Key West, Florida

Today we’re on another key called Key West. It’s the farthest key to the west. The keys are like these little islands made out of coral. We got our RV here not by a boat, but by a seven mile bridge.

We went snorkeling about five times. We got a boat that my Dad drove. It’s a speed boat that you get to rent. I really liked it because we went about 7 miles out and we went to Sand Key. This one is underwater and it’s really, really shallow. I loved it a lot because there are so many fish! We saw parrot fish, angel fish, and little ones that were all black with electric blue dots that hid in the coral. The parrot fish are curious about you and want to find out about you, and so you can get really close up to them. If you try to touch it, it shoots off. I like going snorkeling because you can dive and swim with the fish. There were these buoys that we hooked our boat up to. Right by us was a huge party boat. There were so many people snorkeling.

Mallory Square is my favorite place to go. There are all these street performers like a cool guy who has a guitar and is a one-man band. He has a harmonica, a giant drum, a kazoo, and stuff all over him. He has pipes that make really cool sounds. There’s a dare devil and he juggles a chain saw, a grenade, and a machete! After that, he lays down on a nail bed and then a lady stands on his chest. They were real nails because his back had lots of marks in it. There are jugglers, unicycles, and people who juggle fire. There was a lunatic with a whole bunch of cats, and he made the cats jump through a ring of fire! The people give them money. Also, people come there to watch the beautiful sunset that turns orange and purple (but Alaska is better!).

I really like this campsite because we’re only about 50 ft from the Gulf of Mexico. Also, we’re close to CYS and I can play tennis.

We went to Mel Fisher’s Museum and there’s a whole bunch of gold. He found a Spanish ship called Atocha and it was sunk. He found $400 million in gold, silver, emeralds, and pieces of eight. There’s a big gold bar and I got to lift it up! It was so heavy, and it was a foot long. We got to go to the southernmost part of the United States, and it’s in Key West.

Key Largo, Florida

Now we’re just leaving John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Yesterday we went snorkeling. My favorite kind of fish is big and is called a barracuda. They look cool and they have big teeth. It would bite me, so I didn’t grab its tail.






It’s just fun because it’s really shallow and you can stay in the water for a long time and swim with the fish. I didn’t get cold. We went on a boat that was pretty big. I really liked the parrot fish because they have a lot of bright colors like yellow and green and blue. I felt like I was a fish when I was diving down. I held my breath and then I shot out the water from my snorkel. It’s called clearing my snorkel. Also there was a fish called a trumpet fish. The trumpet fish blended in with the coral to hide.

There’s an animal called fire coral that looks like a plant. It’s called fire coral because if you touch it, it gives you a rash that really burns. I never saw just one fish by itself. I saw lots of fish together called a school. I was the last one out of the ocean, and the boat driver said the last one out of the ocean had to buy all the people beer. So he said I had to! But he was just kidding.
When we were first going to the reef, it looked like this rainbow color because it got so shallow. I saw really bright blue water. Now we’re driving on the Florida Keys to Key West. It’s really cloudy and it’s 76 degrees now. There are huge iguanas here about 2 ft long. Robby was walking along the grass and he got scared of a huge iguana. Will touched its tail!

March 17
Now we’re still in Florida, but we’re driving to a different campsite. Now we’re going to the Florida Keys! There’s really good snorkeling, but without the big tanks. So we’re going to go snorkeling at a park under water in this really cool state park.





We’ve been doing some school. We went golfing and I bought baseball gloves for golfing. Golfing is fun. It’s my favorite summer sport, and hockey is still my favorite winter sport. We went to a water park there. It’s kind of cold because it’s not heated. We went to “Relay for Life.” They do it in Alaska too, but it’s different here because there are cheerleaders here who go up on a stage and dance. Relay for Life is for fighting cancer. They went overnight, and we could hear them from our campsite because the music was so loud.

Also, we met Luc and Lea. They are two kids who are 7 and 5 years old. Their Mom and Dad are Judy and Pascal, and they live in Miami. We went swimming in their pool, and also we saw them at South Beach. It’s a beach where there are really pretty girls. There are like millions of people there. We saw girls without any bras on. People were swimming, sun bathing, boogie boarding, and surfing. I built a sand castle with Luc and Lea.















