Retirement practice, makes perfect

If retirement is going to be like the last few days, then I could really get used to it. Today we were up a little early so we could get ready to go visit my cousin Ken at his home in Vero Beach.

A leisurely 19-mile drive brought us to the front door of cousin Ken and his beautiful home. Ken teaches tennis and works at a retirement village in Vero Beach.

A few years ago I spent a great two weeks with Ken and his wife, Khlai at their Maui home. Kenny taught tennis at one of the Maui resorts and managed the pro shop there. (Photo: Kenny, Joan, Aunt Judi, me).

So Ken and my Aunt Judi, who drove up from Stuart, Florida for the day, and Joan and I went to lunch at a river front restaurant in Vero Beach. After lunch Kenny took us across the bridge to the barrier island and the Vero Beach on the Atlantic Ocean where we soaked in the beautiful sun rays and ocean breeze.

We also paid a visit to Veterans Memorial Sanctuary Island, which honors those who have served and died in America's wars. It was a beautiful spot and we visited each service monument. My favorite, of course, was the U.S. Navy one.

I remember Vero Beach from my days as a Los Angeles Dodgers fan because I used to listen to their spring exhibition games from there. Unfortunately for Vero Beach, the Dodgers now get ready for the season in Arizona and so far, no other team has filled the void.

Then it was back to Ken’s house to wait for his son Koa, 11, (see baseball photo) to return home from middle school. For fun, we took Koa to baseball practice. Koa is on a travel baseball team from Vero Beach and is doing very well on the team, which is ranked 2nd in the State of Florida and 8th in the U.S. for his age group.

After soaking up even more sunshine at baseball practice, Khlai, a native of Thailand, took us to a local Thai restaurant where she ordered the most delicious Thai meal I have ever enjoyed. It was even more fun because Khlai ordered the food in her primary language so everything that came to the table was a huge surprise.

It is always fun to catch up with relatives you haven’t seen in awhile and it is equally hard to believe that the little kid who was born 15 years after me, is now a successful tennis teacher, father and husband.

Tomorrow we await the arrival of our daughter, Elin, and a friend, Abby, who we will pick up at the Orlando airport in the morning. A full day of amusement park visiting is on the docket.

Talk to you soon.