The Second Street house is sold! In order to sell more easily, we began renovations on our house in Mesachie Lake. The duplex in Nanaimo also required some more attention this month. We have had more general interest in our own home lately, but none that has resulted in a serious offer, yet. Lisa is limiting her involvement with Saint John's Therapy Dogs and has been working more than expected on her new contract with the Cowichan District Medical Society. I am loving the NBA and NHL playoffs, and can't wait for the World Cup to begin in two weeks. |
Due to Lisa's commitments and scheduled meetings, we had only one full day to complete errands and visit people on the mainland after returning from Brazil. To accomplish everything, we split up during the day - I headed to Langley for breakfast with my side of the family while Lisa stayed in Burnaby with her mom and Auntie Janet. We both got our chores done during the day and were able to have dinner with our friend Karyn and her two girls. It was great to reconnect in person. The following day we returned to Honeymoon Bay and were immediately invited for dinner with Shaun & Debbie - what a nice welcome home! The next day I had no choice but to mow our very long lawn. We continue to enjoy the great outdoors and to admire the natural beauty of this part of the world. I brought the deck furniture out of storage and enjoyed some hammock time at home. Lisa attended a conference at Tigh-Na-Mara Resort in Parksville, so I tagged along for a free overnight getaway. We relaxed in the hot tub and rode our bikes along the coast in Rathtrevor Provincial Park. I enjoyed sampling craft beers and the area's "fine dining" from a food truck. Our yard is once again in bloom...
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At the airport we saw many UFC employees and fighters waiting to board their flights back to the USA, notably, Aleksei Oleinik, who had just won by Ezekiel Choke, and Raquel Pennington, who had suffered a damaging loss to the champion, Amanda Nunes. She was on our flight to Houston, and despite being battered and sore (broken nose, two black eyes, bruised head, significant limp), "Rocky" was gracious, polite, and kind while posing for a photo with me. I always knew that Pennington was tough, but she impressed me even more outside of the octagon. Long flights and longer layovers require BIG cups of coffee!
We slept in and had a relaxing morning. We enjoyed our last "breakfast of champions" for the foreseeable future and then checked out of our hotel room. As today was overcast and cooler, our planned day at the beach became one of continuing to use the hotel's pool area and facilities. After a late lunch/early dinner of fish & chips, we decided to take the public "express" bus to the airport rather than wait until after dark to take a more expensive cab. The holiday is over and the long journey home has begun...
We walked around the Ipanema and Leblon areas, returning along the beach and then enjoying the rooftop views from our hotel.
It poured rain overnight and continued to rain off and on in the early morning. This provided us with an extra excuse for a leisurely morning and later breakfast. We decided to go back to Porto de Galinhas, but this time we were wise enough to catch a local bus to and from town. We checked out the "natural pools", but without a low enough tide there wasn't much to see besides crabs, sea-snails, and some tiny grey fish.
We had another relaxing morning and a good breakfast while waiting for our two hour noon transfer to Cupe Beach where we will be staying at the Pousada Tabapitanga for four nights.
Porto de Galinhas - "The Port of Chickens"
We ate a lovely breakfast outside overlooking the pool. Our room is at the very top of an old building and has an exposed bathroom with a covered, but outdoor shower with balcony and views. We hired a guide with a car to show us around Recife this morning. We explored downtown and checked out a converted prison, where we sampled cachaça (our guide bought me a bottle of cinnamon flavoured cachaça), before heading to the long and lovely Boa Viagem Beach. We had all afternoon to look around Olinda some more, so we returned for the views from Praca da Se and went in search of the lighthouse.
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