Where did February go?

Another busy month has flown by....It's been such a wonderful winter down here this season...we've had a few cool days but certainly nothing to complain about. Understand you guys up North have been experiencing a warm winter also....good on the fuel bills!

Guy worked at the Elks for his monthly volunteering....
It was a delicious Meat Loaf dinner this time...


behind the scenes....

the kitchen help....l to r

Walter, John, Ron, Guy and Pat

We picked up Charlene, one of my Diva gals at the airport on

Thursday the 23rd.

She was all smiles and ready for a busy warm week in Florida.

had ourselves a quick lunch and then took a ride down to the Port

to watch the Cruise Ships leave.

After dinner, she enjoyed sitting on the balcony and then to bed early after a long travel day.

Up early Friday morning and joined the Ladies at Water Aerobics in the pool....

Then (the other Charlene) drove Rita down to join us. Rita flew down the first of the month to spend 3 weeks with her Friend in Ormand Beach.

Now all 3 of the Divas were together and ready to spend some fun time together.

They were able to cross an item off their Bucket List after watching a rocket launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Since we have friends in high places, we were able to view it from top of the roof and it was spectacular! They were both impressed with the sound of the rumble as it soared across the sky.

This was a new Navy communications satellite that will act as a "cell phone tower in the sky".
The satellite it hauled up is the first of five Mobile User Objective System spacecraft being built by Lockheed Martin under a $5.3 billion Navy contract.

From watching atop the roof, we went over to the Clubhouse where Guy and I hosted a TGIF party. The theme was "Where are you from?"

People wore shirts, hats etc. that showed which State/Province they hailed from. We both wore Lobster Hats from Maine.

There were representatives from 12 different States and 1 Province.

Maine won the most attended with a total of 10 people.

We ate, played games and danced.....a good time was had by all.

Saturday was overcast and a little on the chilly side, so we decided it would be perfect for our "tour" day. Guy put on his Tour Director's cap and drove us all around the area, stopping to show them points of interest. We toured Patrick Air Force Base and browsed around the Commissary also.

Rita treated us to lunch at the Lobster Shack and finally got to try the Rock Shrimp she had heard everyone raving about.

From there we to Manatee Park to see if she could check off another item from her Bucket List, but it was too cold and the water too choppy for the Manatees that day.

That's as close to a Manatee as she got while in Florida....BUT

when we visited the Locks, she got to see Dolpins, Pelicians and assorted birds. (plus Peacocks at another stop) Saturday evening the Carnival Dream, Norweigan Sun and Disney Magic left Port...so they were able to get up close and personal!

then when we got home, we were able to see them from our balcony too....

Sunday was a lazy day, still on the cool side and overcast!

Charlene joined me at the Writing Group where we had our 1st meeting of 2012. Since Charlene is an accomplised writer and is in an Online Writing Competition, she was interested in what and how our group worked.

Guy cooked up a batch of his famous Escargot and the girls dug right in....I choose to take pictures instead!

Another "iffy" day on Monday, so we decided to make the best of it by going to the Mall and then to the movies to see "The Artist", which I highly recommend. After the show, we took a drive out to Rockledge to browse around the "Quilt Place" where Rita found the perfect green fabric she needed to finish one of her projects.

FINALLY! The clouds drifted away to a beautiful sunny, hot day.

Temps in low 80's, which made it perfect for a day at the pool.

After soaking up the sun for most of the afternoon, we came back to the Condo to hear about the storm heading to the North.....Depending on what station you tuned to, the forecast was either a Nor'easter or just a dusting of snow. We decided to wait another day before starting to worry.

Wednesday's weather was a repeat of Tuesday's and we walked next door to spend the day at Ron Jon's Water Park. We were like 3 kids in a candy store!

We rode down the Lazy River and we all

splashed around in the pool which felt like we were in bath water.

After lunch at the Tiki Bar, Charlene and I treated ourselves to a massage/poolside...it was wonderful:)

Charlene dared to go down the slide while Rita and I watched from below! (I always use the excuse that I can't go down because I'll get my contacts wet!)

gigantic hot tub.....

Charlene treated us to dinner at Fishlips...they were excited to check this place out after hearing us talk about it so much!

I had my usual.....Fish n Chips and that sounded good to Rita too.....

Guy's favorite is the Crab Legs.....

and Charlene raved about her Chicken choice.....

When we got back, the Weather Channel was turned on, a couple of phone calls to Friends and relatives back home were made and the decision was made to go to the airport tomorrow and take their chances on getting home quickly......

at the airport.....

saying our good-byes......

If only they had known what lie ahead...

Rita's flight had a plane change in NYC....her flight was eventually cancelled, put on standby on another which was also cancelled at 11PM. Delta put her up at a Marriott and they flew out early the next morning to Boston, where she was bused home to Portland.

Charlene's plane change was in Detroit where she was jostled around from terminal to terminal and had to spend the night there, coming into Portland the next afternoon.....

That's the chance you take travelling in the winter....

maybe next year it will be better.