MSRA ⇢ Starting New

⇢ 20 ; florida

"This place is awesome!" Bridget exclaimed as we stepped into our house for the next week. It was a nice, bright condo that overlooked a big, empty beach. Seagulls floated around in the sky, and waves glistened in the sun.

"This trip is already off to a great start," I said, watching as Ethan and Noah ran onto the beach, throwing their shirts off.

Bridget shifted her weight back in admiration. "Yeah," she dreamily smiled, watching Ethan as he ran into the water with my boy. 

"We should probably join them," I said, putting my bags down and taking my flannel and shorts off, revealing my bikini underneath. Bridget did the same, and soon the four of us were splashing around in the warm Floridian ocean. We ended up grabbing some blankets and just lying on the beach, staying out there listening to music and talking until the sun disappeared into the horizon. Then we called pizza and stayed up all night eating and watching movies.

-

When I woke up, Noah was still asleep. I snuck out of the bed and into the kitchen to start making some coffee, and Bridget came and joined me.

"What's on the itinerary for today?" she asked, grabbing cream from the fridge.

"Today we are going to one of the horse shows," I said. "I forget which one, but I have the address."

"You have your camera?" she asked. "You didn't forget that, did you?"

"No, I have it," I laughed. "It's all charged and everything."

"What time do classes start," she wondered.

"Cross country and show jumping starts after noon," I said. "We can grab some lunch and head over."

"It's ten now," Bridget said. "We can leave in like an hour."

"Yeah," I said. "I'll go wake Noah up."

When I went to our room, Noah was awake but not out of bed yet.

"We're leaving in an hour," I said. "Coffee's made and everything."

An hour later, I was wearing white shorts, a vineyard vine's t-shirt and hat, and some Sperry shoes. We all packed in Noah's car and headed to the show.

While Bridget and I were taking pictures of the horses, Noah and Ethan were talking about riding strategy and how the horses looked. By the end of the show, I had over a thousand photos of various horses and riders. When we got back to the condo, it took over an hour to upload them all to my computer.

-

The rest of the Florida trip was really fun. We went to two more shows, spent a day on horseback on the beach, and spent the rest of the time sunbathing, swimming, and sleeping. 

During the drive back to the airport, everyone was beyond exhausted. Bridget fell asleep on Ethan's shoulder, and I fell asleep against the cool window. Luckily, Noah had enough self restraint to stay awake during the long drive.

When we finally arrived at the airport, everyone was kind of bittersweet.

"I guess I'll see you in two months," I told Noah as they announced my plane boarding.

"I guess I'll see you then," he said. He kissed me before pulling me into a hug. "It won't be too long."

"It won't be too long," I repeated, before turning away and boarding my plane.