#81 May 21, 2022 Nomad Diary: Week in Ft Lauderdale. To Do List.

Darrell and I

Saturday Activities:  9am we get our Austrailian cruising friends at the cruiseport.  They are travelers, well-seasoned, but they got thrown a curve. They had a flight on Spirit Air that just canceled with no help for a backup. They took their change of plans with great flexibility even though there was disappointment and many new decisions to make. They ended up staying in Ft Lauderdale and finding a reasonable and nice hotel without needing a car. 

Tricia and me in Ft Lauderdale 

Me, Darrell and Gary in Ft Lauderdale 

Darrell took Janice, our host to Lowe's home improvement store to shop for what he needs to fix a light in her dated kitchen. It's a fun, and busy day. Darrell gets through some glitches, and gets the light installed. Janice cooks us dinner. 

Darrell working on installing the light.

Light installed. 

Week's Highlights:

Tree in Janice's front yard

Sunday: Staying at our friend, Janice's house. Darrell preached for the church she attends.  The same church that I grew up with as a child visiting my Grandparents for my full summer vacations. The church has changed locations now with fewer members.  I have known the people and their stories for about 50 years in my memories.  As a child I visited my Grandparents for full summers.  My Grandma lived most of her 98 years in this town.  My weekly phone calls with her kept me updated on the continuing lives of those closest to her.  Janice treated us to lunch. 

Janice and her grandson James.

Janice is a friend who was a child friend of my mother's.  My mother moved away from Ft. Lauderdale around age 20 with her husband and children.  I was the youngest of the 4 children.  We moved often and lived in Northern states.  Once or twice a year we made long roadtrips back to southern Florida to visit my mother's parents. Through the years, Janice was always on my Mother's and my Grandmother's mind to share her relationship to us.  She helped my Grandma when my Mom couldn't, when I couldn't.  She was near her neighborhood and knew who she was and where she came from.  She is a dear friend that only comes through years of a full life of love, kindness and respect.  My husband and I are still benefitting from her kindness to my family who she has known.

Three story tall mango tree.

Monday:  A three-story mango tree in Janice's backyard drops ripe mangos for us to collect.  There is a problem though, many of the fruits come down with a big bite taken out of them 1/3rd to mostly eaten.  They are likely being eaten by a tree-dwelling iguana.

Iguana spotted from the kitchen window. 

Tuesday:  Late afternoon, I look out the kitchen window and see an iguana in the grass and tell Janice.  

Janice using iguana spray, then getting bleach. 

She takes off and gets her iguana spray, runs out her back door and sprays him.  Then she runs back in and gets a bottle of bleach.  She runs out and douses the pest with bleach.  He lays silent, but still breathing.  Darrell goes with Janice to her garage and gets tools to finish this one off.  The tools are dull, but ultimately Darrell gets the job done.  

It was quite the adventure to have this pest that is larger than a mouse or a snake (what we have known where we have lived), invasive to Florida be fairly easy to get.  We are laughing at the dragon-slaying team of Janice and Darrell embellishing their story to greater heights.  I stayed inside taking pictures except to check on Darrell and getting him another tool.

We got haircuts!  Suddenly two people tell me that I have pretty teeth!  lol!  My old haircut must have gotten in the way of my pretty teeth.  Janice cooks the 3 of us dinner even though she mostly doesn't cook anymore.  She made a favorite chicken dish that was delicious and got me thinking about cooking my meal for 5, including her grandson James and his wife Lucy, on Wednesday.

Our dinner.

Wednesday:  I go shopping and purchase the food to cook my dinner for this evening.  I got a crockpot Carnitas recipe online and get a pork roast with the details for the carnitas.  We also had yellow rice, guacamole, fresh taco toppings, corn totillas, plantain chips.  It was delicious!

Our breakfast

Thursday:  The party continues with James and Lucy having us to their apartment for breakfast.  Darrell and I go out shopping and I purchase waterproof pants for Iceland and Norway and we eat lunch out too.

Friend Penny.

Friday:  We get Penny for lunch.  Penny is a woman from church and also lived in the same apartments that my Grandma lived in.  They knew each other for many years.  This is a stormy day. Turned the carnitas into a soup using our Insta-Pot. 

Nomad Notes:  I washed clothes on Friday.  I really like having access to a washer and dryer. I traded my clothes around, putting away my very summer clothes and getting my midweight and winter clothing packed in my roller suitcase. I am trying to cut the weight of my suitcase by limiting extra items.  I'm not sure how to make it lighter, but I hope I do ok with this suitcase and carrying it on and off of trains and busses.