April 2009
Gone Fishin!
Fri, 2009-04-17 15:24 | by Erin
Fish On!
One day before Patrick left we all went to the flee market a huge one, supposedly the biggest in all of Florida, and had a good time shopping for stuff including a fishing pole. The pole was a large open faced reel with about a 6 foot pole. A little too big for Eric but he coped with it well and was pretty good at casting by the time we left Florida. The pole proved to be the most costly investment of the trip, but still the most fun. We fished quite a bit, almost everyday and sometimes 2x a day morning and night. We fished in fresh water creeks and ponds, did some shore casting and went fishing off a pier.
When we went fishing on the last night we had a complete kit, a small tackle box, a pole, a bucket for our bait, and a cooler to hold the fish we caught or beer. It mostly held cold beer though.
After we became regulars at the bait shop and pier we started getting better deals on stuff. 3 dollar a dozen shrimp became 16 or 18 with a few jumbos in there for luck. 22 dollars to fish (2 people fishing) on the pier became 14 (1 fishing 1 watching) and so on.
Generosity is another American thing, along with rule bending.
Our total catch for the trip was 1 small sunfish, a baby hammerhead shark, and 3 crabs. Nothing we could really eat and from time to time I did more fishing than I really wanted to, but still Eric became friendly with all the people on the pier and at the bait shop and just about every where else we went, and that to me was what was really important, he had a good time. Here is a quick video of Eric casting at the beach.
I hope he wont forget it.
One day before Patrick left we all went to the flee market a huge one, supposedly the biggest in all of Florida, and had a good time shopping for stuff including a fishing pole. The pole was a large open faced reel with about a 6 foot pole. A little too big for Eric but he coped with it well and was pretty good at casting by the time we left Florida. The pole proved to be the most costly investment of the trip, but still the most fun. We fished quite a bit, almost everyday and sometimes 2x a day morning and night. We fished in fresh water creeks and ponds, did some shore casting and went fishing off a pier.
When we went fishing on the last night we had a complete kit, a small tackle box, a pole, a bucket for our bait, and a cooler to hold the fish we caught or beer. It mostly held cold beer though.
After we became regulars at the bait shop and pier we started getting better deals on stuff. 3 dollar a dozen shrimp became 16 or 18 with a few jumbos in there for luck. 22 dollars to fish (2 people fishing) on the pier became 14 (1 fishing 1 watching) and so on.
Generosity is another American thing, along with rule bending.
Our total catch for the trip was 1 small sunfish, a baby hammerhead shark, and 3 crabs. Nothing we could really eat and from time to time I did more fishing than I really wanted to, but still Eric became friendly with all the people on the pier and at the bait shop and just about every where else we went, and that to me was what was really important, he had a good time. Here is a quick video of Eric casting at the beach.
I hope he wont forget it. Getting there
Wed, 2009-04-15 23:59 | by Erin
Tokyo to Tampa
While it was a long trip the whole event went pretty smooth. Eric and I hopped on the bus, that took us straight to Tokyo Narita Airport. The ride was pretty long but Eric was very good. We arrived at the airport and had plenty of time to board our flight. We did the normal deal of going through customs and getting to our flight and were on our way. Thought the flight Eric was good and the continental in flight entertainment system kept him occupied for most of the flight. The food as always was really bad. Eric slept the rest of the flight and only woke for some ice cream. I as always did not sleep at all. When we finally arrived in Houston I was exhausted and Eric was full of ENERGY.
The next flight to Tampa reminded me what the difference is between America and Japan. People are friendly plain and simple.
Chris the guy who sat next to us on the plane talked to me for a almost 2/3 of the flight. HE had been to Japan to see the last F1 race that was held at Fuji Motor Speedway close to Eric's grandparents house in Japan. We talked about racing, jobs and a few other things.
Friendliness it's American.
While it was a long trip the whole event went pretty smooth. Eric and I hopped on the bus, that took us straight to Tokyo Narita Airport. The ride was pretty long but Eric was very good. We arrived at the airport and had plenty of time to board our flight. We did the normal deal of going through customs and getting to our flight and were on our way. Thought the flight Eric was good and the continental in flight entertainment system kept him occupied for most of the flight. The food as always was really bad. Eric slept the rest of the flight and only woke for some ice cream. I as always did not sleep at all. When we finally arrived in Houston I was exhausted and Eric was full of ENERGY.
The next flight to Tampa reminded me what the difference is between America and Japan. People are friendly plain and simple.
Chris the guy who sat next to us on the plane talked to me for a almost 2/3 of the flight. HE had been to Japan to see the last F1 race that was held at Fuji Motor Speedway close to Eric's grandparents house in Japan. We talked about racing, jobs and a few other things.
Friendliness it's American.