Post-Race Celebration

It started out innocently enough. We thought we'd tour Bobby around town on the Water Taxi for a few hours, and then go kayaking in the afternoon.

With a $13/pp all-day pass, you can hop off and on the Water Taxi as much as you like. Our first stop was the 15th Street Fisheries. We figured we'd grab a 'beer with a view' before lunch:

From feb

Here's a picture of the 15th Street Fisheries again when we were leaving our last stop of the day (the Pelican Bar), which was on the opposite side of the Intercoastal Waterway:

From feb

Hhhhmmmm...do you think we made it kayaking that afternoon? Nope, we sure didn't. We had a wonderful day just hopping off and on the Taxi or walking along the beach stopping at different establishments along the way. For some reason, I had decided to take a picture at each place we went...so you can see more of our day by clicking on either photo and going to the WebAlbum.

Andy and I rarely get to play tourist like that. It was such a relaxing day that we almost forgot to feel guilty about playing hooky! I'd like to blame Bobby for that, but how can you "blame" someone when you had so much fun?

Half-Marathoners!

February 22nd, 2009 - the BIG day. We've been training for this day for almost a year. Well, at least some of us!

We were all looking pretty happy BEFORE the race...from left to right: Melissa, Andy, Bobby, Diane, and Joe

From feb

I wish I had all of us in this picture - Alex and Michelle are missing from our small group. I hope to add another photo soon - a post-race photo of the group that they took at the finish line in front of a large sand castle. I'll post it when I can.

It was a great day. Low 60's, no wind, sunny but not too hot or humid. The A1A Half-Marathon course is flat and scenic - with ocean views for many miles, and a two-mile loop through Birch State Park. And to be able to do it with friends and family was wonderful. Two of Andy's brothers came into town just for the race - Joe from Orlando and Bobby from Philly. Plus, we knew a number of other people from our running club along the course. It's always helpful to have people cheering you on by name.

We all did well. Nah, we all did *awesome*. Everyone was happy with their times, especially Andy and Alex who crossed the finish line together and beat their goal by two minutes. I was excited that I was actually able to run the course in it's entirety. A knee injury had plagued me for the last three weeks and I wasn't able to properly train during that time. Granted, my knee is hurting now, but at least it didn't on race day - how lucky is that?

Special thanks to Melissa and Alex for being such great training partners this last year. It's definitely more enjoyable running long distances with partners! And thanks to Joe and Bobby for making the effort to travel to do it with us - and for the phone calls with your training reports to keep us on our toes!

Sebastian, FL - Visiting World Travelers

Our friends Steve and Sandy have been wandering the world these last few years teaching English, or volunteering, in countries such as Ecuador, Japan, Thailand, and Nepal. They've been back in the States for a little while attending to some family business, which gave us the opportunity to see them. We knew they weren't going to be around much longer, so we've been trying to get the RV up to Sebastian for one last visit. After Andy finished the repairs to the cabover, we took a quick weekend getaway.

They recommended a nearby county park called Donald MacDonald which was a perfect place to stay. It was a small campground with big sites (Texas-sized!). And wonderfully quiet - we've almost forgotten what "quiet" really is having been living in a downtown environment.

The park borders the Sebastian River. There's a boat ramp that would've given us great access to drop our kayaks in, but we didn't bring them on this trip due to time constraints. We'll have to remember this for another visit. There was also this T-dock with benches and a great view of the river.

Steve and Sandy took us out to eat at Capt Hiram's one night - we sat in the outdoor area called the SandBar. Some of the tables were built into a boat, it was on the sandy shore of the Indian River Lagoon, good music, fun colors, and a great view. Neat place.
We had a campfire on Saturday night. We wanted to do one Sunday as well, but it rained so we had to make alternative plans.
At least we got some biking and hiking in on Sunday before the rains came. Steve and Sandy just toured us around town and showed us some of their favorite spots.
It was a good thing we got to go to Sebastian when we did because they'll be leaving for their next tour soon. In a couple of weeks they expect to be heading to Korea. So keep an eye on their blog, because I know Steve will be posting again when they get there.

Not only was it great to see Steve and Sandy, but it was good to give the RV a nice spin. We just put new tires on her recently, and then with the cabover repairs, we just needed to be sure everything was still in working order. The repairs held up well, and we even got her washed.

For the first time ever we used an truck/RV wash. We went to the Blue Beacon in Ft Pierce. It is not automated - they use humans with high-pressure hoses. My only disappointment was with the roof. The workers don't go up on the roof, but instead they use gentle sprinklers to rain water down to wash off the dirt. It was only enough to get the primary layer of dust off. But considering how filthy the RV got in storage (being on a dirt lot) we were happy with the results and would use Blue Beacon again. Sometimes it's just too hard to find a place to wash an RV! We considered spending a night at an RV park just to wash. That might've cost us anywhere from $40 - $60/night since it's high season in south Florida. Instead it only cost us $30 at the RV wash.

All of This Because of Dried Out Caulk?

Well, we found the source of Andy's mold allergies in the RV.

I guess that's both good news and bad news. The good news? I can take Andy with me this year on our upcoming adventure. The bad news? As you can see, the demolition has begun.

It was during one of those spontaneous moments while I was doing an RV walk-around (while in the storage yard). I didn't like the look of the caulking, started to do a cursory inspection, and found that the cabover fiberglass sidewall was soft. So what does any good RVing wife do at that moment? Yell for her husband, of course. Andy came back another day to start investigating deeper into the inside of the cabover and the next thing I know he's pulling things apart...ripping up the vinyl cover, unscrewing plates, and cutting through the cabinets.

But at this point we feel pretty confident that he's isolated the damaged areas and found the source of the leak. We're just crossing our fingers that we have another week of dry skies so we can get the wood dried out and the repairs made.

Where did all the pigeons go?

After seeing this peregrine falcon hanging out where the pigeons usually roost, I finally realized why I don't see that many pigeons anymore. I think they're hiding!

I've been seeing "small hawks" around our downtown skies, but couldn't get a close enough look to identify them until today.

You Can Win $100!

All you have to do is go to Road Trip Journal, read several blog entries about various small towns, and vote for ME!

Ok, I'm just kidding about the last part. One of MY blog entries IS available for February's Reader's Choice Award, which means if I get the most votes I can win $100 gas card. But for your winnings, all you have to do is complete the survey and your name will be entered into a lottery for a chance to win a $100 gas card, too. That just might get you to your next stop, right?

Look for my entry on Stehekin, WA (anytime during the month of February) and hopefully you'll like it enough to Vote for ME! Then remember to go back to their website every month to play again.

Thank YOU for voting for meeee ;)