Keys Life – Week 7

Hello from down in the sunny Keys! I actually had to pull up the calendar to see how long we’ve been here. I’ve completely lost track of the weeks as one blends into the next. We both absolutely love it here! After spending most of the winter here I know I don’t want to spend anymore of my life anywhere that has an actual winter. Being somewhere cold is a waste of my precious time and I’m so much happier when I can be outside all the time. I looked at the weather at home and it said it “feels like 14.” No thanks. After walking the dogs this morning in shorts and flip flops, I settled down on the deck to drink coffee and work on the blog. The birds are singing in the background and a kayaker just came by our cove in the mangroves. We’ll be out there on our paddle boards in a bit – something I look forward to every weekend. I’m working on a post for you guys on that so you can see what it’s like out there.

I don’t have a whole lot that’s new to share, we live a pretty laid back life (which fits in very well here) and we’ve settled into a nice groove. I can’t believe we’ll be leaving in less than 3 weeks! The time went by much too fast & I’m not looking forward to going home. Neither of us are. The time here did what I needed it to though – show me if it’s somewhere I want to live for some time and I definitely do.  Looking back on our first visit here in September I wasn’t so sure. I don’t really know why looking back on it but I think it’s because we came at the height of my favorite time back home. September in the mid-Atlantic is an awesome time (barring hurricanes) but even if it was summer there all the time here is still better for us. I love the easy access to diving & the clear turquoise water. Everything here revolves around the water & that’s a perfect fit for us. We went on the most amazing paddle last weekend through the canal system, out into the ocean for a while then back into a canal further down the coast that connects back to our kayak launch. The water we paddled across in the ocean was breathtakingly beautiful & I’ll never get tired of looking at it.

The things I miss from home are the usual things that come with leaving your home base. I miss my friends & family the most. There are very few people who know about our blog… a few shout outs to those who do: Hi BH – can’t wait to resume our Tuesdays, Hi T – thanks for watching our place,  Hey D – keep up the great work in school and we’ll have coconut cake on the 12th 🙂  We miss you all!

The other thing I really miss is Indian food! Someone really needs to open a kick ass Indian restaurant in the upper Keys before we move back here. The closest ones are just south of Miami, about 45 miles from us and I’m not against driving to it on a regular basis once we move if that’s what I have to do.  I miss the beach and the nearby state park. I expected to miss our house but I really don’t which came as a surprise to me. I’m not the type of person that gets attached to things but I thought I was attached to the house – one of the reasons I wanted to be extra sure about coming here before we sold it. It’ll be interesting to see how I feel once we’re back there.

One thing that’s hard to find down here is somewhere you can sit and look at the ocean – almost everywhere is blocked by properties but we found a spot! It’s become a favorite running & dog walk route. It’s just under 3 miles round trip and we’ve gone there just about every day since we discovered it.

Me & my little guy. Is there anything better than gazing at the ocean? I think not!

Keys Rating after weeks 7– 9.5 out of 10

It just gets better and better down here. Fingers crossed our house sells fast! Our next door neighbor just listed his place so we’ll see if that helps or hurts us. We have very different properties (ours – a quirky cottage with a nice little backyard, his – zero lot line duplex half) so they’ll appeal to completely different buyers – that’s my hope at least.

Until next time …

Warm thoughts to all!