200,000 Miles of Memories and Our 2017 Year in Review

Over the years we've sure put on a lot of miles going down the road so it didn't come of much of a surprise when we turned over 200,000 near the end of 2017. Some of you might remember when we bought the Crown Victoria LX Sport, and here we are now with 200,000 miles. We didn't blog about 100,000 miles because that really doesn't even get our attention any more. The miles seem to fly by. Our last Crown Victoria took us 325,000 miles. Added to this one, that's a half million miles in our journey, which is funny considering we know exactly where the journey ends. The Sport is actually part of our blog's title image.

There have been some really cool adventures with the Sport, and some truly memorable moments. Here are a few things that stick out in our minds when we think about the last 200,000.

1. Kansas, some of the best barbeque and Moon Marble
2. Nashville, the Opry, the Music Hall of Fame and the Loretta Lynn Ranch
3. Florida, Big Cypress, the Smallwood Store and the smallest post office
4. Illinois, photographing weddings for two Georgetown Fair Queens and sitting with the family of another at college graduation, not to mention all those queen pictures
5. The Southernmost Cat

2017 has been a hectic year for us and we are hoping for calmer skies in our future. Between hurricanes and other hardships, 2017 just really didn't pan out to the be the kind of breakout year we'd hoped, in a number of ways, so as our journey continues we might be looking at changing our path. There were some really good moments in there for sure so count on us to push forward building on that success.

So after all of these miles we sure hope there are many more in front of us, but if we've learned anything its that the road is long, parts of it are unforgiving, and persistence is rewarding. In the meantime our best advice is that "patience pays - only 3 minutes to passing zone" and please slow down in the Key Deer habitat just like Josh and Joe Travels!

Keys Love Festival benefit for hurricane relief at Truman Waterfront in Key West

On December 17th we went to the Keys Love Festival at the new Truman Waterfront amphitheater stage, and Joe was thrilled to get to see Coffee Butler, Cliff Sawyer, Clayton Lopez, Mr. Albury and others. The Keys Love Festival was put on by keysstrong.org which was founded to provide relief after Hurricane Irma. Even though Hurricane Irma is no longer on cable news, many Keys families are still trying to rebuild and get back to their normal lives. We were very lucky to be spared the worst of the storm in Key West, but other parts of the Keys suffered severe damage, and since the national guard and emergency workers left the Keys months ago, help is still needed in many Keys communities. We hope you might be interested in supporting the ongoing relief effort in the Florida Keys, and if you are please take a moment to visit keysstrong.org, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or your favorite organization to find out how you can help. And remember the Keys are open for business, so shop local and help put money back into the community like Josh and Joe Travels!

Southernmost Car Club Key West Christmas Car Show and Shine at the Historic Seaport

We love going to car shows, so when we heard the Florida Keys Southernmost Car Club was doings its December show and shine at the Historic Seaport in Key West we knew we had to go and take a look at the cars. The Southernmost Car Club is open to all makes and models, and someday we hope maybe we'll have time to join. Some of you might know how much time we spend detailing our Crown Victoria, but we like to say its parade ready and not show ready.

The Christmas show and shine at the seaport was really cool and it was great to see so many owners bring out their cars for the last show of the year. You might remember we've been to some pretty big car shows, like Crusin' the Heartland in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and even the Autogeek show in Stewart, Florida, but the Southernmost club's show and shine is still one of our favorites. So if you happen to drive by and see us waxing the Crown Victoria, we might just be getting ready for our first show, so be sure to stop and say hello when you see Josh and Joe Travels!