There’s another person we visited named Mr. Tio. He used to be Dad’s boss. His two grandkids came over and their names are Gabe and Allie. I went swimming, and Allie played water taxi with me. Mrs. Tio made dinner for us, and then we watched a movie and a whole bunch of fun things.

I like Florida so far because it’s nice with all the beaches.

March 11, 2009
Today we are at the same campground as before. We went out in the water in our red kayak and saw a whole bunch of dolphins right by us! It made me feel freaky, and Will was making lots of splashes to make them come closer. I thought the dolphins were going to flip our boat. Its head is shaped like a dog head kind of, and its skin is like a really shiny metal. Sometimes it looks like they’re sharks because their fins go through the water. We also go swimming, but not with the dolphins.



Also, I slept in our kayak and it was really fun. I was really comfortable. Now I’m in the red kayak blogging, while my Mom types and I talk. Yesterday, we went fishing in our friend’s canoe. His name is Mr. Ray. We saw two manatess, and caught a whole bunch of yellow tail fish. They’re only 5 inches long. We cleaned them, and had them for lunch today. You don’t cut up the rib cage because then you get too many bones in the fish meat. Mr. Ray has a think called a scaler. You rub that on the fish and it takes off the scales. So we ate them with the skin.



Tonight there’s going to be a space shuttle launch from Kennedy Space Center. We’re going to a beach to watch it after dark. There’s going to be 7 lucky astronauts on there. We’ve been doing a lot of school. I’ve been having fun too. When you go outside for almost 10 minutes, you get sweaty because it’s hot now!

Long Point County Park, FL

March 4
Now we are at my favorite campsite. This is called Long Point. You can go swimming, fishing, play at the park, ride bikes, and so many other things. Last night I slept in a tent with my brothers. It wasn’t just camping outside of the RV. We had to go through the ocean in a kayak, and it was a deserted island. We camped on it! It was freaky because the trees were croaking at night! I really liked watching the jetboil that made the water boil so fast. Robby did it and made Top Ramen and oatmeal for us. It’s like a cup that’s a miniature stove. I slept well, and just slept in my underwear! We saw a whole bunch of lizards and pelicans.

Also, I get to paddle around here in our red kayak. I got to sit in the bow of a neighbor’s canoe on the water. Today, Dad said, “Hey look at the dolphin so close to land.” Then we saw dolphins herding fish. They get the fish in really shallow water, and then we saw the dolphins eating the fish.

I did a whole bunch of school, and I finished my green test 120.

Also, Nana and Poppa came. I played, and went surfing. I talked with them, and played Ruckus with Poppa. We had an awesome beach house. The neighbors were nice. We got to sleep in a great big bed. We could just walk on our walkway right to the beach. Nana and Poppa left to go to New York. It’s really freezing cold back at New York, and Nana was used to the warm weather here in Florida.

Cocoa Beach, Florida

Feb 20
Today I went boogie boarding and it’s when you look for a big wave. The good ones are when they’re curled and all white. You just push really hard with your feet and you jump on the board and the wave will push you. One time I went really fast and I got onto land. You don’t get sand up your nose or anything. You just get mouthfuls of salt water.

Poppa and Nana flew in and they’re visiting us from New York. They’re staying in a hotel, and we’re staying in our RV in their parking lot. Poppa really likes it because it’s comfortable. I like it because it’s close to the beach where we like to boogie board. There’s a swimming pool and Jacuzzi too.

I like talking with Nana and Poppa. They like watching us go out on the big waves. Today we did school. My three teachers were Dad, Mom, and Nana!

The campsite we were just at was my favorite campsite so far on this whole trip. There’s really good fishing for blues and whiting. There are pelicans that fish too! There’s a really cool swimming pond. Will and I saw 2 dolphins in the water next to our campsite. I really like the nature pond because there’s fish that jump out and birds that like to be in there. Here's a picture of me with a puffer fish we caught! We did school, school, and more school.