PA comes to FL

PA Steph and her daughter Maggie, the most recent to be under the care of Nanny Cara, traveled to Orlando with friends for spring break. Before they left, Frontier Airlines credited Steph, and when she called to inquire why, they informed her that they'd canceled the flight home.

Uh?

So, they headed our way for four nights. We hit the beach to watch the sunset the first night.

I suggested we watch the sunrise the following day, and liking the idea, we rose at 6:30, got coffee and pastries from the local French bakery, and trooped down to get comfortable on the beach.

Then, we realized that the sun rises opposite of where it sets, which is behind the condominiums on our beach here on the west coast.

Tech Guy: "I thought it strange when you suggested it." 

My brother: "Do you not know how the sun works?"

Maggie: "You mean we could've slept in!!"

Steph and I had a good laugh. Then we enjoyed the morning peace, ate food, had our coffee, and left the beach at ten when everyone else arrived. We spent the rest of the day poolside while Maggie taught us how to make friendship bracelets. It became an obsession.

While we worked, we kept track of the Masters since Steph and her son are golfers. The weather kept interrupting the tournament, causing starts and stops, so we kept abreast of what was happening. During this, we had golfer discussions, and Steph kept pronouncing the word amateur as Am-a-der. 

It struck me odd, but as kids from IN, we always thought those PA people spoke weirdly. We pronounced it pin-cil. They said pen-cil.

But it drove Maggie crazy, and she finally erupted. She asked why her mother was saying it incorrectly. They argued. Steph told her to check the web, and we listened as the robot told us am-a-cher. 

Steph felt we needed a golfing expert, so I called my brother, who was driving home from his family vacation. He had plenty of time to discuss this topic.

Him: "I would say it depends on the part of the country you're from. For example, you just said torn-a-ment. I'm a hick from Indiana. We pronounce it turn-a-ment. But, if you're going with the golfing world, it's most often pronounced am-a-der. As in the U.S. Am-a-der."

Steph jumped out of her chair and danced around the pool deck!

That word, along with the friendship bracelets, became the theme for the weekend.

So much so that my new Etsy shop, where I will sell these bracelets, will now be called Am-a-der Hippies.

Why do we have to act like grown ups?

Before Sharon arrived, I told Oleg how her husband doesn't like being around us when we're together. 

Me: "He thinks we act like children."

Sharon arrived, and it was some time before she remembered she should shoot off a text to let her husband know she'd gotten to us safely. He responded immediately with information on what he and the kids were planning for dinner and entertainment, and then he ended the text with, "be safe and watch your back."

Sharon: "What the hell does that mean? Watch your back?"

Staycation 2019 - Day 3

My SIL is a workout machine, walking and walking. It started with taking her dog around the hood, and then she did it to look beautiful for her son's wedding last year. Now she does it because she loves it and it's good for her health. She logs way over 10,000 steps on her Apple Watch, which drives me crazy because I can't get to 10,000 steps. We finally figured out that she takes twice the steps that I do due to our height difference, and now I'm walking around like Tim Conway.

I took Susan to the gym with me and signed her up for the week. I figured she'd motivate me. From the gym, we were picked up by SueG, and we headed to St. Pete Beach and the Hurricane restaurant for lunch. This restaurant came up in a discussion we were having while in the pool, and I said we should take Susan there. A new place for her and SueG and I hadn't been there in probably over ten years.

The beach was empty, as was the restaurant. We opted to sit on the balcony where we could see the water and the palm trees, and then we ordered frothy, frozen beverages to keep us cool.

Our meal was terrific. We had shrimp and fish and crab cakes. We chatted with the waitresses. When we left, we felt that the meal made up for the food from the night before, and we were much happier. Although that could have been because of the rum.

We changed our clothes in the park restrooms next to the restaurant, and then we hit the beach. Susan has never been to St. Pete Beach. Second new place! No one was there. We were practically the only people on the beach save for two teenage girls who pranced around, taking pictures in and out of the water. Which was not calm like the day before and so they would only go up to their ankles. Then they'd shriek. We'd roll our eyes.

The weather before Susan's arrival called for rain most of the week, so we worried. A few dark clouds dripped some drops on us, but they passed quickly, and our two hours there were hot and sunny. A guy appeared sometime later, and we watched him gear up his windsurfer. At first, we thought he was flying a kite and that he didn't know a damn thing about flying kites, but it turned out we were the naive ones. He did finally get going in the water, and I sent pictures of him via SnapChat to all of Susan's relatives, pretending it was her...trying new things.

No one fell for that.

