the last officially planned summer hurrah!

i mentioned in the summercon18 post that i couldn't find the friendship ball after i had just explained it to the crew...how disappointing! so i went ahead and ordered another as quickly as possible at the twiggery.com and it was amazing how quickly they got it to me! and then i went to get the items to place inside from one of my favorite little places and created an instruction card and sent it off! a few days later i got a sweet text and it just reaffirmed the importance of going with your gut to encourage others.

i think the reason the friendship ball is important is that it is the beginning of little ripples, and even more than receiving it, it gives others the opportunity to feel an excitement about making a difference to someone else! it's easier to ignore that gut feeling, but now there's an excuse if you will to do something nice or fun for someone else!

the thing i was most looking forward to last week was saturday! why saturday, you ask...well, this was my final 'hurrah!' the 3rd summer goal!

i met shea at epcot on saturday morning, to take advantage of our annual passes! shea set up some fast passes, so that worked well! epcot is unique! definitely an educational experience. i loved the rides that we went on! we went around the world, and it reminded me of the time i was in elementary school, when my grandparents brought my cousins, my brother, and me from michigan to florida (roadtrip in a custom passenger van). we did wdw and epcot; the thing that came back to me was my cousin thinking it would be a wise decision to purchase a mexican sombrero. i don't know if he was really thinking about the long trip home, but the rest of us weren't very fond of that hat.

tostadas!!! nom nom!

i mean...since the pics were included, it just seemed necessary!

our patriotic display after the race track!

future includes underwater adventures!

apparently she wanted us to frame up the epcot globe...?

anyhoo, we did that for the day, when we stopped in mexico, i was a little hungry, and figured i'd try the tostada, and it was pleasing! we were done around 3 p.m. at which point we went our separate ways to visit with different people in orlando until the late-night drive toward cocoa beach.

i got to see brandy, one of my dear HONDURAN friends who lives there. even though the time was short, it is always a joy to see brandy and catch up! we had greek, because i can never pass on authentic greek food! then at about 10:30 shea picked me up and we were off to the east coast! i was incredibly frustrated that i'd brought my go-pro headgear, but because i'd been charging the camera itself, it was sitting on my desk at home. boo. anyhoo, about an hour and 15 minutes later, we were turning into a dark gravel road on the 'wrong side of the bridge!' it was dark, we'd passed a couple of police cars-lights flashing, so that automatically makes your guard go up! about 1/2 mile down the dark gravel road, which seemed like a scene from 48 hours...until we finally came upon all of the other cars and it was obvious this wasn't going to be a craigs list killing!

we signed in with bk adventures for the midnight madness, and we had about 20 minutes before the tour was to begin. so we sat and watched the previous group paddle in, and one of the mother-daughter combos with us using the constellation app to check out stars and planets- i so wish i'd had that app when i was teaching 4th grade science! (i already taught them more information than they really needed to know, ie: tides, tide tables, etc.)...i did decide i need to go ahead and download that app!

we got off into the water, and of course, we opted to be first out, and it's almost worse being first, because because you have to wait so long for everyone else to get launched. so yes. we finally got everyone on the water, and the guides led us off down the canal. fortunately the weather was perfect, and we were able to book during new moon, meaning there wasn't too much glare on the water, making it excellent conditions for the dinoflagellates to be observed! as the oar sweeps through the water, the cell is activated and flashes...i don't know, it's super technical and has to do with a drop of ph levels, etc. but it's pretty much fabulous! we had a net to swish through and pulled in several jelly goopy globs that were gelatinous in nature, and so we were able to touch the crazy glow! pretty cool. God is so creative!

so, this was the only photo of our adventure that we got!  ugh. but i suppose that's part of living in the moment!

