Snow Day: Part II

We want to thank everyone for all of the concern, well wishes, and texts to be safe. We did are best to bundle everything up anticipating that Isaac would be a Cat 1 when it passed over Key West on Sunday... but alas it was only a tropical storm with winds not exceeding a sustained 50 mph but I think we had some pretty major gusts. I have quite a bit to tell so this post might be kinda long.. but should be entertaining. 

Saturday started with both Rick and I going to work. My clinic decided to close early (3pm) because the winds on the island had started to pickup by 12. It was funny because over the course of a one hour lunch the island went from being calm to semi-chaotic with people trying to find high ground to park their cars, boarding up windows with plywood, and getting gas/ice/and money. While I went back to work Rick took some time to batten down the hatches inside and outside. 

Inside all the lower cabinets were emptied and their contents were placed on the counter. We did this for all aspects of the apartment. I didn't take pictures because well it isn't that exciting. Outside we took all of the furniture and put it in the screen in porch, along with huddled things in the corners

Bentley in his raincoat.. 

Everyone told us our area was really prone to flooding, and since we were not sure of the strength of Isaac we decided to pack a bag and headed for higher ground. Our next door neighbor, Shell, has lived here for 35 years and he was telling us that the storm was not going to be bad, and we would be just fine if we wanted to sleep at our apartment. I was skeptical and wanted to head towards higher ground because this is our first tropical storm/potential hurricane and we would like to be above sea level. Shell looked at us and said nothing but "meow"... looking back on it now I guess we were being pussies... 

Saturday night we went to our first hurricane party. Surprisingly enough we were the only people on Duval dressed up as pirates. Yep, you read right, we were pirates and it was awesome. We started the night at a little bar just off of Duval called "Grunts"... Imagine a one room cabin on a lake that has been transplanted to Key West. The property is surrounded by a white picket fence and there is a brick patio that wraps around to the back. The back of the bar also has a  large deck complete with a boat and the bathrooms are their own entities, like outhouses. I don't have a very good story about this bar except that I really liked it and whoever comes visit we are going here. 

Rick aka "Captain Blackheart"  at Grunts

After eating at the Rum Barrel we headed to Sloppy Joes for some dancing then to Willy T's to listen to more live music. The island of Key West was overrun by news crews and of course we had to try to get on TV.. and we were successful! As we headed back to our car for the evening we noticed a newscaster getting ready to tape, so we decided to try to get on television. We didn't realized our mistake until we were already committed but this news crew was from NBC Telemundo..TELEMUNDO.  Here was scene: imagine you are dressed as a pirate, you are holding a glass of rum, and you are looking into the light of a camera while the person next to you is speaking Spanish. Since you are a little tipsy and super uncomfortable due to your lack of Spanish knowledge, you are trying not to laugh. To combat your laughter you take sips of the rum in your hand..  then the man turns to your friend (thank god it isn't you) and asks her a question in Spanish.. to which she answers "Arrr". Everyone around us bursts into laughter.. the news man.. his whole crew... our band of pirates.. and anyone passing by. I have no idea what he actually said but "Arr" was not the answer he was looking for. The next day prior to the strength of Isaac hitting K.W. we attempted to run to the grocery store. As we walked across the parking lot a man smiled at us from a van and said "the pirates".. it was the same news crew from the night before. The newscaster told us our segment had high ratings and the bigwig producers loved it.. note to self - learn Spanish!! 

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Here are some of our pirate pictures: 

Captain Jack 

Captain Blackheart's best pirate face - I think he is just annoyed I took a picture 

Jolly Molly McChesty
Or
Captain Kitty 

Racy Lacey McCracken

Pirate names are under construction :) will be revealed for Fantasy Fest 

Sunday morning we were greeted with wonderful coffee and our favorite breakfast "old town bakery" croissants. The weather worsened throughout the day with the peak of the storm between 2PM and 6 PM. We were staying on the Navy base and an order was given to stay indoors and the base was placed on lock down from 3PM-1AM. It was literally just like a snow day... lots of food, booze and napping. We had the hurricane games that included the Oreo cookie challenge and the hurricane paper plane game. The Oreo game was pretty fun, you place an Oreo on your forehead, without using your hands you need to move the Oreo down your face to your mouth. The hurricane paper plane game was to make a paper airplane and throw it into the wind and see who's goes the farthest.. you only get one shot at a good toss because of the wind and the rain.Rick won the paper airplane contest.  At 5PM the "eye" of Isaac passed over Key West. I think I had a romantic/Disney view of what this would be - I imagined the winds dying down.. sunshine.. birds singing.. but I was way wrong. The middle of the storm just means that the winds do die down but only to change direction and the rain stops for a little while. Near Joe and Cher's house two boats had gotten loose and were washed up against the shore/rocks. During the eye of the storm we attempted to get the dogs outside and actually took them for a short walk. We decided to go check on these two boats and discovered that the occupant of a sailboat was maybe having a little "fun" since the boat had washed ashore and he/she was stuck against the rocks..very distinct smell. 

