an hour, plus tips. Have you ever tipped a hotel maintenance guy? Me either.
This senario is the same throughout all of the Keys. It costs a fortune to live here, the cost of everything being at least 30% higher then on the mainland, and the jobs pay just over minimum wage. It's a perfect place to live if you are fresh out of college or high school and want to have forty room mates.
The employers can't seem to make the link between bad pay and bad employees. The want ads are hilarious! Don't waste our time if it takes you two hours to pick out a door know at Home Depot or Don't apply here if you are a druggie, you've probably already worked for us, etc... Here's is my advise, pay well and you'll attract and keep good employees. It's as simple as that.
We were propositioned by a woman who owns a few properties and knows everyone in the lower keys, to start a lawn care business. She said she would have enough work to keep Chuck busy about 40 hours a week. She also said we have to lower our standards of living just to live here through the winter. OK, so we have to lower our standard of living and expect very low pay just to live here, hmmmm, that's a tough decision.
We looked at the only RV sites available throughout the winter and there is no way we would live there. We're talking about a space that's too short for ruby so the back end would be hanging over the water and the people next to us are zoo close we could here them snore at night. Not to mention the fact that these places don't encourage tenants to throw away their trash or broken-anything! All for $2000.00 per month. Ha?
Anyway, enough bitching about the financial inequities of living in paradise. The weather is amazing!
We are at a site that has a dock on the bay. This little peninsula has an interesting history. It was actually created in the 1960s and used as a missile launch site with all missiles pointed at Cuba. Then in the 80s it was turned into an RV resort. Completely wiped out after hurricane Wilma six years ago and is now, once again, a lush tropical garden.
Yesterday was my birthday. We walked around the quiet streets of Key West and looked at the cute houses, then went down to the Pier House to watch the boats and eat some conch fritters. Of course, you can't eat fritters on the pier with out a couple beers and some rum rummers, now can you?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
We were fortunate enough to drive through the Everglades on Tuesday. It was so gorgeous, it inspired me to do a few paintings, but not until we go back through so I can take photos. The last time I had driven through the glades, it was very dry. There wasn't much visible standing water. The grass and trees were brown and sad looking. This time however, was the exact opposite. Florida has had a lot of rain in the last few months so the glades are lush, green and full of water! Right up to the road in some places. Beautiful.
Just out of the glades is the Homestead, Florida City area. It was so much fun to see actual food being grown in the farm fields, not just corn and beans as far as the eye can see. It's a rural farming area with, from what I could tell, about a million plant nurseries, vegetable stands and with out surprise, homes for sale. Cheap. The plant nurseries themselves made we want to have a yard to landscape and the price of housing may even make that possible, some day.
Upon entering the Florida Keys the vegetation changes to a low scrubby bush call the mangrove. I think it's the plant that made the keys possible in the first place. It grows in the salt water and catches the sand and silt that float by with the tides, creating islands.
I absolutely love the color of the water in the Keys, or should I say, colors!? It seems to change from pale turquoise one minute to green to deep blue the next.
The resort we're at has a dock for each site. We've been feeding the snapper fish in the afternoon and just staring down at the brilliant green canal for hours like it was a giant aquarium in the dentists office, minus the anxiety of potential oral drilling.
The jury is still out however, on whether or not the Keys will be our new home. When one is on vacation it is easy to overlook the negatives and fall in love with the mystique and energy of such a charming place. When thinking of making a home in such a place, the negatives show themselves like a flashing neon sign. HOMELESS VAGRANT! DRUNK SLEEPING ONE OFF UNDER A BUSH! GARBAGE IN THE STREET, EVERYWHERE! IGUANAS FALLING FROM THE TREES! DRY ROT! Not to mention that fact that everything costs an arm and a leg but most jobs don't pay much more than minimum wage, even for skilled laborers and artists.
But then again, as I sit here on the water in the warm sunshine and feel the cool ocean breeze, I think, "wages? I don't need no stinking wages!"
Just out of the glades is the Homestead, Florida City area. It was so much fun to see actual food being grown in the farm fields, not just corn and beans as far as the eye can see. It's a rural farming area with, from what I could tell, about a million plant nurseries, vegetable stands and with out surprise, homes for sale. Cheap. The plant nurseries themselves made we want to have a yard to landscape and the price of housing may even make that possible, some day.
