The Big Adventure Part 1

I’m back with adventures and pics! I know yall didn’t believe I’d ever get to it, but here they are. This was from the first day of the trip camping down in the Keys. It was a perfect day and a perfect drive getting down there. We left early so there was no traffic encounters in the 2-3 bottlenecks in Kendall. We just breezed through.

” This was the view of a small island from one of many long bridges over the water.

We were the third arrival from our group at the site. I wanted a certain spot by a cluster of trees for our tent, but unfortunately, there was another group in the camp site using that area, and we were limited to certain sections. I did manage to get us a spot with some measure of shade, depending on the time of the day.

We were blessed with tent, because a friend of mine gave it to me two years ago. We have out little porch area in the front with deck chairs, and my table to the side of it. See those trees in the background with the hammock? That’s the spot I wanted, but this spot wasn’t too bad.

I went to the flea market with my cousin Friday and Saturday of that week, and got blessed again, because I got a deal on a bigger tent. This tent is a 3 person tent. That’s if you have no floor space at all, and just have sleeping bags. The tent I got looked like it had been used once or twice.

It is an Ozark, which is a very good brand. It looks like 4 could sleep in it with just sleeping bags, and it came with 2 sleeping bags and a cooler bag. It was supposed to have a small light with it, but that was the only thing missing. We have lights anyways. It also came in a zippered canvas bag with handle. This entire ensemble cost me…$20.00. Steal of a deal.

Plus, I just bought us two single fold out beds from Walmart, because I’m so beyond tired of messing with air mattresses that leak. Once again, on this trip, we had a faulty air mattress. My friend Simone had given me a new mattress last year, after yet another mattress had gone bad. She had bought it at Kmart, and let me just say that I clearly understand why this chain is going out of business. They have cheap products and they don’t guarantee them. I’ve had 5 bad mattresses from them. No more.

The new mattress she gave me had a leak, which I don’t fault her for in any way. I got the receipt and took it back on the last camping trip. For those who recall…I drove miles and to two stores to get the replacement while we were on the trip.

At any rate, it was this replacement that I took home still boxed. I never opened the box until this trip to the Keys. What do I discover? The mattress has two big stains and a slit from a knife. They replaced the damaged mattress with another damaged mattress, and taped up the box. (I should have realized with the taped box, but by the time I finally got the stupid thing, I was just relieved – see the last camping adventure for why.)

At any rate, I was not a “happy camper” when I saw that. We attempted to patch the stupid thing to no avail; so basically, we slept on the hard floor that night, which wasn’t comfortable at all.

Here’s lil man gettin’ ready for action. This was prior to us finding out about the mattress.

I’m snappin’ away, and here, he’s trying to ignore me, because I’m teasing him to get a reaction so I can take the picture. And…

Here’s the reaction. Works like a charm. He says I’m annoying because of the manner in which I play and horse around with him, but I have to keep reminding him that being annoying is part of my job as a parent. I keep asking him why he wants to take the fun out of my job…and I have to remind him of previous periods of him being annoying to me even after being told; to which he states… “That was then. I’m different now.” He figures he’s more mature. So I tell him, “Yeah, so now it’s my turn.”

As you can see from the background of this pic, we are practically on the beach. After messing with the mattress without any real success, lil man heads to the pier to do some snorkling.

There are a lot of rocks here. It’s like a big shelf and you can jump off the pier into the water, but you need water shoes around this area, because the rocks are sharp.

That bridge is old and no longer used, but it is just before the Bahia Honda Beach and campground. That beach is really nice too. We went there last year, but didn’t get a chance to go this year. But in all of these water filled areas where the kids are standing, they find all kinds of active sea life.