Key West Run - P H O T O S
 

Rode down to Key West yesterday with Bob, Hans and Marc because we could, and to continue the birthday celebration. Many thanks, guys- it was a blast. It's never hard to enjoy yourself with friends in Key West.

Ken and Karen Trelfa met us at Marco Island in their Outerlimits, Instant Insanity, and along with a couple of their friends, Glen and Laurel, from Canada (we are being invaded, I tell ya) ran with us down to a place many of you are familiar with.

I took my camera.

Bob discovered a very cool place via teh google. Literally, a secluded rainforest a block off of Duval St that few, I bet, have ever heard of, much less seen. It's called Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden. She has owned the place for 40 years and operates an exotic bird rescue operation there. Beautiful place.

Here are a few pix... more tomorrow.

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FULL SIZE

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Mr. Bill was really getting around.

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FULL SIZE

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Marc's son and one of his buddies came out to greet us as we pulled into Marco Island.

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Again Jay great pics and enjoyed spending some time with you and the rest of the gang in Key West. A bit of a warm up for next month. We were only there for less than 18 hrs and as always it was an adventure. In Jay's third last pic where sign says "control depth less than 18 inches", I always get a kick taking visitors thru some of the backwaters south of Marco and freaking them out ! LOL Sorry Ken & Karen. He, he.
Bob

Here is a link to video about Nancy Forresters Secret Garden. It is located at 1 Freeschool Lane off Simenton St just a block from the madness of Duval Street. Not for everyone but we enjoyed the change of pace. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1316586293564

And here i'm trying to call Hans thinking " probably working his ass off today". Miss you guys see ya soon I hope.

A little McCaw info....the solid blue one in pic #4 is a Hyacinth McCaw is the largest in the parrot family and is an endangered species. A few years ago they would easily get $20,000 in a exotic bird store. They are the biggest yet they are the most docile.

another piece of trivia for you......Yolo used to be Jack Nicklaus's boat. He sold it to his neighbor Abe Johnson but I don't know if he still owns it. Abe made the news (along with Jack and Greg Norman) for falling victim(s) to a jewelry swindler a few years back to the tune of about 100 million in fake gems. Guy sold them all real stuff, had it appraised and then when it came back for service/cleaning he would switch out the gems with fake stuff. Abe took the majority of the hit in the scam.

Interesting stuff JS. You truly are a walking encyclopedia. LOL
Nancy was telling us that many of the birds that are brought to her are sick or injured and she nurses them back to health. Some are dropped off by people that buy them on a whim and after a while they tire of the incessant racket they can make and want to get rid of them. She says they also try to place them in a good home so if anyone is looking for a parrot .... there you go. She also said parrots are extremely sensitive to any toxins and will die if exposed. She is a very interesting lady. She was born in the Keys and has lived in Key West for the last 40 years. She is not happy with the " progress " in Key West since she settled there. :)

Jay,

Beautiful Pixs. The colors look nice & vibrant. I wish everything up here in the Midwest, wasn't so DEAD :(.. Usually this time of year, the flora & fauna is quite colorful.

That is some interesting Trivia. I learned something new this morning. Thank you. ;)

Regarding Yolo, how does the owner get the motorcycle off the aft upper deck? I don't see a crane or any type of visible rigging, that would assist in getting it down to the ground???

Not really an encyclopedia but rather a guy that bought a McCaw for a girlfriend turned wife. She was really into the birds and I never realized they live 80-100 years! Needless to say her enthusiasm dwindled and the birds were a lot of work. Once children were introduced into the household the fear of "losing a finger" became closer to reality. We had plenty of people wanting to take the bird for free but we got the feeling it was only to keep it long enough to resell. We found a co-worker that wanted it and paid fair value for the bird but got 3K in accessories for free! We only had a blue and gold which was about $2500 back then. Stuff you don't think about is the cage (2K easily, day perch etc).

The Hyacinth is the most beautuiful McCaw out there IMO, but they are big and require a lot of work. I would rather get one from a lady like this than buy a pet store one anyday.

HI BOB HOPEFULLY WE CAN MAKE ANOTHER RUN DOWN TO THE KEYS THIS WINTER/SPRING LOOKS LIKE A GREAT TIME !IT WOULD BE MY FIRST

She did say he was the largest bird she had. A real babydoll- rolled right over on his back when she was holding him.

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