Tuesday, July 8, 2008
another sunset in paradise
day two in key west.
FROM SCOTT:
before dawn, there was a tremendous light show out over the ocean. lightning strikes every 5-10 seconds. huge thunderclouds illuminated by the lightning. beautiful. the day dawned with a cruise ship parked in our front yard and another one just down the road. they're even bigger close up. it was interesting watching them leave in the late morning, casting off their lines, then turning sharply to get out of this smallish area between islands. don't know where they were headed. today we learned a lot about the island's history (lots of cigar rolling) and some of the folks who have enjoyed it (hemingway, jose marti, frost, calvin klein (?) jimmy buffet, mother teresa (ok, maybe not her). spent some time in the morning at one of the beaches, then touring the island, then shopping (it's an olivia thing; she shopped while i sweated. it was really humid today, even though the thunderstorm off in the distance overnight was gone), refreshmenting (we found the starbucks), then dinner at the hard rock. liv still has a smile on her face. liv found an island she wants us to buy. it has a beautiful beach. holler if you want to contribute to the island fund. i think the asking price was only about $7 million.
FROM OLIVIA:
I WANT AN ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please? if each and everyone of you contribut like a dollar or two or 5 or 100 each time you look at this. i could do it in like a year maybe! o gosh.. thts an exciting thought! im gonna be really sad to leave here today but oh well.. i might be the only 14 year old to go from neah bay to hawaii to key west in 2 weeks. :) yay! haha i feel spencial.. i really need to pack my suitcases.. oh im officially starting a "lets get Olivia more suitcases so she can actually safely transport her items(clothes.. you souvineers) home!" fund. haha im just kidding. it was soo much fun shoppping! i have no idea why my dad was sweating.. it really wast that hot.. only like 90.:) see you all soon! like in.... 8 days and one hour not that anyone's counting haha buh bye!
TOMORROW: key west north along florida's atlantic coast as we begin the journey to washington, d.c. we'll probably try to stay at the white house for a few days.(YES!)
FROM SCOTT:
before dawn, there was a tremendous light show out over the ocean. lightning strikes every 5-10 seconds. huge thunderclouds illuminated by the lightning. beautiful. the day dawned with a cruise ship parked in our front yard and another one just down the road. they're even bigger close up. it was interesting watching them leave in the late morning, casting off their lines, then turning sharply to get out of this smallish area between islands. don't know where they were headed. today we learned a lot about the island's history (lots of cigar rolling) and some of the folks who have enjoyed it (hemingway, jose marti, frost, calvin klein (?) jimmy buffet, mother teresa (ok, maybe not her). spent some time in the morning at one of the beaches, then touring the island, then shopping (it's an olivia thing; she shopped while i sweated. it was really humid today, even though the thunderstorm off in the distance overnight was gone), refreshmenting (we found the starbucks), then dinner at the hard rock. liv still has a smile on her face. liv found an island she wants us to buy. it has a beautiful beach. holler if you want to contribute to the island fund. i think the asking price was only about $7 million.
FROM OLIVIA:
I WANT AN ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please? if each and everyone of you contribut like a dollar or two or 5 or 100 each time you look at this. i could do it in like a year maybe! o gosh.. thts an exciting thought! im gonna be really sad to leave here today but oh well.. i might be the only 14 year old to go from neah bay to hawaii to key west in 2 weeks. :) yay! haha i feel spencial.. i really need to pack my suitcases.. oh im officially starting a "lets get Olivia more suitcases so she can actually safely transport her items(clothes.. you souvineers) home!" fund. haha im just kidding. it was soo much fun shoppping! i have no idea why my dad was sweating.. it really wast that hot.. only like 90.:) see you all soon! like in.... 8 days and one hour not that anyone's counting haha buh bye!
TOMORROW: key west north along florida's atlantic coast as we begin the journey to washington, d.c. we'll probably try to stay at the white house for a few days.(YES!)