When we left to travel back down the beach, we were all quite satisfied with our new rule and how well we had implemented it for the day. We ended the night with dinner at home where Darcy and Madison regaled us with tales from their work as camp counselors, and then we stayed up well past our bedtimes catching up with one another.

Susan had logged well over 10,000 steps. Me? 6,000.

Staycation 2019 - Day 1 and 2

My SIL Susan had a New Year's resolution to celebrate her five years of cancer survivorship, starting with the day she learned she had cancer. She loves the sun and palm trees and happens to have a SIL who lives in Florida, so Staycation for us!

That time also corresponded with my friend SueG's vacation time, so she jumped into the fray, starting with cooking dinner for our whole family when we got back from the airport. Both Susan and I really thought my brother would surprise both of us by hopping on the plane as well, so we didn't invite any more people to join us. It was disappointing when he didn't. I was SO sure he would. We got over that quickly, however.

My SIL has straightforward vacation needs. Food. Sun. Morning cup of coffee. Palm trees. Beach. Not in that order. This year instead of going to the old stand-by places that my SIL insists upon, we decided to try new places and new things. Starting on Monday.

Because Sunday was the five-year date of learning, she had triple-negative breast cancer, and she wanted dinner at E and E Stakeout to celebrate that. Unfortunately, it was not the best meal or the best experience. The waiter was good but overworked. It took too long to receive our drinks and our bread. Our mojitos were mostly seltzer water with a lime. When our food arrived, Susan's steak was not well-done. As my brother would say, it was still mooing. Darcy's steak was also mooing, and so we sent them both back. When they were brought back out, Darcy's was okay, but Susan's was now medium-rare. She gave up. Chef Erwin obviously did not believe his steak should be seared to well done. In exchange for that foul-up, the waiter offered her a free dessert? Uh? Seriously? For a $30 steak?

In pouring my coffee, the java kid (another waiter since ours was busy) stuck his thumb in my coffee, left it there during the entire pour, and when he passed my cup to me. SueG and I both saw this, but by that time, I was just over the whole night. I drank it. E and E is our local "nice" restaurant, but it truly has gone downhill in the last year and a half. Totally not worth the $200+ bill, we racked up in steak, liquor, and dessert.

Our morning was spent at the beach where we slathered on the sunscreen. The Gulf was beautiful and calm, the sun burning hot, and the beach only somewhat crowded. Susan walked. SueG and I hung out in the water, chatting with vacationers. Even Susan got into the water, which I don't believe I've witnessed in the past. Maybe up to her knees.

New things. Looking forward to the week ahead.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium with the cousins

Sunday we took our cousins to The Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Mandy had mentioned to me that she would be interested in seeing the Dali Museum, but after hearing about how much her girls were into wildlife and such I recommended the aquarium. She had only heard a mention of Winter and so did what I told her and rented A Dolphin Tale to watch before we went.

It had been five years since I had been to the Aquarium. I thought it had only been a couple of years, but in looking back for my pictures I discovered it had been longer. At one time we had been members of the aquarium, and we would all go on a Sunday to spend a few hours exploring. After Winter came to stardom, the aquarium seized the moment and became more of a tourist attraction and less of a place for the locals. I don't begrudge them that because the rehabilitation and rescue work the aquarium does is huge in this area and the finance aspect, just like at the Center for Great Apes, is huge. Tom, who use to sometimes just take the girls to the aquarium for an hour or so during the week, hadn't been there since the movie. (He also hasn't even seen the movie!)

We drove over, but parking was packed and they sent us back across the bridge to catch the trolley. The aquarium took over an old shopping building in downtown Clearwater and turned it into an exhibit area. We got our tickets there and took the ferry over to the old waste treatment facility that houses the aquarium and its animals.

It was a beautiful day for a boat ride. The weather was cool for April and the water serene. We waved at boaters and got an educational talk from the captain and first mate regarding wildlife in the gulf.

We got off at the boat ramp to the aquarium and went inside, stopping for some hot dogs and water on our way to the entrance. Once inside we followed the crowd to Nicholas the dolphin who was swimming outdoors and going through a training session. The aquarium is not an amusement park. It is a rescue, rehabilitation, and release center and it is serious about that. The presentations are all done to educate the visitors. The animals that live at the aquarium do so because they can not, for one reason or another, survive on their own in the wild.

We ended up going our separate ways to tour the aquarium. I like to spend my time when I'm there observing the dolphins and the otters. Just like the orangutans I find them both fascinating in terms of intelligence. What had changed since my last visit was the proximity to the dolphins. In the "old" days one could walk right up to the wall of the dolphin tank, but now there are ropes that keep people from doing this. It made getting pictures just a tad difficult and took away from what I loved about the aquarium. Ah, changes.

