Good-bye Jacksonville -- We Are On Our Way

October 24 - 29, 2013

Yes, we finally left Jacksonville and are on our way south to Stuart.  Once in Stuart we will make final preparations for our winter trip and wait for Bonnie and Jon to arrive. 
 

Downtown Jacksonville on a beautiful morning.

On Monday, the 21st, we got back to Jacksonville from a two week trip to visit all of our immediate family.  Besides seeing our kids in St Louis and Afton we went to Detroit for Brian's 50th high school reunion, where we stayed with my brother and sister-in-law and visited with their two children and grand kiddies.  The pace was fast, but we had a great time with everyone including a few friends that we met for lunch along the way.

This Navy ship hit the bridge deck in the distance.
The bridge is closed for at least a month for repairs.
Hey, even the pros sometimes miscalculate!

We've seen a lot of cargo ships, but never like this.
Four cranes lifting containers off.  It took just
minutes to unload each one.

I started a diet on July 16th, and in spite of the vacation, I managed to loose the last  3.5 pounds while we were gone.  In just over three months I lost 36.5 pounds!  Now, the hard part -- keeping it off!  Portion control has never been my strong suit.       

There were almost as many adults in costume as
children.  

The anchor is up -- Ready for another beautiful day.

Traveling south we spent our first two nights anchored in quiet bays.  The third night we stopped in Cocoa, a small town that we had visited briefly on our way north last spring.  It has lots of shops, restaurants and a huge old fashioned  hardware that  has something for everyone.  We arrived in time for a Halloween party that took over the entire town.    

It started off with three dolphins swimming towards
us.  Others joined in until we had eight on our bow.
These four were thumping into the boat.  Four more
were just as active on the other side.    

On Sunday morning it seemed that all of God's marine creatures were showing off for us.

We seldom see manatees, but today we saw about
thirty.  I even got a picture of this one.  My shadow
was in the foreground as I took the picture.  That
wasn't planned -- just a lucky shot.  

  

A new variety of jellyfish.
We were surrounded by them.
From the top they looked like hamburger buns.  

      












The next two days we slowed our speed and shortened our days to relax and enjoy more anchorage time.  One night near Melbourne and the other near Ft Pierce.  Tomorrow we arrive in Stuart.   We will stay in Loggerhead Marina for about two weeks.  It is a couple hundred dollars less than Sunset Bay (where we usually stay) for the month and gives us the option of staying in their sister marinas south of Stuart to complete our month's rental fee.  Since we will need to position near Lake Worth, to wait for a weather window -- this should work out well.  You know how it is with plans…. stay tuned for how it really plays out!

Gotta smile -- we're lovin the ride!