Isaac - pregame show

Dave and Annette's dock prior to the major wind/rain

So we survived our first tropical storm and we learned a great deal for the next time we get threatened with inclement weather. Today when we awoke to blue skies and beautiful water. I spent part of the day reorganizing our lives and poor Rick had to work.  We are very thankful that Isaac ended up being a great deal of bark and very little bite. 

Morning After 

Hope you all have a great week and a wonderful time celebrating Labor Day. If you so feel inclined have a Rick Thompson on Saturday to celebrate 30 years of his life!! 

Snow Day!

Now, when I said that the start of a new week meant the start of new adventures I was not asking for a hurricane to have us in its sights. I should have learned that when I say the words "off to an adventure" weird things happen, like the bat in the hotel room in D.C.

Now back to the snow day. I really like when blogging to try to compare the situation to Iowa. Like a blizzard prediction in Iowa, things are usually blown out of proportion. The meteorologists try so very hard to predict who is getting snow and how much and when yah-dah yah-dah yah-dah.. but seriously how often do they really get it right? That is what appears to be the same thing here. As of now Isaac is maybe sorta kinda going to be in our vicinity and maybe just maybe the eye will pass directly over Key West (I promise pictures if this occurs). The question becomes whether to evacuate of not.. since Isaac is currently not even a hurricane and may or may not strengthen to a category 1 we are probably not going to evacuate. This will all change if the Navy evacuates, aka Joe and Cher. IF the McMonigles are going the Thompsons are going.

Since the threat of a hurricane (which was Wednesday AM) I have been to two "hurricane meetings".. These have consisted of good food and booze. We have heard numerous stories from co-workers regarding flooding and how Wilma was a "once in a life time" event because the tide was so high when the hurricane hit that everything flooded and that is not common. We have chatted with our insurance provider- which is still Iowa- and we should be covered should Ricks truck take a beating... fingers crossed that we don't have to deal with that. We also received an email regarding what we should think about when planning for a hurricane. The email detailed how to secure items that could become land missile/ impailing objects and also what to pack in a hurricane survival kit. We are working on the kit.... here is what we have so far...

Bottled water, and a cooler

This is the "healthy" section... apples, bread,  peanut butter (dad :) ) nutella, and tuna 

Apparently we are drawn to things in orange... oh and Oreos 

And last but definitely not least we have a 12 pack of bud light ... two bags of ice, and the makings of a Rick Thompson... the perfect snow day meal.

As you can see we have spent a great deal of time gathering "non-perishable items" and important things to drink. I think we have done a great job so far. I was speaking with Sammy when we bought our hurricane supplies and I told her I have never been one to prepare for a blizzard so why I felt inclined to prepare for a hurricane I am not sure. I guess time will tell if it was worth it or not.

Before ending for the night I also wanted to impart some more hurricane wisdom we have learned. Besides being prepared with supplies it is important to fill your kitchen sink, and bathtub with water so you have something to shower in and to use for flushing the toilet... you should raise any thing off the ground you may not want ruined by water... and the vehicles should be moved to higher ground. Oh yeah and one last thing - everyone has a hurricane party! I feel inclined for us to make our way towards Duval on Sunday to partake in this island event and I hope to bring this tradition back to Iowa for pre-blizzard get togethers - watch out Flat Tire..

Promise more images and updates either here or on FB as we know details.

xoxo
R&M

I love boats...

When Rick and I moved here we made the command decision to leave our beloved caravelle in Iowa. That boat is 16 years old and has been the main source of fun for the past four summers. We miss that boat but luckily down here many of the people we have met have boats and whats even luckier is that Joe and Cher are willing to share their school boat bus "The Boston Whaler" and the "Red Beast". Today was our first boating day here and it was just like Iowa... except a few minor differences.

Our four boat caravan headed out the channel by Joe and Cher's house toward the Gulf of Mexico. This is obviously comparable to Iowa because it was like four boats leaving Saylorville Marina on the way to party cove. Joe and Cher divided their boats into a boy boat and the girl boat. The girl boat was the more important of the two because not only did it house the best people but it also had a grill... snacks... all the booze.. and a giant awesome pirate flag....

If you look closely we didn't have a flag pole so it is partially attached by chip clips.. how ghetto pirate awesome is that?!

The caravelle needs one 

The ride out to snipe was about 40 minutes and we were surrounded by the pretty aqua water. I can't even come up with something to compare that to except that Saylorville looks this blue green sometimes when there is an algae problem..