apart from trying to avoid the other kayakers, it was a pretty awesome experience! i think this just reaffirms my desire to get a kayak, so that i can go and do this at my own pleasure without relying on and waiting for the tour groups! it would be totally worth it! while i liked the clear kayaks for this adventure, they were set up more like canoes, and wider, like canoes, making it hard to paddle with a normal kayak stroke, skimming the surface...but we still did well, and i couldn't believe the timing was so short-another reason to go on my own time to enjoy it longer!

once we pulled the canoes back in and handed in our lifevests, we got back into our cars and headed back. i'm so glad that shea was driving, because at this point it was around 2 a.m. and i was barely hanging on! #notanightperson yikes! we finished bossy pants-the audio book, and then needed a bit of music to keep it on track. got back to brandy's around 3  and after taking a quick rinse in the shower, slept so well! but i was up by 7:30 and out of bed by 8. then we hung out for awhile and chit chatted over coffee before i finally got on the road to return to my coast! 

just a little batch of yellow flowers at the rest area

i love it when something stands out to me and seems just perfect for someone and so i get it for them... that's why it's even more special when someone does that for me! brandy brought back a raspberry chocolate from belgium- which i heart! and she also gave me a book called WITH GRATITUDE which i didn't read until i got home, but i love it-very special and very much on my display stand.

when gifts are thought of with you in mind! thanks for being thoughtful, brandy!

successful weekend!
julie

celebrating independence and being prepared- quite satisfying

when the 4th of july rolled around, i got up early to avoid the craziest of traffic and made my way to the beach before the crowds to get parking and stake out a couple of trees to hammock in! it was a lovely morning, and i stuck around for a few hours-left a little after noon, and i am SO glad that i went early because as i exited the island, the traffic coming in was unbearable and i would have lost my mind!

#favoriteplace

i came home and chilled for a little bit and headed to shea's for a little grill-out with her brother and parents! i'm glad then gang got to visit! caleb shot off some fireworks...not sure if they were duds, or if it was just that the bottle rockets weren't being shot from bottles, but we may or may not have been yelled at from across the pond! i'm sure there are HOA rules, but come on! 

then on friday we made it out on the boat shea had rented, and we played up at egmont key, walked the west side of the beach down to the barrier point. the southern portion of the island is a bird reserve! then we got back on the boat and headed out to the ruins of a fort off the west side of the key, and snorkeled around. that was pretty cool! it was good to see the growth, and reaffirming that the artificial reefs that are being 'planted' and created will do some good as far as building habitat for fish and other sea life! 

then we made our way to one of the sandbars, and i had a headache, so i stayed on the boat while they went to explore. when they returned, they confirmed the rumor (of which i knew nothing): there were nudists among us! not everyone, but there were a few. although, technically if they are wearing floppy hats, are they actually naked? anyhoo....too much exposure, AMI..and then we headed back through the bay to salty dog for lunch, and it was, as always, amazing. 

i didn't get out on sunday because i had a crazy headache, but it was a great week-restful and slow. 

i feel that i am now as prepared as i could be for hurricane season! i invested in a solar-powered generator, and 2 solar panels to recharge it when the power is out. it should power up the mini fridge-should i need it, as well as lights, charge the phones or run computers...but most importantly the coffee pot. not sure about the surge power on the keurig, but i prefer to brew a pot, because i do go through my fair share of coffee! 

compact and portable enough to take camping!

love that part of the proceeds goes to veterans and their families!

the cool thing is that when i ordered it, i received an additional batch of supplies. i probably didn't need the power-saving tips playing cards, although there was some great information on several cards that i didn't realize. i love the life-straw, and had thought about getting one awhile back-great for camping...or if you're just like, "oh, hey, i just want to drink out of this mud puddle here, because i can!" there was also an LED lantern-also solar powered; i'm impressed by how bright it is! a tactical pen-which is for self-defense, and i can't carry it on an airplane-what good is that?! 72-hour food supply (freeze dried), but i went out and got more non-perishable food as well and have it set aside...i purchased a first-aid kit, etc. i've always considered myself a very prepared; i usually carry way too much, but when someone asks for something and i have it, it sure is nice! so yes. peace of mind! 

