Florida

I spent the beginning of the week preparing for our departure on Wednesday. I was excited to make the trip, thrilled to escape to Florida for a week, happy that I would be spending time with family, but also plagued by the usual anxiety that comes with traveling. I can't help it. No matter how much I love being in other places, I don't like the process of getting there. And although I try to think about time away from home as an escape, I always worry about what I've left behind – my flock, my plants. So starting early on Monday, I began my preparations. I began by assembling the things I needed to pack to take with me.

Packing for a trip is challenging for me. I like to travel light using just a carry-on duffel bag and my trusty old bookbag. Fitting a week's worth of clothing into that small space required some thinking. Luckily, I remembered that I could do laundry at the airbnb we would be staying at part of the time. I wasn't sure what kind of clothes to pack. I checked the weather forecast and it wasn't very helpful. The weather had been on the cool side down there. Predictions for our week's visit ranged from days in the 70s to 90°. So I needed to pack shorts and short sleeved shirts, but should I also take a jacket? Would it be warm enough to wear swim trunks at the beach? Would I be brave enough to be seen in swim trunks? Decisions, decisions. I had to dig out my warm weather clothes that were packed away for the winter and try them on to see what would still fit. I did a practice pack and it was a very tight fit.

I also made a list of things that needed to be done at home while I was gone. Hannah would be minding the farm until Saturday when she left for Hawaii and after that the Fosters would take over. I have plants spread throughout the house. I would water them before I left, but I'd be gone long enough that some of them would need to be watered again. And they have different water requirements. I had to list out all those instructions. Then there was my flock. I wrote down my daily chore routine. I made sure there was enough feed on hand to get through the eight days. I felt like a fussbudget as I fretted over all of this. It would be nice to just pack up and leave without a second thought, but no, that's not how I am.

I tried not to stress about flying, the airports, the lines, and all the airport people I would have to endure. One of my biggest concerns was after we arrived in Florida. One of the places we were going to go to was Key West. I was excited to go there, but the thought of the bridge we would have to traverse to get there freaked me out. I don't like long bridges. I don't like being out on the water. The bridge from Miami to Key West is 113 miles long. I wasn't sure how I would cope with that. Maybe blindfolded? Drugged? I tried not to think about it.

Just looking at this made me break into a sweat.

To ease my mounting anxiety, I had to have music. Monday was Mozart Monday. I made a queue of piano concertos, some divertimenti, the clarinet concerto, and a couple of symphonies. Mozart always calms me. Tuesday I needed something stronger, so I went for Chopin. His music, almost entirely for solo piano and some for piano and orchestra, is intense even when it is quiet and tender. I queued up the ballads, etudes, mazurkas, polonaises, and waltzes, and ended with the two piano concertos. That helped. Wednesday morning as the time for departure drew nearer, I had to bring out the big guns. I found an amazing YouTube video of Bach's Goldberg Variations played on two guitars. I love the Goldberg Variations and have listened to many different performances of them on harpsichord and piano. This arrangement for two guitars was a revelation to me. And exactly what I needed to stay focused that morning. Here is a link to it. I highly recommend listening to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxqNzYPBn6s

Wednesday morning we made our final preparations. We packed our bags. I watered my plants. We did final laundry. We said aloha to Hannah when she left for work. We would not see her again until she and Miriam returned from Hawaii on March 10th. Time to depart drew near. I took one last walk through the house. Did I forget anything? I always feel like I am forgetting something when I leave. It was a cold, snowy morning and that heightened my excitement to get away to a warmer place and maybe see some sunshine.

What we were leaving behind.

It was snowing as we drove to Elmira to catch our flight. We took off at 4:00 P.M. and flew to Detroit where we had a brief layover, then flew on to Miami. We arrived there at 9:30 where we met up with the Thayns. We spent Wednesday night at a motel.

Sunset from the air heading south.

Thursday we took our adventure to the Keys. Our first stop was at Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park on Key Largo where we walked through their visitor's center and viewed their aquariums and walked on the beach. Then we drove on and had lunch at Mrs. Mac's Kitchen.

Ready to ride!

Rachel and Russell.

At Pennecamp Reef.

Lunch at Mrs. Mac's.

Our next stop was Sombrero Beach in Marathon.

Sombrero Beach.

Then we drove on to Key West where we went to the farmer's market and watched the sunset. My fear of driving across those bridges through the keys was unfounded. I had no trouble at all.

At Key West.

Sunset at Key West.

On the way back up the keys we stopped at Publix and bought food and had a picnic in the parking lot. Then we dove to a motel in Homestead for the night.

Picnic in the parking lot at Publix.

