Day 472 - John!

Whoo hoo! I made it to the beach! John picked me up around 1400 & we drove off in his Avalanche to the beach. I noticed the cd hanging from his rearview mirror had the Barbados flag on it. I asked him if he’d been there before. He informed me that he was FROM there! I told him, ‘NO WAY! I’m going there in a week’s time!’ He jokingly told me he couldn’t be my friend anymore & why hadn’t I told him that yet?! No wonder he’s such a nice guy!

We visited about his 2 sons & life in Florida, his Mother & growing up in Barbados… Before I knew it, we were at the beach. It was a cool day, but certainly still warm enough for me! We walked up the beach & I happily snapped photos of the jellyfish, seagulls, pier & beach-goers of the day. John educated me on the buildings we passed, who owned what & so forth. After we’d walked far enough, we returned to the truck & headed down the ‘ritzy road’. We passed Mar Lago – Donald Trump’s place & also the church where he most recently married. I was amazed at the number of mansions! Where on earth do people find all of their money? These places are colossal! With groomed hedges & lawns, perfectly painted buildings, statues, fancy cars… The list is endless!

We drove past the building where the creator of Slim-Fast owns several floors. John worked for him at some point & said he was a really admirable man. We drove downtown West Palm Beach – the names are all escaping me & I’m not online to google it, so please forgive me!

It was a brilliant way to spend the afternoon & I would have never guessed that I would have made such a wonderful & kind friend that first night when I offered a smile & friendly hello to John. I promised him I would send a postcard from Barbados when I arrived.

After supper, as per usual, I filled Jaco in on my day’s events. It’s officially 2 weeks until I see him now! Yay! We’re both tired of poor phone connections & not seeing each other.

I visited the sauna & went to bed, careful not to wake up my roommate. My guts woke me up last night & I’m pretty sure they woke her up too. We haven’t officially met yet, but I’m already embarrassed. Whose guts rumble so loud they wake you up? Oh dear. I suppose with all the enemas & stuff happening it’s to be expected? No? Well, it was worth a try!

xxxxMaria

Another sunny day in WPB!

Playin' in the sand

Beautiful beach day!

Gull

Sand Castle

John, my friend from Barbados!

Father & son on the beach

The waves & the pier

Jellyfish!

Oceanfront property

Jellyfish again!

The creator of Slim Fast owns a large part of this property

I like the colour scheme/architecture

Day 470 - Late Cab & No Dessert = Cranky Me.

This morning was another morning of goodbyes. It’s down to the last week & this time next week, I’ll be the one rushing around getting in the last hugs & collecting addresses from the wonderful people I’ve met so far.

I decided to take the chance & go to the mall with the shuttle. There is a Whole Foods nearby & I wanted to get as many of the organic spices & ingredients as I could to take with me to the ship. Gurunam was kind enough to drop me off at Whole Foods after leaving the rest of the group at the Mall.

I managed to spend enough time at Whole Foods that we finished at the same time & she took me to the mall! I found some soap for Jaco & I hope he’ll be pleased with it. He had a favourite licorice kind in Canada, but the factory burned down. Hopefully this will suffice! I found all the spices I wanted except for the chipotle. I’m hoping to find it back home. I do love Whole Foods! That place rocks!

I did buy one bad thing. Raw truffles. Cacao & agave. They were divine. They melted in my mouth. Wow. Don’t tell. They were so good.

I managed to find a Valentine’s Day present for Jaco at the mall. It was some sort of menswear from Cuba – or something like that. A lot of linen fabrics & really classy dress shirts, linen pants, etc, etc. I think he’ll look incredible in the outfit I chose for him! It was also ½ price! Bargain! I also stopped by Victoria’s Secret & found one other present for Jaco/Me for Valentine’s Day.  And that’s where that story ends!

After I had circled the Mall, I decided it was time to head back. I knew I could take the local bus, but since it was getting dark, I didn’t want to take a chance walking the road to Hippocrates from the main road, so I opted for a cab. I had the Customer Service desk call one for me. I asked them to call a cab at 1810. I couldn’t see any out front, but I stood outside & waited nonetheless. Tonight was dessert night at Hippocrates & I didn’t want to miss it, seeing as I’d missed it last week. Supper was from 1730-1900 & dessert was served at 1900. At 1850 I called & asked them to save me a plate of food, as I was STILL waiting for the cab. At 1915 the cab driver finally showed up. I was furious. How could it possibly take THAT long to drive to a shopping mall?!? And to make matters worse, he took some backwoods route to HHI & expected me to pay him more! I told him he had to give me some sort of a discount for taking FOREVER to pick me up. I think he knocked off $4 or something. It should have been free, I tell you what!!!

And to top it off, there was no dessert left. Good thing I snuck in those truffles! Gurunam, bless her heart, shared some of her ice cream with me. It was only a few spoonfuls, but it was delicious! I was very grateful!

John gave me a ride home, as I had a few bags to carry & it was raining off & on. I was very thankful that he did! I mentioned that I hadn’t made it to the beach & it didn’t look like I would, seeing as the rest of the days were busy. He kindly offered to take me on his day off! I was flattered that he would do such a thing! So, it looks like my time in WPB will be complete! I can’t wait! We made arrangements to go on Monday afternoon. I didn’t have a lot happening that day, so it would work well for both of us! Yay!

On that note, I’m dipping into the sauna for my usual sweat. Sweet dreams & see you tomorrow!

xxxxMaria

Eagle with wheatgrass. I didn't notice the wheatgrass in his talons until today. Whoops.