February 18, 2014  Day 96  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

The best laid plans… as Dr. Seuss says (and we seem to be needing this quote again…)

“I’m sorry to say so but sadly it’s true that bang ups and hang ups can happen to you.”

We are more than overdue in updating the blog but with a good excuse.  Four days after our last post in January, Bill had a heart attack.  An emergency heart cath revealed two blocked arteries and Bill is now the owner of two stents.  He received excellent care at nearby St. Vincent’s Hospital and he is doing very well.  This was the first 911 call we have ever made and the response was immediate. We were grateful to be onboard the boat while we were docked, and not anchored out somewhere!

Then, in early February we drove to Virginia to attend the memorial service of our dear sister-in-law, Gennie Craig, who lost a courageous battle with cancer.  We miss her terribly!  We were in Virginia for almost two weeks, and Bill arranged appointments with our family doctor and also a cardiologist for follow-up care.  He had medications adjusted and is feeling great! We stayed with friends in Newport News an in Williamsburg while we were there and are so grateful for their hospitality.

It looks like we will remain at Ortega Landing until May.  Joyce’s surgery has been delayed until mid-March. In the meantime we have projects to keep us busy!  We also look forward to seeing Looper friends arrive on their boats as they began their journey north this spring!  We are enjoying the 70 degrees temperatures this week, knowing all too well what our families in the north and midwest are experiencing.

January 13, 2014  Day 60  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

The best laid plans… as Dr. Seuss says (and we have used this quote previously…)

“I’m sorry to say so but sadly it’s true that bang ups and hang ups can happen to you.”

We are just now updating our blog after a month’s delay.  We had a fabulous trip over the holidays visiting our family. It would only have been better if our son-in-law were with us and not overseas. But even then we did face time with him Christmas morning so he could watch the children open their gifts.  We spent a whole week in Texas with our daughter and four grandchildren, ages, 5, 7, 9, and 11! We welcomed in the New Year with Bill’s brother and family in Baton Rouge and had a wonderful time with them, including a visit to a WWII Museum and to a plantation.

We returned to Jacksonville on January 2 as planned and then started thinking about our journey south for the winter, including destinations along the way, and projects to do in the meantime.

And now it is January 13 and although our departure date was set for tomorrow, we will not be going any farther south this year.  We will stay here until sometime in April as Joyce will have surgery (probably in February). The recovery comes with a “no lifting more than 5 pounds” for six weeks, so we have decided that line and fender handling would not be a good thing.  We feel good about the decision to have the surgery here at the Mayo Clinic rather than be somewhere where options are not as good. It is also too soon to take Carried Away back to Virginia. 

In the meantime we are meeting lots of boaters who are also staying here for the winter. The marina has a beautiful clubhouse, hosts many activities, and has free laundry, a pool, etc.  We are happy here but will be even happier when warmer weather becomes constant.  We have seen quite a range of temperatures!

We will update the blog from time to time!  We are having overnight guests this week. (Gold Loopers Ricki and Carl (Quest) are arriving by car on Thursday, and we look forward to their visit!

December 17, 2013  Day 33  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

Today was spent cleaning the exterior of the boat, vacuuming, doing laundry, and packing for our trip to Louisiana and Texas.  We will leave in the morning and drive to Baton Rouge and spend a few days visiting family (Bill’s brother and our sister-in-law and their children and grandchildren!) and then drive to Texas to spend Christmas with our daughter and our four grandchildren.  We will stay a week and enjoy being with them!  Then back to Baton Rouge to spend a few more days including New Years!

We will return to Jacksonville and to Carried Away on January 2. We will not update the blog during our absence, but we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

December 16, 2013  Day 32  South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

Just a quick note tonight.  We did get some things accomplished today. Joyce made a few calls this morning to get a rental car.  She had to deal with sticker shock as rates seem to have escalated during the holidays!  We will pick up the car tomorrow for our trip to Louisiana and Texas.

We walked to the shopping area after lunch and got all our tasks done:  we both got overdue haircuts; we mailed Christmas packages at the UPS Store; and we bought the baby gift for our new grandniece.  (Glad we can deliver it in person in a few days!)

We had dinner on board and had a quiet evening.  Tomorrow we will finish the cleaning and pack for our trip.

 

December 15, 2013  Day 31 South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

Today was a “stay on the boat” type of day. The rain that was forecast arrived last night and we only had a few light showers this morning.  However, we still only managed to do a few “light” things.

Joyce finished wrapping the last two gifts, addressed the Christmas cards, did several loads of laundry, cooked dinner, read, and continued the “lists” required to be ready for our trip on Wednesday.  Bill researched and studied wifi boosters and routers much of the day.

We have much to do tomorrow including cleaning the exterior of the boat, running errands, get haircuts, etc.

December 14, 2013  Day 30 South for the Winter

The Marina at Ortega Landing
Jacksonville, FL

At last, we are here for a month! We left the dock at Jacksonville Landing before lunch and made the six mile trip here in less than an hour.  It is so good to be here at the Marina at Ortega Landing. It is a beautiful marina with great facilities.  After we got checked in Joyce walked to Publix for a few groceries.  It is in a large shopping center that we will have to go back to on Monday and check some of the other stores!  It is so good to have this within walking distance.

We attended the marina’s Christmas party tonight which included a catered dinner and live entertainment.  We did not expect to know anyone when we arrived but we recognized Gold Loopers, Jack, Denise, and their 5 year old daughter Beatrice.  They are from Brazil and we first met them at Joe Wheeler last fall.  We enjoyed talking with them again!

We have rain forecast tomorrow so we will get some indoor chores done.  We plan to rent a car and leave Wednesday and drive to Louisiana and Texas to visit family for Christmas. We will be back on Carried Away the first week of January. 

December 13, 2013   Day 29  South for the winter

 

Jacksonville Landing

Jacksonville, FL

We got an early start and left St. Mary’s at 7:25 to maximize the tide we would encounter in shallow areas.  We had a good travel day but were surprised to see so few other boaters out today.  It was a beautiful Friday! 

We passed Fernandina Beach at 8:30 but could not stop. We were there last year and found it to be a wonderful town and will have to stop again next spring! 

The approach to Jacksonville on the St. John’s River is lined with shipyards and loading docks.  We watched container ships being loaded with the help of large cranes. We arrived in Jacksonville Landing at 2:15 and got ourselves tied up to the free wall. There is no one here to help but we managed fine by ourselves.

We walked around the Landing which has an outdoor amphitheater/ courtyard and many restaurants and shops. We decided to have pizza and sat outside enjoying the warm weather and a terrific Chicago style pizza.  We dropped off the leftovers on the boat and went back to the amphitheater to look at the Christmas tree filled with over 78,000 LED lights that are coordinated with music.  It is quite a sight!  Then we realized that live performances were scheduled! So for three hours we watched school children and one church group perform Christmas songs and dance!  It was quite a treat and we were glad we stayed!  

The beautiful tree at Jacksonville Landing

We will leave the Landing tomorrow morning and go to the Marina at Ortega Landing. It is on the St. John’s River about 6 miles from here. Carried Away will be there a month.