Upon entering the Florida Keys the vegetation changes to a low scrubby bush call the mangrove. I think it's the plant that made the keys possible in the first place. It grows in the salt water and catches the sand and silt that float by with the tides, creating islands.
I absolutely love the color of the water in the Keys, or should I say, colors!? It seems to change from pale turquoise one minute to green to deep blue the next.
The resort we're at has a dock for each site. We've been feeding the snapper fish in the afternoon and just staring down at the brilliant green canal for hours like it was a giant aquarium in the dentists office, minus the anxiety of potential oral drilling.
The jury is still out however, on whether or not the Keys will be our new home. When one is on vacation it is easy to overlook the negatives and fall in love with the mystique and energy of such a charming place. When thinking of making a home in such a place, the negatives show themselves like a flashing neon sign. HOMELESS VAGRANT! DRUNK SLEEPING ONE OFF UNDER A BUSH! GARBAGE IN THE STREET, EVERYWHERE! IGUANAS FALLING FROM THE TREES! DRY ROT! Not to mention that fact that everything costs an arm and a leg but most jobs don't pay much more than minimum wage, even for skilled laborers and artists.
But then again, as I sit here on the water in the warm sunshine and feel the cool ocean breeze, I think, "wages? I don't need no stinking wages!"
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Feeling young in Naples
The days are flying by! How long have we been gone and what day is it?
For the last three nights we've been at an RV park in Naples, a town I'm very familiar with since my parents lived here for a few years and I've had many painting clients here. It's a beautiful place. The only real issue we had was with our neighbors dogs. Somehow it's fine with the management if little dogs bark, snarl, are left loose and appear aggressive but if our big girls bark we're looked at as out-of-control pet owners, or the owners of out of control pets, either way I guess. Anyway it was too close for comfort, so we won't be back to that one.
We found a great park near by to walk the dogs in. We walked them in there three times before a grumpy old man told us that, in fact, dogs are not allowed in that park. What? What kind of a park doesn't allow you to walk you dog? Well, turns out most parks in Naples are dog free. Sidewalks it is then.
One morning before Chuck got up, I took the girls for a walk outside the RV park along the Tamiami trail. Cubby was so excited she jumped on my back a few times, the leashes got tangled, Greta got mad, and they started to wrestle. It must have looked to passers by like I was being attacked because a guy stopped to rescue me! How embarrassing. Then Cubby ate a gecko. I told chuck about it and he was a little worried. She is the baby of the family, you know. I didn't realize how worried he was until I got on the computer and noticed the last search was "my dog ate a gecko, what should I do?"
We are off the the Keys today! The weather has cleared and it's a gorgeous day for traveling, or doing anything really. It's funny how perceptions of weather change from area to area. Right now the north is digging out of an October snow storm, for that I can see the problem. In Naples for the last few days it has been cloudy with winds of 10 to 15 mph. Every once in awhile it would sprinkle. People think that is nasty weather! They actually cancel appointments to stay home and make soup! Hilarious. We were apologized to many times for the bad weather. Of course the average age is 97, so maybe 75 degrees feels cold.
If you ever feel old, come to Florida. It's like we're kids again.
For the last three nights we've been at an RV park in Naples, a town I'm very familiar with since my parents lived here for a few years and I've had many painting clients here. It's a beautiful place. The only real issue we had was with our neighbors dogs. Somehow it's fine with the management if little dogs bark, snarl, are left loose and appear aggressive but if our big girls bark we're looked at as out-of-control pet owners, or the owners of out of control pets, either way I guess. Anyway it was too close for comfort, so we won't be back to that one.
We found a great park near by to walk the dogs in. We walked them in there three times before a grumpy old man told us that, in fact, dogs are not allowed in that park. What? What kind of a park doesn't allow you to walk you dog? Well, turns out most parks in Naples are dog free. Sidewalks it is then.
One morning before Chuck got up, I took the girls for a walk outside the RV park along the Tamiami trail. Cubby was so excited she jumped on my back a few times, the leashes got tangled, Greta got mad, and they started to wrestle. It must have looked to passers by like I was being attacked because a guy stopped to rescue me! How embarrassing. Then Cubby ate a gecko. I told chuck about it and he was a little worried. She is the baby of the family, you know. I didn't realize how worried he was until I got on the computer and noticed the last search was "my dog ate a gecko, what should I do?"