so handsome!

plus chaco now has a thunder shirt, which seems to help with the rain and during storms...the big claps of thunder still get both of the boys riled up, but the anxiety seems much lower. i suppose i am really looking forward to seeing whether or not it helps when we travel. will let you know!

be prepared! 

julie

summercon18 (nothing like comic con- no relation)

summer conference. i do enjoy our summer conferences, because it's always good to see everyone on the team. we don't all get to see each other throughout the year, as we train in different areas and have unique assignments. so when we do all get together, it's great to collaborate and laugh a bit!

this year it was no different. we weren't in a hotel like last year; we tried something new. we were in air bnbs, and vrbos. i'm pretty sure each house had its own pros and cons. we were in an ideal location, near everything. i got in a little late (non-stop flights only go out twice a day from tpa)...so brian was good enough to pick me up from the airport, and take me to the condo. once we got there, it was a little adventure finding the unit, but we did! it was great to see julie k and lori h when i arrived so we sat around for a bit before hitting the hay.

love that there is a starbucks around the corner from the office, so we went each morning-great way to start the day! day one was a happy birthday theme, and fortunately no one came in their birthday suit- we had a birthday fairy and several festive hats...day two we did super heroes and on the last day we did memes or t-shirts that characterized us. we worked on math content and did some product knowledge, as well as sharing some tdl lesson-fun. we had a great time working together and playing!

our evenings were busy as well-we were entertained at the home of one of our higher-ups in the company- i personally loved the burgers! the layout of her house is perfect for entertaining, and everyone pretty much gathered in the indoor/outdoor patio area around the pool. that was the first night we were all together, and we had our white elephant gift-there were some good ones! from practical tool plunger to amazing 8-ball, we had fun with it. 

the second night we were at our boss' home, which has become tradition, and we hung out in the backyard-sitting around in the pools, on the patio, and i will say that the food truck was pretty fabulous! i'm so glad michele was up for splitting portions so that we could experience a couple items! it was a great evening.  

i brought a 'friendship ball' with me because we'd been discussing EQ (emotional IQ) over the past few months in preparation for the summer conference. i've loved the concept of the friendship ball since i first saw one when i was down near the river market in kc back in the early 90s. i've purchased a few over the years and tried to start them in circles of friends, but they never got very far. sad day. so i decided this might be the perfect chance, and i introduced it that night and the concept and purpose behind it, offering to start it and send it to a colleague who had to leave early. the kicker was that when we got back to the house we were staying at, i couldn't find it anywhere! i couldn't remember if i'd sat it down in the house while gathering my things, or what. looked all over the suv, and didn't find it anywhere...looked again the next day-no dice. so i just decided that i'd purchase another (fortunately i remembered the name of the website where i'd gotten it!)

thursday we finished out the conference and everyone headed out a little after noon. i was set to take off on the 4 pm flight through nashville, but unfortunately things were delayed with a huge storm system moving through the semi-east portion of the u.s. and my flight was too close for comfort, so i got it switched to the 8:30 nonstop. grr. i hate getting back so late...but at least i made it back the same day. 

that wraps up summercon18 we managed to finish a lot of work and have a lot of fun, but i think the most important thing about these get togethers is always just having conversations, touching base with everyone and just building on relationships. love my job and love working for such a great company-thanks, and happy 20th birthday, istation!

good day-

julie

p.s. i just got a text the other day from amanda-it was the friendship ball she found buried deep under one of the removable seats in the car! so we may just have to figure out how to integrate that one into the mix without things getting too confusing- or i'll just hold onto the extra for another day.

summer want-to-dos..1 1/2 down, 1 1/2 to go!

