So Close

 We had thought we would be underway again yesterday, but the weather gods had different ideas.  Florida has been experiencing high winds and storms for a few weeks now and we are caught in a slow moving system that is causing small craft warnings to be issued. Argh…. The good news is that the winds are dying down today and the system is moving out, so we should be good to go tomorrow morning.

We have made the most of our forced exile here and taken lots of road trips in our rental car including a trip up to Baltimore to visit Dan and his family. We left Madison in Orlando with Mark and Kerry and just traveled with Dewey, so that was definitely easier. On the way up to Baltimore we spent a day and a half in Myrtle Bleach and on the way back did an overnight in Savannah.  Wow - cannot wait to get back to Savannah! As always, we had a fun-filled visit with Dan and Andrea and got our granddaughter fix!

I had another doctor visit in Gainesville to remove the pins and stitches in my hand and have had a couple of therapy appointments.  I don’t have to go back for another 5 weeks, so we are free to travel and I have a whole bag full of exercises to do on my own to gain range of motion back in my left hand.  It is painfully slow, and painful, but I see small signs of progress every week. I’m still so thankful that it was not worse.  Actually heard about another gal on a loop boat that injured her hand last week.  She tried to fend off a boat that was too close as they passed and ended up with an injury and fractures on her right hand.  Yikes! She is having surgery next week. Boating is not for sissies….

We invited my brother and his wife to do the next leg of the loop with us - through Lake Okeechobee and on to Stuart - and they said yes! Since I’m not able to handle lines and fenders alone yet, it will be such a blessing to have them on board.  We drove down to Naples and picked them up from Julie’s parent’s house and brought them to the boat on Thursday.  We returned our rental car and thought we would leave on Friday, but as I mentioned earlier, we are here till the winds die down, so everyone except me has been riding the electric bikes, we have washed the boat and taken long walks to explore the area. Yesterday we walked over to the Tiki Bar a few blocks from here for some cocktails and appetizers. Welcome aboard Steve and Julie! I also squeezed in a long weekend trip to Nashville to join Kate and Ben’s mom Cindy, for Johanna’s wedding dress shopping. What a wonderful, fun weekend with my girls and Johanna said yes to her dress!! So grateful to be able to have been there for that and to get to spend some quality time with Cindy and get to know her better.

There are 2 North Pacific Yachts here docked next to us, larger than ours and brand new, being wired, fitted with cabinetry and detailed for their new owners and we have become acquainted with the 2 guys doing the work - Greg and Jim.  We just keep making new friends and there are such great people out there.  The guys will be joining us on Orion today for docktails before we part ways - looking forward to it.

Here’s hoping that my next entry will be written from Sarasota….




Comments

Neuj44 said…
Great pics!! 😊
April 12, 2022 at 7:19 AM
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