One extra day of fun

Wednesday, March 11

We are not prepared for departure today, and have decided to stay one more day and do at least two of the things we really wanted to do here: A Geocache and a boat ride.
Al and Yvonne have never done Geocaching before, so they’ll get the honour of “finding” the cache. It’s quite an easy one.
We enjoy an early lunch at Pier 19. Luckily there are table outside, so we’re not exposed to the horrible air conditioning that blows at every single public place here. That’s so American, and I can’t stand it. I have suffered from more “frozen” shoulders due to Airconditioning than from the weather back home.
Imagine how much money can be saved if they turn it down just a few degrees and have normal temperatures.

The boat dock is only a few minutes from the restaurant and we’re just in time to get our tickets and board the Aqua Dog amphibious, which will take us to Barracuda Cove.
There is so much activity on and around the water. We see parasailers, jet boats, a pirate ship, which goes on an adventure twice a day, dolphin and fishing tours and a shrimp boat. The rusty old boat, we are told, has been anchored here for the last five years. The owner lives on it and does not pay rent nor taxes. He uses a Kayak to go to and from the main land. I wonder how he manages during a hurricane.
The dolphins are playing in front of our boat, jumping up and down.
We we approach the beach - which can only be reached by vehicle from Brownsville - the captain must use his wheels to get onto the beach and continuous through the dunes.
There are fisherman everywhere. What a great way to spend the day.
We get out of the amphibious and have an hour to comb the beach for sand dollars or unusual shells. All we find though are jellyfish, old sandals, bottles and toothbrushes, but we enjoy the walk in the hot sun, along the beach. We see more fisherman, who tell us there is a lot of fish here. One, even pulls out his cell phone to show me his prize capture, from three weeks ago.

The Aqua Dog must now get back into the water, which takes a lot of skills. The captain needs to wait for the right moment to avoid any waves.
He slowly maneuvres his craft parallel to the the shoreline and then makes his move. A big wave comes in and those (including me) sitting on the side of the water get a good soak. A good thing I have my camera covered by my hand.
That was a fun ride.
Back in town we buy an icecream and stop at the fresh fish food store to buy some shrimp to take back home in the freezer.
It’s time to go home and get the RV ready for an early morning departure.
We park the RV parallel, right along the edge of the parking lot, attach the dolly and drive the car on it. Everything is tidied up and secured again. We’re ready to roll, but like to spend one last evening with Al and Yvonne, who have already cooked another wonderful meal.
Al has also checked the best route for us to take back north and I make some notes of the roads to take.
The wind has died down a bit and under the full moon it is wonderful to eat outside on their patio. We don’t leave too late because we need a good nights sleep.
We had such wonderful time with our friends of almost 25 years. We’ll miss them. They will stay for another couple of weeks before they head back to Alberta.