Monday - The day we give up a car for three months!

Today the rental goes back. We are feeling a little disappointed for the kids that it's been all work and no play since we arrived. Jaxon and Brooklyn are taking it all in stride, but Gord and I know the days ahead are still filled with boat projects and organizing.

I headed out to run more errands hearing the rental car minutes ticking down quickly. Our biggest convenience is about to be handed over. After today, errands will have to be more carefully planned. Everyone else stayed back at the boat. When I return, the kids have a beach bag packed and are chomping at the bit to get going. The excitement is huge! I learn that a dear friend of ours who is in town has contacted Gord and is heading over to take the kids to the beach while we work for a few more hours getting the boat in some sort of order. When Colleen arrived the kids can't say goodbye quick enough.

Gord and I plow through some of our task list and then it's time to return the rental. The kids are at Residence Beach which is a short walk from where we return the car. Gord and I walk into the hotel to find the Hertz desk and the hotel is buzzing with activity. It's an extremely odd feeling. I said, "When is the last time we were in a hotel, it feels like a lifetime ago." Gord quickly agreed. We like to joke that Covid doesn't exist here in Florida and in this moment it feels like it never has. We return the car and head out to the pool area to find our way to the beach. There are so many people in the pool area! It feels both unsettling because we've been isolated for so long, but also encouraging that we may actually be moving on from the virus restrictions of the past two years.

A short walk along the beach (not a romantic long one) and we find our group. Gord and I sit down and take a load off. It feels great! We've been caught up in our to-do lists and it was wonderful to take a break. Colleen, Brooklyn and I take a stroll down the beach to see what shells we can find. With the winds from a few days ago, the water is still a little murky and there are some interesting things that have washed ashore. We find many reddish curly conchs, some are still inhabited by a creature. One, in particular, was very grumpy when I picked it up. While most of the snail like creatures hid in their shells, this one came out swinging. It continued to swipe at me stretching it's long "limb" as far around its shell as it could reach. We had a good laugh, made some jokes about it being a grumpy grandpa with a cane or a nasty nanny with a purse trying to shoo away pesky kids. We set it back in the ocean and hoped it had a better day tomorrow. I later learn that they are called the Fighting Conch of Marco Island. Aptly named little mollusk.

We stayed at the beach for awhile. When the time came, we piled our sandy selves into Colleen's car and she dropped us off at Holy Cow. The clutter in the boat was still significant, but after the lovely afternoon we had, it was less discouraging to look at.