I don’t have a lot of friends and those that I do are each precious to me.  Steve is one such individual who has been my friend since Junior High.  I am not quite sure what brought us together to form the bond of friendship, but I treasure it 🙂

Steve is a month older than I, a fact I never let him forget.   He has been retired longer than I and has been considering a move to a more pleasant climate than the Seattle area.  We encouraged him to visit with us in Florida and he took us up on the offer after the New Year.

I took him down to the beaches near Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and the beaches near Fort DeSoto to familiarize him with some of Florida.   We dined on the water, explored the beaches, and had a great time.  Steve shares my love of walking and we did a lot of it.  It was especially nice to walk on the beach with the waves rolling over our feet as we walked for miles.

We went down to the Tampa Electric Power Plant hoping to see Manatees in the cooling lagoons for the plant.  The warm water on a cooler winter day brings them in to enjoy the warmth of the power plant emissions.  Unfortunately there were none to be seen but we had a wonderful day.

Roni and I were just getting over a cold we caught in Florida and Steve was the unfortunate recipient of the same from our germs 🙁   I think he underwent a bit of culture shock at the idea of living in a tiny home with another couple and sharing a bathroom.  The lack of complete privacy was a far cry from his two bedroom condo in Kent that he shares with a cat 🙂

As I write this blog I realize I need to call him.  His birthday is today and for a month he will be one year older than I 🙂  We don’t think he has decided to move to Florida but we hope he enjoyed his stay with us.  Perhaps he will join us again as we explore the southwest?

You can enjoy more pictures of the places we took Steve at http://compositionbyjohn.com or http://facebook.com/compositionbyjohn

Thank you for following our adventures 🙂

John and Roni

After our Christmas in Seattle with the McGarveys, John and I headed over the next day to Spokane to visit my youngest daughter, Haley and the grandbabies, Ayvah and Damien.  As with any of my daughters or grandchildren I get giddy in route to see them.   There is no feeling like the one of being able to be in the presence of these people who are so sacred to me 🙂  As usual John blesses me with pictures to remember the moments.

We bought a couple presents for Ayvah and Damien.  I believe children at their age don’t really remember who gave them what present  so they are more for me as the glee in their eye at opening a present is something that excites me!

It was a wonderful Christmas and I cant wait to see them again.  Having my 3 daughters spread across the United States is a bit crushing as I have not had them together all at once in 8 years.  I am very hopeful that I will have  more times like this one in the next coming years.

The above picture was taken on the morning we had to say goodbye. These little ones run me ragged after a few days but I always bawl uncontrollably like I do with all of my children once we are headed down the road.  I’m crazy I think! lol  Thanks again to John for always making sure we see my girls!

We really appreciate you checking up on us via this blog and cherish your comments.  Please visit Johns sites to see more of his very well done portraits.  http://facebook.com/compositionbyjohn and

http://compositionbyjohn.com

Thanks, John and Roni

Here it is just past St. Patty’s day and we are writing about Christmas 🙁  This is what an extended winter vacation in Florida will do to you 🙂  Roni and I flew back to Seattle for Christmas and were fortunate to be at my brother Bob’s for Christmas.  He and Carolyn are the most gracious hosts you can imagine and we loved our stay with them.

On Christmas Day, all the McGarvey’s in the Northwest and many other of his friends whom we consider family feast at a kilometer long table and we eat and drink Bob and Carolyn out of house and home.  The feast is always amazing and the conversations funny, sad, fascinating, and every other emotion you feel when catching up with family and friends after being away for so long.

The younger crowd tend to the far end of the table and have the most fun at dinner 🙂

The older generations are at the head of the table where you can see Carolyn talking to my sister Patty and my mother to their left cutting her prime rib.

I tend to sit in the middle because I am much to vain to admit I am old :p  LOL.  It truly is a blessing for us all to be able to sit together and enjoy each other.

I was shanghai’d into doing my Christmas tradition of creating a playlist of songs spanning the generations at our dinner party members and play “name that tune”.   Taylor (niece), Carolyn (host) and Roni won !!!  We will have to split that team up next year 🙂

So many of the good candid shots were left out of this blog so please head to http://compositionbyjohn.com or http://facebook.com/compositionbyjohn

Thank you for following our blog,

John and Roni

What do you do with the largest all-masonry fort in America built in the mid 19th century but never completed for fear of causing settling and stress if more cannons and bricks were added?  By the way it is located on a lovely coral reef island at the end of the Florida Keys with snorkeling in the corals and sea grass some of the best in the Florida Keys.  The fortunate answer is you turn it into a National Park with a ferry service to take you to this remote key.

Take the 70 mile ferry trip and included in the fee is free rental of snorkeling gear 🙂  As you have seen by our blogs, we are all about getting around in boats, trains, etc..  The ferry boat was awesome, feeding us well while giving us a smooth fast ride to the National Park.

Roni lounged patiently on the beach while I maneuvered around old pier pilings exploring undersea life, fish that made me feel in a lovely aquarium.

We walked much of the island / key in search of a large American Crocodile that washed up on shore many years ago to call this home, no luck spotting it.  The beach was wonderful and with a strict policy of “no-take” the sea shells  were enjoyed by all.

