-Hello, everyone. Good evening from Florida.
So tomorrow,
we are driving two and a half hours one way
so that we could finally pursue this lifelong wish
of being immersed with giant manatees.
We are so excited.
You know, the last time we did some kind of excursion. It's...
It's been a while.
This you know whole YouTube thing has been sucking up a lot of our time.
So, we've come to realize
that we haven't really been doing anything fun recently.
You know what? What is...?
I wonder what Carl's up to.
He sounds like he's talking to you guys out there.
-I could see us settling down in Florida.
Don't get your hopes up though because that is not set in stone.
I'm just, I'm getting real with you guys.
I'm being deep here so just let me have my moment, okay?
I do want to give a shout out to my peeps out there
getting ready to hit the road for the first time in this upcoming year.
Congrats to you from the Hanks family.
We're super excited for you guys
and cannot wait to see you out here rocking it on the road.
Man, you guys are all going to do so great.
The adventures, the memories you guys are going to be having.
We are just so happy to have you all
doing it and more importantly, sharing it with us in the comments below.
You guys have been amazing. So...
Keep sharing your journeys down there. We read them.
We see so much engagement throughout the community we all have here
in the Hanks community, if you want to call it that.
Hangin' with the Hanks. I love you all.
It's inspiring. You guys inspire us to push ourselves harder
and be better people and listen, we believe in you guys.
You can do it too and
that's what we're here for is to help inspire you and to show you like
get the hay out here, man. It's waiting for you.
You want to say how inspired you are to everyone too?
(meows quietly)
That's all they get?
(meows)
Works every time. Sucker.
You know actually he is only loving up on me right now because you know
it's feeding time. So, he's getting hangry.
Just like his old man. I tell you what.
To be honest it's funny. Ney has picked up on these cues.
Little hidden cues that not even I'm aware of. And she's like...
Are you hungry? And I'm like no.
Five minutes later I'm like dude, I'm kind of hungry man.
I guess that's what happens when you live every second of your life
with your significant other. You just, you learn those cues.
Trust me I have the goods on Ney as well.
I'll let you in on those deets a little bit later.
Honey, how's it going?
What's going on in here?
This place is a mess. Who's picking up in here?
Is it you?
You are literally the definition of a couch potato right now. -I am so potatoed.
-Seriously though? Can I just say...
let's go on the paddle boards and catch a sunset?
Ney Ney, let's go go.
No no no no.
I'm so sorry. Did that scare you?
All better.
(music)
Renee and I have been struggling to make time for ourselves.
As of late...
we have been making sure that we get out and enjoy the beauty of each day,
if only for a few moments.
Alright, well cheers to you guys.
We tried the new Corona Refrescos.
-Yeah. -Little higher calorie content but you know
I think that's okay. -It's okay.
-It's going to be okay. -Who's counting anyway?
-No one out here.
Why didn't you pack my fin on this paddle board?
These paddle boards actually have specific fins that you have to like
engage and disengage every time you're done paddle boarding.
If you don't have the fin on,
can I just say real quick, that you go in circles.
Well Ney Ney is streamlined perfectly
because she has her fin and Carl's doing circles.
-Carl said 'I don't need my fin'.
-Well I didn't want to miss the sunset?
Now that we have you out here and alone
and no one's here to distract all of us.
Uh meeting time with the Hanks right here. Between us.
What are you guys' plans this year?
What's on the agenda for spring and summer and fall?
You guys got any cool places you're going? National parks?
You guys going to do some traveling abroad?
But this water is super dark. I'm not going to lie. Check it out.
What is down there?
There could just be like an alligator pop out of right here
and come right at me in the paddle board.
I know you guys are going to ask in the comments like
aren't you afraid of alligators getting you on the paddle boards?
Not really.
They don't really care about humans. They want to be left alone.
So if they hear any sound or commotion they're like eh I'm out.
-What is that movie with? -Lake Placid. Have you guys seen that one?
Oh my gosh. That scared the...
the bananas out of me when I was younger. Lake Placid. I was like...
Alright, hugs because this is amazing.
Thanks for being out here with me. -I love you.
-I love you. Dexter!
Dad's coming. I'm coming.
Dexter!
-We forgot that it's Dexter's dinner time.
-And? -10 minutes ago and I left my phone in the camper.
The alarm that we set for Dexter, for his feeding.
We basically put Dexter on a timer
so every time that goes off, that's when he knows it's time to eat
and he doesn't beg.
It's been going off for like 10 minutes now.
We're trying to hustle back. -We're trying.
And everyone's like, why are you vlogging? Go feed the man.
Go feed the boy.
-Dexter!
Dexter, I'm trying.
-Oh, are we taking a shortcut? Wow.