We are off the the Keys today! The weather has cleared and it's a gorgeous day for traveling, or doing anything really. It's funny how perceptions of weather change from area to area. Right now the north is digging out of an October snow storm, for that I can see the problem. In Naples for the last few days it has been cloudy with winds of 10 to 15 mph. Every once in awhile it would sprinkle. People think that is nasty weather! They actually cancel appointments to stay home and make soup! Hilarious. We were apologized to many times for the bad weather. Of course the average age is 97, so maybe 75 degrees feels cold.
If you ever feel old, come to Florida. It's like we're kids again.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Day four, Florida panhandle
If you'd like to see the full effects of a massive oil spill coupled with a major housing crisis, come to the Florida panhandle. At least that's what it looks like upon driving through. I would guess that roughly a third of the buildings (houses and businesses) are abandoned, another third are for sale and maybe half of the rest are lived in. We drove past many areas that had been primed for development but whose sales offices are now closed and in one case, burned. It's going to be really interesting driving down toward Naples today. It's always been a more affluent area, I'm really hoping it still is.
I still love Florida in spite of the mess she's in. One town in particular is Apalachicola. It's a great little old Florida fishing village. So cute with it's cottages and Key West style homes. There is a great down town area where we shopped and ate a few years ago when we still had our place in Panama city beach. Speaking of PCB, wow has it grown... Maybe that's where everybody went. It's built up and busy, but I've checked real estate prices and I know they are about 40% lower than they had been six years ago.
We stayed at a little rv park called the ho hum. It's in Carrabelle, which is bigger then I imagined. Again, it's a fishing village but not as cute as Apalachicola. It's located in a bay, kind of. There is a huge island off the coast that is creating the bay affect, where the water looks more like lake water. Could also be because it's really shallow. We saw some people fishing out on the resorts dock so we brought the dogs out to meet them. They got scared and left. The people, not the dogs. An unfriendly man caught a couple of small catfish.
It seems like the world gets smaller everyday. The motorhome that is parked next to us is owned by a couple from Wisconsin who used to live in Anoka and worked in Elk River, which is the town I grew up in. Weird. They too, sold everything they owned to hit the road. Of course they are at the age when that kind of thing seems normal.
I'm finding the uncertainty of each day kind of appealing. I've always been one to build things up in my head so big that the reality of it could never meet my expectation. But something changed in me over that last few years, probably due to the constant beat down of reality. One thing I've learned for sure is that if you have NO expectations, you will not be disappointed. That sounds bad, I mean, go with the flow and enjoy the moment or the space you're in, absorb it, realize it, then if you don't feel like you need to stay, leave.
I still love Florida in spite of the mess she's in. One town in particular is Apalachicola. It's a great little old Florida fishing village. So cute with it's cottages and Key West style homes. There is a great down town area where we shopped and ate a few years ago when we still had our place in Panama city beach. Speaking of PCB, wow has it grown... Maybe that's where everybody went. It's built up and busy, but I've checked real estate prices and I know they are about 40% lower than they had been six years ago.
We stayed at a little rv park called the ho hum. It's in Carrabelle, which is bigger then I imagined. Again, it's a fishing village but not as cute as Apalachicola. It's located in a bay, kind of. There is a huge island off the coast that is creating the bay affect, where the water looks more like lake water. Could also be because it's really shallow. We saw some people fishing out on the resorts dock so we brought the dogs out to meet them. They got scared and left. The people, not the dogs. An unfriendly man caught a couple of small catfish.
It seems like the world gets smaller everyday. The motorhome that is parked next to us is owned by a couple from Wisconsin who used to live in Anoka and worked in Elk River, which is the town I grew up in. Weird. They too, sold everything they owned to hit the road. Of course they are at the age when that kind of thing seems normal.
