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**moosetags** · 02-20-2012, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Thanks for the photos of the Moorish building. As you know, we like unusual architecture too. We've been to the Keys 4 times, but have never seen a key deer. We stayed at the KOA a couple of years ago and realized we were lucky not to have parked under a coconut palm. Those guys would put a nasty dent in an Airstream when they fall.

Haven't you picked up your truck camper by now? How is it?

Gene

From what we read and have been told, the vast majority of the Key Deer are found on No Name Key and Big Pine Key. When we were out on No Name Key yesterday, we saw at least a dozen of the little guys roaming around.

As to the truck camper, we picked up the Outfitter in September and have already had it on trips to Wyoming, Maine, and Southwest Florida. Olivia, the Suburban, is doing the tow duties on this trip so that we can carry the kayak.

Brian

**moosetags** · 02-20-2012, 11:23 PM

Tonight we are dining in Lucy celebrating our 1,000th night camping in her. We spent the day touring Key West. We went to the downtown waterfront area, and spent several hours partaking in the sights and sounds. There were lots and lots of people. We had lunch at a little open air restaurant by the harbor. It was quite good, and we partook of the conch fritters. The were a little rubber bandy, but tasty. Of course, they are supposed to have the texture of a rubber band.

There are many really neat 100+ year old houses on the side streets of Key West's downtown area. Some even predate the Civil War. We visited Fort Zachary Taylor on the western tip of Key West..

We drove the 30 miles back to Lucy's campground in Big Pine Key as darkness fell.

Brian

ROBERTSUNRUS · 02-20-2012, 11:54 PM

Hi, 1,000 nights and over 90,000 miles; We now have????????? Well we never count nights, miles, or anything else. We will never catch up to you, but we still have a great time traveling. Hopefully we will be able to say that we went to 49 states sometime in our future. We also enjoy going on trips with you and some other forum members. Like to hear more about how your new truck, camper, and Airstream have been working out for you.

danlehosky · 02-21-2012, 12:01 AM

Congratulations on a well deserved accomplishment. (and a lot of fun).

Kindest regards,
Dan

mefly2 · 02-21-2012, 06:12 AM

Congrats; thanks for the pics and keeping us informed on your adventure.

Florida 55 · 02-21-2012, 06:30 AM

Congratulations and much appreciation for your postings. My wife and I started reading the Airforums in 2010. Once we made the reading of Airforums part of our daily routine we looked forward postings about the adventures of Lucy and her owners. Your experiences inspired us to purchase our 2008 Safari in August 2011. Since then we've met some great people while enjoying the Airstream lifestyle.

We look forward to reading many more stories about Lucy, Fred, and Ethel as your journey continues. No doubt the 2000 night milestone will come quickly. Thank you again for sharing.

**moosetags** · 02-21-2012, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, 1,000 nights and over 90,000 miles; We now have????????? Well we never count nights, miles, or anything else. We will never catch up to you, but we still have a great time traveling. Hopefully we will be able to say that we went to 49 states sometime in our future. We also enjoy going on trips with you and some other forum members. Like to hear more about how your new truck, camper, and Airstream have been working out for you.

Hi Bob,

The new truck/truck camper (Fred and Ethel) have been working out great. On the trip to Wyoming last fall, we set Lucy up at a campground in Buffalo. We used Fred and Ethel for three overnight excursions into the back country of the Bighorn National Forest. As far as the towing goes, Fred can carry Ethel and tow Lucy without the slightest hesitation. The diesel pulling power is just amazing. Fred can accelerate uphill pulling Lucy while poor old Olivia is fortunate to be able to maintain 60 mph on the same grade. What I find most amazing with Fred is that I can set his cruise control and he will not even downshift to maintain his speed on an upgrade. He just reaches down into his giant bag of torque and keeps on chugging.

We also took a two week run to Maine in November with just Fred and Ethel. Lucy stayed home. We wanted to get some camping experience in the truck camper. Ethel works very well on the road, although we did miss the luxury of having Lucy with us.

We think that this combo is going to work very well for us. We are keeping Olivia (the Suburban) though for trips like this tour of Florida that we are on.

Brian

**moosetags** · 02-21-2012, 08:12 PM

Today we got a late start due to some Lucy maintenance. We revisited Bahia Honda State Park to take a look at the Historic Bahia Honda bridge. The original span of nearly a mile was built as part of the original railroad to Key West (1905-1912). In the middle 1930's, a roadway span was added to the top of the original rail bridge. This was a rather interesting and unusual approach, but got the job done.

