To Key Largo ~

Monday, 3/16/20 ~ It is easy to forget that Florida is further west than Maryland, and then The Keys extend further westward from below Key Largo.  That results in the sun rises later than back in the Mid-Atlantic – meaning that it is dark longer in the mornings and lighter longer in the evenings. Hence, the sunrise won’t occur until about 7:30. It also means that we forget that easterly winds are not our friend when traveling up the Key’s coastline. Today, they will be from that direction at about 15-20 mph.  . . .wonderful! (said with a lower, depressed voice.

Sunrise ~

         

     By 7, the skies were lightening. We had already quietly coiled the electrical cords, undone the lines, and pushed out from the dock without noise.  Once clear, Pete started the engine and we headed out.  We watched the sunrise once in Hawk Channel.  Just like Saturday, it was a slow, bumpy ride for most of day.

     Bailey had her medication shortly before departure and after an hour pacing and panting, I petted her for another hour until the medication finally settled in.  We also secured her to the pad eye by the companion way to make sure she did not roam and re-aggravate the hips.  It took a while before she realized she only had about 3 feet of area to move around in.  Soon, she settled down and relaxed.

     Pete worked for some of the day and had another conference call.

     Thankfully, the winds lightened to around 10 so we made up a little time, but today’s trip still took 10.5 hours.  Again, we called ahead for a slip assignment as we were arriving after hours. In the protected harbor we had not problems docking. We’ll square up with them in the morning.

     After dinner we watched a little TV and just chilled. Tomorrow will be another long day.

Tuesday, 3/17/20 ~ After walking the dog, Pete walked the 30 minutes to Enterprise. Most of their cars had come in after hours, none had been cleaned. Pete said he didn’t mind a non-detailed car, so they gave him a $10 discount. While he was gone, I got things together for the long day.  I vacuumed the dog’s seat protector, grabbed drinks and snacks, made up bagels for breakfast and grabbed the electronics bag, prepped the cockpit for travel.  I was ready when Pete returned.  As he paid the bill, I set up the dog’s seat protector and moved what we needed to the car.  We were on the road by 9 am.

Some Big Boys arrived in Stock Island ~ And Yup! MV READ HEAD and the Siegels are also here ~

                   First, we headed to Key West to retrieve our car. While at the marina, I picked up the slip to retrieve Bailey’s meds at the Post Office.  Apparently, they could not deliver it until they collected the 50 cents postage due. OK, so we head downtown to the main post office.  Thankfully, pickup and payment were no problem.  We were supposed to go for my next blood test, but I realized when taking my meds this morning, I never took the ones last night.  That definitely will affect my results so I will redo the test next week.  We grabbed a quick bit before leaving Key West then headed with both cars to West Palm Beach.  This way I will be able to do the blood work and get the echo cardiogram done once we arrive at Riviera Beach Marina next week. That is where we will leave the car as we continue north.  We will later shuttle it up to St. Augustine, to Charleston, and then to Maryland.

     Checking Facebook before leaving Key West, we learned that all the bars will close at 5 PM tonight, on St. Paddy’s Day!  Things are getting more intense.  I am glad we are moving the car today.  Unfortunately, we are also reading that some of the marinas are also closing.  Ft. Pierce is one of them.  We will have to be extra vigilant in our days’ travels and check with the marina’s for fuel and water availability.

     Once in West Palm, we refilled both cars before leaving ours at the marina around 4:30.  We stopped at Wawa’s for sandwiches for dinner and continued on down the road.

     It seemed as if many of the crazies were out on the road.  We were passed by a number of cars doing close to 90 mph and one that was doing 110 easily!  Of course, there are also the once that feel the need to slalom.  One tried to come between us and a truck by creating its own new lane between us.  Both Pete and he were able to spread apart to avoid the crazy one and his excessive speed.

     We got back around 9, chilled for about 45 minutes, walked dog and hit the showers!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~  P & K