We did not get to see the demonstration of Winter getting her prosthetic tail usage time either. I've never not been there for that at the aquarium, but it doesn't done on a regularly scheduled time. None of the presentations are done on a timetable. It is all done on the animals timetable. I stood and watched the dolphins through a couple of trainer observations. They threw toys into the tank and observed the dolphins. Hope and Winter, the two rescued dolphins and stars of the two movies, are buddies and reside in the same three tanks. Hope spent a lot of her time "standing on her head" with her tail out of the water.

Below are windows to observe the dolphins from an underwater point of view. At one point the trainer was below with a two way mirror where the dolphins could see and so I did venture below for that demonstration. That is a great way to see just how Winter is without her tale.

It was a great visit as always. We ended up getting a membership so I expect that I will visit often to check in on the animals. I find the entire experience peaceful and serene. I've already decided that I shall come back as a dolphin in my next life.

We ended the trip by putting the three girls into a hurricane, category 1 simulator because...doesn't everyone want to experience that?

And then we took the trolley back to the exhibit area. Joyce joined Harry Connick Jr. on patrol while the rest of it called it a day. Tom grilled steaks and shrimp on the grill and we ate and drank and talked before hugging our South Carolina cousins good-bye. Until next time!

Part II - Center for Great Apes

The sanctuary is inconspicuous, hidden in a forest of green trees behind black fencing. We would have passed right by it if it weren't for the GPS. A dirt road through the woods led to a worn, grassy parking area that was packed. Outside the open gates, a line of people stood single file to get inside. We parked and got out, collecting our backpacks and items as we went. Standing outside the van in the wooded forest clearing, Joyce looked at my bottle of sunscreen and remarked that we should have changed that out for bug spray back at the gas station. We took a poll to make sure no one was pregnant since the woods seemed a breeding ground for the zika carrying mosquito, and then we headed toward the gates.

Outside the gates was a table set up for anyone bringing gifts for the occupants. Evie set about filling out her form for the bucket of toys and sidewalk chalk that she had brought for Pebbles. The volunteer asked her a lot of questions about her love for orangutans and she answered each one of them ending her sentences with "yes sir". Ah, the south. I remember it well when I lived in North Carolina.

Darcy: "Aren't we in the south? You didn't teach us to talk like that."
Me: "I failed."

While Evie was filling out her form and Mandy was registering I noticed I had blood on my phone. I looked down at my finger and it was bloody too. I followed Joyce who was heading back to the van. Joyce pointed out blood on my skirt. We both thought that was weird since my finger didn't seem to have much blood on it. I washed that off and discovered a tiny cut. To exam it better, I pulled my glasses off of the top of my head to see the cut and discovered three, bright, red droplets of blood on my glasses. For a moment I had visions of a dead body or an orangutan above me angled in the trees dripping blood down only on me. I think Joyce had some visions of her own as we both slowly looked up and around the woods. We decided my finger was the culprit.

Everyone was inside the gates when we got back. A nice woman at the tables of merchandise lined up at the entrance took me into one of the buildings and got me a band-aid and an alcohol wipe to clean my finger. The building was full of volunteers all talking and putting together giant plates of cookies. No one noticed my bloody skirt.

I joined the others and we set off down the pathway to an area that was cordoned off with tents, chairs, and a stage where musicians where playing. There were probably about 200 people there. It was like sitting in the middle of a rain forest in Costa Rica is what I thought when I found a seat way in the back.The head of the sanctuary, the woman who started it all, Patty Ragan appeared on stage and gave us all the history of the sanctuary. She volunteered in Indonesia years ago caring for orangutans which led to her being asked to care for a baby orangutan at a tourist attraction in Miami where she lived. When she had a hard time trying to find a home for the baby she decided she would open a sanctuary herself and she did. She purchased 15 acres of the wooded tropical habitat in the southern rural town and began accepting orangutans and chimpanzees from research facilities and from the entertainment industry. The sanctuary has grown to include 100 acres and each animal has tons of freedom and area to roam and play. Her baby orangutan, Pongo, is still living at the sanctuary today.

She ask that we not post pictures of any of the animals on social media. Her reason was the backlash the sanctuary receives when animal rights activists see pictures of the caged animals. Our pictures, of course, could not capture the enormity of their structures and give a true picture of the life they have. We were allowed to take pictures, but I'm respecting her wishes in not posting them as it makes perfect sense. Instead I'll post the pretty foliage.

