The journey begins, Friday, July 12,2013. We finally started packing for real this morning after a busy week with family in town. Dave's parents have been house hunting for a little over a month in the Sarasota/Bradenton area and staying in the Palace de Pardey in Sarasota (thanks so much Lainie and Marshall!!). They have been successful and are showing off the model home to Christy (sis) and Ashlee (niece), who flew in to town Tuesday, today.
The weather forecast seemed a little iffy (thunderstorms likely), in Moorestown, so even though we Pre-registered, the decision to attend still Seemed a little silly. Tis morning, though, final preparations were made, everything (we hope) packed, and we're on the road. The boat has been under refurbishment in MD so it is not behind us, which feels weird. It went to the Homeland with Harry after the Great 48 for some repairs so we have not seen it since then. We may call it the Guinea Pig this week.
Almost exactly 2 hours to the dogsitter's in Orlando. Dropped off the girls with old friend Mia, a small, white dog, and new friend, Sterling, a very sweet golden retriever who enjoys holding hands and being next to you. She even placed a paw on Missy's shoulder for attention. Too cute. Hope Missy doesn't try to eat her. Lexi was busy cleaning up after someone else's breakfast mess to notice new friends. On the road again just in time to experience some noontime Orlando traffic. Mixed in with the traffic is major downpours or the look of one just ahead. the trip through Orlando has us traveling north on 95 on the FL east coast which kind of sucks since that has us closer to the tropical storm offshore. We actually got off lucky with traffic jams considering the weather and were grateful for the traffic feature on the smartphones.
Found a nice state campground in SC, and miraculously it finally stopped raining. It's a smallish state park, but really nice. Very woodsy, lots of dogs, reminding us of the girls. The Edisto River is swiftly running by, good sized sites, electric, clean and mostly bug-free bath houses are pleasant aspects of the park. We were surprised to not have Mosquitos descending all evening. When Kim tried to take pictures in the morning, however, it was a different story! Still, a great stopping point close to I-95 for future trips.
Saturday, July, 13
Awoke to a light rain...it's never far away, some clouds. Able to pack up and said good bye to the friendly Park Ranger by 1000, and pulled into LNYC just before 2:00. Longer (again) than the stated 3 hours that certain electronic devices predict. Everyone seems great! Busy with boat measurement and registration! So many folks helping to make the process run smoothly. With all the land saturated by rain, the parking areas had to be rearranged. Amy and Jeff Linton brought their bikes to make the frequent trips around the cove less taxing and significantly faster. Mark and the Family Taylor, the Hobbs family and us are here to represent Team Tampa.
Dinner with part of the Ryan/Kriedler house gang ended up at the Hickory Tavern. Plans started with Vinnie at his Oyster House, but he apparently got whacked by Eddie, who has evidently taken over, but he hasn't been heard from in a while, either.
More rain expected tonight, as well.
Sunday, July 14
More arrivals and more boat measurement. We needed to finish up, but that required the assist of another vehicle, since the Rv is parked, and pushing the boat from it's assigned spot in the (did we mention mushy?) grass field to the cove would have been difficult. At least we pulled the green list from the measurement lottery (the easiest to measure). Ever-helpful John Wake pulled us around and helped with out boat covers, etc. brief appearance by Ryan at the Rv, looking forward to meeting Stacey! They arrived early this am, probably as Kriedler's crew, Mike, was about to embark on his 20 mi training run, sadly, in on and off rain, which was good from a cooling off standpoint, they may have passed in the driveway. Wake and Kim were not as ambitious but were able to join Mike for a few minutes!
Women's and Junior's NAC events scheduled for today. One came back after breaking the out haul, and another was towed back swamped.
Skipper meeting and welcome party on the slate for Sunday evening, later.
1 comment:
Good Luck this week!!!!
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