It’s been far too long since I have visited the family. So I coordinated a good time a couple of month ago and hoped that no hurricanes would show up then. Which none did! In fact, I escaped some cold and rainy weather in Austin while South Florida was warm and sunny.

I was supposed to fly out on the 6th of October, but fate intervened. I had just got into my car and started the trip down to the airport when I received an automated call from American Airlines informing me that my flight had been canceled. So I pulled over into a parking lot and called AA. Since I was on the last flight to WPB, I had no choice but to schedule for the next day. And, thankfully, Super Shuttle rescheduled with no charge as well.

Since I was vacationing, during my birthday, I decided to splurge in the car rental. I picked the “large” version of the car on the web. And, when I arrived, the agent talked me into the Dodge Challenger. Which looks awesome. It is definitely a homage to the 70’s muscle car. However, I did not like how the car handled or drove. It is a really large car. It feels like you are driving a super-sized Cadillac. The handling is not tight and the acceleration was weak. But I was still glad that I tried it out…

I spent my vacation visiting family and friends, going to the beach, and eating at Cuban restaurants.

My Mom got a new dog.

My Dad has five dogs now. Good luck trying to get them all into the same frame. Two are new and, sadly, one has inoperable cancer.

My grandma is still going strong. Although I suspect that she trades off height for vigor.

So is my Aunt Jill.

I was happy to see Sean again and finally meet Bunny. Too bad my friends are all spread out over Florida.

The beach was awesome. Every day was warm and sunny.

I swam a lot. Which is a lot more difficult in the ocean. You have to deal with waves and jellyfish. Which freak me out when I smack into one of them with my arms. Thankfully, they weren’t the stinging kind.

Swimming at South Palm Beach from Mark Hamzy on Vimeo.

I also walked a lot.

Walking on South Palm Beach beach from Mark Hamzy on Vimeo.

I even did some yoga. How can you resist doing sun salutations during sunrise?

I drove by my first house. It was completely different. The front is now a wall of ficus bushes. And the siding has changed. Sigh. At least I have my memories…

I did have one piece of equipment failure during the trip. My shoes started to come unglued a while ago. I thought nothing of it until one day during my trip when both soles came off as I was walking.

And I took one interesting picture during the sunset when a sign reflected the sun into a rainbow…