so, a lot going on this summer so far! around the middle of june, i decided to take advantage of the weekend and get started on my summer list of 'want-to-dos'. so i found the mangrove eco tour in sarasota, and booked it! thanks, groupon! it's never quite as much fun to go alone, but i would absolutely do it again! first of all, i LOVE kayaking. secondly, going through the mangrove tunnels was pretty cool! i went with a group called: adventure kayak outfitters, and our guide was dan. it was very informative and a decent group. it makes my suggestion list, and i now need to get a kayak.

our guide took us out, and there was a group of girls from new jersey, a girl from panama, a couple from new york, and a mom and her 2 kiddos from somewhere up north...ohio? yep, let's just call it ohio. several had never kayaked before so i ended up being the person in the back- it reminded me of kamp and being the tail person on trip bringing up the rear in order to make sure that everyone made it safely! ha! #naturalreaction 

we took off into the bay and saw three manatee, but unfortunately there were no dolphins swimming through at the time... so we moved toward the tunnels. these were red mangroves. there are also white and black. the roots take the salt water and desalinate about 90% of the water and from what our guide said, the trees have leaves at the top, which he called sacrificial leaves, where the salt is excreted and the leaves fall. anyhoo, back in this area, there were ponds, where the water would pool and stagnate, causing major mosquito issues. in order to relieve the problem, the army corps of engineers cut tunnels through the mangroves, in hopes that it would bring fresh waters as the tides came and went. i guess it didn't really relieve the mosquito problem. (we still have mosquitos). so, even though it doesn't work as planned, hopefully they will keep the tunnels cleared, because they really are magical! 

and because the kayaking was such a success, i decided to start on number 2 on my list. so i went in and paid for the scuba certification course, and started the online portion that day! throughout the week, i was able to finish the course and take the final test. now i need to schedule the pool dives, which he said they usually try to schedule around 6pm, then 2 open water drives, which we do on weekends... perfect, that fits into my schedule! 

it's a little harder to schedule in the summer, because of the storm patterns. but hopefully i can get them scheduled and taken care of! this will be my expensive hobby! it'll be exciting to get out and about and take some video with the go-pro once things settle a little bit (maybe next year! ha! hopefully we'll find a free weekend to sneak down to the keys before it gets cold!)

the final thing on my summer 'want-to-do' list is coming up next in a couple weekends. there's the night bioluminescent eco-tour over near cocoa beach, an hour east of orlando. because it is night kayaking, to see the glowing plankton, it will be late. unfortunately the 9pm and the 11pm were booked, and all that was left was the midnight madness! eek. i may need a nap before we go! but i am super looking forward to it, and found a tour in clear tandem kayaks, so that will definitely add to the excitement factor!

and then  last week there was a little thing we like to call SUMMERCON 18! yes, next up, a quick overview of our summer conference!

a great weekend to all!
julie

and then summer began if 'june know what i mean'

summer for everyone! well, as far as the weather is concerned! and by the way, i made a mistake. the trip to mississippi actually happened in june-the first week...uf. that's why one should record their blog posts as soon as they happen!

the weekend before i headed to ms, we took advantage of the beautiful day to try a new donut shop-5-0...crime scene! it was interesting, but not good enough to trump AMI donuts or the farmhouse, or peacheys (which i was thinking about just this morning...but good thing they are away up north for the summer!).

i didn't like the actual donuts more than others i'd been to, but a quick fix if you're in this part of town!

kind of a fun staging area! 

 so we tried them, then went to check out jungle gardens! there were some animals in cages, i felt bad for the reptiles and felt the animals could've had a better ambiance, but the highlight of course was the flamingos! just hanging out, doing their thing. a sign was up, letting us know that they might be aggressive as it was breeding season. i may be the only one that didn't get bitten. they were beautiful, though! just not very hungry; we were thinking that perhaps they come out and actually feed them shrimp in the mornings, and the crappy-feed from visitors was merely a 'treat' but not a really good treat...more like feeding me a piece of seaweed paper when i really want doritos.. it's amazing the things you see and hear when you observe other visitors. again with the little kids...they were jerks. i'm blaming parents on this one, because most kids are not innately cruel to animals, they are just selfish and think they are the center of the universe. parents, please don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys...or jerks.

