OK, so the trip to Jacksonville was uneventful.  If you know our history, or have heard of Dick-luck, you KNOW that means we had a great trip.  We arrived on time, without any undue excitement or challenges, and no unexpected side trips.  We even debated checking out San Felasco Hammock (down by Gainesville), but didn't want to drop in unannounced, so we simply called & left word with the Park Ranger that we were in the area and he could call us back if he had time to meet us.  So far, we've not heard back from him.  We made another call to an old friend, not that SHE's so old, mind you (heck, she's 10 years younger than I am!!), but we've been friends ever since we met over the phone.  NO, silly, nothing like THAT.  She worked at Wachovia's Helpdesk in Jacksonville & I worked at the one in Winston Salem, so we were long-distance co-workers.  We hit it off (probably 'cuz we're both sorta nuts, but in the same way) and the rest, as they say, is history.  We try to get together every time we come to Jax, and we've always had a blast with her & her hubby.  Likewise, this trip.  They were busy getting ready for a week-long business trip/vacation to Lake Tahoe, but, as she said, they had to take time to eat, so....off we go, up to Atlantic Beach to meet 'em for dinner.  YUM YUM, finally get my FRESH shrimp.  FINALLY.  And just as good as you could want, only I could eat more than are served.  I can ALWAYS eat more than are served.  Except for that one time, at Branson Red Lobster's all-you-can-eat, when the waitress brought FIVE, count them, FIVE big plates full.  Robert, it was kinda like lobster-night on the Glory...(for those that weren't there to witness that....6 tails went down the pipe before I backed away that night!)  Anyway, it was good and we said goodnight and wished them a good, safe trip.  Hopefully, Jon got Karyne within the 50 lb luggage weight limit before the night was over.  If not, well, hope they have some room on their credit card.  And of course, since the restaurant was right next door to a JoAnne Fabric, you KNOW where we went....  Yup.  Just can't help myself.  Luckily, I have a very understanding & forgiving hubby.

Yesterday at Papa's was hard.  HOT and hard.  We did a bit of grocery shopping ('fridge is full, but not much food in there), got a tire (and a new garden hook & hummingbird feeder) at Tractor Supply, and headed back to his house to begin work.  And my, oh my, work we did.  We cut grass, pulled weeds and blew out the garage & carport.  We had to knock off around 2 pm, 'cuz one of us was getting over-heated.  Let's just say it wasn't the one who's been doing tasks like these for about a year now....oh, no, it was the one who's been living in sweet A/C taking reservations by phone...OK, so I'm a wimp.  It was HOT, ok??  After a cooling shower, everyone was good to go, and off we went.  We left Papa's house around 3, so we'd have plenty of time to get thru town (have you ever BEEN thru downtown Jacksonville at rush hour??? Kinda like Hot-lanta....going nowhere, fast.), and made it over to Mayport with about an hour to spare.  That was actually the plan, and we got to visit the Family Camp (FamCamp, in military-talk) on base.  The new, long-term park looks like a place we might actually like to spend some time, if we're not otherwise gainfully employed.  As we were leaving base, we happened to notice the marquee....and it said, "Sea Turtle Release 2000"  Translated, that meant they were releasing sea turtles at 8 pm.  Soooooo, never having seen such an act before, we decided that would be the place to be at 8 pm.  After dinner & JoAnne's, we headed back to the base. 

Have you ever seen 138 little baby sea turtles????  They were each about 3-4 inches, with 4 busy little flippers just a-flappin'.  As it turns out, these little guys hatched, and their next had collapsed on them, but they weren't ready to go swimming.  Fire ants threatened the nest, but they were all collected  and got rescued by a group of trained volunteers.  For 3 days, they were "nurtured" (don't ask me how) until they were all ready to go.  I dunno how the volunteers knew they were ready, but they did and they were, so, the decision was made to release 'em.  Apparently, baby sea turtles all come out of the next at one time, run down the beach, making a bee-line for the whitecaps and imprinting "their" beach in their little minds, so that, 15 years from now, they'll be able to find their way back to "their" beach and lay more eggs for the next generation.  Because they are drawn to the whitecaps, flash photography is strictly prohibitted, but like any other group of Americans, there were those that ignored the pleas.  Dick & I used our nifty little camera phones (WHO KNEW that going out to dinner with friends would be so exciting, so, no, of course we hadn't brought along our REAL camera) to take snapshots best we could.  Of course, who knew we'd be needing to move those pics down to the pc so we could post them for you all to see???  Obviously, not us!!  So, I guess you'll just have to wait, but I promise I'll be sharing them as soon as I can!!  They were soooooooo adorable.  Those little bitty guys (and gals, tho, how you can tell, I just dunno) have to swim 25 miles out to the kelp beds their first night.  And that's on an empty stomach, boys & girls.  Looking out for big, hungry fishies and other predators (birds, crabs, etc.) all along the way.  They say only 1 in 4,000 makes it to maturity, but they live about 200 years each if they make it past 50.  Unreal.  Also, endangered, so we were VERY fortunate to have witnessed such happenings.  (Hence the title of this entry; prior to release, we "named" one in honor of our own marathon Senior Swimmer, Tim Kute.)

Today at Papa's wasn't as hard, probably because it didn't get as hot.  Plus, we musta worked smarter or something, 'cuz we were able to knock off around 11 am, instead of 1-2.  Then we headed out for some shopping.  Ole Dick has about ruined all his shorts, working at the park, so we had to find him so new ones.  What an adventure that can be.   Plus, he's worn holes in his sandal soles, so we had to look for shoes, too.  He's worse than I, even, when it comes to shopping for shoes.  Yeah, that's pretty bad.  We came away with some Earth Shoes from Wally-world, tho, and I guess he's happy with 'em.  Would he throw his current, religious ones out, tho??  Heck now.  Musta got that from me, I guess.  Tho, I managed to throw out my own very faves right before we left (that way I knew there'd be no possibility of retrieval). 

Just before starting to write tonight's entry, I read an email from Rob & Stacey, a couple we met up in Branson.  They are on their way back out there to work and seem very excited.  Branson was cool, I gotta admit, but it's a long way out there.  They worked the summer in Cape Hatteras, but, to me, it seems like they just started that gig and it's already over.  Heck, it seems like only yesterday that we were saying Goodbye to our friends and we were heading out, ourselves.  What a year it's been!!  Hope you have had as much fun reading about our Marvelous Adventures as we have had, experiencing and writing about them.  You can look for more, since we have absolutely NO intention of settling down to a more routine or "normal" (read:  typical) lifestyle anytime soon.  We are having too much fun doing it our own way. 

Till next time, y'all take care of one another!
k