Time to move on!

My quick visit home for Christmas to visit my son Brian, his wife Melissa and my grand dog Paisley was so fun.  Paisley got new boots for Christmas!  So stylish!

I was also able to see a couple of friends and spend some time with my nephew Scott and his family!   

I had mixed feelings because it was so good to be home with family but I was missing Ken and our life on the boat.  

I made it back to the boat by 1 p.m. on Christmas day to a temperature of 80 degrees!  Christmas dinner was at a restaurant in Tampa, sitting outside overlooking the water.  It was a beautiful evening for dinner outside and a dinghy ride.   Quite a switch from Christmas in MN!

We left Tampa on Monday morning and traveled only 30 miles to the Manatee River where we anchored out for the night behind DeSoto Point.  It was a beautiful anchorage but as the sun went down, the wind picked up and we spent 8 hours spinning around our anchor and rocking with the waves slapping on the hull.  Needless to say we didn’t get much sleep! 

Today we headed only a short distance to Cortez, FL to the dock of looper friends Jayne and Bob from “Lady Jayne.”  We first met “Lady Jayne” at Green Turtle Bay in September, saw them again at Goose Pond in Alabama and continued to follow them on their blog.  They crossed their wake finishing the Loop in October when they reached their home in Cortez. 

We are docked at their dock in the canal at their condo complex.  We enjoyed a visit at their home, then did some sight seeing around Cortez and Bradenton, enjoying a lovely lunch at the Bradenton Yacht Club.  Bob is a wonderful musician and entertained us with a short medley on his grand piano!  WOW!   

Remember I said we didn’t get much sleep last night.  Well.................after we returned to the boat, we went and sat in the hot tub and enjoyed the swimming pool.  So relaxing!

Tonight will be a very early night!  So nice to be safely tied up at a dock and not spinning, rocking and rolling! 

We will head to Marina Jack’s in Sarasota on Wednesday where we will spend the month of January!

Good night all!  May our bed not rock tonight!