(scroll down for Port St. Lucie) Next year is the 20th anniversary of my high school graduation, from Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale. It was a fun school to go to, and I got to live in the dorms my final year, since my mom moved to San Diego that year. I've got so many good memories, and since we'd be in the area, I really wanted to go back and walk the halls and see if any of my teachers were still there, that kind of thing. After all, I won't be making it to my 20th reunion next year. Well, it didn't work out that way.

Mark wanted to work, so after we settled into our tiny spot in Pompano Beach, I called the school and found out that they were under lockdown and so no visitors were allowed. The woman on the phone didn't give any explanations, and was quite curt--maybe a student called in a bomb threat to avoid taking a test (not that that type of thing ever happened in my day)... well, I decided we'd drive down there and at least see the buildings from the road. So Katie and I got down there and found that the place has been surrounded by a high iron fence. Here it is outside the building that I lived in. My room was the window to the right of the front door.

I only took that one picture, because I figured that someone taking pictures of the buildings might seem suspicious during a lockdown. Too bad, because they've built a huge science & tech center and a 4-story parking structure, and I'd love for my brother to see how different it looks now. At least he can see the horrible fence. The place seemed soooo much more peaceful without it.

As Katie and I were driving back (never got to see the famous Strip, but she's too young to appreciate it anyway) we passed a Pine Crest bus, so I had to snap this one.

We're only in Lauderdale one night, and the traffic really is terrible here, so no more exploring, unfortunately. On to Port St. Lucie...

January 29 - February 2
Port St. Lucie, Florida

What a great place this is! Its's only $16 a night, but it's an Army Corps of Engineers park, so it's so clean and nice! Here's a picture or two:


This one shows the waterway just a few yards from us.

Katie and Mark are out at the playground:

Some folks are camping out on their boats, which are moored here too. It's a nice little place. What a breath of fresh air after Florida City!

There is a lock here, which allows boats to head toward Lake Okochobee; from there there are canals leading to the Gulf of Mexico, so in a way, it seems that south Florida is almost an island. We walked over to the locks (near the playground) and watched the boats come and go through them. It was fun to watch the water pour in so powerfully, even when the crack between the gates was only a few inches wide.

Also we drove out to the beaches east of here. The beaches are steep and the waves high for Florida (3 to 4-foot breakers): a lifeguard told me it was from high winds coming from the north. I had a brief feeling that it reminded me of the Black Sands beach at Shelter Cove, the way the sand laid in troughs rather than flatly. That allows some waves to come further up the beach in some places more than others, and the beach was steep, not flat. so no swimming for Katie, though the water was warm. She and Mark held hands and let the waves hit her feet and legs, but she wasn't crazy about it because it was windy, so she got cold. There were lots of half-baked Portugese Men O'War washed up on the sand. They are a pretty blue-purple jellyfish with a really bad sting. We met an old man on the beach collecting shells, and he said if Katie were to step on one, we should just take her straight to the hospital. So she wore her shoes, but despite the seemingly adverse conditions, I really wanted to stay, because the shells were absolutely fabulous. The sheer quantity of pretty shells put Sanibel Island to shame. They were everywhere, perhaps blown in by the winds. Most folks were fishing, not gathering shells, so no one had scooped them up yet. It was just us and the old man, whose name is Woody Woodruff. Katie took to him and he liked her company. He has a very bad heart condition, so he had to take it real easy, but he told us about some of his life, flying in WWII, living on farms in Missouri, building a boat, and making stuff from the things he finds on the beach. Here is a picture of him:

I really enjoyed meeting him, and he gave Katie a fruit cocktail before we left. Says it's one of the only things he gets to eat anymore, because he's on a strict diet. He's lost 60 pounds in 6 months. amazing.

Here are pictures of Mark and Katie playing:

Another day we saw a bunch of people using wakeboards and sails to do some amazing aerial tricks. I didn't get his in-the-air spins on camera, but here he is cruising onto shore. They go fast in the high winds:

One afternoon Katie and I went back to the beach while Mark worked, and a pelican got real curious about us. He kept inching toward us until I could just about reach out and touch him. He was closer than this picture shows:

I wasn't sure if pelicans bite, so we were careful not to stick our fingers out to him.

Today we are off to visit Molly and Norma (whom we met at Tomoka State Park in Ormond Beach) and then we're camping a few nights by Lake Kissimee.