We also took a ride out to Sugar Loaf Key to see the Perky Bat Tower. The tower was built in 1929 by a developer, named Richter C. Perky, who planned a fishing resort on Sugar Loaf Key. As the mosquitoes on the island were quite ferocious, perky built the Bat Tower, and brought in a large number of bats to eat the mosquitoes. The plan failed miserably. It was rumored, at the time, that the mosquitoes ate the bats. Somehow or other, the famed Perky Bat Tower has survived to this day, and is now listed on the national Register of Historic Places. The Bat Tower is a little difficult to locate at the end of an unmarked, overgrown road, but we were able to find it. It is in amazingly good condition for its almost 90 year age on a small island frequented by violent hurricanes.

We came back to Lucy a little before dark to share a celebratory chocolate cup cake to mark Lucy's 1,000th day in the field.

Brian

**moosetags** · 02-22-2012, 04:08 PM

We spent our last full day in the Florida Keys today. We relaxed this morning, and spent the afternoon doing some more touring. We visited The Blue Hole on Big Pine Key. It is the largest fresh water pond in the Keys. It was dug in the 1930's to provide dirt for the building of the Overseas Highway. It's water source is rain. It is home to the only alligator population in the Keys. There are numerous crocodiles here because they thrive in salt water. Alligators prefer fresh or brackish water, and are generally not found in the keys.

We came back to the campground early to get Lucy ready for departure tomorrow. We plan to leave in the morning and head back up to Miami for a couple of days.

Brian

dstalzer · 02-22-2012, 04:22 PM

Great pictures Brian. We saw the alligator at Blue Hole last week, but it was just hanging out and not moving around. We were unaware of the Perky Bat Tower and surely would have tried to find it. We try to search out unusual things on our travels.

Dennis

**moosetags** · 02-22-2012, 05:45 PM

We're the same way. If we see a sign that says, "World's Largest Ball of Twine", we're there!

Brian

kds · 02-22-2012, 07:17 PM

Brian, thank for sharing your adventures and all your advice. I am so happy for you and "Lucy". I can only hope I get to spend 1000 nights in Atlas, my AS

Congratulations,

Kelly

socdiva · 02-23-2012, 12:02 PM

Congratulations on 1,000 days! You were kind enough to invite me and Bob over to SuEllyn's dad's home in Jax to see your "Lucy" when we were shopping for an Airstream. We loved you Lucy and purchased our Oceanbreeze a few months later. We're leaving on March 26th for "the west". I'd love to see your itenerary for your trip if possible. Our first stop for more than overnight is San Antonio, TX. We're trying to see "too much" between there and Yosemite (reservations May 14-18) then on to Yellowstone for a week or two in mid June. I don't recall when you're leaving but the Trinity site (1st atomic bomb detonation) is open only 2 days each year and in 2012 it's open April 7 and sometime in Oct. We'll be there! It just happened to work into our plans and I'm really pleased. Thanks again for your "Airstream" hospitality and great advice. Hope to see you on the road sometime.

**moosetags** · 02-23-2012, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by socdiva

Congratulations on 1,000 days! You were kind enough to invite me and Bob over to SuEllyn's dad's home in Jax to see your "Lucy" when we were shopping for an Airstream. We loved you Lucy and purchased our Oceanbreeze a few months later. We're leaving on March 26th for "the west". I'd love to see your itenerary for your trip if possible. Our first stop for more than overnight is San Antonio, TX. We're trying to see "too much" between there and Yosemite (reservations May 14-18) then on to Yellowstone for a week or two in mid June. I don't recall when you're leaving but the Trinity site (1st atomic bomb detonation) is open only 2 days each year and in 2012 it's open April 7 and sometime in Oct. We'll be there! It just happened to work into our plans and I'm really pleased. Thanks again for your "Airstream" hospitality and great advice. Hope to see you on the road sometime.

It is great to hear from you, Bob and Sandra. We're glad that you are headed out on a big Airstream adventure. It sounds like you are going to have a great time. You will have to give us some reports, with photos, of course.

We're not sure yet when we are going to head out on Lucy's Western Adventure. It will probably around April 15th. We are planning stops in Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Coos Bay, Oregon, Buffalo, Wyoming, Regent, North Dakota, Lake George, Minnesota, and various points in between. We plan to keep Lucy on the road until the end of June.

Safe travels, and have a great time.