Monday, July 7, 2008
tan, shopping, water, sun.. but no friends
its amazing here... and i mean amazing. our view out of our room is to the sparkling aqua blue water.. the sun sets infront of our room... right next to the big shopping street.. I LOVE IT HERE! im thinking we should sell the houseand buy one here.. anyone wanna buy a house in seattle area... let me know.. also anyone selling/giving away a house here... let me know also.. haha it has to hae enough room for... 1...2.....3.....4...5...6...7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.20.25.30.40. some people to be in when i have my crazy parties.. plus my friends that move down.. yes! JEFF, EMI, ANDI, JULIA, LAUREN, CONNER, MAX, JAKE, BEN, SIERRA, BRIAN, BECCA, ALI, ANDREW, ALY, HANNA, AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO I MISS! HAHA let me know if i forgot your name :) i'lll add it. so basically....... i love the sun. i aloha the sun. i live for the sun. i am the sun. prettttttttttty M-AZING! haha dont worry! i'll see you all in 8ish days i think at my "surprise" party! i love you all! buh byeeeee oh.. text me about what present you want... Olivia will take care of it.. if you dont have a phone... *cough*jeff*cough* just call me then... <3's 4-eva summer 08!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Olive the Other Reindeer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Olive the Other Reindeer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
day 14, part two
ahh, key west. and i do mean ahh. nice place. they celebrate sunset here every day. everything stops, and everyone watches the sunset. when i left cape flattery just west of neah bay, a road trip from the northwesternmost point in the contiguous states to the southeasternmost point seemed a little daunting in some ways. still does in some respects. but it was a great trip. and i discovered that the country is both bigger and smaller than i thought, if that makes sense. big country and too many vast expanses to keep track of, but also so many connections among everyone, so many things that tie us all together. it's pretty cool.
today we started on the west coast of florida, drove across to the east side and then down through the keys. alligator alley, one of the roads crossing the everglades, wasn't much to talk about, so we cut south a ways and took another road east. "panther crossing" signs were one of the highlights, along with circling vultures and a gecko that wanted no part of us. but no gators to be seen. the road through the keys was quite interesting. some of the keys are so small the road takes up most of the key. others are big enough to have home depots. and one bridge is seven miles long. it's an interesting feeling being this far out here as a hurricane is developing in the atlantic. we may be closer to cuba than the u.s. mainland. but we're watching the weather channel, googling weather stories and watching the hurricane's progress. if it turns west, we head north. more lightning off in the distance tonight, meaning more thunderstorms out there somewhere. tuesday we plan to spend enough time on the beach to reignite our sunburns, explore the island a bit, check out some of the touristy stuff and swim in the ocean and the pool. in other words, just relax and enjoy being here -- finally.
good night mel and judy in lynden (unless you're hiding somewhere in key west), good night olivia, good night jean...
today we started on the west coast of florida, drove across to the east side and then down through the keys. alligator alley, one of the roads crossing the everglades, wasn't much to talk about, so we cut south a ways and took another road east. "panther crossing" signs were one of the highlights, along with circling vultures and a gecko that wanted no part of us. but no gators to be seen. the road through the keys was quite interesting. some of the keys are so small the road takes up most of the key. others are big enough to have home depots. and one bridge is seven miles long. it's an interesting feeling being this far out here as a hurricane is developing in the atlantic. we may be closer to cuba than the u.s. mainland. but we're watching the weather channel, googling weather stories and watching the hurricane's progress. if it turns west, we head north. more lightning off in the distance tonight, meaning more thunderstorms out there somewhere. tuesday we plan to spend enough time on the beach to reignite our sunburns, explore the island a bit, check out some of the touristy stuff and swim in the ocean and the pool. in other words, just relax and enjoy being here -- finally.
good night mel and judy in lynden (unless you're hiding somewhere in key west), good night olivia, good night jean...
day 14
naples, florida, to key west, 256 miles.
arrived in key west at approximately 3 p.m. east coast time.
more later...
tomorrow: relax in key west...
arrived in key west at approximately 3 p.m. east coast time.
more later...
tomorrow: relax in key west...
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Day 13
day 13, alchua, florida, to naples, florida, 374 miles.
FROM OLIVIA:
I'm gonna be first today since i set the computer up. and i'm just all-around better.. haha well the day started out shaky.. very very shaky. THERE WAS NO STARBUCKS! ANYWHERE! i was about to like die i was so tired.. all i needed was a chai or latte to make it better.. but no. it was not meant to be.. dad even called jean in lake forest park and had her google starbucks in the area we were in.. nothing. so it was hot it was sunny it was nice.. but not for long. we got in the worst storm i have EVER SEEN! i'm sure that dad will go into full detail about everything.. so i'm not worried. :) YAY! haha i'm gonna go see if my friends have decided to talk to me again...BYE!
