Men at Work!

Guy volunteered to help put up the new safety signs around the complex.
What a crew!!

How many men does it take to pound a sign into the ground?

Easter Sunday Surprise

Easter morning Guy got a message from Big Brother Donald, telling him he was in Cocoa Beach.

We quickly got ready and met him for breakfast in the Port.

They came back for a quick tour of our place and then were heading back to Gail's house.

Tuesday we woke up to darken, overcast skies and when Guy came back from his walk,

we heard there were severe storms all around us.

We watched the storms progress via Channel 13 and they reported Tornado warnings were up for our area. The storm came on us suddenly, it was like one minute it was daytime and the next it was nighttime.

The torrential rain came down in sheets and its amazing how strong those palm trees are...

swaying in the heavy winds, bending and twisting, but no damage to them in the end.

The storm ended as quickly as it began and the sun slowly came back out.

It did bring us cooler temps, which were a nice relief.

That evening, we were rewarded with the most magnificent sunset we've ever seen.

This was from our place on 2nd floor...

We went up to 5th floor to enjoy this view!

As we're starting to pack and wind down our winter stay,
there are lots of friends to say good-bye to.
Bud and Kathy took us out for a great dinner at The Smokehouse
in Titusville. We're renting their condo next year here at Solana Lake.
Only 10 more days and we'll be heading back home...

What was happenin' with us this week

It's been another busy week.....On Guy's morning walk, he saw these Peacocks waiting at the Clubhouse door...guess they were waiting for someone to let them in to use the gym??On Wednesday, the Lunch Bunch went to Merritt Island to Vinnie's for an Italian Lunch.

This was my 4th luncheon with the "ladies" and I couldn't help but remember the first time

I joined them in January...I didn't know a soul and now I know who each and every one of them are....we have had so much fun together (plus the food's not bad either!)

Guy went to his "1500 Club" this week....
Jim Campbell was the host this time and needless to say, all the fellas had a grand ol' time!

Guy, Arlyn and John

Duffy's the Mascot who patiently awaits crumbs to fall....

John, Brian, Jim (The Host) and Tim who is visiting from Montreal

Joyce and Jerry drove down from Port Orange on Friday to have an early dinner with us.

We had cocktails at Tammy and Joe's place first and then drove down to Cocoa Beach

and dined at Yen Yen's.

On Saturday, I felt really antsy for some reason. Guess it's because I know our days are numbered and we've slowly started packing things....into 2 piles....One pile to store here

in Florida and the other pile to bring back with us to Maine.

Anyway, it was an overcast, but very warm afternoon (low 90's) and we decided

to go for a ride up to Merritt Island to the National Wildlife Refuge. Guy and Jim

had made the trip up there a couple weeks ago and raved about it, so Guy was anxious to show me around the area.

We stopped at "Dixie Crossroads" for lunch...a very famous place, I understand.

It was quite big, a little deceiving from the outside, very nicely decorated with all sorts of rooms of different themes. The service was so-so and I thought the meal was "OK"...

Now I've been there and don't need to return....

Since we are both big Space Buffs now, we were particularly excited about being able to be

so close to the launch pads. In the background, you can see Pads 38 & 39B the gantrys that house the shuttles that will be lifted off sometime in May...heading to the International Space Station.

Merritt Island NWR is an overlay of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center...the world's most advanced technology launched man to the moon, today, continues space exploration.

This is the closest we have been able to come to the Pads...on the north side at the Nat'l Seashore.

As we drove down Playalinda Beach...we saw these signs and of course, curiosity got the best of us......

I guess this was the reason for all the traffic...and I'm not posting the more "interesting" shots....

We then drove down Bio-Lab road for over 5 miles and saw 12 Alligators!

Some were big like this one and some were smaller....

They actually didn't even look real...like they were made of stone....

Lots of birds....cranes, etc.....we were hoping to see some Flamingos, but this is the closest we came....not sure what they were.....but were pink and white....

It was a fun afternoon and will be a great place to bring company next year....

Sunday

What a gorgeous Florida day! Blue skies, just a gentle breeze and warm (82) temps.
Pat Call invited us to join her at Coconuts for lunch....a special treat! She's leaving in a week, so we were glad to be able to spend some time with her before she headed back to NH. We went for a ride down to Satellite Beach in search of Manatees, but again, no luck! Can't imagine where they are hiding out this Spring.