I'm finding the uncertainty of each day kind of appealing. I've always been one to build things up in my head so big that the reality of it could never meet my expectation. But something changed in me over that last few years, probably due to the constant beat down of reality. One thing I've learned for sure is that if you have NO expectations, you will not be disappointed. That sounds bad, I mean, go with the flow and enjoy the moment or the space you're in, absorb it, realize it, then if you don't feel like you need to stay, leave.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Day three, Mississippi
I didn't expect to like Mississippi, but the places we saw were really nice. I really do recommend the Biloxi area for a beach vacation. We stayed at an RV park called the Cajun. It was right across the street from the beach, which we could see from our site, I think because evidence of hurricane Katrina is everywhere. The first tier of homes and businesses closest to the beach have been wiped out. The buildings that are there appear to be new or freshly remodeled.
There are no dogs allowed on the beach in old miss so we walked the sidewalk. On the side closest to the beach there were remnants of parking lots and tile floors where restaurants once stood, accompanied by "lot for sale" signs. In fact many of the first tier residential lots were also for sale, some begging for offers.
I think I will write a review of the Cajun. Mostly because I would have loved a heads up about the very busy train track that runs right behind the park. A train track used by vindictive little conductors evidently annoyed that they have to be awake at 3:00am and blow their angry horns to make sure everyone else is too.
Upon leaving in the morning an item on our checklist was missed. We forgot to put the TV antenna down. It hooked onto something as we were driving out and snapped off. Chuck claims he can't be blamed for that one because I was the one who put it up the night before. "The one who puts it up must take it down", he claims. I can't wait to use that one again, shouldn't be long before I can. But I will take full responsibility for snapping the sun visor in half. I went to adjust it and where it had already been broken and repaired, broke again. Not a great start to the morning, but not terrible.
The weather is fabulous and we're having a good time. Cubby and Greta are great riders. They actually appear to be enjoying themselves. They did get into a fight with each other yesterday over a one inch piece of a stick. It was short and they were grounded to the RV for ten minutes.
There are no dogs allowed on the beach in old miss so we walked the sidewalk. On the side closest to the beach there were remnants of parking lots and tile floors where restaurants once stood, accompanied by "lot for sale" signs. In fact many of the first tier residential lots were also for sale, some begging for offers.
I think I will write a review of the Cajun. Mostly because I would have loved a heads up about the very busy train track that runs right behind the park. A train track used by vindictive little conductors evidently annoyed that they have to be awake at 3:00am and blow their angry horns to make sure everyone else is too.
Upon leaving in the morning an item on our checklist was missed. We forgot to put the TV antenna down. It hooked onto something as we were driving out and snapped off. Chuck claims he can't be blamed for that one because I was the one who put it up the night before. "The one who puts it up must take it down", he claims. I can't wait to use that one again, shouldn't be long before I can. But I will take full responsibility for snapping the sun visor in half. I went to adjust it and where it had already been broken and repaired, broke again. Not a great start to the morning, but not terrible.
The weather is fabulous and we're having a good time. Cubby and Greta are great riders. They actually appear to be enjoying themselves. They did get into a fight with each other yesterday over a one inch piece of a stick. It was short and they were grounded to the RV for ten minutes.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Day two, Memphis and beyond
I think the Only good thing about Missouri is the price of gas. $3.04 per gallon was the least expensive that we saw.
So far this trip has been largely uneventful. It doesn't make for good stories but it does make for low blood pressure. Which I appreciate.
The closest we got to good story material was the idea that we might camp near Graceland in Memphis. There is an app for the iPad called rvparking.com, it's awesome. You just type in your city of choice and a map, with all the RV parks in the area, comes up. It has a place for reviews from campers, but so far we haven't found any that have been reviewed, nor have we stayed long enough to write a review. I guess that statement explains itself. Anyway, the plan was to stay at Jellystone park just south of Memphis. My initial concern for the park was the fact that the person who answered the phone spoke a version of English that I was not able to fully translate. After my constant asking, "is that what you said?" he handed the phone to his wife who was, thankfully, somewhat understandable. She explained that when pulling into the paaark, we'd see a stachooo of Yogi Baaarr ouuun the raaaht. OK, we'll see you in about 20 minutes.
Highway 51 in Memphis, the road we needed to take to get to Jellystone, goes past Graceland, which is lit with pink flood lights at night. It also appears to be in the hood. I highly recommend it as a vacation destination if being mugged, carjacked and robbed are part of your itinerary. Every business on 51 is surrounded by 8 foot high fencing. The Walmart has an illuminated billboard reminding readers to lock their vehicles and take any valuables with them.