 

Patty sent us on our way to explore the sanctuary. We were armed with maps and there were tons of volunteers along the pathways. The orangutans are in one area and the chimpanzees are in another. Some orangutans are coupled with each other having found companionship and/or true love and some are not. There are twelve three story structures that are attached to air conditioned buildings that the apes can go into, and do, to sleep at night or stay warm in the winter. Each structure has a dome shaped play area with swinging vines (fire hoses), toys, tires, climbing structures, etc. Attached to these play areas are elevated chutes that run through the forest and allow the animals to run around "freely" exploring. They liked to watch the crowds of people coming by and the volunteers told us they love to follow them and the staff around the area while in their chutes.

The place was quite impressive. It was quite large and the animals seemed to have more than enough space and areas to play. Some of the orangutans were happy to entertain us while others opted to stay far away. Volunteers were everywhere to answer questions and to show us how they work with the animals so that they can care for them medically or physically. We watched Jam, the first orangutan who welcomed us maneuver a frozen treat through his bars with his hands and fingers. It was like watching a human as he went about it in the exact same way any human would have done. The sheer size of them was intimidating, but their bodies so like our own.

Some of them were from research facilities. Some of them were from the entertainment industry. Some of them were once someone's pet. Michael Jackson's chimpanzee Bubbles lives there as once did the ape from Clint Eastwood's movie Every Which Way But Loose.  We found Evie's Pebbles who was quite entertaining. She was sitting on top of a tube and she worked very hard at getting the volunteer's attention. She could see the treats the volunteer had hidden behind a tree and she wanted them. She pursed her lips and made noises. She spit. She called. She blew bubbles. The more people laughed the harder she worked. The volunteer gave her Gatorade from a huge jug. At one point Pebbles got off the tube and found a small rubber tube that she stuck through the bars. She made her razzing noises until the Gatorade jug was offered and then she stuck the tube into the jug and drank from the rubber tube like a straw. Evie was thrilled.

We spent considerable time studying and watching Pebbles. Eventually we saw every orangutan and moved on to the chimpanzees. We got to visit most of them before the rain came. A great number of them came from the entertainment industry. While the animals are small and fun from birth to about five years old they double in size after that weighing in over 250 pounds. Suddenly they aren't so easy to train or handle. Most end up in sad situations or dumped at sanctuaries with little to no money donated for their care. It costs the Center for Great Apes $100,000 a month to care for all of the animals so Evie's donation is appreciated. The volunteer in front of Bubbles told us that Michael Jackson did not leave any money in his will for the care of his once beloved companion, but that LaToya Jackson did give the center a pair of her shoes to be auctioned off. So far no one had bid on them.

Mandy: "What size are they?"

If it hadn't been for the rain we would have spent more time wandering, but the rain was just starting to come down in sheets and so we made a few keepsake purchases and drove home. All of us agreed it had been not only an educational experience, but an eye opening and entertaining one.

Favorite Thing at the Center:

• Macie - "The chimpanzees when they were screaming."
• Joyce - "I really enjoyed Pebbles."
• Darcy - "Mandy's reaction to the chimp who stomped on the floor and started shrieking."
• Evie - "PEBBLES!"
• Me - "Watching Mandy ask the volunteers tons of questions and her reactions to the answers"
• Mandy - "I loved watching the orangutans watching us and wondering what was going on in their little minds. I loved watching the girls reactions to Pebbles. I loved Pebbles and how much of a comedian she was. I loved watching these animals be so human-like with their reactions and such. It was just great."

More information and photos of The Center for Great Apes can be found HERE.

Part I of our orangutan adventure

My cousin, Mandy, who resides in South Carolina has two daughters who enjoy animals. The youngest, Evie, read about orangutans in a Ranger Rick magazine over a year ago and was hooked. She asked if she could adopt one and so her mother set about to find a reputable rescue center that wouldn't just take their money and run. She found one in The Center for Great Apes Sanctuary in Wachula, Florida. Evie chose an orangutan named Pebbles via the website of photographs and descriptions and began sending money every month from her mother's purse allowance and such.

Macie: "Pebbles was picking her nose in the picture and that's why we liked her."
Evie: "Orangutans are endangered. Pebbles is the youngest female at the sanctuary and she likes to wrap her blankets around her like a scarf."

During the week of the girl's spring break, Mandy received a card in the mail from the center inviting them to a "Donor's Day" where all the sponsors could come into the sanctuary and see the animals and see what the center does and where their money goes. Since Mandy had a few days off, and since she knew I lived in Florida, because she was tired of hearing Evie ask to visit Pebbles, she thought a trip to Florida for "Donor Day" sounded like an adventure.

Mandy: "So I went into the room and discussed this with my husband, but all I got from him was a bunch of, "What? Where? Why? Apes? Why? What?" So I told him he was out and my mother was in and so Joyce and the girls and I are coming to Florida."

