The last couple of weeks...

 I definitely have some catching up to do!

We received a surprise Happy 2013 gift package in the mail from our good friends Daniel and Jen, in South Lake Tahoe - they had made their own mustards, a brown sugar scrub, tea, some home brew and Jen's special ginger snaps - along with a jar of Tahoe snow and a pine cone...oh how we miss them, and Tahoe!

 Late in January we took off on our bikes with Clarke & Elaine, fellow NuRVers for brunch in town at "Eat at Pat's". They have a rice & beans dish that is fabulously spiced and with a green salad it makes a nice meal! Afterwards we took off on a bike ride - after a foggy, chilly start the sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

We passed a little yard sale and there was a bunch of stuff in a pile - anything for a quarter. Bill immediately stopped, thinking that we might find some kitschy little thing to go on top of my flag pole on my bike. And that we did - a funky little Barbie doll head -and she even has purple hair to match the fringe on my bike seat and basket!!

Clarke and Elaine have been biking all over the island but I wasn't sure if they had seen some of the spots we had found for the New Year's Day hash, so we took them on a little tour of some of our finds. We ended up biking almost 8 miles and had a great day.

We've spent a lot of time at the Tiki Bar - and this year for Bill's annual alcohol abstinence he's decided to change it up a bit and instead of doing his 46 days he's decided to not drink for a week each month. Last year it was difficult doing his 46 days while we were here in Cedar Key. Our social life kind of revolves around the Tiki Bar. It's stumbling distance from where we're parked and it's basically the only time all year where we really are in a community so it's the absolute worst time to do something like this. Abstaining for a week each month is like a monthly cleanse and he thought it would work out better - he definitely will be drinking less overall, but it just makes more sense for how he is living his life right now. I will join him in this too.

Our friend (and fellow RVer) Jay had left a few weeks ago to do some traveling but made his way back here to celebrate his birthday. And now he's going to spend the winter here as he's got a job bartending 2 nights a week at the Tiki Bar, is that a chill job or what?! We're pretty happy that he's going to stick around.

Bill made grilled poblanos stuffed with his famous roasted garlic mashed potatoes for Jay's birthday party.

The group of NuRVers that had been here this past month were bidding us adieu, as they left to continue their travels. Maria & Brian left to head towards the Keys and Sam & Tracy left also while we were in Palm Desert. Then Chris and Cherie were off to see their families, Forrest & Mary and Clarke & Elaine headed south, and Pace & Kylie moved west to Texas. We're looking forward to seeing our good friends, Maria and Brian, in March when they come back on their way north. We enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the others a little bit better and some for the first time. The park definitely feels different!

We got a nice surprise the other day when Sam and Tracy came by to retrieve the car they had parked here while they were traveling. They are some of the very first friends we made on the road and we share a lot of memories.

We took off to see Doano (Bill's mom) on Tuesday - it had been three weeks since we had last seen her in Clearwater (Tampa area). Neither of us had anything to do so we called her that morning to see if she wanted a visit. It's a long drive, but the added bonus of getting to a good natural foods store was great.

Today was the first day I volunteered at the Cedar Key food pantry. It's open every Thursday afternoon and there are 46 locals that come each week to fill a box with canned goods, bread, milk, eggs, meat, chicken and fresh veggies. In a town of 700 people that's a pretty big percentage of the population. The people I worked with were great and I look forward to working there again at the end of the month. One of the things I love about Cedar Key is the community. I have met so many wonderful people through yoga, the Tiki Bar and now the food pantry. I could easily call this place home - it's certainly the closest I've come to feeling that way about any place since we left South Lake Tahoe.

I'll leave you with a few of our spectacular sunset pics...