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Published: November 22nd 2010
Key West
Leaving Paradise :(This blog is truly about friendship. How rich our lives are because of our old and dear friends at home and aboard, and new friends that we make on our journey
Thurs- Nov 11, 2010
So I guess it's true we really do have to leave paradise on this day. First of all I have to say that today is Remembrance Day. It seems really weird not to see any poppies or hear any talk of the day. Maybe just cause we don't have the TV or radio on. It is called Vetrans day here and is a holiday, just like at home. We made a conscious decision to make sure that we had a moment at 11:00 am. It was quick but we did not forget!
Although we are sad to be leaving, we are excited as well. First we are on our way to meet up again with Andrew who we met in North Carolina. He and his wife reside in Boca Raton and he has invited us to spend a night with him and his wife in their home. After our time with them we are meeting up with Mike and Jodi (our Ontario friends) and then to
Pistol
checking out the pistol with Andrew finish our Florida tour we are meeting again with Mel and Audrey our new friends from Ireland. We were excited to meet some new friends and then to see some old ( not age wise of course Mike and Jodi) and familiar faces and finish with some international friends. Before we left Key West we went for one last run/ walk to say good-bye to paradise. One last run past the home of Ernest Hemmingway, one last good-bye to the chickens, roosters and the front porches. One last look at the Crystal clear water from Mallory Square.
Packed up our gear and are off again. One of the cool things about going to Key West is that you can only leave again the same way you came. So we got to see the Florida Keys again, going North this time instead of South. Not exactly sure how excited we are to be going North again!!! South is a nice direction to go when travelling.
Anyway, like I said we were on our way to visit Andrew and Sandy. We arrived at Boca Raton about 4:00 pm, found their home and settled in. Sandy was at work until 6ish, so
Shot 'im real good
Don't want to bother this gunslinger we visited with Andrew until she came home. Andrew made us this great dinner and the four of us sat down to dinner and spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other's company and learning about each other's life. At some point in the evening we agreed we should stay 2 nights, so we could hang out the next day and have even more fun.
Andrew has read our blogs so he had a somewhat unfair advantage in that he knew more about us than we about him and Sandy. Interestingly Andrew talked to me about how my emotional state was and if I was still feeling some confusion about my purpose etc. We talked quite candidly about how difficult that one week had been and that I had to come to terms I think about the meaning and purpose of this journey. Andrew confirmed my already examined thoughts that I really needed to rethink my purpose. You see my plan on this trip was to experience the America's, yes, but the plan was also to volunteer along the way. What I didn't consider was how really big North America really is. This truly is a big continent and
Boca Raton
Just a few small (NOT)!!!!homes in the area. to see even a fraction of this land means that we need to keep on the road and keep pounding the pavement. That being said, I needed to rethink my purpose and the meaning for this trip. Andrew talked to me about his friend who considers himself a people collector. Hmmmm .... I truly think that's what Rene and I are doing along this trip. We are collecting people!!!!! How incredibly brilliant. I think we both have been people collectors probably for a long time already so why would I think things would change now or why would I think that God would want us to change that part of us. May it just looks looks a little different now and I didn't recognize it or maybe I thought it should be different.and more elaborate??? I certianly am not throwing away the idea of volunteering, but I'm not going to be upset if it doesn't happen. Rather I'm going to enjoy the people that we meet and even if in a very small way, let those people know they have value and worth in this world. To be loved and to feel worth are two very fundamental elements we all
West Palm Beach
Check out the different colors of water!! need. What I witness and hear much to often is far to many people who don't have these elements in their lives. Maybe we can spread some love and feelings of worth while we experience this continent, engage with people and encourage them in their lives. Crazy fun, laughter and a great bottle of wine go a long way too!!!!