Well, I guess I'll just get here myself.
Don't wait for me. I'll be good.
Just wait till we have kids.
Hopefully we don't leave our kids in the camper or something.
That is a mom on a mission.
Goodness. Is this a sign for the future?
Go, go, go, go, go. Dexter, we're coming, buddy. We're coming.
The alarm's not going off.
What happened? Did the alarm go off?
-It did but I think it gives up after a certain amount of time.
-All that for nothing. Crisis averted, I guess. -Well, it did go off.
-He's still alive. It's amazing.
-We missed the beautiful colors for you.
-He's going to survive, I guess. -I was so worried.
-You want to have some kids soon?
(music)
Okay, yeah I was thinking we'll hold off on that as well.
We'll just wait on that one.
(music)
Wakey wakey eggs and bakey.
(sigh) I can't believe we're up this early.
It's been, it's been a long time since we had to adult like this.
-Yeah, when you work as a YouTuber,
you get to decide when you want to wake up
and that decision has never been 6 AM.
-Good morning from Florida, nonetheless. Today is going to be exciting.
We're doing something that we have
been wanting to do for the longest time.
And we're finally making it happen thanks to Ney Ney actually.
We're going to take you guys on an adventure so strap in.
-Before we take you on this adventure,
we have something exciting to share.
-What?!
The wait is finally over.
Thanks Hanks shirts are available right now but guys, for only a limited time.
But you may be asking yourself, why # Thanks Hanks?
-It's one of our favorite sayings on our channel
and if you're out and about and you see someone wearing
# Thanks Hanks, you can be like, what's up?
They're ready to have a good time
and I know that they're crazy like me because they tolerate Carl and Ney Ney.
Also, for every shirt sold, we are donating $1
to Family Reach which is a non-profit organization
dedicated to providing financial support to families
in need facing cancer. -But know that the last day you could buy
a shirt is on April 15th at midnight. -Yeah, so when April
16th hits it's done. We're also going to put the links in the
description below this video and we're going to put it in
our email newsletter. We're going to put it on our website
HappilyEverHanks.com and our social media pages. -It's
going to be everywhere. Thanks Hanks. Check out this
though. The last time we busted out this diving gear was last
year when we were in Florida as well.
If you guys have seen our previous episode, you will know
that the last time we actually used all of our diving gear was
last year when we went diving in Devil's Den. It is more
unique than it actually sounds even. Our lives were consumed
by the pure beauty of this destination. Dive on over to
this episode after you finish following the journey here.
Glad I have the coffee this morning. Not going to lie babe
because I'm just, I'm struggling today. Where are you? Hey.
You're being crazy right now. Look it. You didn't even get
ready for the day. Put some clothes on bro. Dude, everyone's
looking at you. You're naked. You're naked and salty. Oh
okay. That's all I get huh? Nah it's fine. That's fine. I'm
used to it. Wow. I really can't believe it's Saturday right
now. See this is what happens to us all the time. One day
flows into another. It seems when you're full-time on the
road. Maybe that's an excuse it probably is but I'm going to
run with it. So game plan guys. We're going to head out, gotta
go get fuel. We gotta stop for some snacks. We gotta make sure
we pack some warm clothes for after the trip. We have a boat
ride out and back so we might get a little nippy out on the
water. We might be actually going to grab something to eat,
so what's on the menu for later? What do you guys feeling? Like
wanting to do sushi, burgers? I don't know, we'll leave it in
your hands. So you guys throw some comments down below. What
is your go to places when you're out and about? What kind
of foods do you guys like? Let's get the coffees warmed up
and let's hit the road. Tell you what, I'm just excited to
be back in the water today. It's going to be fun. Ney Ney and
Carl love being in the water. So, yeah. We're a bunch of
fish. Don't know about you babe but I'm wearing the Chacos
today. Are you going to do that too? Have you seen mine lately?
I mean, yours are out but mine have not been out in a hot
second. Oh, the black hole of steps. Look how dark it is down
there. Dude, go under there for me and see if my Chacos are
under there. Excuse me. Go under there and see. Okay, I'll
go do it. Oh, it's scary down here. Look in there. It's like
the Chaco abyss. I think I might see them. Oh, nailed it.
Look at that. Oh, yeah. Going in again. Oh, goodness
gracious. Here we go. Bada bing bada boom. Let me just do some
organizing here. Get that shoved back in there. You just gotta leave a pair
right there so it makes it look nice and super clean like we
actually stay organized on the road. And if you never heard of
these sweet things, look at these rad little guys. Gotta
get the toe strap in too. Bam. Look at those. Awesome.
Flexible, stability, and just good looks. And you might wonder
yourself, well, how do they tighten? Well, let me show you.
