In Florida....

<--- My family= top row: Bhodi, me, Aunt Rose, Christina, Mom; bottom row: Uncle Jim, Cousin Jon, Dad (gotta love that shot).

Good day friends and family! Long time, and no blogging. Here's the scoop on our happenings since Bhodi and I departed France. After a really long day and a half of travelling we arrived in Tampa Bay, Florida, minus half our baggage but warmly greeted by my family. I have to say I was a little apprehensive about the finacee-family meeting, as Bhodi was literally meeting my whole family at once, since the Christmas party was hosted by my parents this year (some 40 odd relatives attending). But it went great, topped by a champagne toast by my parents to our engagement (a near teary moment for me). Then to Jacksonville to visit with Bhodi's family and then back to Tampa Bay for New Years. Initially, our time in Florida was planned to be a visit between sailing gigs. However, the positions we were offered out west fell through and we decided to stay on in Florida for three months.



However, we didn't just twiddle our thumbs. We both took jobs on land and in between, spent time with the folks and took advantage of our Christmas present from them: season passes to Busch Gardens!


Bhodi's favorite roller coaster: Montu








































Dad and I with Lory birds on our shoulders. They line up all day if you have this small cup of liquid sugar (which costs 3 bucks by the way).
Makes me wonder what kind of withdrawl these birds would have if we took it away.

And, you cannot be in Tampa Bay in February and miss one of its biggest festivals - Gasparilla. All the people you see on this barge/pirate ship are the city's wealthest/most successful businessmen and women. Today is there day to get drunk and stand up in the "rigging" with unlanyarded beer bottles. Ouch.

At the end of March, with my acceptance into the geophysics graduate department of University of California, Santa Cruz, Bhodi and I packed our bags, bought a topper for my little energizer bunny Isuzu truck, and took another trip across America: 3,250 miles long.