Dry Tortugas and Key West

Ok. It was a great last week. The first couple of days were all very productive school days and you could definitely tell by the green tests we accomplished. I’ve already started test 120 and started a new Calvert book that I haven’t been able to put down. It is called David Copperfield, a tragic story of a young boy in England in the 1800’s and all the clever things he must overcome from infatuation to an evil stepfather to the death of his loving mother. He overcomes the worst and the best with luck and a considerable amount of naïve style.

I set up a large scale Nerf Gun war with the kids at the local CYS (child youth services) so we had a lot of fun attacking and shooting at each other the next day. We had the most fun snorkeling at the Dry Tortugas National Park on Garden Key which is 70 miles west of the main land. So we packed up our stuff 2 days before and were going to call this a camping trip because we were going to camp there in tents because we obviously couldn’t take the R.V. out there. Finally the day came and we boarded the Yankee Freedom ll, the name of the ship, at 7:30 in the morning after we woke up at 5:30. We were very drowsy except for my parents who were quite ecstatic about the whole idea of camping on an island with an abandoned Fort Jefferson that held the 4 tyrants who helped John Wilkes Booth who assassinated President Lincoln. We went out there watching Coral Reef movies and looking for sea turtles and dolphins on that very large 2 story catamaran. While out there I ate a complimentary breakfast and lunch and read David Copperfield.

There was a real character named Tortuga Jack, real name no joke even if it is April Fool’s Day. He told jokes, stories, and the history of the Fort, island, and inhabitants. What a day! When we arrived we set up camp immediately and went snorkeling. Visibility: terrible for that hour. So while it was cloudy and cool we explored the Fort. And I myself explored the moat, island, all three stories and all three sides of the hexagonal Fort that was available for me and me being alone to explore. I read every history board, every sign and listened to every park ranger who told me about the Fort.
Then we did sea glass collecting, big hall echoing, and lots and lots of snorkeling as the weather got brighter and hotter as the ocean got clearer and clearer. Oh the things we saw, and the fish we met, and the coral we discovered! It was like the commercials and tourist trap advertisements. Come to think of it, they might have been telling the truth, huh. Well, we saw people fishing and sailing and kayaking. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of fun things and that is how I spent my Monday and Tuesday which was technically my weekend.

That’s the great thing about homeschooling. You can catch up on the weekends when you’re doing nothing, and do fun stuff on the weekdays when everybody’s at school or at work. You can take a recess whenever you want (If you’ve earned it and your teacher says so) as long as you work up to it and then catch up to it. For my break 4 days ago I went snorkeling in Key West and loved it! Where else in the world can you find a school system where you can do that! Well we have to move our R.V. to a different slot. The R.V. office says it’s time for someone else to get full hook-ups. Bye.