Voyage 2022: Chapter 2

2 Jul 2022, Annual Reunion at Marco, 25 55.212 N/ 081 43.722 W

Second long solo drive without the cat. Stopped in Orlando to see my oldest buddy, Harry and his wife, Sheila, but not before getting hopelessly lost as I didn't have my EZ Pass. But that is another story. On 25 June, I drove over the Marco. In previous years, our excitement would spike on each of our 30+ yearly crossing of the bridge. I was glad to be here, but sad that I was without her. The kids and g-kids were a great help in keeping my spirits high. On Sunday, I went to San Marco's Church, as we always did in the past. That was our way of starting the week. Then I headed down to the beach. I was the only Todd on the beach. Hmmm. So I did a selfie sitting on one of Paul's chairs under Paul's umbrella. Slowly, the rest of the Todds came wandering down. Chris and Logan surprised me on their rare morning appearance; they are normally pool folk in the morning; and now Collin and Jaime. The Richmond Todds made their appearances later in the day. We needed two boats for an airboat excursion in the 10,000 Islands mangrove forests. It was an exciting ride with birds, alligators, and mosquitos. Later in the week, we went on a fishing trip with Capt. Jeff. It was a much better ride than last year. We all caught something, plus Collin was fighting with his barracuda. Marco Island is a significant nesting sight for sea turtles. We have the 'turtle lady' who patrols the beaches for turtle tracks and evidence of new nests.If the nest is active, she places caution tape around it and warning placards.I actually met the turtle lady. Actually, she is a new turtle person. The original turtle lady retired a few years back. I dragged a few of the kids to one of our favorite places, which is in Goodlands. The Crabby Lady is a local dive with ambiance of Marco island's past. Collin and Jamie had beers (so did I) and Lilli had a soda pop. Everything was great except the wait time. Thy warned us and we were good with that. Sunsets on the Gulf are always something to wait for. We had a great light show in the middle of the night with sound effects and bright flashes of light. One of the better one I have heard. On the way back home, I stopped in Beaufort, SC to visit our cruising buddies, JW and Jinny of SV Over Budget. We sailed separately to Nova Scotia and back, but had a great time together in Shelburne and Lunenburg; and driving to the Bras d'Or region up to Sydney and back. Had a great time talking about the Girl and missing her. Arrived in Wilmington, NC in mid-afternoon on the 4th of July.

29 Jul 2022, Visit to Barbobasea, 42 09.061 N/ 079 04.246 W

Now its time for the cat and me to complete our family and friends tour in the Jetta. This time we head for upstate New York to visit Barb and Bob, formerly of SV Barbobasea. When their cruising days were over, they moved into a peaceful community in the Lake area of Florida. They lived there many years and we visited them most years on our trip to Marco. A couple of years ago, they moved to Kennedy, New York to be close to family. Last year we visited them in the RV. This year, I am staying with them and Mattie is staying with me. They live with her son on Grubb Hill Road in the hamlet of Kennedy, where the son raises chickens and rabbits and grows/sells hay to the community.

Bob and Barb get up around 1000 and I usually go to bed at 2200 which gives good overlap but time to ourselves also. Early some mornings, I would go to Burger King in nearby Falconer then walk around the town, explore the parks, and go to early church at Our Lady of Loreto. At the town park, they have hiking trails, picnic area, ball field and a playground. Logan likes playgrounds, so I am becoming somewhat of a student of playgrounds. We drove up to Erie to do some shopping at the closest Sam's Club. I noticed their trade-mark rotisserie chicken. Seventeen years ago, they were $4.98; today they are $4.98. How can this be while the world is experiencing nearly double-digit inflation? Afterwards, we went to a popular restaurant in the town of Chautauqua, NY. When lounging around the farm, our talk would inevitably focus on Miss Ann. They were very close to her. Time to go. I got up at first light, accidentally took a long cut back home, and arrived home 7 hours later. Home does not seem as lonely.