St. Petersburg, Florida

I just got back from a week in Florida. It was much warmer there than here in Utah, that's for sure. I, along with a co-worker took 8 students down to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. This is something that is done every year, and I have been fortunate enough to go almost every year.

We were put up in a church. It was kind of like roughing it. We were in the fellowship hall. We were given mats to sleep on. There was a bathroom for men, a bathroom for women, a kitchen, and a shower (inside the kitchen, yes, inside the kitchen). It sure made for interesting schedules of eating and showering and sharing the space. It was actually pretty fun and I think it helped bond our group of 10 even more!

The house that we worked on was a "rehab" house, meaning they were remodeling it instead of building a brand new house. While we were there this week, we painted the entire inside of the house (2 coats), roofed (I didn't, I hate being on the roof), installed all the switchplates back on the walls, did touch up work, installed closet shelves, pulled up carpet, and prepped the floors for tiling. We definitely had a great week working hard and playing harder.

We got there on Saturday the 21st. On Sunday we went to Busch Gardens. Wow, what a fun time! Most of spent the majority of the time riding the roller coasters. One coaster, the Sheikra, we rode 3 times. We rode 2 water rides as well and got completely soaked. I don't think we thought that through entirely. It got super cold after that! After working Monday - Thursday we had some down time and went to Indian shores (a beach that was really winding and made it kind of chilly), St. Pete Beach (pretty and we ate amazing seafood at Philthy Phil's), The Pier in downtown St. Petersburg (I wanted to retire here until I saw the cost of a condo on the waterfront) and Clearwater Beach (the perfect day, temperature, and Crabby Bill's restaurant was great too!). I think I want to retire there!!! What a way to end a perfect day and trip, with a perfect sunset!