a bunch of the flamingos milling around

this one lone flamingo took off and got away from all the others (like he was on an energy drink or something), and he ended up in a completely different area of the park-here he is acting like a giraffe!

the same flamingo from the above pic, he moved even further from the trip and toward the kiddie park in the sandbox!

the verdict is out-a little pricey for petting flamingos, but if that's something you're just dying to do, it's as good a place as any to do it. plus they do have picture times with the baby alligators, and parrots. one of the cool things for us was that someone randomly called out to shea, and we were thinking IMG employee, but no, it was one of her close friends from oklahoma middle school(?) who visits family in sarasota annually! good times!

and actually the same night i returned, another kamp friend was flying in with her toddlers! merce stayed with shea, and they flew into tampa, i flew into sarasota. but we did get together the following evening for dinner! saturday we made it out to myakka and again saw some baby gators, but the water was much higher than the previous visit, so they weren't just laying out on the banks (of the hanky-panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky..) anyhoo. we did some muddy hiking with the kiddos, and one of shea's co-workers and her children. good times! we sloshed through some muddy/watery parts of the trail, but knew that it was just a bit further to the end of the loop that led to the parking lot!

sunday was our last hang-out day, so we headed out to AMI and did donuts and a beautiful beach day! there was some boogie-boarding, some treasure hunting...and just instilling the general love of ocean in the babes!

fun floating and looking for waves-of which there really weren't any big 'uns!

the following day i was off to broward for a little training on our spanish product, and it was pretty exciting! a good crowd! and then the following week i drove up to orange county-the orlando area to support our pki/implementation/sales team as one of our sales reps has the unique opportunity to go overseas to begium to teach! while we're excited for him, it's always a chore to get the 'just right candidaes' to meet the needs here in florida!

then about 2 weeks later it would be time to head off to dallas for our summer conference 2018...but just a couple more tidbits before the trip!

great start to a 'booming' week!
julie

may we go back to may? part 3 (didn't realize it was a trilogy?)

like i said, may was a busy month!

shortly after the mock training, i was summoned to help support in ms, which was a good experience as well. i was able to help plan and then be available for additional support onsite. we had a good time, and it was great getting to know ann better!

the uber to the hotel was informative, it was like tourist-guide-ish. then we met that night to go over the presentation, and i didn't realize until after she'd dropped me back off, that my purse was nowhere...i couldn't get back into my room (but worse than that, my license was in there, and i couldn't help but think about my flight home!)...so i called a lyft to return me to the starbucks we'd been at...the hotel clerk offered her car, but i felt a little weird about that, so i waited and prayed! unfortunately the lyft driver had to go down several exits to turn around to get to me (20 minutes later) because there was construction along the freeway! fortunately the area where the starbucks was is in a great part of town and all the other shops in the little area had been closed before we finally left, and my purse, being black and sleek, was still hanging there, patiently waiting for me on the back of the chair out on the outside seating area.

our ticket out of the training!

the training went well, and i was off to the airport again, a good 6 hour wait for the next flight. ew.

then the following day one of my great friends from kamp came to visit! the great thing was that she has a job that allows her to work from home, so we were both able to work on friday, monday and tuesday before i took wednesday and thursday off! and since shea was also working, we played in the afternoons, and it worked out well!

fields of gold

old tree photo shoot

wembley photo shoot

lido beach waiting for...

hammocks on the beach, sunset pics, myakka park- we did see alligators, and the 'sea of gold' flowers were in bloom, which is seasonal, not more than two weeks later the entire meadow was under water... we got over to st. armands, lido beach, obviously we had to introduce her to the farmhouse donuts (the biscuit and gravy twist), fish tacos, nascrab races at a local favorite...then wednesday was our early morning and off to animal kingdom!