Sadly our day long stay at the island came to an end all too soon and we were whisked back to Key West tired, tanned, and thankful our nation chooses to protect so many diverse parts of it’s history, culture, and national beauty 🙂

For more wonderful pictures of the Dry Tortugas please explore our gallery at http://compositionbyjohn.com or our Facebook site http://facebook.com/compositionbyjohn

Thank you for reading our blog,

John and Roni

Key West has a cemetery that befits the quirky nature of the town.   Most of the graves are above ground because of the high water table.

As you wander the large cemetery you find disrepair common, but some plots showed the wealth of some.

More common than visitors to the cemetery, iguanas and roosters roamed their private sanctuary.   We are not talking about one or two iguanas, but rather an army of them.  Some are not bothered by nearby humans, others scurry deep into the crevices of the stones at the first sign someone approaching.

The cemetery was founded in 1847 after the 1846 hurricane washed away the previous cemetery.  With this lengthy history, over 100,000 are buried in the cemetery while the town only has 30,000 residents.

We loved the cemetery, spending a lot of time quietly walking the rows of graves.

Key West is a diverse community with interesting places everywhere you look.  That combined with delightfully consistent sunshine and sea breeze, swaying palms, and more tourists than residents makes for a nice place to people watch.    Check out our other blog on the town of Key West.

Many more pictures of the fascinating cemetery can be seen at our galleries http://compositionbyjohn.com and http://facebook.com/compositionbyjohn

Thank you for reading our blog,

John and Roni

What happens when you drive as far south as you can in the contiguous 48 states ?  You set up your trailer in a campground nearby and get yourself on “Key West Time”   🙂  We listened to Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet while traveling on U.S. 1 down the 113 mile “Overseas Highway” to help our transition.

Something slowly settles over you when in Key West, life slows down, troubles seem a little less so, a smile is easier to form on your lips, you are experiencing island living.  We walked Duvall Street with the music of one restaurant and bar melding into the next, looking for our next meal or our next drink or lost shaker of salt 🙂

Just sit at a table outside the bar and observe the world peddle past you.

A few blocks away we waited in a short line to enter Ernest Hemmingway’s home, white six toed cats included.  I know my education lacked any literary focus, so one of his books is on my “to be read this year” list.  A little further down the street an enormous Banyan tree and beyond that the lively colors of island living everywhere you look.

Take a drive to the west end of the island to Zachary Taylor Historic State Park and enjoy the sunset to end a perfect day.

We invited Scott and Nikki to stay with us, friends who truly understood Key West Time and we had a blast with them (more in a future blog).   These few pictures don’t do the town or island justice so please head to our galleries of photos at http://compositionbyjohn.com or http://facebook.com/compositionbyjohn

Thank you for following our blog 🙂

John and Roni

Before heading down to Key West to prepare for  Scott and Nikki to stay with us, we ventured to Homestead, Florida.  In keeping in tune with visiting National Parks, we decided Key Biscayne was next.  Only 5% of this park is actually accessible without a boat.  The total area is173,000 acres resulting in a very small area to walk around on.  We did walk the short path shown below and decided that as small as it was, it was gorgeous.  We could of opted for a boat ride but decided against it due to our upcoming activities in Key West.

Mangrove trees play a big role in the eco system here from what I could gather from the park rangers/volunteers, movie and displays that were fun to look out in the visitors center.  There is so much to this park that I could not possibly do it justice.

Biscayne Bay and all the Keys associated with it are located at the southeast end of Florida just minutes from Miami.  It was a wonderful day trip and I would love to go back and experience the boat trip.  It was also nice to kick our feet up and stare at the scene below 🙂

As with all our blogs we appreciate you checking on us and appreciate feedback.   Please look for more pictures at

http://compositonbyjohn.com and http://facebook.com/compositonbyjohn

Thanks!

Roni and John

There is something symbolic when we round each corner of America .   Leaving Seattle we headed east until our wonderful visit to Acadia National Park in Maine.   The park blew our minds with the beauty of nature.  Next we headed south down the East Coast until we arrived at the Everglades National Park.  It was like nothing we had seen before:   Alligators, Great egrets, Cypress stands, swamps and marshes teeming with wildlife, and so on …  This corner of America was completely different than Maine, but just as memorable in what it offered !

As with most national parks in America, the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades has been threatened  as man has tried to improve the land.  He diverted water that fed the park for his own uses, drying out the park.   Only when activists spoke up such as Marjory Stoneman Douglas did this trend reverse.   Wikipedia tells of her book published the year the Everglades became a national park, she helped redefine the Everglades from a worthless swamp to a treasured river.

We continue to threaten the park with the rise in sea level due to global warming.  Everyone in America that appreciates our bountiful beautiful country needs to take ownership of all our treasured parks and protect them for the sake of our children’s children.

Turning the corner from heading south to heading west, Roni and I both felt the significance to our lives, our trip was half over and we have so much more to visit and explore.

This sunrise picture makes me smile each time I see it.   Drive for over an hour in the darkness to an area previously recommended by a fellow photographer, set up your tripod and camera, wait for the soft glow to turn into an explosion of light, and then realize the mosquitos are making a meal of your skin 🙂

The Everglades National Park can touch your soul if you let it.  The park is enormous, spend time to understand the diversity of this treasure our nation has preserved.

We thank you for reading our blog and for visiting our photo galleries at http://compositionbyjohn.com or http://facebook.com/compositionbyjohn

John and Roni