~ Stay in Fort Pierce ~ Week 8

Sunday, 1/5/20 ~ The weather wasn't that great today.  Pete decided to put in a few hours to get ahead on a project.  Once done he was able to enjoy the football games. It was quarterfinals. We were glad NE Patriots were knocked out, but unfortunately, so were the Philadelphia Eagles.
     I used the time to process some of the photos and prep more of the blog.  I even managed to post a couple.

Monday, 1/6/20 ~ Pete was busy all day.  I tried to do the laundry.  Unfortunately, only 1 of the 2 washers is working.  I went up 3 times and all three times there was a wait. No laundry today.
     We and Bailey left around 5:30 PM to head up to Cape Canaveral to see the night time launch of the Titan Rocket.  We were early and drove around Coco Beach before stopping to wait in a Mac Donald's parking lot. We were going to go to the viewing area and were in line, until we realized that tickets or military passes were needed.  We turned around and headed to one of the causeway islands.  We were one of many who were interested in the launch.  We could only park close to the causeway as the cars were already 4 deep.  We found a great place to watch.  I was all set with my camera and tripod, but I couldn't get it to work,  So once again I fell back to my trusty small camera that also comes with a phone.  We had trees blocking the view of the ground around the launch, but within seconds, a fireball cleared the trees and we watched her climb until she flamed out. The sound from this launch was dramatically more that then launch we saw of the Falcon Heavy Rocket, but Pete said it was nothing like the Shuttle Launch, which was simply unbelievably loud and vibrated one's organs.
NASA photographer got a great shot of te liftoff.  I filmed the ball of fire as it climbed ~
          Totally Awesome!

Tuesday, 1/7/20 ~ We were up early as we had an appointment with my Cardiologist in Miami at noon.  He was pleased that I didn't gain as much weight as I thought and understood my lack of exercise this past fall.  We set up appointments for the end of February to repeat the Echo cardiogram and check my pacemaker.
      We decided to meet Ann and Howie halfway between Ft. Pierce and Delray Beach. Lola's Seafood Eatery is located in Palm Beach Gardens. They have the most delicious Lobster Rolls. We had a fun and delicious visit.

Wednesday, 1/8/20 ~ This morning something weird happened to my phone. I heard Pete get up and checked my watch. It was 7 am.  OK, I could catch a few more winks. The mechanic is not due until 9:30.  I must have dozed as Pete woke me saying that the mechanic will be here in less than an hour. I checked my watch again It was 7:40.  I told Pete we still have time.  "No we don't! It is 8:40."  Needless to say I argued, but grumpily got up. Somehow my phone decided to switch to Central Mountain Time. Go figure!  I thankfully was dressed, when the mechanic arrived at 8:50.  After introductions between Pedro, Pedro, Pete and I, Pete wanted me gone.
     I grabbed my breakfast, the laundry and headed to Sunshine Laundromat.  I figure with lots of machines I wouldn't have a hard time finding 2 available machines. they must have had 40 machines of varying sizes.  Today was my lucky day, Wednesday the smaller machines are just $1.99.  They and about 8 driers will take quarters, They too, are discounted. For the rest, you need to buy a card for $1.00 and put money on the card. Since this was the only time I will be using their machines, I decided to use the quarters. I used 3 washers and 2 driers. I was done in less that 90 minutes.

     

I found art work near the museum during my walk

        The mechanics were done before me.  They put in the bracket, made the adjustments, and told Pete to ground the heat exchanger as it should be and wasn't currently. He also gave Pete the name of a local battery store that would give a discount if he used Pedro's name, as well as a place in Annapolis to have the generator worked on. (Apparently, there is coolant in the cylinders which is why it diesels and can't generate sufficient power.  We can't use it so we will have that look at once we are back on the Chesapeake.)
     Once back, I contacted Verizon Tech Support. She was wonderful and within a half hour we had the issue with my phone corrected.  Unfortunately, I needed to repeat the process a second time in order to permanently correct the time problem.

     As I walked up to the bathhouse, these two photo opportunities happened ~ The fire department was doing familiarization on the dock, while the heron just wanted to chill on a soft spot.
          
   
     As if one electronic problem wasn't enough, Pete's computer keyboard refused to work.  Thankfully, he has a separate keyboard that did work in time for his conference call.
     Around 4 we headed up to Cape Canaveral to meet with Deb and Hugh from SV SIMPLICITY.  With traveling and business commitments, it has been too long.  Deb made reservations at a local restaurant in Canaveral called Sage Bistro, a great farm-to-table with delicious offerings. I had a Salmon on rice pilaf with grilled asparagus that was fantastic, Pete had Beef Bourguigon over home-made egg noodles, Hugh~  Lamb Pot Roast with Parmasian potatoes, and roasted vegetables, while Deb had Mushroom Risotto with beef sirloin and Gorgonzola crema. Everyone enjoyed the good food with great friends.  Too soon, we had to head back.

Sunrise this morning

Thursday, 1/9/20 ~ Pete's day was full with work. I was able to do some light cleaning, but due to a headache, laid down for a nap.

