Nice flight to the USA and to Laurie's home state of FLORIDA....... Made even nicer because for once we didn't have to do the usual, like "Take off your shoes and your belt, Sir" ... "Empty your pockets, .... Yes, take the laptop out of its case" ..... "Take your sunglasses off your head please, Sir" ..... "And your wristwatch too, please"... "Now step forward" ....... No we had to do none of that ....... Amazing, and we were getting on an American Airlines flight too, direct for Miami ...... Thinking the whole time that Homeland Security had come to its senses at last, but ours was the exception and not the norm ....... The same stuff is still in full swing ........ Still we made it safely to Miami and stayed with Caribbean cruising friends Dudley and Becca for a night of reminiscing and laughter, and a little wine ....... By morning we were on our way to collecting our new solar panels ....... Bit of struggle to get four big ones into the car but Laurie, the "Queen of Florida" found a way by folding the back seat down and sliding them in .......... Huge panels, that should give us a nice 45-plus amps when the sun shines ................
Great to see a whole warehouse full of solar panels, and some as big as a dining table ............ Power for the future ....... Our four will fold out in a sort of parabola to face the sun and fold in again if stormy conditions prevail .... The birth of Anne's baby (That's Laurie's baby's baby) is the reason for our FLORIDA visit, but we might as well do some shopping for the new yacht " SOUTHERN COMFORT " while we are here .........
Our next stop was to see long timer friends John & Marianne King who are also cruisers with an awesome AMEL, one of the World's best designed cruising yachts ..... John now manages a fruit tree nursery and our visit there sure made us take some wonderful pictures of palms and tropical fruit .....
Now that's what we call " A pair of swinging mangoes " ........... You might need to back your truck up to the tree when loading these when these are ripe and the tree is only four feet high ....... These are already bigger that the 'Queensland bullock-heart' mangoes that I grew up with, back in Oz ....... Classic genetic engineering ..... Hope they are sweet as well as large ....
Cacti, and some more palm species to enjoy ................
And how could we not share these beautiful 'Bird of Paradise' flowers with you .....
It is very hard for us not to share the beauty of that first Florida morning with you .... Like this magnificent 'Royal Purple' flower, a 'Tipachina' we think ....... But we need to drive on to Jacksonville in the north of Florida ...... Young 'Sophie' is busting to get out .......
Now here's the thing ...... Princess 'SOPHIE' is coming ...... That is obvious .... And in the closet are so many clothes in readiness for the great event that the 'Royal Wardrobe' simply defies description ........
We take a quick fix to see the blue ocean again and the sea is flat ...... so are the beaches ............ Fun to see ...... People all a-gog at 'mother and daughters' on surfboards, competing for prizes .................." Sisters of the Sea " .....
Counting the days to "Sophie's" birth and it is wonderful for Laurie to be here to hold Lauren-Anne's hand ............. The world's population is about to increase by one ...............
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