Continuing My Test

I decided to set up this blog before my three week vacation out of town. I expect to come home refreshed and supplied with stories and pictures for my amusement.
Meanwhile another thought about Key West:
There are four commonly told lies about my home town. Key West is NOT:
an island: its a peninsula connected to the mainland by 42 bridges;
tropical: it lies in the sub-tropical belt, the Tropic of Cancer is between Havana and Key West;
in the Caribbean: its in the Atlantic, and America's Caribbean Islands are the Virgins and Puerto Rico, not Key West which lies well north of the Caribbean Sea;
laidback: this is the worst lie propagated by Jimmy Buffet's popularization of "island time." Most people hold down at least two jobs to allow them to struggle by here.

Key West is the best place I've ever lived, and I moved here from California with little or no understanding of the Parrothead phenomenon or the Mid West obsessiveness with Key West. I just wanted warm air and water and a good jumping off spot for travel by land (that peninsula thing) or air (Miami International). It has turned into a place that for the first time in my nomadic life speaks to me as home. Key West warts and all.
Oh and then there's my Vespa. Key West is America's most scooter-friendly city: might as well have my scooter featured as well. I've been riding motorcycles for years and around here I can pretty much leave the car at home. So I decided it was time to go back to a Vespa, after years away from scooters, riding bigger machines. Riding my GTS gives me an armchair seat to watch the Keys go by.