1224 February 28, 2025 National Key Deer Refuge

It was a nice morning for a good long walk.

We waited for the last load of laundry to finish and then we packed our lunch and drove the Jeep about 25 miles to Big Pine Key.  We left our Jeep in the Winn Dixie parking lot and took our bikes for a ride on Key Deer Blvd.  The Key Deer Refuge was established in 1957 for the protection of the endangered Key deer.  These are the smallest variety of white-tailed deer and they are found only in the Florida Keys.  We have visited here several times.  It is a nice change from the hustle and circus that is Key West.  It was nice to have a quiet day surrounded by nature. We had a headwind as we went.  We pedaled a little more than 4 miles to the end of the pavement.

On the way back, we stopped at Blue Hole.  This was a quarry.  Limestone was harvested here to build the area roads.  When the roads were completed, there was a gaping hole.  Vegetation was replanted and nature was allowed to reclaim the property.  Today, there was an alligator in the water.

We got back on our bikes and rode to Watson Field.  We sat in the dugout and had our picnic.

After lunch, Tim decided to run the bases…rounding second…

And safe at home!

We saw a Key deer run across the road in front of a barreling garbage truck. The deer was safe and I know the truck driver got a close look at that deer!

We got back to the RV and rested a short while before dinner.

This evening, we drove into Key West and parked along the seawall at Smathers Beach. We rode our bikes to an access point and went out into the sand and along a rock jetty. The water was so calm. We watched the sunset.

We cycled to the end of the beach and then back to the Jeep.

We waited for the sky to darken. We wanted to see the planetary alignment. The sky was clear but for a few clouds at the horizon. We had a large open expanse of heaven to look at. We faced the southwest. We were able to see Mars and Jupiter and Venus. There was too much ambient light to see Uranus, Neptune, Mercury, and Saturn but I am fairly certain that they were up there somewhere!