ssloop: Ft Lauderdale-Michigan-Ft Lauderdale

On Tuesday morning, Reg & Vicki went on a supplies run while we walked over to see Captain Dan and Toni on Freedom. (The 151 ft yacht we met in Orange Beach is now in Ft Lauderdale) Dan & Toni gave us some great advice on what to expect while cruising up the East Coast. By noon we pulled the lines and headed out. Our destination was Brian Keenan's house only a couple of miles away. Brian is the owner of Keenan Marina, our home marina in Grand Haven. Brian has offered to let us dock by his home. We had a great afternoon enjoying his lovely pool.

From here we took a side trip home to Michigan! We decided it would be great to go home to visit our moms (Sheli's mom was celebrating a birthday) and get taxes taken care of. Wednesday morning, Brian took the 4 of us to the airport as Reg & Vicki were returning back to Michigan also. It was sad to bid Reg & Vicki farewell as they were an awesome crew. We shared many laughs and adventures over the past 10 days.

It was great to be home for a few days, and the weather wasn't too bad! We had sunshine and mid 40 degree weather. (Not the 80s like we are used to, but we couldn't complain for Michigan.) Sheli and her mom spent lots of time together catching up and running errands. Steve visited his shop, spent time with his mom, worked on taxes and took care of boat and car registrations. On Thursday night we went to Rod & Jill's house for mom's birthday dinner. Yum! On Saturday Sheli had coffee with Deb Deters while Steve met Paul Takken as his shop for Saturday morning project time. In the afternoon we went to visit our dear friends Nelson and Karen Dupy. On Sunday Steve attended Woodhaven where he enjoyed seeing so many our church friends. Sheli stayed home to nurse a cold she caught on the plane. (Bummer!) We had a yummy home cooked Sunday dinner with Steve's family in the afternoon. It was great to see everyone and share stories from our adventure so far.

Monday morning we flew back to Ft Lauderdale and back to our home on the Pura Vida. Our personal chauffeur, Brian Keenan was there to pick us up at the airport. Such service! We were very happy to be back!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we spent provisioning, doing boat maintenance (oil changes, etc) and touring Ft Lauderdale's fabulous homes and mega yachts by dinghy. Wow! Hey Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore!

From here we will head north on the Intracoastal waterways of Florida. We are looking forward to joining back up with the other Loopers. Since the Panhandle of Florida, we have all gone our separate ways, but now we should meet again as we begin our trek up the East Coast.

Wow!