When Mandy called me to tell me they were coming I got online to see where the sanctuary was located in Florida. Hearing her description, and her girls' excitement, and reading about the place online I knew this was an adventure that I had to be a part of and so I jumped on the orangutan bandwagon.

We set off early Saturday morning from The Condo in Mandy's van. Joyce and Mandy were in the front, Darcy and I were in the middle, and Evie and Macie were in the back. Tom had wanted to tag along as he loves my relatives, but the thought of driving two hours south in a car full of women had him rethinking that and he opted to stay at home with his dog. We didn't miss him.

We played a car riding game that Darcy taught us which was along the lines of Concentration. We had to say we were going on a picnic and we were bringing something starting with A in the alphabet and we had to work our way to Z always remembering what the people had said prior to our turn. I learned two new vocabulary words by playing this game. Marcie brought a Narwhal to the picnic. I had no idea what a narwhal was and had to look it up. It is a toothed porpoise that has a protruding tusk that grows from the upper lip and gives it its name, "Unicorn of the Sea". You can read about narwhals here if, like me, you have no idea what the hell they are.

The other vocabulary word came from Mandy who brought "quince" to her picnic. Again, I had no idea what the hell this was and looked it up. It is the pear like shaped fruit from a tree in central Asia that is used for making jams and jellies.

Me: "I feel like this is such an educational trip. Connie would be proud."

Then to show that I could offer up my own educational information, I pointed out all of the cows that we were seeing as we drove into the middle of nowhere. There were black cows, and brown cows, and spotted cows. Some were standing. Some were lying down. The day was an overcast Florida day where sometimes it spit rain and sometimes it just looked like it would.

Me: "Do you see those cows over there? Did you know that when cows are standing up it means that the day will be a nice and sunny day? And that when they are lying down on the grass or sitting that it means the day will be overcast and raining?"
Macie: "What does it mean when some of them are standing and some of them are sitting like those cows we just passed?"
Me: "It means that some of them are tired."
Mandy: "Did you learn that from cousin Russ?"
Me: "That I did!"

As we drove we realized that there was nothing on either side of us but fields, orange trees, and cows. Darcy said it reminded her of the time we got lost in Ireland with Tom freaking out. Mandy kept mentioning that at some point she was going to need gas and so I got out my phone to check my "Around Me" app. Unlike my daughter, I had two bars on my phone and my app told me that the Duette Country Store was our one and only place within miles to get gas. Sure enough we happened upon it not three minutes later.

Mandy pulled in right next to the pumps and we all stared at them through the window. 

Mandy: "Darn it, there isn't a credit card place to swipe."

Joyce: "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

Me: "Do we even believe that there is gas in those things?"

Darcy: "This doesn't look like a place where we should get out of the car."

Joyce had to go to the bathroom and so she hopped out first and went into the Duette Country Store which looked very nice from our positions safely in the car. She wasn't in there two seconds before she came striding out. (picture below, behind Mandy in the blue shirt)

Mandy got out after assuring us her judo skills were top notch to also go into the store to pay for the gas we hoped would be pumpable from those ancient pumps. She asked Joyce where she was going and Joyce replied that the bathrooms were behind us and not inside the store.

The rest of us immediately decided we could hold it until we reached Wachula. Mandy came back out and assured us the locals were friendly and so the rest of us got out and went inside. We bought some drinks and looked around some and then headed back to the car that was now full of gas. Mandy said she was braving the toilets and she headed toward them as Joyce came out.

Joyce: "I would use the one on the right. It has the least amount of flies"

Mandy decided she too could hold it after examining the restrooms and we headed back on the road. After many more miles of greenery and cows we came to the town of Wachula. The population of Wachula is a little over 4,000 people and it reminded us all of some southern Indiana towns with its square and one mile of "town".

Mandy pulled over at a gas station because she had to pee because she thought we needed some substance in our bellies before we hit the sanctuary.

All of us stumbled out of the car and went into the gas station store. We used the bathroom, chatted up the female cashier, and searched high and low for "items of substance".

Mandy - Peanut butter crackers, banana

Cara - Loaf of bread, jar of peanut butter, tea, cheetos

Joyce - Cheetos

Darcy - Peanuts "Because Mandy said peanuts and bananas and I listened".

Macie/Evie - Cheetos

I made sandwiches for most of us and we consumed them in record time while Mandy followed the GPS to the sanctuary. The invitation she had received stated that 600 people would be in attendance, but we weren't too worried that would be the case as we drove through the middle of nowhere. Boy, were we wrong. Who knew so many people loved orangutans?