We spent Friday in the Everglades. We stopped in the National Park and walked several trails. We say alligators and lots of lizards and bird life.

Checking out a gator.

A pool at the Everglades.

Hiking in the Everglades.

Then we crossed the state on the Tamiami Trail. We stopped at a great fruit market called Robert Is Here and sampled some delicious tropical fruits. We arrived at our air bnb in Cape Coral near Ft. Myers. It was a beautiful house right near the water with a swimming pool and hot tub.

At the tropical fruit market.

Our Air Bnb.

The pool and hot tub.

The big room.

Hazel trying a cacao bean.

On Saturday we went to the farmer's market in Cape Coral. And then spent the day at Bowditch Beach.

The Cape Coral Farmer's Market.

They convinced me I needed to wear a hat.

Setting up on Bowditch Beach.

Playing in the sand.

Sunday we tried to find a church service convenient to our locations, but couldn't find one, so we held our own devotional that morning. Then we drove out to Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary and walked the boardwalk. Southern Florida is very dry right now. They need rain. The Everglades  and the swamps were dry, the water levels were very low, so we didn't see a lot of wildlife.

In Corkscrew Swamp.

Steve and Linda on the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp.

After that we drove down to North Naples. Stacey and I stopped to visit Catherine Pallas, Mr. Rigas's sister who is 98 years old. We had a nice visit with her and reminisced about her brother John. While we were visiting the rest of our crew was down on the beach by Catherine's condominium. Stacey and I joined them there and played in the sand and sea and watched the sunset.

On the beach in North Naples.

Sunset in North Naples.

Sunset in North Naples.

On Monday we drove out to Sanibel Island. First we went to the visitor's center and toured that. Then we drove a birding trail around the island before going to the beach. At first we were disappointed. The parking area was far from the beach which made for a long, hot walk. There were more people on this beach. We set up our umbrella, beach chairs and towels. The water was a bit murky. But after a disappointing first impression, it turned out to be a great beach. There were shells everywhere. We found a shell with an octopus guarding a clutch of eggs. We found live clams. Then, the most amazing thing happened. Two dolphins came in close to the beach and for the next hour swam around the swimmers. It turned out to be a great beach.

In the Visitor's Center at Sanibel Island.

On the beach at Sanibel Island.

An octopus and her eggs.

Dolphins at Sanibel Island.

That evening, we got pizza for the children to eat back at the air bnb and the adults went out for dinner at the Jungle Bird Tiki. On our way back, we stopped to buy ice cream and the children had ice cream and swimming for being good while we were out. Before bedtime, everyone sorted through the treasure trove of sea shells they'd collected over the days. Each child was allowed to choose six shells to take home. The rest were returned to the wild.

Dinner at the Jungle Bird Tiki.

Sorting sea shells.

Tuesday morning we checked out of our air bnb. We drove to a park and saw manatees on the Orange River. Some went out on the river in kayaks.

Watching for manatees.

Kayaking on the Orange River.

A manatee surfaces briefly.

From there we drove east, taking a short detour to take a look at Lake Okeechobee. We had dinner at the Brimstone Grill in Pembroke Pines. After that we had to say good-bye to the western Howes, my brother Steve and his wife Linda, and their son Zach and his family. We were going to Ft. Lauderdale and they were going to Miami to get ready to fly home the next day. That night we stayed in a nice hotel near the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Stacey and I were leaving very early the next morning, so we said good-bye to the Thayns that night.

On the edge of Lake Okeechobee.

Dinner at the Brimstone Grill.

Stacey and I left the hotel at 4:30 this morning and took the hotel shuttle to the airport. We were supposed to catch a flight to Detroit at 8:00, but when we got there, they had a flight leaving right then, so they put us on that flight. That got us to Detroit at 9:30. Unfortunately, the only way to get to Elmira was our same 2:30 flight, so we spent the day sitting around the Detroit airport. We finally arrived in Elmira at 4:00 and drove home.

Now sitting here, piecing those days together, looking through the photographs, it already has started to feel like a dream. The weather the whole time we were in Florida was great. We had days in the 80s, and sunshine. It was so wonderful to have that adventure with family. I'm very grateful that we got to do that. It's a little disheartening to be back where there is still snow on the ground. The weather for the next few days is supposed to be milder, but not in the 80s. I guess I should be thankful for days in the 50s in Gold in the beginning of March. But I'm already thinking about when I'll have a chance to go south again. I'd spend January through March there every year if I could.

Home again.

It's good to be home again. Thanks to the Fosters for minding things here while we were gone. I already have a list of things to keep me busy while the mild spell lasts and to keep me from feeling sad that our amazing adventure is over.