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

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