On the way to the cruise

This expedition is off to a fine start!

Sue and I had a pleasantly uneventful trip from Portland to Fort Lauderdale with a stop in Dallas and were quickly reunited with our luggage. Finding the airport’s shuttle stop for the hotel shuttle was a bit of a challenge and we waited for quite some time before it arrived. Our shuttle driver, Jose, recommended the water taxi for Saturday which is what we’d planned. He also surprised us by mentioning “the property” and how much there was to do here. The hotel itself was barely acceptable – my bed had an impressive divot and squeak but the room was acceptably clean and safe. And no, there was nothing of interest on “the property”.

Saturday morning we awoke more or less on Eastern Time (3 hours ahead of Portland), went to breakfast and connected with caching friends from California and Ontario, thus explaining why we signed caches as COOOO. After a disappointing hotel breakfast the 5 of us gathered our daypacks, sunscreen, water and other important provisions and meandered a kilometer or so – as an aside there are far more Canadians than Americans on this trip so in the spirit of “when in Rome” I’ve converted my GPS to metric units and my phone’s weather app to Celsius – to our first cache of the trip and Sue’s first in Florida. We found a virtual cache near a street fair at which we resisted the urge to purchase didgeredoos, hula hoops or other large items. Then we found a huge chair that became a great photo opp, especially for the tallest of the group who’s nearly a foot taller than I am but whose name I will not divulge until receiving permission. The Tall One’s feet extended well past the edge of the seat, mine barely reached that far, and Sue’s did not.

We boarded the city’s free water taxi and confirmed that indeed we are in Broward County. We also got a great recommendation for a lunch spot, learning the name but not the location. With 5 experienced geocachers we all assumed that someone else had checked for the location and fortunately Don, by far the wisest one of the group, had indeed checked and navigated us there without incident.

After our tasty lunch, complete with a plate of nachos at least 6” tall (about 20cm) we meandered over to the (paid) water taxi. So pleasant to be out on the intercoastal waterway. It was interesting to see how much of the scenery looked “familiar” given my years in Southern California, and how much looked unfamiliar. The palm trees, bougainvillea plants, fancy homes with Spanish-tiled roofs, and the ostentatiousness were familiar; the specifics of the yachts and the water were unfamiliar. Another somewhat familiar thing was the tour of “so and so lived here” and “so and so purchased this <insert item here> for <insert ridiculous price here>. Another confirmation that escaping that world was a good thing.

We saw the cutest iguanas sunning themselves on a couple of bridges en route. Perhaps that’s where the idea of mohawk haircuts began? The “hair” was bright orange. There were also sightings of pelicans, ducks, ibises (perhaps those were only on “the property”) and a some of our group spotted a manatee for a second or two. We disembarked at the northernmost stop then meandered our way to the ocean by way of a couple of caches.

The horizon was crisp, the water was a stunning azure and there was, by Florida standards, quite a drop from the beach to the water. I can confirm that Sue got to dip her feet into the Atlantic Ocean.

By now the sun, heat and humidity were starting to be noticeable. We were happy to return to the boat and begin the journey back to our lodging, a journey that took a surprisingly long time. The boat had to meander back down the intercoastal waterway, during which we admired the scenery and were in touch with various other travelers who were in Fort Lauderdale, and at airports attempting to fly here for tomorrow’s cruise (one group made it last night, the other we assume made it).

Eventually we transferred to a smaller boat with the plan to go back to the area of the virtual cache but as the train bridge was about to go down we were dropped off “early” at an unplanned stop. That serendipitous change in plans led us to a historical area where we learned about – this has to be the name of the day – Blexham Cromartie who turns out to be Ivy Cromartie Stranahan’s brother, an interesting fact that did not help us at all. Turns out Blexham and family lived in the home behind the sign, thought not at this particular location. Next door to Blexham’s relocated home we saw three ducks of a species not familiar to my Oregon eyes and they were, indeed, all in a row.

We made it back a bit after sunset and had an appropriately acceptable but unspectacular meal at the (only) food truck on “the property.” I think Sue and I would agree that the best part of the meal was the maple donuts we’d purchased a few blocks away. A fine end to a wonderful day.

Within the hour we will be in taxis to get to the cruise port. It may be a Tetris game to fit the 5 of us and our luggage into 2 taxis....Tall One commented that it could be interesting if they send us 2 Priuses so he may get to ride with the luggage and the other 4 of us together, but whatever happens we will make it work.