i decided at shea's suggestion to go ahead and get annual passes for the parks, and when we decided to parkhop to magic kingdom, i determined real quickly that it was so worth it! for parking, hopping, the pics, etc, it will pay itself off quickly enough! and to be only 2 hours away, it's an easy day trip. plus a great excuse (not that i need one) to go hang out in orlando with brandy, and not feel rushed at the parks! so yes, we went we conquered! we stopped to meet and greet pocahontas, walked through to see all sorts of animals, we caught the safari ride, everest, etc, then we wandered around a bit, we wanted to do the avatar ride, but the line...ohhhhh....the line! (although, in hindsight, i understand it may have been worth it, note to self, will have to return! even if only for this ride!) we ate in this land and loved it-such interesting burger pods and hot-dog bites and very unique drinks! it was almost a given we'd eat there, as we had prepped by watching a couple nights earlier with homemade ceviche!

at some point we decided that we would spend the second half of the day at the magic kingdom. we arrived as they were recognizing a veteran, followed by a small parade, which shea almost interrupted (oh the scolding)...

anyhoo, we took advantage of every photo op available! we did some of the smaller fun rides, as the lines weren't too ridiculous...probably the longest line was our meet and greet with ariel! yikes! but she did pull out the dinglehopper and combed shea's hair, so that was worth it! as was the fast pass on splash mountain!

celebrating our mentor, TRISH HELSEL's bday (who knew she'd just gotten proposed to!?!)

these are the pictures we love!

we caught the light show from one of the small diners, then tried to get to space mountain, but the line was ridiculous! we did end up doing the winnie the pooh ride, which i believe was our last of the night, and we took the ferry back. #productiveday

the following day, which i also took off, we did a little siesta key factory tour, and beach, then when shea was off, it was a little rainy, so we went down to the tiki-hut (we'd been wanting to try the food there to mark it off the list). it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't terrible, either. i'm pretty sure bmayes got the best option- hard to go wrong with coconut shrimp! eventually the little downpour passed by, and we made our way to a little ledge where you could sit and watch the sunset-which was pretty much set-still beautiful. and the lights were turned down because: turtle nesting season.

the following day, we got some more work done before taking bmayes to the airport for the late flight back. the issue on that 7:00 pm flight is always either traffic, or weather! fortunately we made it in a timely fashion, and despite all the other cancellations due to wx, hers went well!

and after that, i slept!

may we go back to may? part 2

not long after the manatee fun, i'd been working together with a couple of experienced colleagues on a new kind of work adventure; we were going to do a mock training at the main office, so there was a lot of collaborating going on! which was necessary, as we are all so spread out! we spent our due diligence working via webinar, and conference calls, and we brainstormed, and we changed directions, and we cut and pasted and edited and laughed, and hopefully there were no tears (except those of laughter)...

alicia and joyce are totally into themes (which is great because i'm not so great at themes, except when it comes to kamp, and it made the day a lot of fun). so we were definitely casino dealers, and the gambling theme was money-chaching!

when we finally got to meet together in dallas for the presentation, we spent plenty of time setting up and getting things as ready as they could be, and in the process, we were provided with great hospitality from michele, and lori (the food was great, from the salads to the pizzas...thanks to the chefs! #furie sorry we were delayed...) 

full room, fully or fairly engaged

our amazing pki team

getting to know the east sales team after hours

someone (lori) knows how to start the day right! #achilles

the team was available on tuesday to help think through things, make copies, ask clarifying questions and ultimately give insights on what had worked in the previous session. and then wednesday, it was off to the races, and went more smoothly than expected. following that session, we also helped with some follow-up on content areas, and with brain breaks and such. sigh of relief when all was said and done that we didn't screw anything up or leave anyone with crazy misconceptions!! smiles. while it was enlightening to do something new and different, and meet/interact with our sales crew, it was also good to head home! #relief

i learned so much!

all fun and games (and nerves and anxiety and hyperventilation)... #cantwaittodoitagain
julie

may we go back to may? part 1

okay, so may was a very full month, although you wouldn't know it by my posts.