Fri- Nov 12, 2010
Woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Boca Raton with our new friends. We decided that we would ride today and the 4 of us would ride around the city of Boca and surrounding area such as Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. Sandy made us biscuits and gravy (another very common southern food we had not had before) for breakfast. It was great!!! Not so sure about the health content, but Yummy!!! After breaky we headed out for our ride. We rode along the coast of Boca and Palm Beach, looking at the immense homes and resorts on one side and the beautiful ocean on the other. Had lunch at a ocean side cafe and headed home. We were gone about 4 hours and because Andrew's new toy is quite new this was
the longest trip Sandy had been on. I think she's gonna make a great biker chick 😊
After our ride Andrew and Rene went to the shooting range and fired off several hundred rounds of amunition. Rene had never shot a 9 mm pistol, so he was thrilled and a little nervous as well. He brought back his target to show me how well he had done. Pretty good shooter that man.
We then spent another evening full of laughs and learning.
Andrew and Sandy, you are wonderful hosts and we feel like we have met yet again, new kindred spirits. Thanks so much for everything. We truly hope we will meet again one day.
Sat- Nov 13, 2010
Woke up and were on the road early as both Andrew and Sandy had plans for the day. We were headed to Kissimmee Florida, to meet up with Mike, Jodi and their son Devin. We arrived in Kissimmee about 3:00. How wonderful to see some familiar faces again. We spent a couple hours hanging out at the pool then we walked to dinner. After dinner we all walked through a car show that was happening in Old Town Kissimmee. The
Florida Citrus
Stealing an orange or two. guys ohhed and ahhed and Jodi and I just yakked. Spent the night just talking, talking and talking.
Sun- Nov 14, 2010
Rene and I went for a walk early and found this discount ticket kiosk. Mike, Jodi and Devin have a 3 day pass to Universal Studios. They used 1 day already so Rene and I thought we would join them for the remaining 2 day. At the kiosk the gal told us we could either pay full price for tickets or we could spend 1.5 hours and hear a timeshare speel and obtain our tickets for half price. Since we are cheap and also trying to follow a budget, we chose to hear the timeshare thing. We all were just going to hang around at the pool anyway so after breakfast, off Rene and I went. We arrived at the resort and went for the tour, heard the blah, blah blah and not 1.5 but 2.5 😞 hours we returned to our friends having resisted the sales pitch and triumphantly holding 2 tickets in our hot little hands. We Spent the rest of the day visiting and playing at the pool. Had a yummy supper together and
Central Florida
Different landscape again sang some Karokee. (Missed you Rod!!)
Mon- Nov 15, 2010
Up early as we were on our way to Universal Studios to spend the day riding the rides, checking out the sights and just plain being big kids. Got to the the gates just at opening and away we went. We went on simulated rides, we went on safe quiet rides and then we went on the rip tide ride!! This is a huge roller coaster that whips and flips and throws you around. Had a great time~!!!!! We closed the park finally at 6:00 pm. Came back to the hotel, had dinner and with all the energy we had left (which wasn't much) we sat on the couch and watched TV until sleep overtook us.
Tues- Nov 16, 2010
We all decided that 2 days back to back at the theme parks would just be way to much so the decision was made to drive to Coco Beach and have a total beach day. Set the GPS in Mike and Jodi's rental car and 1.5 hours later we arrived at the white soft sand beach. We didn't have lounge chairs, so Rene became an inventor and
Boys and thier cars
Checking out the beauties at the car show started to dig a hole in the sand for our butts, then with the dug out sand made mounds that we could lean our backs and heads against. Rolled our towels out and Voila .... Lounge chairs. Soon all 5 of us were layed out relaxing in the sun on our homemade lounge chairs. What is the saying. Necessity is the mother of invention?? Ingenius I tell you!!!!
Anyway we spent the entire day playing in the waves and soaking up some more sun. Glorious day!!!!
Came back to the hotel exhausted yet again. Oh did I mention we were SUNBURNT. Bright red exposed body parts. (except Jodi, she just had a nice dark tan)
We all had quick showers when we got back to the room. Then off we went again to stroll through the streets of Old Town once again. To bed again early as the plan is another day at Universal, in the Islands of Adventure Park.
Wed- Nov 17, 2010
Up early to get to the park for more fun and adventure. We were checking out the other park at Universal Studios. This park was mostly dedicated to Harry Potter. It was truly amazing.