FROM SCOTT:
it was a big day. big sun, big rain, big beach resorts, big bridge, big boat party. wow.
definitely a day of contrasts. first the weather. started out normal, then a little rain, then lots of sun. sunny in particular on the beach north of sarasota on the gulf coast. that's quite a place. liv and i came close to deciding to sell the car, buy a little boat and just stay. white sand beaches, and she waded in the surf. warm water, blue sky. nice. we spent so much time on the beach roads that at some point in the sarasota area we headed back to the freeway to make up some time. that's when we hit one of the heaviest thundershowers i've ever experienced. we just pulled in behind someone and hoped they stayed on the road. it was raining so hard everyone was going about 10 mph. huge rain. and it lasted a long time. we stopped at a rest area and ran from the car to the covered area and still got drenched. we also got to see the bridge over the bay at st. petersburg -- beautiful. and there were people at stoplights on the highway hawking copies of the sunday st. petersburg paper. oh, back to the beach. in one area, it was like lake washington for the seafair hydro races. boats all tied up together, everyone partying. at another place, a little island, folks had put the noses of their boats on the beach and were picnicing and partying. wow. quite a place. lots of old money, too. really ritzy (enough to make medina on lake washington look cheap) condo developments and houses that went on for miles. a high point came about mid-morning. liv was suffering from sleep deprivation, and there was no starbucks nearby, no specialty coffee spots of any kind. she finally googled starbucks on her phone and found one that turned to be a couple of miles ahead on the road we were on. turned out it was in a mall, which satisfied another of her deprivations, and next to the mall was a boston market. when she was little, she enjoyed food at the boston market in woodinville. but it went away years ago. so today she had a boston market lunch, something from starbucks, a little mall time. when we arrived at the mall, she was kinda grouchy, grumpy, listless, barely awake. when we left, the was definitely ready to party.
TOMORROW: naples, florida, to key west. ahh...
FROM OLIVIA:
I'm gonna be first today since i set the computer up. and i'm just all-around better.. haha well the day started out shaky.. very very shaky. THERE WAS NO STARBUCKS! ANYWHERE! i was about to like die i was so tired.. all i needed was a chai or latte to make it better.. but no. it was not meant to be.. dad even called jean in lake forest park and had her google starbucks in the area we were in.. nothing. so it was hot it was sunny it was nice.. but not for long. we got in the worst storm i have EVER SEEN! i'm sure that dad will go into full detail about everything.. so i'm not worried. :) YAY! haha i'm gonna go see if my friends have decided to talk to me again...BYE!
FROM SCOTT:
it was a big day. big sun, big rain, big beach resorts, big bridge, big boat party. wow.
definitely a day of contrasts. first the weather. started out normal, then a little rain, then lots of sun. sunny in particular on the beach north of sarasota on the gulf coast. that's quite a place. liv and i came close to deciding to sell the car, buy a little boat and just stay. white sand beaches, and she waded in the surf. warm water, blue sky. nice. we spent so much time on the beach roads that at some point in the sarasota area we headed back to the freeway to make up some time. that's when we hit one of the heaviest thundershowers i've ever experienced. we just pulled in behind someone and hoped they stayed on the road. it was raining so hard everyone was going about 10 mph. huge rain. and it lasted a long time. we stopped at a rest area and ran from the car to the covered area and still got drenched. we also got to see the bridge over the bay at st. petersburg -- beautiful. and there were people at stoplights on the highway hawking copies of the sunday st. petersburg paper. oh, back to the beach. in one area, it was like lake washington for the seafair hydro races. boats all tied up together, everyone partying. at another place, a little island, folks had put the noses of their boats on the beach and were picnicing and partying. wow. quite a place. lots of old money, too. really ritzy (enough to make medina on lake washington look cheap) condo developments and houses that went on for miles. a high point came about mid-morning. liv was suffering from sleep deprivation, and there was no starbucks nearby, no specialty coffee spots of any kind. she finally googled starbucks on her phone and found one that turned to be a couple of miles ahead on the road we were on. turned out it was in a mall, which satisfied another of her deprivations, and next to the mall was a boston market. when she was little, she enjoyed food at the boston market in woodinville. but it went away years ago. so today she had a boston market lunch, something from starbucks, a little mall time. when we arrived at the mall, she was kinda grouchy, grumpy, listless, barely awake. when we left, the was definitely ready to party.
TOMORROW: naples, florida, to key west. ahh...
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