I Have a pillow that says "Makes no difference where I roam, where there's water I am home". I guess that might explain the recent house purchase ??…..more on that later!
We left Michigan after the "Claus" family get-together on Saturday, Dec 23, drove a few hours and spent the night in Ohio.....then the next day we drove until south Georgia and decided that even though, time wise, we could have made it to Jacksonville, we did not want to arrive late in evening and begin the quest to put the boat back to "normal". It is kind of like opening up a cottage in the Spring....cleaning, organizing, plus the engine issues....so we held up in Savanah area and drove the last 4 hours the next morning, arriving on Christmas Eve day. It wasn't as "bad" as I expected, mostly dust underneath. We had hired cleaners to do the outside and the back porch area, and were very grateful for that as we had plenty to do without cleaning the areas that were exposed all summer and fall. I got to work unpacking bedroom, making bed, unpacking STUFF from Michigan and loading up all kinds of other STUFF that we haven't used (yes, even some left after the big purge last spring!) We decided to drive our own SUV vs renting a car to get here....and what a great decision that was as we now have the back end packed with STUFF to go back up north "next time". We will leave the car parked in the marina lot while we are cruising the Bahamas. A boater in the laundry told me that some cars had been broken into over the summer but now they have night time security.....I laughed and told Bob, wouldn't they be disappointed in our load if they were looking for anything valuable! (the boater told me they took the time to go thru her CD's in her car and pick the ones they wanted and they didn't take too many!!) I could picture the thieves opening our boxes of clothes and discarded crock pots (I got an instant pot for Christmas!) and being very surprised at what WE call valuable!! And they sure wouldn't want the winter clothes that are stored in there either! According to the tv weather, this is unseasonable warm and will be for a few more weeks!!
Bob moved ALL the items we had stored down below out of the cabin and I went to work making that area look inviting. As expected, the work went on and on. A fellow boater across the dock invited us over for dinner and we spent Christmas eve visiting with new friends. That is probably one of the biggest pluses of living on a boat.....the great people who are in "the same boat"! (pun intended) and are always ready to share or to help. Another "new friend" helped Bob lug our new convection microwave up onto LeReve….we knew this replacement had to take place as every time we tried to convection bake (like ALL the other boaters do....) mine would shut down and leave me "half baked!" (another intended pun) Thanks to Amazon Prime....the replacement was delivered in 2 days!...I said to Capt Bob, "gotta love the 90's" and he explained I was 20 years behind! Can't believe it will be 2019 soon!
We will stay at Ortega Landing Marina for a few more days. This IS the nicest marina this side of Florida, as far as we are concerned, and have decided to make it our "permanent seasonal slip"...meaning we will come and go from here for at least another season. We do, however, need to move up the river to a working marina, where they can pull LeReve out and drill a hole in the hull for our "discharge line" that we have decided to install as we plan to be in the Bahamas for a few months and, as mentioned before,....that crystal clear, beautiful water...apparently comes from letting boats discharge their waste overboard!! go figure!.....and therefore very few marinas have pump outs available. Maybe that's why the fish are so colorful???!!!@@ hmmmmm. sure there is more to it than my mind can handle. We thought we might be left behind by our friends who are planning to cross with us....but seems they have just as much work and repairs to get ready to go (after their boat has sat vacant for 6+ months also) as we have. In addition, we need to get a good day to cross also and one is not predicted as of yet..... That gives me time to "provision up" on the things we found so expensive over there last year.....PEPSI, WINE,...good thing I made more room under the dinette cushions for "storage!"
P.S. House purchase: our "oh so valuable" STUFF that we had been storing in 3 storage pods in Colorado, now have a new home!....Our furniture, along with countless boxes that had been stored in an outbuilding on Bob's moms property....have now been moved to 269 North 5th Street, Rogers City, MI....not to be confused with my moms house at 256 North 6th Street (I couldn't get much closer!!) just across the alley, VERY convenient!....BOB fell in love with small town Rogers City living this summer, and all the things that drove me away as an 18 year old, now drew me "home".....We decided it was more economical (storage pods kept increasing in rent, we never planned to loop longer than 18 months or so...but are loving the boat life, duh!) and found a "cute" old house on a street not far from the beach. Bob can ride his bike around town, and loves that "everyone knows his name".....(ONCE he tells them he is related to Betty and Marv Claus!!) and it seems that lots of my classmates who are there, apparently remember me! Go figure! We never in a million years, thought we would end up in Rogers City as retirees.....but our PLANS are to summer there (LOTS of projects for Bob to work on) and winter on the boat in Florida waters. In the future, we will complete the loop....then hopefully come back to Ortega Landings for a few seasons.....like we all know, OUR PLANS can change......so we will just follow the Lord's lead on this one....(I'm learning!....one day at a time....) So Grateful to Be Back!! It will be a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