The time, money and imagination spent on this park is incredible. Oh speaking of Incredible, one of the rides in the Park is called" The Hulk". It also is this crazy rollercoaster. We went on it a few times throughout the day. Nothing like a rollercoaster ride to get the adrenaline pumping. Rene was not feeling so well, but was an absolute trooper and kept on riding. Now.... there were 2 rides that involved water, so we decided we should ride them in the early afternoon so if we got wet we would have
the afternoon sun to dry us off. Did I say "if we got wet?" OH MY GOODNESS!!! did we get wet. All 5 of is were as wet as if we jumped right into a pool. GROSS. I don't like being wet at the best of times so being wet and having to walk around was just about the coming undone of me. But still.... we stayed until closing. We got back to the room and were never so happy to change into dry clothes. This was our last night with Mike, Jodi and Devin, so we went out to an outdoor Mexican cafe for dinner.
Universal
Blues Brothers We were sad to leave them. We all had such a great time together. Mike, Jodi and Devin's holiday was over and they were leaving back to Ontario in the morning, so we arranged to meet up again with Mel and Audrey as they were also in Kissimmee in a condo. Said our sad farewell's to Mike, Jodi and Devin, friends that we really feel like we have, over the last 4.5 days, connected on a much deeper level. Luv ya guys! Thanks for the great memories.
We left Mike, Jodi and Devin and rode 5 kms to Mel and Audrey. (big ride eh?) Walter and Karen our Belgium friends were there as well. They had met up with Mel and Audrey the night before. Settled into our new digs and commenced to catch up with each other and who had been doing what and seeing what since we were together 2 weeks prior.
Thurs- Nov 18, 2010
Spent the day chillin in the condo with our international friends. Mel and Audrey were wanting to go to a MercyMe concert in Ocala FL and we had talked about this last time we were together, so we went on line and
bought 6 tickets so we could all go together. Mel and Audrey had bought a car within the last couple of weeks so about 4:00 pm we all piled into the car and drove about 80 miles to Ocala to watch and listen to Phil Wickham and MercyMe in concert. For those of you who don't know these two groups are contemporary Christian music groups. Very talented musicians, with such great messages in their music. After the concert we jumped back into the car and made the almost 2 hour journey back to the condo. Had a great night, with great friends, listening to some great music.
Fri- Nov 19, 2010
Had a do nothing day. Read our books, layed by the pool and talked about the next leg of our journey. We were all parting ways the following day and it may be a while till we see each other again, so we decided to have a full out BBQ for dinner. Had a great dinner together and spent the rest of evening taking turns picking our favorite songs on our ipods and singing and dancing.
Sat - Nov 20, 2010
We all woke up early. Mel and
Universal (2)
Devin and I are trying to save Mike from Jaws Audrey had to leave the condo they were in and move to another one just a few miles away. Walter and Karen were leaving to head towards New Orleans and Rene and I were also leaving and heading to yet another featured ride along the Florida Panhandle. We said another sad good-bye as we are not sure when or if we will all see each other again. We have met 3 times already on this journey so I guess you just never know when or how quickly friends' paths can meet again. Safe travels to you my friends and God Bless
So..... once Rene and I got back on the bike (we hadn't really ridden much for the last week or so) we just kept on going and going and going. It was a beautiful sunny day so on we went. We went through central Florida again but this time towards the Gulf of Mexico coast. When we finally stopped at the end of the day in Port St. Joe, we had ridden about 600 km. WOW!!!! Didn't really even feel like it. Had a yummy gumbo dish and more fried oysters for dinner and called it a night. Great
Line ups for rides
How do you say "dead". Didn't wait for more than 10 minutes ever!!!! day of riding. Tomorrow we will start the next featured ride that will take us through Pensacola and on towards Mobile Alabama.
So this blog is truly about friends. Old friends, new friends and international friends. All of these friends have given Rene and I more dimension and depth to our lives and we will cherish these experiences and friends forever
And so we remain...
In the Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal
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donna
non-member comment
beautifully said Crystal