So, our nomadic lifestyle has to temporarily come to an end. After several months of traveling, we arrived for a month long stay at our favorite beach house in Cocoa Beach. Janice, Rick and Bentley took off on their "camping" adventure but Jeep decided to stay back so we volunteered to be her humans. Our first night there we grilled the fish that Pedro had caught earlier that day while we were on our last kayak adventure. We then caught an amazing sunset, got to watch both the full moonrise from our front yard and the moon setting from our bedroom window and then walked across the street to catch and amazing sunrise. We knew we were in for a great time.
We'd no sooner, settled in, than, we - well ok - I decided that it was the perfect time to catch up with friends and family. A couple of days after we arrived, we invited a few friends over for an impromptu Derby Party. I'd invited a few people I used to work with in Orlando and it just so happened to also be Derby Day. We bought all of the fixings for mint Juleps and Mojitos but enjoyed being outside so much that we really didn't watch much of the horse racing. It was however, so great to catch up with these wonderful ladies that I so miss!
Since we had such amazing accommodations and room for guests, we invited a few people to come visit us for a change. First up were Pedro's parents, Jim and Pat Yocum. We enjoyed relaxing at the house and Pedro took his dad along with Roberto and one of his chefs fishing. We all went to see a great play at the local theatre and we even took a walk with some neighboring peafowl. We had our dear friends Jan and Joe come over for dinner one night too. Thanks to the haul from the fishing trip, we ate really well all week (although I think Jim was getting tired of fish by the time they left).
Next came Jimmy and Kathy Yocum, Pedro's brother and sister-in-law. They brought their kayaks with them and we took full advantage. First up, we went to nearby Palm Bay to, figuratively, get our feet wet. A few days later, for a little more excitement, we drove a couple of hours for a day of kayaking in Silver Springs near Ocala. We invited Roberto, Sabrina, Simona and a friend to join us. The water was gorgeous, the weather practically perfect and we even got to the famous monkeys who roam freely in the area. My pictures didn't really show anything but it was fun to see them.
Our next kayak trip was to Wekiwa Springs near Orlando. Pedro and I kayaked this years ago when we lived nearby but haven't been back in close to 10 years so this was fun for us too. The water here was much more tannin colored but the scenery was amazing and we saw a lot of alligators who were also enjoying the warm weather. Afterwards, Polya and Roberto invited us over for dinner which included homemade pasta. Even though, no one caught any fish, I don't think we could have planned a more perfect day!
Now, we didn't make them paddle the whole time. While they were here, we also managed to find time to enjoy both the house and the beach, we caught a rocket launch and even went shopping in Cocoa Village - yes, we had to check out the local brewery too.
We had a few days in between guests so we played with Jeep and worked around the house a little - Janice left Pedro his usual honey do list but I added a few other items to it. We played with some of the toys we found around the house and explored a few interesting bike trails. We also, rented a pontoon boat with Polya, Roberto and the girls at New Smyrna Beach, where we spent a great day exploring the disappearing islands area, fishing and enjoying Roberto's picnic.
Gary's Uncle and Aunt, Fred and Beth invited us over to St. Petersburg where they'd rented a sailboat for the day. While, we'd been on a number of different boats, we were excited about going sailing for the first time in about a year! We had an amazing time. The next day, they came over to stay with us in Cocoa Beach for a few days. Since they brought their scuba gear and we'd just purchased new ones, we played around in the pool and booked a dive trip in Key Largo where we were able to dive the wreck of the USS Spiegel Grove. We had a blast. We even arranged for Roberto to come cook dinner for us on their last night.
Well, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, the moon was full again and we realized that our month was up. Janice, Rick and Bentley were moving back in and it was time for us to move on. We'd committed to a couple of pet sitting gigs so we knew we still had some adventures planned. We'll fill you in on that.
Until next post!
