Weekend in Sanford

Since we were already up north for the shuttle launch, we decided to spend the weekend with my aunt and uncle (we already had an open invitation).

Saturday started very early for me. I was up at 5:15AM and ready to go by 5:45. My uncle Dave invited me to join him and his friend golfing. I accepted, although I didn't expect much skill level on my part due to the years that have past since the last time I played. John showed up and off we went. We were the first group on the course - right behind the maintenance guy. Dave suggested that he play against me and John. John and I played best ball, otherwise I knew they'd be waiting for me on every hole. I started off by immediately slicing my tee shot into the woods - one ball lost already. John, it turns out, is as close to a pro as I've ever played golf with. He smashed his tee shot right down the middle. After seeing that, I figured we'd never use any of my shots all day. As it turns out, I was able to sink two or three putts, which kept our score nice and low. At the end of the day, I think I lost four or five balls.

After golfing, we went home and relaxed awhile and ate lunch. Aunt Cathy wanted me to help her upgrade her computer. It had 256 MB of RAM and was seriously slow to task switch. I suggested she upgrade to 1 GB minimum, so we went shopping and bought a 1 GB DDR memory module. The computer was very happy afterwards. I continued cleaning up things and organizing her photographs.

Later, we went to a lake in the neighborhood and fed the ducks. After that, we went in search of the Amtrak station to catch a glimpse of the Auto Train. We arrived about 30 minutes before it's scheduled departure time. Andrew and I walked its length and found a playground near the engines. We played for a few minutes until the train started moving, then we watched it slowly leave. Some day, we may ride this train.

Then we went to Sam's Club and did some shopping. My cousin met us there and proceeded to fill her cart with stuff.

After dark, Aunt Cathy pulled out the marshmallows and Uncle Dave lit a fire in the back yard. This is quite remarkable as I'd never consider doing such a thing in soggy Seattle this time of year. Andrew had a great time cooking and eating marshmallows, but an even better time letting them catch on fire and watching them burn.

Sunday was our lie around the house day. Eventually we found our motivation and went to the local flea market. We didn't stick around too long, before heading back home. Finally, we ate a great home-cooked dinner and headed back to Vero Beach.