Done. Okay, we're ready for adventure now. I feel like I
could do so much with these. Yeah, this is good. Six like 48
right now. So, we gotta leave soon. We're trying to leave by
seven o'clock because it's a two and a half hour drive there
one way. You gotta risk it to get the biscuit. That's what we
always say. If you want it, you gotta do it and today, it's
going to be cloudy, chance of rain but what we're hoping is
that everyone else is cancelling because it's cold
and dreary and just not a fun day to go swimming. And
hopefully we get all the manatees to ourselves.
-The
company we're going with today is called Fun 2 Dive Charters
and it's located in Crystal River. For two of us it cost
$136 out the door like with taxes and everything and what
we are doing is a three hour guided tour. A three hour tour.
The great part about doing stuff like this is the company
provides all your gear for you, even your wetsuit. Now, the
springs are 72 degrees all year round. Thank goodness they
provide it. Just so you know, we did not book this tour like
months in advance. Couple of Thanks Hanks tips for you.
Don't hesitate to check out Groupon. I don't know if you
guys have that app or not but it's something cool to have on
your phone and you can also just go on the computer but
it's called Groupon which is coupon with the G. And they have
lots of like deals on excursions and stuff like that if you're looking to
do some fun stuff in Florida. So, check that out to see if
you can get something for much cheaper. Always bring cash with
you because you gotta tip your guide. And if you're going on
excursions and trips and white water rafting and all this and
you're not tipping your guide, well, you should be. Not only
are these guides providing you with a safe experience and
like guiding the way but they make it so much fun and they
give you fun facts on the way and they don't have to normally
do all that extra stuff that you get on the trip. So, if you
are on an excursion or a tour or something and your guide
treats you well, don't forget to tip them, so bring some cash
along and have it ready to go when you're done. Something you
can do when you go on stuff like this which is what we were
able to do is sign your waivers ahead of time. You know, when
you get there and you're like so pumped and you're putting
on your wetsuit, nothing kills the mood quickly when they slap
that waiver in front of you. You're like, what? What is
this? -When we pull over for gas, that's when we find it's
best time to go get some of those snacks. Prevent those
later episodes of hangriness Ney Ney coming in for the win.
-Are you ready to do this? -Yeah, let's do this. Yeah, I I've
never seen one in real life so I'm pretty excited about this.
-Yeah. -Get your wetsuit on. -Arriving to check in, it was
apparent that others didn't know what to expect. Being
surrounded by memorabilia of manatees produced eagerness for
what was to come. Upon obtaining a wetsuit, the
experience got real and so did the anticipation. Even though
the springs maintain a temperature of 72 degrees year
round, the air temperature was not so ideal. We boarded the
bus and took a short drive to the marina where the boat was
waiting for us. The temperature in Crystal River, Florida today
is a high of 60° Fahrenheit and mostly cloudy. We were just
glad it wasn't raining at that point. Looking around, this
marina looked something straight out of a story. Within
the erie morning silence, this marina was common ground to
these birds and other boaters. There is something about being
on a boat that is just so exciting. We were off. Wind
blowing in our ears but what only seemed to be for a few
moments. We were now throttle down and in bare waters. Before
you know it, we were in the water and it took our breath
away. Being down here made us feel so secluded despite being
in a group. You couldn't see more than six feet in front of
you. It was unnerving and at the same time exciting. Out of
nowhere, a gentle giant made its way towards me. The immense
size of this creature was intimidating and made us feel
so small. Incredible. Swimming right underneath us, it was so
exhilarating. These manatees are not afraid of humans but
not going to lie, this human was afraid of them at first.
The craziest part was that these giants could swim right
into you if you didn't move. They have no predators and love
getting up close and personal. When active, they'll surface
for air about every three to five minutes but can last up to
20 minutes while resting. They really do look like floating
potatoes. They can grow up to 10 feet in length and weigh up
to 1000 pounds. If you just relax and float gently, you'll
see them come out of nowhere and swim right past you. They
are similar to our cat Dexter in that they spend most of the
day resting and eating. Crystal River is home to the only
national wildlife refuge in the United States specifically
created to protect manatees in Florida. These manatees migrate
from the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico to Florida
Springs every winter. You can find manatees in Florida all
year but mostly between the months of November to April. We
lasted about one and a half hours in the water before it
got too cold for us. The uncontrollable shaking made it
difficult to enjoy hot chocolate but we were
appreciative nonetheless to just have something warm to sip
on. It's moments like these where despite being frigid to
the core of your body you can't help but lust after more of
what life has to offer. Coming out here changed our lives
forever in an amazing way. Take heed of a life that creates
cherishable memories. A life that brings hope for what is
yet to come. Your life.