The Austin Life: Just Beachy, Then Not

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Just Beachy, Then Not

Clearwater Beach, Florida

Our plan for Saturday was to get up early and head to Clearwater Beach. Chris wanted to go early so we could enjoy as much time together as possible before I had to fly out in time to get home to the kids for Easter.

We arrived at the beach around 8:30 maybe, after only a half hour drive from our hotel in Tampa (which was not bad at all!). Chris caught a stellar parking spot right up front and we set out. The beach was beautiful. It stretched for miles of white, soft sandy beach with a rainbow of umbrellas set up for the day (more due to spring break), Pier 60, and just a handful of people. The temperature was a crisp, cool start to the day, but the sun kept us warm. We walked the beach, checking out the shells, splashing in the water a bit, just talking. We love walking the beach together. At around 10 as the sun really started heating things up, we looked around and there were people everywhere. Oh yeah...spring breakers. Ugh.

We sat down on the beach and just chilled in the sun for a couple hours, sunscreen in place in every square inch of exposed skin (I was already a little pink for the previous 2 days). Before leaving, we picked up a couple of treats for Chris to bring home to the kids, then set for the hotel so I could get cleaned up before my departure back home. You should have seen the traffic coming into the beach! It was absolutely crazy! I am so glad Chris suggested getting up and going right away so we could enjoy it.

I got cleaned up for my flight home and relaxed before Chris took me back to the airport to head home. It was a wonderful yet too short trip to visit Chris. We have realized how lucky we are that we have not been traveling apart the last few years. The last time he traveled was during his first year at his job when we were newly engaged. The last time we had been apart for 2 weeks (other than his 2 week trip way back when) was when I went to training in Napa for my pharma job (and that was horrible!). Other than that, I had many trips for work, all a week or under, and we hated being apart for all of them. The separation issues I had back then all rushed back to me as Chris left me at the curb at the airport, begging me not to leave. I was heartbroken to leave him, torn between my love and my kids waiting for their Mommy at home. Clearly, I needed to get back home.

I cried on and off until I boarded the second plane 6 hours later in Dallas. Yes, I was a mess. Let's hope he does not have to go for 2 weeks again, or we will have to increase our travel budget and start to home school. JK