Off the Florida Keys...

A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, 

adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, 

and continues a friend unchangeably. ~William Penn

Rachel and her family moved across the street from us in 1987. I was 9, she was 10. In Kentucky, there are not many Mormons, so you can imagine our ecstasy when we saw our new neighbors at church the following Sunday! The rest is history. Our families were joined at the hip, most kids lining up with a child from the other family. People frequently got our families confused. "Are you a Krebs or a Kearl?" was a question we all regularly got. We frequently ate dinner together, took family vacations together and we were always carpooling, playing, and causing trouble. In fact, Rachel and I had nicknames of Rascal 1 and Rascal 2 - and we tried to live up to them. :)  I especially spent an exceptional amount of time over at the Kearls home, and would groan with disappointment when the phone would ring and i KNEW it was my Mom calling me home. Next to my own family, the Kearl family has powerfully shaped who I am as an adult. I am truly grateful for all of the wonderful memories created in their home and for the unconditional love they have always extended. Rachel and her family continue a friendship unchangeably.

Rachel now lives in Washington DC, travels the world for her employment and lives a wonderful life, 2,300 miles away. It is horrible that we have to live so far apart. She approached me about 6 months ago and asked if I would ever consider leaving my husband and children for a girls trip together. My answer? A resounding YES!! Love my hubby and kids, but also was missing my gal pal Rachel and ready for some R&R.

So the planning began, and we decided to travel to the Florida Keys for our "rascal reunion".

And yes, every time I sat down to plan, the song "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys rang through my mind for the rest of the day.

Here is my view of the Gulf Coast as I flew to Florida.  Traveling without children was AMAZING!

Rach met me at the airport and was furiously working.  Haha.  She told me I needed to take a picture to show her family.  Her job is lucky to have such a devoted employee!
 

We made it our personal goal to find the best key lime pie in the Florida Keys.  This was our first taste test.  It was mediocre, so Rach gave it a sideways thumb. 

The view from our hotel window.  We stayed in Key Largo.  It was much swampier than I expected.  I was picturing sandy beaches, but most of the coast was filled with these Mangrove trees that root themselves in water. 

Our first adventure was to the Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, where we took a glass bottom boat tour of the reef.  It was really amazing.  The ocean is crystal clear and we could see everything through the bottom of the boat.

Here is the bottom of the boat.  Pretty awesome.  Somebody out there is a genius for coming up with this idea.

The next day with went snorkerling at the Bahia Honda State Park.  It is apparently the second best location in the world to snorkel and scuba dive.  We saw sharks, sting rays, large 3-4 feet fish, jelly fish, and all other kinds of tropical fish!  It reminded me how much I LOVE snorkeling!!  It was really incredible, just like swimming in a really large aquarium!  To get to the best reefs, they took us about 8 miles off the coast.  WOW!!!

Here you go.  Where the freeway begins.  Ever seen a mile 0?  Me either.  This is down in Key West.  It is the southern most key.  It is also the most expensive and feels a little like Bourbon Street in some areas.  We ate at an excellent Cuban Restaurant in our Key West adventure... and sat on one of the few sandy beaches and watched while at least 6 different "beach front wedding" took place at sunset.  Haha.  Hope we were in their pictures.

The southernmost point in the Continental US.  Only 90 miles from Cuba!!  We almost started swimming for their border... but decided against it.

Then we headed to the Everglades National Forest.  Took a airboat tour and saw lots of lots of alligators and swamp.

Haha.  I love Rachel's face in this one.  Not really wanted to turn around for the picture, fearing the alligator may JUMP up at eat her up.  And as side note, a few DAYS after we left, an airboat captain got his hand bitten off by an alligator on a tour just like ours!  He was feeding the alligators, just like our captain did, which apparently is illegal.

Rachel is pictured here after just asking, "can alligators jump?" - to which our boat captain said, "yes, 3-4 feet".  Mmmmmm.... Rachel's legs sure look tasty. :)

We then took a guided tour through the Everglades learning about all of their wildlife.  It was really fascinating.  This was at a look out tower they let us climb.

Besides our tours and excursions, the rest of our time was spent eating and talking... and talking... and talking... and talking.  Guess there was a lot to catch up on, because we both sure had lots of things to discuss.  Aren't friends from childhood the best?  They know you better than anyone, and they love you despite it.  It was so refreshing to be back with Rachel after so many years of happiness spent together as young kids.  We decided to make it a recurring adventure.

A EXTRA SPECIAL,
SUPER DUPER,
REALLY HUGE,

THANK YOU
to my wonderful husband and Mom, and Laura and Glen for watching my kids while I was gone.  I never worried once because I knew they were in great hands.