As we approached our location it was fairly obvious we were going to hate it... as you can see from these images..

Snipe is basically a party cove. Its located on the gulf side of the Keys and the depth of the area is completely dependant upon the tide. Today we visited during medium tide(?).. according to our friends there is a high-high, high, medium, low and low-low tide. I guess the tide was medium because it was only 4-4.5 feet deep and by the time we were leaving the tide was going out and it was nearing 3 feet. At some kind of low tide the whole area is a sand bar. Now the only complaint I had while we were at this beautiful location is well, its shark week.. and let me just say, again, that shark week was way WAY more fun when I didn't live so close to their home turf. I learned today that around the area of Key West they have nurse sharks, hammer head sharks, reef sharks, black tip sharks and bull sharks.... I don't know why I am ruining this post by writing that down but now you all know, your welcome for the knowledge.

Tomorrow starts a new work week and as usual new adventures down here..  Talk to you all soon. <3

Bikes

Since arriving on this island Rick and I have quickly realized that the silverado doesn't quite fit. It is hard to get around in.. especially with the road construction.. and the parking is kind of a joke. So we decided to purchase bikes! We have been here for seven days and of these seven days we have talked about buying bikes for at least 6 of them. Case in point our desperate need for bikes reared its head  last Saturday after my Mom and Sam had left for home. Cher had invited us out to meet people and to take our minds off of Mom and Sam leaving. We headed for Duval around 8 PM.. I do not know this but I feel that we were doomed from the start because it was "lobsterfest" and Duval street was blocked off toward the northwest. After almost 40 minutes of driving around.. getting lost by the cemetery.. and not having enough change to feed the meter for more than 2 hours we headed back home to hoof it back to Duval. Key West is known to be a "small" island.. but let me tell you all when you come visit walking to Duval street from our house is not recommended unless you would like exercise :) We started our journey and made it to Fogarty's Bar 45 minutes later. All the while we both were cussing all the happy people on bikes.I need to back track here for a minute because I have
to tell the story of "Jack"

Cher had found an ad in the paper for bikes starting at $45 dollars. We called, and found ourselves at the foot of a very lovely Conch style home. The house was really cute and had great landscape and palm trees. We stood on the front porch waiting for Jack to answer his door. After two attempts a man opened the door.. he was in his late 70s and had great bright blue eyes and an ornery smile. He was quite pleased that we actually showed up because well "most key westers say they are coming now and don't show up for three days"... at that comment Cher and I both pipe up to let him know we were Iowans.  This man was something else... he was funny and nice with just the right amount of quirky... he takes us to his back yard to show us his women's bikes. As we came into the backyard there was a little pool and no less than 10 bikes along the fence line.He told us that people bring him bikes from dumpsters etc.. and he fixes the ones that are worth fixing. You can get $5 bucks for a decent bike (whoo). The two bikes were okay, they were rusted but had great handle bars and nice cushy seats but I decided to pass. On the way out of Jacks place he commented on Cher's top and then may or may not have "pretended to try" to feel her up..... he never got close but  seriously dirty old man!! Cher went back three days later and haggled him down in price and snagged both bikes. Rick is going to repaint them something awesome! The point of this story was that most of those bikes were definitely stolen... in fact that is apparently the Key West welcome. "Welcome to Key West.. Bike Locks Only Kinda Matter"

okay back to Duval...
 At our destination you can imagine what shape we were in.. I was a sweaty sweaty mess and Rick, well as usual he looked great.. a glistening god :) I was such a mess that a very nice girl in the group had to get me napkins to wipe the sweat running down my nose... so embarrassing!! Thank goodness I had some of them before because otherwise my first impression would have been not been impressive.

So on Tuesday we bought our first bikes. I hope these don't get stolen.. I will be very upset. My bike is a "Huffy" it is red and yellow and came equipped with a cup holder and a basket. I think I am going to name it "the stater" since it has Iowa State colors. Rick got a badass bike. His is all black (surprise surprise) Kent Shogun 29". 

We absolutely love our bikes and have already road them to our work areas and to the beach. They are probably going to be the best thing we purchase.

A place to lay your head...

I know that my aunt Marian has been wanting these and maybe many of you have as well so ..without further adieu I introduce to you the Thompson Key West Estate...

When entering the apartment you can look into the living room and out into the back"yard"

Our back"yard" in equipped with a lot of furniture for entertaining...

Our kitchen is a nice size and I love that we have an island because there is no room for a table to eat at.. except outside

Our bathroom is pretty small.. and it also houses the only closet in the whole place.

The bedroom opens up to a screened in porch



To begin, we want to say thank you to all of our family and friends for their support. This was not any easy decision to leave home for a job, but we think it will be a very exciting experience and journey. Secondly, this is our first crack at blogging... don't judge the grammar, punctuation, or spelling.

