Settling in

It has been a few weeks now since I arrived in Florida as a retired guy. The two weeks were kind of weird actually. It took me a while before I could feel like I was a co-owner of this vessel again. Every day I would do a little bit of boat work, either organizing, or cleaning something. Eventually I dug into a project, and now it's starting to feel like I belong. Strange eh?  I think I may have been away too long. What do you think Deb?

Maybe we need to go sailing to become one with her again.

After the drive down, the family all got together for a change and hung out. We hiked a few trails, went out to eat, and messed around in the boat a bit. Kelly and Eric flew back to NY, Nicole and Jonathan drove back to Savannah, Mom and Chuck drove back to Ocala, and Deb and I started our daily routine. Well, Deb has a routine. I tend to pull myself out of bed when she does so that we stay in sync. On a boat, it's nice to go to bed and rise at the same time, mostly because you have to when cruising. We want to keep this habit of rise and shine togetherness, even though we tend to get in each others way. Amazing how small a 44 footer can get.

It was great having everyone together again, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It's going to be fun down here, and I'm looking forward to some tropical weather real soon.

Trying to get Mo to climb a tree. This was before any beers.

Welcome to Florida.  There are crazy people everywhere. Some are related.

Some beach time before they go back north to freeze

C'mon Deb

I'm not in Rochester anymore

What was Kelly's fortune? You are going to a land of ice and snow...

No sign of anyone in tights and a cape. Maybe in Miami.

One of the nice things about our current location is the fact you can get around easily on your bike. We have access to groceries, hardware, beach, etc. by bicycle. As you may know from previous posts, Debra's bike was stolen from our garage in Rochester. Her bike weighed a ton, and looked like Pee Wee Herman drove it, so I was not sad to see it go. My bike was still on the boat rusting away, while I was up north, so when I got down here we were basically reliant on our cars. My bike was repairable with new tires and some rust inhibitor and grease, but Deb needed a new ride. We hit up a local bike shop and before you know it Deb was out the door with a bright greenish lightweight aluminum, kind of freaky looking bike. Supposedly they have been tested in 500 hrs of salt spray with no rust. We shall see.

My bike is a Murray mountain bike from about 1979. I think I bought it at Kmart after I landed a good job in Roc . Go ahead, laugh all you bike snobs, but this thing is still going strong. Made in North Carolina too! Not sure I'll take it on the rough trails though. There is some rust in key places that might prove painful should she fail at that point. I give it another year in this environment.

We have some awesome park trails down here, and we intend to ride them all. Deb will probably stick to the flat level trails, and the beach while I try to kiss a tree or two.

Cheers!
P