Winter in Florida

 

 

Hello!! 

It's been a long time since I've posted...so here's a quick re-cap of our time in Florida. We started in the best way possible with a Thanksgiving feast on the beach with our good friends Greg & Lori. Maybe not the most "traditional" dinner but it was delightful none the less.

 

Another fun evening with our neighbors Wayne & Julie and friends at the Venice Christmas parade. A little different than the Jingle Bell parade in Grand Haven! 😆

 A special treat was to get to have dinner with Julie & Chris and their travel buddies Paul & Maureen while they were visiting in Florida. Then 2 weeks later we flew home for Christmas. The cats were a little confused by the snow!

It was great to see Dave's family: Brian, Josie & Brady, Matt & Rachel, Noah & new fiancée, Ashlynne, Lainey and her boyfriend and Callen (who's not quite as tall as he looks...yet!) 

My side of the family was missing Emma & Lauren this year but we did have a new addition of Margaret's boyfriend, Noah. Always nice to have family around during the holidays.

Back to Florida and we must have brought some cold weather with us. It didn't stop us from enjoying some ice cream after a bible study in downtown Venice with more RCR friends, Sandy & Brian.

 

February we took a Caribbean cruise and enjoyed a new stop for us at Turks and Caicos. The weather was perfect and the snorkeling was amazing! I think I saw more fish than I have ever seen before. Too bad I didn't have an underwater camera to share that view with you!

While the islands are all beautiful, our favorite spot still remains on board in Celebrity's Persian Garden. Almost everyday we spent time in our "happy place" enjoying the relaxing spa music and heated beds. Decadently being pampered with our room steward making the bed every morning and night, delicious food with excellent service at Blu, all while being treated like a king & queen!

 

Another favorite spot on the ship is our balcony. We love relaxing and reading in our quiet, private space during the day and then watching the moonlight shimmer on the water at night.

Since our traveling has focused on National Parks we added another stamp to our book on St. John in the Virgin Islands.

 

Our ship actually docked in St. Thomas but we took a taxi to Red Hook and then a water ferry to St. John. We were headed for Trunk Bay to do more snorkeling but it was a windy day so ended up at Cinnamon Bay. It was a beautiful spot to just relax on the beach.

On our way "home" from the cruise we stopped at Biscayne National Park to do some kayaking. We didn't get to see any manatees or sea turtles but I got a nice shot of Dave getting a picture of a Pelican. 

The highlight of March was having Michelle & Joe come to visit...and then getting married while they were there! We had a fun time before the big day going to a spring training Tigers game, especially because they won!

The wedding was on Nokomis Beach and the weather and sunset couldn't have been more perfect! Joe's brother, Bob and son, Ethan were able to join us and make the event even more special. It was a lovely ceremony and we pray for many wonderful years ahead for Joe & Michelle!💕

We are blessed to have so many good friends! We enjoyed lots of great times with Jan & Bruce from hiking around Emerson Point preserve to chillin' on Caspersen  beach at Sharky's. They are the best camping buddies, not only because they both love to cook but because we operate on the same time schedule...morning lazy!😜

Next year we are looking forward to having them join us at Royal Coachman (RCR) for the full season.  They will get to enjoy all the fun of Pub Picnics with the gang and maybe even Euchre with all our card friends (Shout out to Kathie, Karen, Wendy and Claudia!). 

It seemed the season went SO FAST! We did get sick for part of it but were thankful we could at least be outside and get our Vitamin D. The last week we were able to squeeze in dinner with Julie, Wayne and another great neighbor, Jane at the Nokomis Tiki Hut.   

 

Also, after saying all season "we have to break bread together soon" we finally got to have dinner with Hensley and Alfreda and talked way into the night about all the great places we've traveled. We'd love to have them join up with us on one of our upcoming adventures.

Of course the season wouldn't be complete without our dear friends Linsey and Marcus. Their time in Florida was cut short because of the damage to their "boathouse" from the back to back hurricanes. Can't wait until next year when we can get back to WAY more time together!! 

We are heading northeast now and will miss our Florida "home". We've got lots of ground to cover but it won't be long before I'm back in my happy place at RCR...yes, in the hot tub but mostly spending time with all of our dear friends!

 

We are so thankful for all of the provisions the Lord has given us! We are blessed with good health and amazing good health of all of our parents (more on them in the next post!😉), great friends and an incredible lifestyle we are enjoying to the fullest. Thank you for your continued prayers on our journey.