Ethan’s Journey

  Today was even warmer than yesterday. I might go through a huge sunshine withdrawal when we get home. Ugh! As I drank my coffee this morning, I stood on the dock over looking the canal. I saw a mini octopus. I got to see it swim away. WOW! I was so excited! My finger redness has not grown. It is holding steady at swollen, difficult to bend, not painful. I consider that a win! Andy found a cool beachside restaurant we could go to and eat but also enjoy the beach. We packed a cooler and headed out to explore yet another beach. The beach was amazing. The best beach yet! Beautiful blue and sparkly water. We were able to walk out pretty far on a sandy path. I found two alive shells that I watched bury themselves in the sand. Nature’s tv! Paul and I walked the sandbar way out to explore. It was like a runway! The view and colors were just so pretty. The water felt warm. At one point I stood with my eyes closed, and filled my lungs with the sea salt warm air. I felt the sun shining down...

 I woke up this morning and my bee sting finger was so swollen I couldn’t bend it. It doesn’t hurt, just a little itchy and tight feeling. Hopefully it wasn’t a poisonous bee ha ha. The more I looked into, I think it was a “killer bee”. It looked just like one. Either way, my middle finger is swollen and red. I am watching to make sure the redness doesn’t start creeping up my hand with a systemic infection. Fingers crossed (except my non-bendable finger)! I don’t mind flipping Andy and Paul off to show them my swollen finger. Ha! Today’s activity was swimming with the sringray This morning was another relaxing morning. I sat outside with my coffee, listened to the birds, logged into work briefly. I then took a leisurely walk on the beach. No one was around. Perfect! Excitement was in the air for our boat tour today. We had about an hour ride to the boat launch. We didn’t know what to expect. We were told that we might see sharks, cool, and see a conch nursery, neat! The fact that t...

 My travel advice for anyone booking airline tickets. DO NOT USE THIRD PARTY BOOKING SITES! Luckily, I was able to get Diane’s flight reimbursed through American Airline because I booked directly through the airline. I have used third party sites in the past and have been burned. This morning Paul and I sat outside having our coffee and enjoying the view. We listened to the birds, smelled the sweet smell of the trees and flowers. We decided to go to a new beach today, Xanadu beach. There was one other couple there on the beach with us. We found a little shady nook and put our towels down. The sun was hot and strong. It was closer to high tide. We saw a crab scurrying across the sand. He was ready to fight me. Claws up and in fighting stance. We also found some interesting things on the beach that made us wonder the back story. And we saw a sandalwood tree. Get it? We had the speaker going and the  water felt refreshing. We are wearing SPF 50/70 to stay safe. After feeling cris...

 This morning I went for a walk across the street on the beach. It is about a 45 second walk. I thought I spotted a turtle. I ran back to get my camera. Turns out, it was just a tire. Boo! We did some light grocery shopping before heading to our dolphin encounter. At the dolphin encounter, there were fancy birds, tortoises and of course dolphins. The directions were simple. Leave your camera’s off the dock. We would get an opportunity to bring our phones down later. Of course one lady didn’t follow the directions. She got spoken too, like she should have. Then she decided to leave a poor review because SHE was an idiot and didn’t follow directions. She brought it up several times during and after the dolphin encounter. She was saying how terrible the woman was that told her she couldn’t use her phone.  What a jerk! I am likely going to write a review saying what an idiot the woman was for not following the directions. Our group wasn’t too big. We all got to get into the water ...