A Honeymoon Thursday

So I think you might get a chuckle or two out of this post. Hang with me!

Thursday was our last full day in Florida {sigh of deep sadness}, so we started as anyone would: drinking coffee.

Okay just kidding. I mean not about the coffee. But about that coffee maker. We borrowed that from our church so we had a way to make coffee for our guests at the reception. We thought it would be funny to have our picture taken with it. :)

And then...you know...went down to the pool for a while. It was seriously such a rough life.

And I actually got IN the pool. This was major for me. I wasn't really in to getting all frizzy headed in front of people I didn't know.

As we left the pool for the last time, we read the rules for the first time. Let's go through them, shall we? #1. Shower before entering. WOOPSIE! #2. No food, drink or glass. WOOPSIE, WOOPSIE and no problem!

We did manage to leave our animals at home and as far as we know, the pool itself did not break the rule of becoming hotter than 104. {Seriously - how is that a rule?? Do people pour great quantities of boiling water in the pool while laughing the evil laugh and watching the temp climb over 104??}

After we left the pool, we headed back to the store where we'd rented our kayak earlier in the week.

And oh my dear people...this time...this time...we fulfilled Ryan's dream of tandem bike riding.

Read: RYAN'S dream.

This man was so happy in this particular moment that you just can't even possibly understand. See that smile on my face?

I really meant this:

See, I broke my leg falling off a bike when I was 11. I did not get on a bike again until a year before the wedding, when I rode my sister's bike very slowly around her neighborhood for about 20 minutes. I'd never been on a tandem bike. And I. Was. Freaked. Out.

We took a few laps around the parking lot to get the feel for the thing. It's weird to be on the back of a bike when you can't see much in front of you except the back of another person. Then we got in a bike lane {and let the record show, I think my PERSON was wider than the lane} and rode right next to the cars.

I had a literal death grip on those handlebars and as we pedaled down the road {much faster than I would have liked} I was chanting "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. Psalm 56:3." Anytime I quote Scripture WITH REFERENCE, it's serious. Ryan called back over his shoulder, "What are you saying?" I said "I'M QUOTING SCRIPTURE."

They say opposites attract. They would be right.

En route, we found some decorations for our first yard together.

We rode our bike down to the Siesta Key Village {about 3 miles away from our hotel} and had a late lunch/early dinner together. Then we took a tour of town, where we found this:

WHY, OH WHY didn't we stay there??? Why are we back in the snow??

It was almost time for the sunset, so we rode the bike down to the beach and walked through that amazing sand for one last sunset....

We. Were. Here.

Just thought I'd throw this one in so you could see that self-portraits don't always go well for us.

We'd failed to bring our tripod, so some nice lady took pity on us and took our picture.

Ahhh....waterfront sunsets...how we miss thee.

After the sun went down, we headed back to the road and so carefully followed MORE rules.

And if you're going to break one...why not break them ALL?

We rode back to town and found a little local coffee shop to have a date. Parked our bike. {Cracks me up.}

Very yummy date and then we had to leave....

On the way home, we decided to ride the bike on the beach. The bike didn't have reflectors and our clothing wasn't bright, so we hated to be on the main road. But let me tell you about riding on the beach after dark.

There were NO people on the beach AT all. And that beach was really, really dark. Not a lot of stars, no moon...and the tide was much higher than we expected. We were trying to see how much space we had...avoid holes in the sand...and worst of all...

...I had watched Sleeping with the Enemy right before we left. The worst thing for after-dark beach riding is a recent exposure to that storm scene. I was very nearly in tears by the time we arrived back at our resort.

So to console me...we walked around to enjoy the sights one more time.

And this is how we felt about saying goodbye to our precious wedding/honeymoon trip.

And it's also how Ryan felt about saying goodbye to his tandem bike.