Friday, 1/10/20 ~ Pete said my wardrobe was looking less than stellar. He encouraged me to see about some new clothes.  I didn't need any more encouragement.  I headed to the Outlet mall not far from Fort Pierce.  Once there I realized it was a square with the shops outlining the parking lot.  I figured I would start at one corner and work myself around.  I saw the Nike store and figured I would stat at the store next to it.  Due to the trees, I didn't know it was Chico's until I started to cross the street.  Well, 2 hours later, I had a pair of dress, wrinkle-free, black dress pants, a dressy, lace and satin jacket, 2 long sleeve tops, and 2 short sleeve tops.  All for 35% off!
     Soo...I didn't visit any other Outlet store. I did need to pick up vitamins at GNC and a few item from Publix. Since they were all at the same shopping center I headed there next.  I also found a Beal's store and decided to just take a look to see if they might have any shirts for Pete.  I also had to pass the women's department and found another 2 tops for me.  Unfortunately they did not have anything that would work for Pete.
      Once back, I put away the food, quickly modeled my new wardrobe, which Pete approved.

Sunshine, Rain and Rainbows.

Saturday, 1/11/20 ~ When we first woke, it was raining, Thankfully it subsided and we were able  to head over to the Farmer's Market.  The OJ, Bear Claw for Pete and the Almond Croissant for me were great.  They did not have any Cinnamon Raisin Bread, so I bought a loaf of Rye Bread.

We drove past the SEAL Museum

     Pete needed a haircut so we headed to Super Cuts. I waited in the car while he went in.  He was in and out in less than 20 minutes.  Since we haven't explored, we decided to ride up to Melbourne and take A1A south along the shore line.  It was a nice ride, but very little water views. We traveled it south all the way to the Ft. Pierce inlet.
     After dinner we settled in to watch the Titans play #1 seed, Baltimore Ravens. Everyone was sure Baltimore would be in the Super Bowl. It an amazing turn of fortune, Baltimore played the worst game of the season,  Titans beat them 28-6.

Sunday, 1/12/20 ~ After breakfast I helped as Pete replaced the water pump.  Slowly , over the past year, the grinding noise of the pump has gotten louder,  Janet actually jumped when it made noise during our dinner with her and Robert last weekend.
     After cleaning up, showering and reading for a short while, we headed back to Melbourne.  It is a halfway point between here and Cape Canaveral. Friends from CCYC, Lisa and George of SV BAYWIND, are at the same marina as Deb and Hugh.   They just returned from up north and this was our chance to catch up. We met at Grills Riverside Deck and Tiki Bar. It has been a long time since we have been able to get together. WE didn't lack for conversation.  The food was delicious, Lisa had Shark Kabobs, Pete and George had the Cat 5 Hurricane Cheeseburger (with bacon, frilled onions, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato pickle and mayo), while I had the Smothered Island Yard Bird Chicken - (breast smothered with mushrooms, bacon, grilled onions, Swiss cheese and honey mustard.) We also had the Tahiti Taters, which were potato wedges with bacon and melted cheese.  Everything was outrageously good!  Once again it was time to say our good-bys.

Monday, 1/13/20 ~ Pete has a couple hours of work, so I ran a few errands, processed photos from Christmas.
      For dinner, we enjoyed our leftover Tahiti Taters with steak, then headed to the movies. The kids have given us gift certificates to the movies and dinner. Tonight we saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.  The story took a while to get started as there was a lot of setting the players in place.  The acting was so-so. But the ending, though predictable, was good.  We and the kids feel that there might be another story line to now follow.  We will see.  We saw the first one back in 1977 and every one since. We weren't going to allow the series to finish without seeing it to the end.

Tuesday, 1/14/20 ~ I had ordered Bailey's medication on Saturday, and the new person I had spoken with told me that it would be shipped out later that day.  She called this morning to confirm the mailing address.  Instead of Fort Pierce Marina, I gave her Riviera Beach Marina address.  Pete was able to make reservations for this Friday to next Wednesday, so we have a good place to ride out the heavy winds predicted for then.  We also realized that instead of 10 days we had 16 days before we are due to arrive in Key West.  This will be a good layover, especially since Las Olas Marina has no openings until February 1st.
     Leaving tomorrow would be a problem if we were to leave this dock as we sit across the current.  With the incoming tide, we are pinned against the dock.  It would be impossible to leave. Since the harbormaster knew our plans, he moved us at slack tide to another dock just for the night. It is not a floating dock, but Bailey has no problem getting on and off.

Our last sunset in Ft. Pierce

     Just as we were getting ready to leave our old dock, Robert was heading out. He was excited as he and Janet were heading over to close on the condo.  We congratulated them and wished them well. I am just sorry I missed Janet.  I'll send her a note.
     We are all set to leave around 8 tomorrow morning.  This has been a great place to stay.  If we can, I hope we can spend December here.  I would like to see the local festivities for the holidays.  We'll see. . . .

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~   P & K