Day 7 – Happy 4th of July

Woke up this morning with the intention of riding at least 40 miles. I got up and hit the road a little before 7am. When I was returning from Duck Key, my front tire seemed a little weird and wouldn’t you know it I got a flat. This new Canyon of mine has now gotten three flats within the last 4 weeks. I believe it is due the tires I have on the rims. I plan on changing them out soon. I thought initially of calling an Uber to get me, but then simply decided to call Anna – then Olivia – then LT – then Nana. No one answered their phones. I tried Olivia one more time and she did eventually answer. I asked her to get up Mom and pick me up. Anna finally got to me around 8:30am.

Got back to the house and the place was coming alive. Nana and Grandpa were in the kitchen having coffee, while Darrel and Tobi were up downstairs. The boys were up as well planning their day. They were ready to get in the SS Minnow in the water. Lane and Thomas found a place the day prior that had a boat ramp on an abandoned property. Darrel and Lane drove it there and launched the boat in the water. Luckily the ramp was just a few hundred yards from the house. Otherwise, it would have been quite a bit further to put the boat in.

Tobi went to the store to get the boys some subs and chips, while Darrel helped the boys put the boat together. Lane and Thomas packed the snapper slayer with plenty of gear to manage at least three days at sea. They took off a little after 10am. I think all of us were pretty sure we would not see them again until late afternoon.

Around 11am, Tobi, Darrel, Olivia and I decided to get  on the rental properties beach bikes and ride down to Sombrero Beach to check out the 4^th of July festivities that were planned at the beach park. The bikes had seen better days and a few really needed to be put out of their miseries. It didn’t take long to ride down to the park. Hopped off the bikes when we got to the beach and walked around a bit. Tobi all of a sudden said, “I think that are the boys out there in the water.” I thought she was kidding, but at closer inspection, it was the boys. They were about 100-200 yards off the beach just fishing away. We yelled at them a few times before they finally saw us. After a little hand wave we got back on the bikes and headed back to the house.

Darrel, Tobi and I got on the kayaks and pedal out for over 4 hours and tied up to the dock a little after 5pm. All of us were pretty tired and glad we were back to the house. Anna was making dinner – RIBS – but managed to grill a steak prior that Darrel and I devoured as an appetizer. A couple hours later we all at dinner – ribs, baked potatoes (prepared by Grandpa), corn (by Olivia and Nana) and ice cream for desert. The ribs were fanatistic!!!

The boys headed back out on the SS Minnow and did not arrive back home until 1am. The rest of us pretty much called it a night around 11pm.