We left the nice warm Florida weather to head out for family visits. First stop was California to see Rebecca and her new home.
Although she had not yet moved in, she and her wonderful realtor made arrangements for us to see it. We loved it. It is a Spanish design, is located on a hill with a great view and even has a wood burning fire place. Pictures will follow after our next visit.
We spent a total of 10 days, some playing and some working to help her get ready for the move. Playing included Thanksgiving dinner.
We even squeezed in finding her a new to her Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. A highlight of the trip was getting to see Fantastic Beasts at the TCL Chinese theater, formerly known as Grauman's Chinese Theater. The theater was renovated and now has IMAX capability. For more info on this really cool theater click here.
Next stop was Loudonville, OH. We had a great lasagna dinner with the Drouhard relatives and were even able to catch up with our niece Amanda who was in town for deer hunting season. Amanda as usual was the most successful of the hunters bagging a very nice buck. Its cold in Ohio so we kept our visit moving! On to Olmsted Falls to see Terri and Scott in their new home (which is right next door to daughter Stephanie). Had a great lunch with Stephanie, Terri, Scott, Julie and Jim. Then it was on to Cleveland. I had a very bad cold/flu so we stayed in a motel trying not to spread the disease. After a couple doctor's appointments for Linda it was on to Washington D.C. to visit with Matt and Wendy. Linda ended up coming down with the virus so vowing to never fly in the winter again we headed back to warm and sunny Florida.
We were never so happy to see our boat again. We did take the opportunity to visit the Manatee center while we were waiting for good weather. The park was small but fun and very enjoyable.
After several days recuperating and waiting for calm winds we were finally ready to leave for the final leg of the journey to Banana Bay. The weather could not have been any better. The first day we picked up fuel in Fort Myers and then spent a quiet night on a mooring ball at Fort Myers Beach. We woke up to a little fog but the good news is fog means no wind.
We need to travel on the unprotected waters of the Gulf for this part of the trip so the lack of wind was very appreciated. The fog soon cleared and we had a very pleasant day cruising to Marco Island. We anchored fairly far out from shore because the weather was perfect, including a beautiful sunset and almost full moon. We listened to the dolphins breathing as they circled our boat!
The next day was again calm and wonderful. We traveled in open water with the boat barely rocking. It was so nice we would have liked to go all the way to Banana Bay but we didn't have enough daylight. We again anchored in open water as we knew the weather would continue to be calm. We woke up at sunrise and headed the last 44 miles to Banana Bay. Home at last! Back to paradise. We are truly fortunate.
No comments:
Post a Comment