Wanderlust

I have been so pleasantly surprised here - there is lots to do, friendly people, great restaurants and of course the beautiful scenery! It's a small town atmostphere with remarkably big town appeal at the same time. They've got a great dynamic going on here. And it doesn't hurt being lucky enough to live where we are staying.

Ft Pierce has a great downtown group that creates events and draws people downtown to shop, eat and play. One event was a history walk, which doubled as a ghost walk given the opportune time. We took an hour and walked around downtown, stopping every block or so to hear stories from 'ghosts' and about ghosts known to frequent the old town. The tour took a loop inside a newly renovated old theater which was pretty cool to see. They now have all sorts of events that take place here. Apparently this town goes back to 1901, you do learn something every day!

Also, they have a lovely Farmer's Market - fresh food and local vendors, weird shit to buy, random people to look at, struggling musicians, and all in a picturesque atmostphere.

Lo and behold, we found a haunted house! That's the good news. The great news - it was a fundraiser for a sick child of a firefighter. The bad news - we both left scathed. After standing in line for AN HOUR, with a group of screaming little girls directly behind us that loved to scream and run and jump up and down against us, we finally made it inside. Curtis thought it funny how annoyed I was - and reminded me that I was once a member of that club. Unfortunately, yes, true. Still, I didn't need to enjoy it now, did I? And he didn't either, after he got trampled and his feet smashed by them when a scary guy waved a chainsaw in their direction. Haunted houses used to be scary - like claw the one you're with, scary. Didn't they? Now I just get sick and bloody. Maybe that's actually more scary now a days to me. Reality. Ha. There was a moving wall with black light and tons of color that I thought I would pass out on, then I got nailed by a kid's boot. Ok - lesson learned here - Do Not Wear Thongs To Haunted Houses. Duh. Old dumbass hippies we are. Still, that first breath of fresh air as you emerge from the House is always the best fresh air you've had - that feeling was definitely the same. And the guys outside talking about how many pants pee-ers they've had tonight, that too...

The longer we're here, the more animals I see - all different types of lizards, frogs, snails, crabs, dragonflies, bees, birds... The majority of crabs I see, however, are smashed trying to cross the road, so I was very happy to see this guy before he fled to safety of the bushes.

You meet some interesting characters in hot tubs, you know. We met a guy that comes from pages of a Kerouac book - specifically On the Road. He had great and amazing stories of travel and hitching and experiences and people - and he has an admirable recollection of it. Anyway, he was also full of information - like Ponce de Leon found St Augustine, which was the first town of our country, and he also knew the answer to my question from weeks previous. Why are there so many seashells on the beach? Turns out, after the Hurricane Wilma (which yes, he was affected by) they had such massive problems with erosion that they harvested sand from hundreds of yards away in the ocean. They basically took a big vacuum and sucked up sand and rebuilt their beach and dune. Aha - makes sense now.

What a breathtaking view of the Space Shuttle Discovery Launch from Kennedy Space Center!
I suspected I might be alone in my attempt to see the launch from 60 miles south of the the Cape, but was pleasantly suprised to find many people along the beach waiting to watch the amazing wonder with me.

Wonderful news - Lydia arrived healthy and beautiful on October 16th! Congratulations to Amber, Rob and Tyler on the blossoming family.

Welcome to the planet, sunshine, we look forward to meeting you.

We have now waved goodbye to our 20s, said farewell to Key Largo, and adios to the baby bark anole that lived with us there.

Apparently he preferred the air conditioned indoors to the humid and hot outdoors too. More than once, I would open the door within a foot of him, but he'd take off in the opposite direction and later surprise me under my feet or on top of the fridge. I admit, I accidently tossed him one day when I didn't realize he was in the coozie when I grabbed it. No worries, though, he still frequented the house and didn't hold a grudge.

I also celebrated the move by my last bike crash there the day before. I have no idea why I am so tipsy on a bike - I grew up on them. Anyway, this clutz (that takes at least triple the time to come down a mountain than her husband) managed to crash into the truck. In the driveway. To my defense, I did have a big Sunday newspaper in one hand, which prevented me from holding with two hands. Nevermind, I know, not really a sound and solid defense. My mom was right when she said - What? The backpack girl didn't take a backpack for the paper? - which made really good sense to me. After the fact. I have a weird thing about taking a backpack everywhere. Failed me that day. But, as they always say, You should've seen the truck. hehe. I'll spare you the picture of my bruised leg.

Rock star Cujo got off work in the wee hours and loaded the bike and all our stuff and drove us north most the way to Fort Pierce.

We have now landed at a new home on Hutchinson Island. Curtis says that this place is where my mom should be instead of us - and he makes perfect sense. This unit is covered with elephants. I mean literally covered. Figurines, lamps, the rug, wall art, it's ALL elephants! Crazy coincidental place. In addition to the elephant craze, the cupboards are shorter than average, like Mom.

This place is wonderful! The kind of place you retire to. And from the looks of it, most residents did. Reminds us of that Seinfeld episode when Kramer runs for President of Jerry's folk's retirement community. There are events like cards and shuffleboard, activities like pools and tennis courts and the private golf course and restaurant/bar, and it's right on the shell covered beach. Seriously, check this shell shot out, is this normal?

Lots of anoles or lizards also, and there are more frogs here. I found this one and wondered for a minute if we had inadvertantly brought one with us. Or, if I had simply another adopted "pet" to look at and be suprised by its whereabouts occasionally. My excitement waned when it didn't move when I snapped it's picture, and then it didn't move for about eight hours after... I pulled the wimpy female card out and waited for verification of death til Cujo got home. Poor little guy.

The ocean is big and vast and loud and powerful. And wind! Perhaps to fly a kite on, eh? Definitely.

On the opposite side of the street is the Indian River. Lots of public beaches and boardwalks, pretty landscaping, and groovy hangouts.

We left one long skinny island and went to another one. However, a town is much closer, just across the bridge. Much more here to explore. But this is all for now.

I was lucky enough to get to go home for a week to attend the 1st Annual Idaho State Kite Festival. My mother has been working on this for months, if not years, and all pretty much singlehandedly. She's held numerous workshops all over the area, applied for grants, poured all extra time and days off into the cause, so this has been a long time coming in addition to a catalyst for a long standing annual event.

Proof of which is provided by what happened to the living room before the event! HA!

That said, only so much preparation can be taken before Mother Nature interferes. Weather in Idaho is always changing and can't be relied on, so of course this weekend there was SNOW! (The day before, the day after, and the day after that was spectacularly beautiful with nice winds and bright blue skies)

For more info about the event, go here to the myspace info page, or click here for a video from the local newspaper. A dedicated webpage will be setup soon.

The workshops for the Festival were varied and fun - and included people of all ages, the highlights:

The event started out with a Kite Festival Proclamation from the City of Pocatello.

Workshop at Marshall Public Library

Kimono Kite Workshop at Idaho State University, with the lovely Darby, Bear and Gage!

VFW Hall workshop

Mini Kite Workshop with Tom Tinney of LittleKites.com

The main Fly was scheduled on this day:

Nevertheless, the die hards flew! Yes, I agree that bragging rights are in order.

We also got to spend time with Jamie and Wendy who came over for the day - and get this - no pictures. I have no excuses, just simply spaced it. And she is so adorable with her little tiny pregnant belly. Also got to have lunch with Joan and Duane, who are always sweet and caring. Found out years later, that he was my 'Santa' when Santa would come visit at Christmas.

After the Festival was over, the weather cleared up beautifully and some kites went up. Now kids, don't do as shown - no flying kites in the street!