1 Year 5 Months Update: Water-Bound

In this Update:

• Water-Bound via Sea Kayak
• Moving
• Water-Bound via Packraft
• Getting Ready for Hurricane Dorian

I am going to start by saying that I almost didn’t write an update for this month at all. This year has been emotionally draining, first with Ponce passing, then my dear friend’s daughter passing, while struggling with school and work obligations. I kept thinking how horrible 2019 has been for so many people, and that the year is not over yet….  Little did I know. I am not ready to share the gruesome and scary circumstances that came to light on August 12^th, but we are facing the hardest challenge of our lives right now, and I am mentally and physically in a pretty intense state. And no, it's not related to my back (which is fine).

With that being said, on Ralf's insistence, I will try to focus on the good times we had this month, which was all about water.

Water-Bound via Sea Kayak
During the second week of August, my annual leave officially started, and Ralf and I decided to use this time before the move to our new place to travel to Miami – a four-hour car ride - to renew his German passport. Those pesky Germans make you go in person every 10 years, and this year was his turn. The process has usually been very painful and frustrating but I must say that the consulate actually did a pretty decent job processing the paperwork without adding more gray hair to my head.

Welcome to downtown Miami!

And this is the obligatory photo-op from the women’s bathroom of the German Consulate…

Since we already made it all the way to Miami and had some time off, we decided to spend a couple of nights in Key Largo to do some sea-kayaking. We drove another 1 1/2 hours to what we expected to be this nice, tropical environment but were a tad disappointed. Driving into Key Largo was no different than driving into Cocoa Beach, a little run down, with lots of junk sitting around and adult stores down the street. Not the type of entertainment we were looking for….

But we made the best lemonade our of this lemon when we got a private tour arranged with an outfitter that rents out pretty nice sea kayaks. This was our first-time kayaking adventure, and I was a little concerned how my back would feel after sitting in one position in a tight space while using your feet to move the rudder. But kayaking turned out surprisingly more stable and manageable than I thought. Even getting in and out was not as difficult as I anticipated.

Our awesome guide Andrew took us through mangroves out into the Atlantic Ocean, where we spend 3 hours exploring. The water was clear enough to see the bottom, which is very different to being on a lake with much more murky water.

One special moment that I found very amusing entailed a couple of dolphins rounding up a school of herring. As we tried to paddle closer to the action, I suddenly found myself surrounded by bubbling water – kind of like a Jacuzzi – and something slapped me in in arm. Next, I see this herring jumping out of the water and right into my kayak! As the poor fella flopped around the bottom, all I was able to say was “fish!!!” I tried to catch it with my hands but that was easier said then done, especially while seated in a kayak. I used my paddle to prevent the herring from flopping away into the front while Andrew made his way over to me to snatch and release my distressed passenger. I hope the dolphin didn’t eat it after that, but I think it made it with most scales in place.

Another nice aspect of our stay in Key Largo was the nice restaurant with outside bar right at the water (marina) that was within walking distance, so we both could indulge in some adult beverages.

After a two-night stay, we drove back home – 5 ½ hours through multiple thunderstorms – to start preparing for our impending move to our new place.
When you see what you are driving into…..

... And there is nothing you can go about it! Oh, well... here comes the rain again...

Moving
Because our leases overlapped by over one month, we didn’t have to move within a day or so, which helped a lot. Nevertheless, moving is still pretty stressful, especially if you are moving out of a two-story town home. We both got our exercise in that way for sure. To save some time and money, Ralf and I moved a lot of the boxes, kitchen stuff, etc. over to the new place ourselves. Only the heavy and bulky furniture we left for Two Men and a Truck (there were actually three men, but who’s counting). They did a great job, and the main move went pretty smooth.

We still have to clean up the old place, but we are mostly done and ready to turn in the keys. I really, really like our new place, just the current circumstances prevent me from enjoying it much at the moment.

Anyways, all the activity between the long car ride, sea-kayaking, and then moving didn’t bother my back at all. Sure, I am sore after certain things (including running up and down two stair cases all day long), but nothing pathological or unusual.

Water-Bound via Packraft
Shortly after our main move, Ralf’s packraft finally arrived. Believe it or not, but this raft only weighs four pounds, folds up to small bundle to be carried on the bike, while being able to strap said bike to the front of the inflated raft to cover some distance by water – packrafting it is! Since our new living area is so nice and open, we were able to inflate the raft inside – much to the joy of Ralf!

The next day, we gave it a try at Moss Park on Lake Mary Jane. Since last year’s hurricane, the beach area of this lake has been permanently closed. So we just went on the side of one of the canals and put the raft into the water. Let me just say that paddling in a packraft is very different compared to a sea kayak. It’s more demanding on the biceps, and fighting currents and winds is also more of a challenge. But it was a lot of fun, and Ralf and I took turns until the incoming thunderstorm ended our first packraft outing.

A couple days later, we returned to Moss Park for a more extensive outing. A very funny moment came to pass when the ranger at the entrance eyeballed our half-inflated red raft in the back of our vehicle. She asked us if we were planning on going on the water, and we said yes. She then was quite worried and urged us that under no circumstances are we to launch from the side of the canal or any other unofficial place due to alligators (oops, we kind of already did that a couple days ago… oh, well). We were instructed to use the official boat ramp, located a little further up from where we launched previously. Since we didn’t want to cause any trouble, we parked by the boat dock, inflated the raft, and carried it over. And what do you think we found? The ONLY alligator, sunbathing in the middle of the boat ramp!!!

Ralf had to shoosh him away (I missed to film that adventure), and after the gator swam off into the canal, we were finally ready to get the raft into the water. This time, the weather held up nicely, so both of us were able to take turns and paddle all around the island located within Lake Mary Jane.

PS: the gator never returned….

Getting Ready for Hurricane Dorian (More Water)
Now that September is approaching, so was Dorian. We really, really could have done without a category 5 hurricane, snailing its way toward Florida’s east coast. To be honest, it wasn’t so much the hurricane (ain’t our first rodeo) but the impact on schedules and important appointments. Two years ago, Ralf, Ponce, and I stayed at the hospital because I had to work during the storm but this year, we were hunkering down together in our newly boarded-up home. It’s like living in a cave for five days… Getting these shutters up turned out to be a major project, and the bags of mulch were no joke either. Did I mention that it’s still super-hot and humid in Florida right now?

In addition, we just kind of plopped a lot of our stuff down all over the new garage. Now we needed to make room for two cars to fit. I suppose, the upside of Dorian was the motivation to get the garage organized and shelving assembled…

Garage before…

Garage after!

Today is Wednesday, September 4th, and Dorian came and left. Our friends who live closer to the coast got hammered by a lot of rain and wind gusts, but Orlando was spared for the most part...

I feel for those poor people in the Bahamas, who undeniably got the full wrath of this hurricane.

Since we didn't get to eat any of our hurricane foods, we are all set for the next one...