Cruisers get-together

From the years that we spent on the water there were many friendships formed with other cruisers that crossed our paths or took the same routes that we did and some of these friendships were very special. We met up again and again down in the Caribbean islands at very tropical beautiful places. What are the chances of meeting up again after we all “swallowed our anchors” (This is it called when you sold your yacht; you don’t actually swallow that darn thing).  So our special friends Linda and Ed that live here in Florida arranged a get-together of old friends and it was a great success.

 

Me, Linda, Nancy, Allayne, Dennis
in the back: Benno & Ed

The location of our meeting at the Ravine Garden State Park in Palatka, FL, was the perfect place that they picked for the rendezvous. The weather cooperated as well and we also got to enjoy the abundant flowering Azaleas throughout the park.

 

While enjoying all the delicious foods that everyone contributed to the table, old sailor’s yarns were spun and we all became a bit nostalgic thinking of the time we lived on our yachts in exotic places. 

 

Perhaps we can repeat that sometime in the future, it would be fun.

 

The drive from our RV Park to the Palatka State Park took us close enough to the Buckman lock on the Cross Florida Barge Canal to allow us a little detour and to swing by to have a look at the same. The canal was intended to connect the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Florida with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, thus a route from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean via a canal across Florida to the St. John River, which by Jacksonville enters the Atlantic Ocean.  The canal project was cancelled some 30 years ago and only 28% of it was built. As far as I could determine when I looked over the fence, it appeared the lock doors were open and this canal section was used for small pleasure boats. However the lock area is also a nice park with picnic tables and restrooms.  

 

Close by were several of the Air Boats parked, which belong to the Park Rangers. They hold a fascination for us, since we do not have those in Canada. A river trip on one of those would probably be a thrilling adventure.

 

We had a nice outing making our stay down here in Florida even nicer. Thanks for dropping by again.

Repair Recovery and Comfort Food

The days are flying by and in a month from now we are already switching back to daylight saving time. That means springtime to me! Just yesterday I admired the newly arrived spring flowers, herbs and young vegetable plants at the local Home Depot here in Florida. Oh do I wish this was already happening back home, but that is at least three months away. L

There was not much going on here at our site in the RV Resort since my last posting. Some days were nice and warm, others just miserable cold and rainy that we hibernated indoors. At those cold days I cooked comfort foods and we dug into our sweets compartment for chocolates and such to lift our spirits. Thank goodness we have no snow here, but our “Nest” cameras at home in Canada showed us on our computers that we have a good 2 feet of snow on our driveway.

 

When we purchased this new travel trailer we had pointed out that the big lower pot drawer in the kitchen was missing the left side grabber catch for the drawer to close properly. The service department at the dealership said they would fix that issue and when we brought the trailer home the drawer was closed and we never even looked at the repair. Well, maybe we should have, because a couple of weeks ago this grabber catch gave out, basically it fell off, as the screws for it had been drilled too close to the wooden edge.  

 

A little repair job was just what Benno needed to get off the couch, so to speak. A trip to Home Depot was called for to get some supplies, a piece of wood and some Gorilla Glue and from Harbor Freight Tools a couple $1.90 clamps to tackle this repair. He did the job and I am certain that the drawer will now not open up on its own while we are traveling and will stay shut. 

 

In other news, last week our Elsa started to moan and groan in the evening. I rubbed her tummy and she seemed to like that. During the night she started to whimper so I took her to bed with me and she settled down. In the morning Benno went to take her for her usual walk, but she didn’t want to go and sat down so that Benno had to carry her back home. She was whining and seemed to be in pain. There was definitely something wrong with her.

 

The prior afternoon I had given both dogs the same dog treat that they like and both ate the same dinner. However, I had noticed that Elsa was quickly finished with her treat and suspected that she had swallowed a large piece of it instead of chewing it slowly like Reggy did and perhaps her digestive system could not handle this chunk.

 

Since Elsa was really hurting I started to call the local Veterinarians and found one that could fit us in the same day and the appointment was for the afternoon.  Of course we were not entirely sure what the problem was with Elsa but she needed help.

 

By midday Elsa seemed to be a bit better and indicated to be let out but she didn’t do her business. We decided to leave early, when we got there we still had some 45 minutes to kill before the vet appointment. The veterinarian hospital was located in an industrial complex with a large green space in front so I took Elsa for a walk. We walked and walked and suddenly she sat down, buckled her back and did her business and it came out in a little burst right there on the lawn. When I picked it up I saw the culprit had come out. What a relief (as much as for her as for us!) Tail wagging Elsa headed for the truck. 

I cancelled the vet appointment and we went home.

 

Thanks for dropping by again.