I have been in Florida for 4 weeks and have several more weeks to go in the balmy weather. Sally and I drove to Florida with a stop over in Mobile, AL to see friends Jean and David Dorris. We were in Orlando for 5 days then went to Satellite Beach FL to visit Brenda and Dave Johnson at their new condo. I had noticed a "clicking" sound from the engine that got severe as we drove to Satellite Beach so I took the car to the Buick dealer to get checked out. The car wasn't making any noises, so I drove 30 miles to try to replicate the noise from the evening before. Finally when stopped and in gear it made a few clicks. They diagnosed a cracked flywheel. The dealer had one in stock and was able to replace it within 26 hours!
We then visited with Barb and Jan Moore in Port St Lucie and then picked my mom up at Uncle Woody's and Aunt Shirley's in Ft Lauderdale. Next stop Key Largo. Sally headed home to take care of paperwork and taxes while I went to the Miami Boat Show for 3 full days.
Two Garmin GPS chart plotters and a new Garmin radar unit were purchased along with a dozen other smaller items. I also purchased a number of items at the Rotary Nautical Flea Market at Founders Park here in the Keys.
Loopers Pat and John Pitney, cousins to Dr Phil Pitney, have been in the area and we've had the opportunity to catch up on their adventures. They leave Key Largo tomorrow for Miami which is their jumping off point for several weeks in the Bahamas before they resume their nor
Tomorrow, I'll be getting my newest, old boat, a 10' 2002 Nautica inflatable boat with 15 hp motor. This will be our new dinghy.
Sally will be flying back to south FL March 11. We'll get mom back to Uncle Woody's and head north for a few Cardinals spring training games in Jupiter on the way home.
Much remains to be done before we shove off but there is no need to stress about things. While we have a target departure date of June 1, 2013, we'll go when we are ready!