Unless Yogi Baaarr was carrying an oozie, there was no way we were staying at his park. Excuse me, paaark.
We drove an extra 30 miles south to Coldwater, Mississippi. But not before calling the park to ask what kind of neighborhood we could expect to be sleeping in. She said it was real dark and quiet, except for the noise on the interstate. Perfect. It was a great little park. One funny thing about it though was that most of the RVers, seemed to live there. I couldn't help but wonder what they were hiding from or what brought them to that park. Were they too trying to escape Memphis?
So far this trip has been largely uneventful. It doesn't make for good stories but it does make for low blood pressure. Which I appreciate.
The closest we got to good story material was the idea that we might camp near Graceland in Memphis. There is an app for the iPad called rvparking.com, it's awesome. You just type in your city of choice and a map, with all the RV parks in the area, comes up. It has a place for reviews from campers, but so far we haven't found any that have been reviewed, nor have we stayed long enough to write a review. I guess that statement explains itself. Anyway, the plan was to stay at Jellystone park just south of Memphis. My initial concern for the park was the fact that the person who answered the phone spoke a version of English that I was not able to fully translate. After my constant asking, "is that what you said?" he handed the phone to his wife who was, thankfully, somewhat understandable. She explained that when pulling into the paaark, we'd see a stachooo of Yogi Baaarr ouuun the raaaht. OK, we'll see you in about 20 minutes.
Highway 51 in Memphis, the road we needed to take to get to Jellystone, goes past Graceland, which is lit with pink flood lights at night. It also appears to be in the hood. I highly recommend it as a vacation destination if being mugged, carjacked and robbed are part of your itinerary. Every business on 51 is surrounded by 8 foot high fencing. The Walmart has an illuminated billboard reminding readers to lock their vehicles and take any valuables with them.
Unless Yogi Baaarr was carrying an oozie, there was no way we were staying at his park. Excuse me, paaark.
We drove an extra 30 miles south to Coldwater, Mississippi. But not before calling the park to ask what kind of neighborhood we could expect to be sleeping in. She said it was real dark and quiet, except for the noise on the interstate. Perfect. It was a great little park. One funny thing about it though was that most of the RVers, seemed to live there. I couldn't help but wonder what they were hiding from or what brought them to that park. Were they too trying to escape Memphis?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Day one
Octbober 25th, 2011. Said good bye to Painted Hill Farm at about 8am without much ceremony or sympathy.
None of us slept very well the night before we left, including the dogs. Greta paced and scratched herself until 2am when she forced us to drug her with benedryl. Since I couldn't sleep and was a bit stuffed up, I drugged myself too. The problem with that was the timing. 2am is a little late for medication that causes drowsiness. It could explain the lack of emotion as I locked the gate behind me.
One of the coolest things about driving your house around is that napping is as comfortable as it can be. As soon as the benedryl wore off I got up, made lunch and had a seat in front to watch the view.
We fought the wind all day. It was terrible. At about 6pm we pulled into Bowling Green MO and camped at a place called Cozy C. We were one of exactly two campers in the lot. Two campers and a random cat that tormented Cubby and Greta by walking around the Rv all night.
In the morning the sound of roosters and guinea hens woke me up and I started to panic! My God, I thought we got rid of all those things, have we gone back in time? Turns out there was a farm across the road from the Cozy C. What a relief.
None of us slept very well the night before we left, including the dogs. Greta paced and scratched herself until 2am when she forced us to drug her with benedryl. Since I couldn't sleep and was a bit stuffed up, I drugged myself too. The problem with that was the timing. 2am is a little late for medication that causes drowsiness. It could explain the lack of emotion as I locked the gate behind me.
One of the coolest things about driving your house around is that napping is as comfortable as it can be. As soon as the benedryl wore off I got up, made lunch and had a seat in front to watch the view.
We fought the wind all day. It was terrible. At about 6pm we pulled into Bowling Green MO and camped at a place called Cozy C. We were one of exactly two campers in the lot. Two campers and a random cat that tormented Cubby and Greta by walking around the Rv all night.
In the morning the sound of roosters and guinea hens woke me up and I started to panic! My God, I thought we got rid of all those things, have we gone back in time? Turns out there was a farm across the road from the Cozy C. What a relief.
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