You Won't Believe...

...who's jumping into the Presidential Race!

Hemingway and The Keys

I didn't know our running group was so talented and competitive! We usually just do the Thursday night fun runs with the club, so everyone is usually more relaxed. We also feel like we're just beginning to meet more members, too. Out of the 14 or so of the group who ran the race Saturday night, seven took home awards! Hopefully some of their drive and speed will start to rub off on me.

On Sunday, we all walked Duval Street for a couple of hours before leaving Key West.
Our day started with a drink at Sloppy Joe's....
Then Andy and I stopped in Islamorada for Sunday night, while the rest of the group continued home.

When I looked at a map to decide where to go kayaking I saw this island called Shell Key that had water in the middle of it. I did some quick research and learned that there was a mangrove tunnel in the northwestern corner of the island that would allow access into the middle. We had paddled nearby Lignumvitae Key and Indian Key in previous years, so I thought it would be fun to try something new.
I created an interactive Google Map to show you where we paddled - you can zoom in and move around on the map.

View Larger Map
We headed to the west side of the island and circled it clockwise. Our primary goal was to find this cut-through to the middle. But after inspecting several alleys and alcoves, we realized that in the last nine years that the Sea Kayaking book was written :), that we believed the island had self-sealed the tunnel. We just came across dead-end after dead-end.
In one alcove, we learned another thing - the Key is now a State Preserve. Who knew?But this makes sense since a lot of juvenile fish use the mangrove roots for protection, including this young jellyfish that was attempting to hide from me. The seagrasses that surround these keys are also vital for marine life, including manatees. Andy saw a spotted ray as we circled Shell Key.
See how the roots of this young mangrove spread out? This is how these keys grow and change constantly. We passed many future keys that, as of now, are just a single leaf poking above the waterline.
On the way back, we stopped at a Key just south of Shell Key (see the second pushpin on the Google Map above). This must've been a Double-breasted Cormorant rookery. We could see several cormorants flying to the tree tops with nesting material in their beaks. But there were also blue herons, great white egrets, and white-crowned pigeons on the island as well. The cacophony of sounds was silencing. We quietly paddled down a trail leading through the key listening to all of the different bird calls. Deep-throated rattles, gutteral barks, squeaks, and what Andy referred to as "burping" sounds. It was really fascinating.

Overall, the paddle was about 5 miles and took us 2 hours. Kayaking in The Keys is always wonderful. But remember to watch your tides and your wind. If either is against you, your trip could be more work then fun! There are lots and lots of low-lying areas around these keys.

Going to Hemingway Days

We're heading south tomorrow...to the Southernmost Point. Key West. We haven't been down to the Keys in several years so we're looking forward to it. Our running club, GFLRRC, has a group heading down for a 5k Race - Hemingway Days Sunset Run - which starts at the Southernmost Point tomorrow night at 7:30pm. It'll be fun. This weekend wraps up the 5-day long Hemingway Days celebration which includes their own form of the Running with the Bulls (which, unfortunately we'll miss due to our 4-hour drive) and Papa look-alike contests, and more.

Sunday, we'll begin our drive home, but stop in Islamorada for a night there. We'd like to get our kayaks in the water and just relax for a little bit. If you're not familiar with The Keys, you can check out this Map to get an idea of the area.

Staying in the Game

Last Friday I sold the last stock in my portfolio. It has felt awfully strange to be totally out of the market for a few days. I was itching to get back in, but also feeling relief that I was all in cash because of the intraday gyrations in the market. "Cash is a position" as they say. And right now it is not a bad position to be holding.

Andy has been trying out a new day trading strategy. The shorter timeframe allows him to get in and out without the fear of holding overnight. I just don't think I could day trade - it's too fast. You have to be very disciplined and quick on the trigger to enter and exit successfully. I like to mull things over before making my decisions. Plus, your winner can reverse on you just when you decide to leave your desk for a drink of water or a visit to the bathroom. That's too much pressure for me!