Stopped in at her Condo on the way home to check out the beach. There were hundreds of people out there today enjoying the Florida sunshine.....Again, made us miss this location being able to see the Ocean from the balcony.

Saturday was Julie's last vacation day:(

Julie's last vacation day and the weather was perfect!!! We went to the Port for breakfast at Grill's...and started the day with a Bloody Mary and Mimosas. Still had time to kill before heading to the airport, so we went to the Canaveral Lock's to see what was going on. Locks were locked up, so didn't get to see any boat traffic, but Pelican's put on a show for us....

Saying good-bye at the airport.....we all had a great time!

On our way home, we stopped at the Marine Flea Market...Guy looked around, but didn't buy a thing.....He's already thinking about Sea-bbatical and putting her in the water for the season....

Won't be long now.....

Flea Market and Missile launch on Friday

Friday morning we decided to head to Super Flea Market in Melbourne....Julie and I bought a few Bamboo plants that are quite neat....We bought individual stalks and you can tie them together to make various shapes.... These are pictures of some that were at the Market and were a little more elaborate than we are interested in.....

Julie fixed us dinner...Salmon with dill, roasted potatoes....Key Lime Pie for dessert...It was delicious!

Jim, one of Guy's buddies, invited us up on the roof for the rocket launch. This is a next-generation military communications satellite that will aid troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It launched on schedule at 8:31PM...it was a 19 story United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Weather has been a little funky for the past few days....

Overcast in the morning, then sun pops out and it's beautiful....

Tuesday we spent most of the day just relaxing at the pool...

Julie's been speed reading "The Year of Fog" our Book Club selection so she can

join me at the Book Club meeting Wednesday night....

Wednesday.....Water Aerobics then relaxing at pool until lunch....

Then we headed out shopping for souveniers and to see if I could find an outfit

to wear to Brownson Reunion in May.

Guy called us about 4 and said to stay at the Mall for another half hour as a water spout

was spotted at the Cape...little did he know, he couldn't afford for me to stay extra time

at the Mall.....Anyway, the crazy weather did clear the area and lo and behold! the sun

came out and it was beautiful!

By the time we got home, it was 6:30 and we were exhausted...so didn't even bother going to the Book Club....(Julie hadn't finished the book anyway)

Thursday morning we packed up our gear and headed to the Club House to join the Sewing Group...Julie's been working on a quilt for a friend of hers and we did manage to gain a little

headway and get some squares sewed, squared up and a pattern going.
There were only 5 of us there....the other Gals have already packed up and headed
back home....Next year it will be more organized and hopefully our little Quilting Group
will grow. We are planning a Spring Craft Fair, so we'll all be busy this Summer and Fall
working on our projects....

Brian and Carolyn, who own a Condo a few doors down from us
invited us over for Happy Hour....We had a great time chatting and getting to know each other.
They hail from Montreal and we had such a great time, that we stayed until 10:30, none
of us realizing it was that late.

Melinda reluctantly leaves Florida

Monday was a beautiful day...the heavy winds have subsided and temps are in mid 80's...
Water Aerobics was first on the agenda...click on the picture and you can see Julie and Melinda do the stretches in the foreground....and yes....the pool water was just as beautiful as it looked. This was Mel's last day in Florida, so she got to pick the schedule....after WA, we hung out at the pool until lunchtime, and then reclaimed the lounges again and enjoyed more sun until about 3:30 when we all came up, showered and played a couple more games of bowling.

Here we are at Orlando Airport...

do you believe this? they are texting each other...

Melinda has checked in and on her way to the gate...

they are actually on opposite sides of the glass doors....

and now they are on their cell phones....

Guy is shaking his head wondering how we all were able to survive

before this modern technology....

Good-bye Mel.....we'll miss you....

Saying good-bye to some of our new friends

We've made some wonderful new friends since we've been here this Winter and some of them will be leaving this week. We decided to host a gathering to say good-bye to them and hopefully, we'll all be reunited again next Winter.... Vic and Arnie

Vic is from Royersburg NJ and Arnie (who writes children's books)

hails from Windsor, Ontario

I look mad, but I'm really not....

Left to right...Julie, Linda to left of palm tree and Jean (who belongs to Vic)

Melinda, John and Marcy

It was a fun (and a little loud) afternoon...

After we cleaned up, we took a ride down to the Port, walked around

and ended up at Milligan's for a drink and snaks