Location: Inside of Jake's luxury condo 21 stories up.
Time: June 30, 2007 at 4:10 p.m. C.D.T.
Lazlo: Whoa!!! This place is amazing. Love the tropical décor. Really gets me in the tropical mood.
Clam: Tropical!
Raj: This is quite the accommodations your brother's got here Nate my friend. You must give us the grand tour.
Nate (wheeling up to the trio): It's not really big enough to constitute a grand tour Raj but yea I can show ya around right quick.
Nate began his tour of Jake's condo starting with the great room which was a very spacious living area with a couch, a loveseat, and a couple of nice glider rocking chairs. In the center was a beautiful rectangular coffee table made of solid oak. To the right of the doorway heading into the master bedroom hung a 32" flat panel LCD HDTV and below it was a cabinet with a DVR/Receiver for the satellite dish Jake had installed just above the balcony. The entertainment cabinet also housed a progressive scan Blu-Ray DVD player as well as a big stereo system.
Nate: So this is the big entertainment system. Of course I'm hoping we spend as much of our time on the ocean as possible but it's nice to know that this is here for additional enjoyment.
Randy: That is an awesome set-up there Nate. Only thing missing is a video gaming console. Probably better this way anyway. As you said, don't want too much to distract from why we're here, and that is for some good old fun in the sun. Speaking of which, I need to make a call as see if our watercrafts are on the way.
While Randy made his call, Nate continued with the tour. He took the trio into the master bedroom which like the great room had a flat-panel HDTV and a DVR/satellite receiver. It was slightly smaller at 27". The master bedroom also opened out onto the balcony just as the great room does. The balcony Nate would show last as he considered it the best place to be in this unit. This bedroom had a king-sized bed that for this week Randy would use. It also had a nice closet and a night table on the right side of the bed. The master bath included a nice walk-in shower along with a sink and toilet. These were also the amenities in the slightly smaller guest bath as well. Of course with Nate's handicap, both bathrooms were wheelchair accessible. The front entrance came in right beside the kitchen on the right and the entrance to the smaller guest bedroom on the left. The kitchen had the usual amenities including a full-sized refrigerator, a dishwasher and sink, a flat-top electric stove, and a separate ice maker. Along the front of the kitchen was a nice bar with three barstools. Just beyond the bar and behind the sofa in the great room was an oak dinette table that seated four. The guest bathroom not only opened into the guest bedroom but also opened out into the hall heading toward the great room and so acted as a hall bath as well. The guest bedroom had two double beds and had a 22" flat panel HDTV with a DVR/satellite receiver. There was also a night table between the beds and a closet. The double bed could comfortably sleep all four of them. Lazlo and Nate chose the one closest to the bathroom and Clam and Raj chose the one in front of the window that looked out from the front of the building inland. On top of the tropical décor of the condo, the five beachgoers were also decked out in tropical duds from Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts down to flip-flops on their feet. It was now time for Nate to show them the spectacular view of the Gulf Coast from the balcony. Randy was already out enjoying the balcony. He was lounging in one of the two sun chairs on the balcony. Also on the balcony was a round dinette table with glass surface and four chairs as well as two glider rockers which Lazlo and Clam decided to climb up in.
Randy: Isn't it just perfect up here guys. What a wonderful view. You'll all be happy to know that the watercrafts will be arriving shortly. I've got a jet ski and my speedboat that you three Lazlo, Clam, and Raj will remember well from earlier this summer.
Lazlo: Oh yea…I loved riding in that boat. You'll love it too Nate I guarantee it.
Clam: It's got zoom!
Randy: My only concern is the fact that a speedboat my not be the safest place for you. If you should fall off out in the ocean…
Nate (interjecting): Don't worry about it Randy. I've been in a couple of boats since being paralyzed. Plus I am an excellent swimmer with just my arms as well. If I should fall out…which is unlikely I might add…I can keep my head safely above the water even in the worst rip currents long enough for ya'll to come and get me back in the boat.
Randy: Well…I'll still want to get the ok from your parents on this as well as from your older brother Jake. I'd hate for our friendship to be jeopardized because I didn't look after you properly.
Nate: Understood but I assure it will be fine. The only real problem I'll have is maneuvering my wheelchair on the loose sand.
Raj: Couldn't we just wheel you down to the edge of the boardwalk and carry you to the shoreline. It's not that far a walk and we could secure your wheelchair at the end of the boardwalk.
Nate: Well I'd hate to trouble ya'll with that…
Randy: It's no trouble at all and besides (flexes muscles) I think I can manage.
Nate: Well I can't argue with that.
Randy: Then it's settled. That's how we'll get you to the shore.
Though helping out Nate was his prime motive for offering his assistant, he couldn't deny that it would also be very impressive to the lovely young ladies on the beach if they saw his athletically-built frame in nothing but swim trunks with a big old caring heart as shown by carrying a young, crippled boy coyote. Not that he would fake that just to impress the ladies for those who got to know Randy usually found that he was truly a compassionate individual. As the five continued there conversation, Randy got the call that his boats had arrived. With Jake's help, they were able to get a spot in the back of the condo to secure the watercrafts when not in use. He made is way down to help the movers get them to their designated area, leaving the four bean scouts to chat amongst themselves on the balcony.
Lazlo: Jelly cabin just want be the same without you there Nate. I wish you were planning on returning to Camp Kidney with us after this week.
Nate: I know it's a little disappointing. It wasn't an easy decision to make. I've only spent one summer with ya'll at camp and that was just last year but in that time, I've come to consider you each my dearest friends. I also had real good friends as well at my old baseball camp as well that I haven't seen in awhile and I really wanted to return there if for anything else just to see them. After the accident, I didn't think I'd go back there and it was really disheartening. I had let my mood get real low and I had to go somewhere last summer to get out of my fog and I'm glad it was Camp Kidney. I've come to realize that I haven't been very fair with my old camp. I had assumed falsely that they wouldn't want me back since I didn't have the use of my legs. If I would've just asked if I could come back, they would have let me but I didn't. I just didn't have the courage to. In a way I'm glad I didn't because then I would never have met you three and all the other Bean Scouts of Camp Kidney. Being there and proving to myself I could still have just as much fun as before despite my disability was badly needed by me and helped me to get the courage to return to my old camp.
Raj: Yes well your perseverance has been particularly uplifting to us as well. You've taught us a great deal about determination.
Clam: Very determined!
Lazlo: Do write us as often as you can. We would love to hear how ya doing from time to time. I might have to resist the urge to be mailed to your camp like we did that one time…
Raj: Ah…don't remind me of that. The whole camp ended up in one box, talk about crowded.
Clam: Tightly packed.
Lazlo, Clam, and Raj began to laugh just thinking about that time. Nate couldn't help but laugh to but he was finding it hard to believe they had actually done that. They told him that they didn't get very far with all of them in the box. They only got has far as the sunflower fields of the Squirrel Scouts. Nate still found that hard to believe but enjoyed hearing the story none the less. He always enjoyed hearing the trio's past adventures before he came. It was now getting close to sunset and it was magnificent. Randy had come back in earlier while the four were still chatting on the balcony. He left them to chat while he grilled up some burgers and hot dogs and when they were ready, he took them out to the four and they all dined while watching the sun sink into the west. This was the perfect end to the day and they could hardly wait until tomorrow when they would hit the beach and spend the bulk of the day having fun on the beautiful beach that was for now far below them and calling with its waves crashing on the shoreline.
