Our first week in Cedar Key December 2012

Our rving friends, Maria and Brian, had arrived in Cedar Key a few days before we did  and we were reunited over drinks at the Tiki Bar down the street. It felt really good to be "home" - how we really feel about the place. We had purchased a used canoe through friends and it was waiting for us in our site when we arrived. There is an annual Christmas boat parade of lights every year in Cedar Key and we were excited to be able to participate in it. New paddles and PFD's were ordered online, along with some fun decorations, and all had arrived in the nick of time to dress up the "Wild Ride," as we called her, for the parade.

Early Saturday morning Bill and I went for a run down to the pier to check out the water and see how the town looked after being gone for six months. The water was a little choppy and I got a little nervous thinking about how we would fare with all of the big boats out there with their wake and this choppy water. I mean, we hadn't even been in the canoe, we didn't even know if it was sea-worthy!

Photo from Slider Magazine, thanks Jay for the push off!

We ended up being first in line for the parade, pretty incongruous, as Number 1 - we had never been in this parade before (or any other for that matter), Number 2 - we had never even floated in this canoe before, and Number 3 - we'd only ever been in a canoe twice before, in Tahoe this fall. But being the intrepid warriors that we were, we grabbed the big sign with the "1" on it and off we went into the sunset.

We were quickly brought up to speed as to where we should go and what we should do, but for about an hour we just paddled around the calm waters and greeted the other boaters. I was so happy that the water was calm and that all of the big boats were moving slowly and we experienced no issues with wake. It was a magical time watching the sunset out on the water and paddling around. This experience has to be one of my top five, ever.

Some amazing pics taken by Pat Bonish - except the pic of his boat I took, lower right.

It was truly a magical night - another awesome pic from Slider Magazine!

Eventually it got dark enough and we were to start our approach to the pier where the judges and town were waiting. We had no idea that they were judging us on anything other than decor, so when everyone started yelling for us to sing we were quite taken aback. And of course, with all the singing we do, neither Bill nor I could think of a single thing to sing. We just sat there looking at each other laughing. We circled around to watch all of the other boats and the sea was alight with beauty. People were singing and dancing and doing their best to entertain the crowd and I could have stayed out in that canoe for the rest of time.

Our friends at the Tiki Bar took home all of the prizes and they celebrated by hosting a party at their bar. Pat & Cindy (Tiki Bar) also hosted an "End of the World Apocalypse" Party on 12/21/12 and because it was freezing cold Bill and I wore our furry Burning Man coats to everyone's delight; it was good to be warm!

One of my favorite things in Cedar Key is the yoga and the following week I made it to class three times. It was nice that people remembered me and welcomed me back. Maria and Brian started doing some circuit training and I joined them twice that week also. It felt good to get back into an exercise routine and feel the redefinition of my muscles.