Another FULL Day with the Grands

As planned, my dad and I took our rental bikes to explore the southern section of the island.  Our house is about at the center point between north and south.  The north end is all bumpy, rocky, sandy paths that are also mostly shaded by giant tropical trees.  The southern portion has a stretch of proper blacktop but much of it is quite worn and full of holes and shotty patchwork.  For the most part the southern roads are on a grid system and I had been up and down them over the course of two jogging sessions.  

We set out down the "bumpy" road that runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean.  Only a few times did I fishtail in the soft sand, mostly it was all about dodging craters and tire eating valleys or rocks and gravel.  Eventually, we met up with the paved road for a wee bit before turning off down another rocky slope that lead to the northern rim of WhiteSound.  I showed my dad the funny half-basketball-court and the Papa Nasty's sign that I found the other day.  

"Wrack ashore!"
(Not really ashore.)

Next stop was a quick, "Good morning" to the ocean from the Abaco Inn's pool deck.  You can see from the photo that some clouds were popping up.  Luckily, we didn't get rained on during our excursion.  And, even more luckily...we had a quite a bit of shade and a whole lot of wind to make the ride even more enjoyable.

I love this place!

The rest of the ride went like this:  Straight south to the end of the island.  Take side path, get off bikes, look at ocean and Tilloo Cut.  Ride on to Tahiti Beach, get off bikes, walk along dock belonging to Dorro's Cove.  Go straight up on bumpy road.  Change gears.  Give up.  Get off and push bike.  Turn onto slightly better pavement.  Go straight up on bumpy road. Change gears.  Give up.  Get off and push bike.  Turn onto slightly worse pavement.  Go straight up on bumpy road. Change gears.  Give up.  Get off and push bike.  Turn onto slightly better pavement.  Go straight up on bumpy road.  Change gears.  Give up.  Get off and push bike...over and over until we made our way back to Sea Spray for some much deserved icy drinks and a rest!

The blue highlighted lines show our route.

Wondering about the elevations and grades of the slopes, I found this super cool website (http://elevationmap.net) that shows satellite images and allows you to drop a marker for immediate information about the elevation and lat/long coordinates.  So, according to my estimations...  This section of the island is less than a half mile wide.  The elevation of ridge along the center ranges from almost 60 ft to the high 30s and then back down sea level.  Blech!  Too much math!  All I know is that it was steep and straight up!

Thankfully, Shawn, Summer, and Millie came down to Sea Spray to get gas for the golf cart and a little visit where we made a plan for returning the rental bikes and then having Shawn pick us back up at the settlement gate (so that we didn't have to walk back home...up hill!)

While I was still icky, sweaty, gross, and still wearing long pants and long sleeves, I decided that this was the perfect time to traipse through the scrub brush in hopes of finding a horse conch shell we had hidden eight years ago.

Here's the backstory:  I found a HUGE horse conch with the critter still inside.  I figured that since this wasn't a protected species, we could take it and discard the body.  I set him up between the backs of two chairs and waited for him to die and slide out...leaving me a perfect shell.  Unfortunately, his body didn't slip out.  I tried to boil it out...nope.  I left it in a plant in hopes that flies and ants would make quick work of the smelly carcass...nope.  So, we chucked the thing over the edge of the pool deck, drew a scavenger map, and made a plan to come back the next year to retrieve the perfectly cleaned shell.  Sadly, eight years went by.  (And, I either lost or threw out the map.)

Present time:  My mom came along with me as we boldly walked up to the house we had rented all those years ago, explained my tale of whoa, and asked for permission to see if the shell was still there.  A lovely older couple who were renting the place, agreed to let us look.  Although I no longer had the map, I knew where we threw the shell.  The following photo is what was there...a five foot tall pile of yard waste and busted deck chairs.  There was no possibility (or desire) to sift through that for a shell that may or may not still be there.  So, we left and joined the family at On Da Beach for lunch, kite flying, and swimming in the ocean.

Good-bye, Shelly.

My dad loves kite flying!  I don't know when that love started.  Perhaps it was something that is just inbreed into boys.  Maybe it had to doing with being a pilot.  (My dad used his G.I. Bill to get his pilot's license.)  Or, it could be that flying kites and harnessing the wind is just plain fun!  Whatever the reason, he passed that enjoyment on to me and we, in turn, passed that on to Nicholas.  (Nicholas used to be TERRIFIED of kites when he was 4 or 5, but now he "gets" it!)

Not too long ago we visited my folks in Vero Beach where my dad took Nicholas out for a kite flying lesson at an open field near their condo.  Nicholas had out-grown his fear of kites but totally hadn't yet developed the love aspect.  Easy kites are easy and kind of boring.  Trick kites are complicated and can be frustrating.  I guess that he was somewhere between bored and frustrated, but, dutifully, did what Grandpa said.  And...found some success in flying a kite that day.  So, as grandparents do, my dad bought him a trick kite and told him to bring it to the Bahamas this summer.

Fast forward...
Nicholas and Shawn went out one day while we were here at On Da Beach to try to fly this sucker.  (I didn't go so this is all what was told to me.)  They got it up, crashed it.  Got it up, crashed.  Got frustrated.  And then...miracle of all miracles...they got some lessons from a guy named Gator who was sitting at the bar.  It turns out that he is a kite surfer and a bit of an expert on how to successfully fly the kite, do loop de loops, and to gently land the thing right into someone's hands!

Seriously!?!  This stuff only happens to Nicholas!  He's got some special magnet inside him that attracts interesting and caring people.  Anyway, Gator (easily mid-50s) and Nicholas became fast friends.  During our stay, Nicholas looked for Gator and Gator looked for Nicholas.  And, they ran into each other all the time!  Gator checked up on Nicholas' progress, gave him a few more tips, and I think that he was honestly just as (or perhaps even more) excited to show off the kite flying to Grandpa.

Whoops.  A tangle in the kite string put the display on hold.

Summer, unhappily, had to hold the kite at the top of the hill while Nicholas and my dad worked on the snarl.

And then...  UP!

Loops, dips, stalls, a few crashes, but overall...a pro!

Summer and Shawn watched the kite show between dodging the choppy surf.

Eventually, the call of the ocean sucked Nicholas in for a romp in the waves.

Some waves are best just to go under!

After a great morning bike ride, a successful flying mission, and only a few dozen pounds of sand caught in bathing suits...it was time to head back home for pool, showers, puzzle time, and drinks.

Nicholas and Grandma were quite a puzzle team!
They finished it in record time.

What a "GRAND" day!