Our journey started on Monday following a week of stress and a weekend of almost too good a time. It was not easy saying goodbye but after the tears were dried our long long long long road trip followed. In the truck was Rick, myself, Marty, Sam and Bentley. Although this day was supposed to be one of the longest it would turn into the shortest. There were many conversations most of which involved a lot of giggling on my moms part. Our end of the day conversation was to play dirty word mad libs via the iPhone. If you have never played and find yourself on a long road trip it is pretty entertaining. Day one ended in Nashville where we had originally had big plans but we ended up eating and going to bed due to exhaustion. I am looking forward to visiting that city again when Cliff and Kelly move there next summer:)



Bentley the traveling dog

To be honest the next day was boring.. and we ended in Orlando:). Day three was expected to be the shortest day of the trip. We started our morning out with Starbucks and the knowledge that we were only 6-7 hours away from Key West! All was going  smoothly until we exited a toll booth and heard a rather loud pop.. shrapnel hitting the undercarriage of the truck.. and the ever popular feel of a flat tire. We found a safe place to pull off the busy 91/Florida Turnpike and assessed the damage. After walking around the truck and the trailer twice the tires all appeared normal. Rick, Mom, and myself all got back into the truck confused. We started the truck up, put her in drive and within seconds of moving realized something was not right. The truck had a distinct wobble and a squeak. We obtained great advice from Mike Jones as well as Kurt and determined a u-joint had gone out. Luckily we had Chevy road side assistance and they quickly found us the closest dealership and a towing company. A 45 minute ETA was given for the towing company.. and we all breathed a sigh of relief because we wouldn't be on the side of the road for very long. At 1:10 (5 minutes before the tow truck was expected to be there) we get the word that they were not coming due to the tow truck breaking down. Another towing company was contacted and it would be another 45 minutes.. putting us at an hour and a half after our truck broke. This theme would repeat until we had sat on the side of the road for a total of 4 hours. As we approached the Chevy dealer at 4:15 we could only think of getting our car fixed as quickly as possible. The Maroone service department was amazing.. they listened to our frustrating sob story and had a diesel mechanic stay late to fix our vehicle. Our 2010 Chevy silverado had indeed blew a u-joint but we had also damaged the drive shaft. They were not going to be able to get the part in until Friday. Brad, the service master, thought outside of the box and found a drive shaft off a new vehicle and replaced ours. We were in and out of the dealer in less time than it took for us to be towed off the turnpike. The remained of the drive was uneventful and we arrived in Key West just after 10:30 PM.. only 13 hours after we had started in Orlando.



Wednesday night we spent at Joe and Cher McMonigles lovely home on the Navy base in Key West. They are two of the most generous people that we know.. I hope they don't get tired of the Thompsons:) Thursday we awoke on a mission to get our u-haul unpacked and moved into our new place. Marty and Sam spent time unpacking the boxes while Rick and I took the u-haul back. If you ask them we have "too much kitchen stuff" but that is a.) not true and b.) I use all the stuff in the kitchen... I swear. We had the place unpacked and everything found a place by 4 PM. My mom and sister are amazing at getting things done.

Thursday night Rick and I spent at our place. It was weird sleeping in a new apartment... and freezing!! Apparently our A/C controller isn't accurate and for some bizarre reason I figured we didn't need blankets in Key West... turns out I was wrong. On Friday morning as I am stirring from a cold slumber I hear this "you aren't gonna like that".. now there are many things that went through my head.. (get your thoughts out of the gutter) but the thing that did not go through my mind was "cockroach". That is right... right there in our bedroom, next to the dog, was a large dead cockroach... the fleeting thought "move home now" came and went and I did a very grown up thing and said "ewe.. Rick get rid of it!!!!" Cher gave us good advice about how to ensure that never happens again and I am happy to report it there have been no more sightings nor dead ones found.

Friday we had the pleasure of eating at one of our new favorite restaurants "Le Creperie" and getting an amazing tour of the navy base by Skipper McMonigle. Cher also took us to a local shipwreck where we got to snorkel..

Saturday was spent shopping and walking around Duval.We got to eat breakfast at our second favorite restaurant "Old Town Bakery".. they have the most delicious croissants. After shopping Mom and Sam spent time at our little apartment and headed back home in the late afternoon. I am so very happy they came with us on our trip to Key West. It made saying goodbye a little easier.. especially because I am sure they will make a trip back here sooner than later :)


This blog is going to be updated with stories of this adventure as well as pictures. I figure not everyone cares what we are doing and I didn't want to fill Facebook with updates all the time. We miss you all so very much..seriously come here for vacation!