So we've been in Fort Lauderdale for three weeks now and we're still unpacking. That's doesn't signify the amount of crap we own. It has to do with time. Amy is working her butt off at a local high school and I have been home, alone with my computer, working for people I miss a lot back in Portland.
The trip down was wonderful, though it was much much too fast for us to enjoy it while it happened. We kept very good notes and took a lot of pictures, though. And even thinking about it now, while I write this, I think we had a wonderful time of it.
I'm still getting used to the idea that we're here. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I'm really significantly affected by place. I mean, landscape, fauna, community attitude. All of these things are important to me. (And what good Portlander wouldn't feel this way?)
And so I'm very interested in what this place is all about. But I'm having a difficult time figuring it out. I hope it's mostly because things are so different out here that I'm incapable of really understanding them. Yet.
But we came for adventure. We came to be near a 90 year old woman (who is still as sharp as a tack!) who needs some family close but doesn't want to leave Florida. So it doesn't matter whether I love it with all of my heart. It's home for now.
Anyway, these are the things I have to report so far:
1. The beach is a tropical paradise. It's wonderful! (Not as beautiful as the Oregon Coast. Not by a longshot. But still paradise.)
2. There are no mountains. There are no hills. There are no bumps in the landscape for what seems like a thousand miles. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. It sucks.
3. BMWs here are just everyday family cars. Everyone has one!
4. There are no places in the supermarket parking lot where you can put your cart when you're finished with it. No "Please leave your cart here" signs. There are carts everywhere! On especially windy days, they blow all over the place.