I prefer longer-term strategies. I did re-enter the market today with one option spread trade. My frustration is that I know I can't make money if I'm not in the game. And we're trading for our income. So I'm back in the game!

Geotag Your Photos

Last week Jim and Chris put a post on their blog about camera memory cards now being able to record latitude and longitudes of your location when you take a picture. You can watch this video to learn more. I thought the timing of their post was so coincidental. I had just read an article in Backpacker about using technology to prepare for a trip and then sharing your trip with others easily. Part of the article discusses Geotagging your photos. Basically you can set both your GPS device and your camera with identical timestamps, and then with a free Google GPicSync program coordinate the data from both devices to display your photos on a map, etc.

So my first question was: Will Google *ever* charge for their programs? Or are they waiting til everyone is totally dependent on all of their interrelating programs to start charging?

And my second question was: (after acknowledging that all of this new technology is very fascinating) Isn't the purpose for going out for a long hike or a backpacking trip "to get away from it all"? But we're still pretty old fashioned in our ways...using paper maps when we drive and when we hike. Our GPS only comes out when we're concerned about losing a trail.

Who knows though, maybe someday I'll try out that Google program...it would be cool to see if it works!

Will We Ever do a Triathlon this Year?

If it wasn't for my total lack of competitive drive I might be disappointed for having missed our third triathlon of the year. I hope I get my competitive spirit back because training and exercising is always a lot more fun when interjected with the energy of a race.

So why have we missed these triathlons? Well, we missed the first one, the FAU Wellness Triathlon in April, because of injuries. I've had on/off hip issues, but the big reason for missing that one was Andy's injury about two weeks before the tri. Believe it or not, he suffered from a double cornea abrasion during an ocean swim. Doctors later identified it as a chemical burn to both eyes. Most likely due to leaky goggles and forgetting to rinse out his no-fog solution. Those were the most awful three days of our lives.

The Deerfield Triathlon was in May, the same weekend as Nick's wedding. It was a big decision, but we decided we should go to the wedding (just kidding Nick!).

And then yesterday was the Ft Lauderdale Tri at nearby Birch State Park. Andy's football injuries kept us from this one. The multiple scabbing 'beach rash' burns would've been doable, but he did something funny to his left knee leaving him to hobble about.

So now Andy's looking at triathlons outside the area - like on the west coast of Florida. Or in another country, like Miami. We'll just have to wait and see, but hopefully we'll compete in at least one this year!

A Happy Place

Do you have a place where you go that makes you smile? This is one of mine:
I just love this tree. Every time I ride my bike past this house, I have to stop and admire this tree. I love the roots and how they've adorned this tree with air plants and interlaced its roots with other plants. I just love it.

Who Said New Smyrna Beach was Laid Back?

New Smyrna Beach is an Old Florida, laid back town. Unless your with our family. It was another wild weekend visiting the Thomases. Andy's dad taught this family how to be competitive at anything. I've joked that even Croquet and Bocci have become contact sports when they play. But this competitive spirit makes it fun when the family (and their friends) gets together. Injuries are something to expect, but I was surprised that almost everyone (10-12) walked off the football field with blood this past weekend. They played 2 games on two separate days. Both on the hard packed beach. Hitting the sand with knees, elbows, and backs, they all suffered from "road rash" burns. And this was an 'innocent' game of two-hand touch! Boys.

We did get some normal exercise into our routine. A couple runs, a bike ride, and an ocean swim. Our beach is so different from the beach up in NSB. First, the sand is hard and cars drive on the beach. This does make for an easier run on the sand since it is packed versus our soft, slanted beach. The other differences were obvious during our ocean swim. For one, the water is about 10 degrees colder! Yikes, I've gotten so used to the ocean being almost air-temperature it was a shock to walk into 72 degree water again (that's our temperature in Mar-Apr, not July!). I'm also used to being able to see the sand ripples, stingrays, and fish during my swim, but not in Smyrna - I could barely see my hand outstretched in front of me. This got me thinking...hhhmmmm, Smyrna is the shark-capitol of Florida, should I really be out here? I stopped periodically to make sure Andy and I didn't get too far apart. It was a rare swim for me to be that uncomfortable out in the ocean.