the month started out with one of the adventures that i'd been wanting to knock off of the 'things-to-do-list'. i'd purchased a groupon to go snorkel with the manatee awhile back, and i knew it was to expire at the end of may (and with so much going on at the end of may, it was wise to go early on). so we went on may 5th..also known as cinco de mayo, celebrated oh-so-incorrectly as mexican independence day, which it is NOT.

i booked this particular adventure for 8:00 a.m. it was a 2 hr 15 min drive north, and they wanted us there about 45 minutes prior. so i woke up SUPER early and picked up my explorer-in-crime, shea, and we made a pit stop at starbucks when it was finally open! we arrived prior to the 45 minute time-window, but they'd already started the intro video (which was required, to make sure one knows how to treat the manatee, as they are definitely protected [ahem, *cough,cough, alicia]). 

after viewing the video, i managed to put the wetsuit on backward...brilliant. try again. then they sent us off to find the landing where the captain would be waiting for us with his pontoon. after we parked the car, found the office to pay, i had to go back to the car to place the parking stub...all the while, there were 4 other girls on the boat waiting. the captain just didn't seem super nice, but he wasn't my type anyway! once we got out to the springs, we made our way around looking for sightings, when he noticed a dog on a dock barking, and that was our cue to slip into the water and make our way over. there was a large sea cow, and we were all pretty excited. the algae floating at the top was rather distracting, and out of nowhere this dad and his obnoxious little child came splashing across the surface making so much noise that i'm pretty sure made the manatee 'run' to hide (in a swimingly way) ..and i'm sure if the sea grass could've uprooted itself, it would've run too! it's not that i don't like children, i do, but it's more that they were children of someone i don't know which made them annoying. (hey, you either understand or you don't, and either way, it's no skin wetsuit off my back!).

while i was fumbling around trying to make my phone-camera work, inside the plastic water-proof cover, i missed some great shots! (this was when i officially decided that it would benefit me to get a go-pro using points from a travel program) but fortunately shea had her go-pro and got some great shots and video! we moved from that location into another inlet, and there were 3 more in there! of course, who was in the same area as if we were playing cat and mouse, but the other guide with the family of kids...whatever, we did see three more manatee there, and it felt like being jacques cousteau. as the manatee came out of nowhere and swam right beneath me, i was legally able to touch his back (almost couldn't help it, he was so close!). 

we made one more stop at the first spring, and being the first one in, the captain pointed me off toward the spring...unfortunately once i was off, i couldn't hear a thing, and apparently there were a couple more manatee in the opposite direction-which i missed. sad day.

it was good timing, as all of the gentle giants we saw seemed to be on their way back out to the gulf, now that the waters are warming and they can tolerate the temps. i would love to go again in november or december when they huddle in the larger masses. it was certainly a memorable adventure!

from there, we headed back, and stopped in st. pete's on the way home. it was an early lunch because we'd had such an early start. we tried a new spot across from the beach, which had an amazing view...and great food-plus, it may have been the only way to park for 'free'. we had to pay $20 for parking around back, but then you turn around and use the ticket for $20 in food, so it's a wash...BUT because we were on the rooftop, and it was a breezy day, i had pulled my ticket out and it slipped away! i'm pretty sure it was a bit comical as people were watching me chase after what seemed to be an invisible something or other! fortunately i was able to pounce on it (quite literally, it seemed like i was frog-chasing or something-not that i have ever), and the discount was ON!

when we got back into town, we thought we'd hit up the downtown bradenton 'festival', thinking there would be food trucks. there were not. but they did create a guiness world book record for nachos...we did not partake. instead, we went to a mexican restaurant in palmetto that i'd read about in a review, and it was decent.

shea making friends with the table art

and that wrapped up a day of adventure...up next: collaborating for mock training, and when friends come to visit.

(and once again, i've fallen behind- i meant to get this out last month!)

julie