We also got some of the group out for a kayak. Or, should I say an attempt to paddle? This is pretty much what our group looked like during our kayak tour....bunched together, no paddling, more splashing than forward-motion, you know what I'm saying, right? There is a kayak trail in Cape Canaveral called Shipyard Island Canoe Trail. This site has a map of the canoe trail. I had hoped to find the northern entrance to the trail from JBs Fish Camp (which is where we rented kayaks and put in), but we never made it half the distance. Oh well, I'll just have to try to do the trail on another visit. But because we did goof around in the main waterways, we did get to see a number of dolphins.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Holidays everybody! We're heading north to New Smyrna Beach this weekend. We'll be spending the holiday with Andy's brother, Joe, his family. Andy's brother, Chris, is down from Philly with his son and an old family friend. So, it'll be a full house!

We're looking forward to leaving. The market has just closed, but our Element is in the shop and we're just waiting for "the call" so we can go get her and load her up.

We'll talk to you again next week! Enjoy your fireworks and stay safe.

We're Slowing Down

We were so relieved to learn that it is normal for runners to slow down during the summer months. Apparently when the temperatures hit 80 degrees and the humidity is 85% and higher, you lose about 20-30 seconds per mile. Thank goodness - we thought it was just us!! Here we are training for triathlons and the half-marathon in February and it seemed that the more we ran, the slower we got. This is not very motivating, needless to say. So now we've learned to accept the change in our pace. We figured it was because we had been traveling the last several summers that our bodies just weren't used to the humidity any longer. But then I also realized that my worst runs are when we run with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Road Runners Club. We're running at 6:30pm, which I normally wouldn't do during the summer running on my own. It's just too hot. But it has been really nice running with the club - we've gotten to meet some really nice people.

Wildlife Rescue

I had to do a rescue this morning that reminded me of working at the Wildlife Care Center. At breakfast this morning we realized that we had a visitor on our balcony. Most likely it was a female Pine Warbler, but I always struggle with these tiny birds - warblers/sparrows - it's hard to identify the different species. Anyhow, the poor thing was trapped in a glass sandwich. She flew into the sliding glass door and then into the glass balcony railing. I figured I'd give her some time to find her own way out since catching them is so stressful for them. But after an hour or so it appeared she had given up. So I carried a pillowcase outside and laid it over her. Animals are funny this way - if they can't see you, they figure you can't see them so they calm down. It could've also have been the weight of the pillowcase on her tiny 5" body, too! But then I was able to pick her up and lift her above the railing before releasing her. After taking a nip at my fingers, she flew off. What a beautiful sight.

What Are My Options?

I realized several months ago that I really don't like trading options. Yes, they are great leverage. Instead of buying a $100 stock, you could buy maybe a $10 call option instead. Now you can afford to buy more options (1 option contract controls 100 shares). But unfortunately there is so much more that affects the pricing of an option then just the price movement of the stock. Such as volatility, delta, time decay, and so on. So there have been times when my stock moves in my direction, but I still end up losing money! That's why I don't care to trade them anymore. I've been focusing on trading stocks to fine tune my entries and exits without worrying about those hidden influences.

With this in mind, you can imagine Andy's surprise when I bought a put option today. Since I'm trading our IRA account, I'm not permitted to short stocks. That ties my hands a little. Especially in this bear market. Another good way to trade bearish opportunities in an IRA is to trade the inverse Index ETFs, such as the Short Qs (PSQ) or the Ultrashort Qs (QID). Each Index has an inverse ETF - which goes up when the Index goes down. Unfortunately I didn't get in on this recent drop of 12.5% (on the SPX)...I guess I was thinking more bullish than the rest of the market and I kept waiting for the next bounce. Ha! One thing I've learned is that "you have to trade what you see, not what you think." Perhaps I should listen more to all of this great advice!