Day 69, "on the loop", 12/16/2022

Oh my goodness! We have had such a great time since our last post. It all started with a carpet cleaning, several friend visits (Arbella, looper friend / Shinneman's / Stickrod's / Morgan's and Howards).

On Friday, December 2nd, we had our boat carpet's cleaned. Who knew there were services that could handle this task! Steam Boss (Bill) was great. He came out, spent 3 hours with hand tools (to prevent pulling carpet away from wood & other type floor coverings). Bill explained the process as well as the type of solution his company uses to prevent foaming. Overall we are amazed by the outcome. Joel provided a review on Steam Boss, we hope other people find the information useful and use them should they choose to do so.

Picture 1 & 3: - before pictures of Carpet

Picture 2: - Carpet cleaner equipment

Picture 4: picture after Carpet was cleaned

Arabella (Karen & Capal), loopers we met in Paris, TN, again in Iuka, MS and now in Clearwater, FL met for dinner in Clearwater. We were eager to hear their Gulf Crossing story. After hearing from us and other loopers, they decided to make their gulf crossing during the day which can be done with multiple stops. It was great to catch up and hear about their travels. We plan to see them again over Christmas and then in the Florida keys. Side note: Karen & Capal are from Sandy Springs, GA. (not too far from my home town).

Saturday, December 3rd, Dunedin held their annual Christmas Flotilla (a boat parade). We enjoyed seeing the colorful boats and listening to Christmas music. I will say, being in this sunny, warm weather ... it doesn't seem like Christmas.

During the afternoon, we went to a Blue's Festival at Honeymoon Island. The music and crowd was great. On the bike ride back, I had a little fall. See picture of the bruise below. Nope, I was NOT drinking, the front wheel of my bike hit a "thick patch of sand" and I was breaking to turn, when the front wheel slipped out from under me! After the fall, we did stop at a road side bar that had really cool water front seating with unique tables & chairs. We are only 69 days in, we have both been hurt, hopefully Joel and I survive this trip!

Picture 1 - the bruise (after my bike fall)

Picture 2 - 4 - beachside bar w/different styles of seating

Sunday, December 4th, Jason, Trisha and Chloe Shinneman drove up from Plant City, FL to visit with us.

Chloe has grown up fast! She is beautiful. We missed Zachary who is off doing some really cool military stuff. Our thoughts and prayers are with him as he navigates this military career path! Jonathan and Zachary are close in age and when they were smaller, we had several outings, vacations and just fun times. We tried to figure out when the last time we saw each other and think it's probably around 10 years, but it was just like we have never been apart.

After providing the 1 minute boat tour, catching up and having an amazing lunch (Thank you guys for the great lunch), we had to say goodbye; but, we are hopeful to see them again when we are on the Atlantic side of Florida.

Monday, December 5th, Allison and Randy Stickrod drove a few hours to see us (Thank you so much for making the LONG drive). We have known Allison for a while now and had met Randy only once. Was good to catch up and get to know Randy a bit more. We had lunch at Ozona Grilling, a marina that is near by with a nice atmosphere.

They are living their best life in the RV world. We compared notes and similarities of our trip(s). We discussed how our experiences are similar; we just call it out differently: For instance, we loopers call our home in Missouri "dirt home" and the RV community call theirs "sticks & bricks". When we loopers (boaters) dock in canals (not at a marina), we call it "on the hook" and the RV community call it "boon docking".

Randy and Allison are having as much fun as we are! While at lunch, Randy asked the waiter to select his lunch between the Grouper or Mahi Mahi. I think the waiter selected the Mahi Mahi for Randy. Randy said it was delish! Apparently, this is something he does regularly and said he has had some of the best meals by doing this. Some chefs have even created "dishes" for him to try.

Allison and Randy both drive their HUGE truck that pulls their RV. I am extremely impressed that Allison (w/ Randy's guidance) can back the RV into the RV spot(s). When we returned from lunch, Allison and Randy met our friends Ron Morgan & Jane Ruby. We chatted a bit prior to the Stickrod's making the long drive back! Thanks again for coming, hope to see you again, soon! I wish we had of taken more pictures!

As mentioned above, Jane and Ron came to Dunedin for the night. We went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers / New Orleans Saints football game. We were all rooting for the Saints and really thought the Saints were going to pull off the win. Joel suggested we leave since there were only about 8 minutes left in the game (and Saints were winning). In true Brady fashion, he pulled off the win. I think Joel was secretly rooting for Buccaneers (Patriot die hard fan).

We had great seats! Thank you, Jane & Ron. We returned back to the boat for a sleep over.

Tuesday, December 6th - Thursday, December 8th

We rented a car and drove to Orlando. Jane and Ron hosted us at Sea World on Wednesday, The park was decorated for Christmas and wasn't crowded. We saw the Whale / Dolphin / Sea Lion & Otter shows. We had lunch and couldn't close out the night without a few drinks! We were there after the sun set to see the Christmas lights and hear the wonderful Christmas music. Jane and Ron even had a few tunes of their own (LOL).

We shopped around in WinterPark, had lunch and did some light shopping. Even had a Bloody Mary, it was the bartender's recipe, not thick with a light (refreshing) finish.

We had a nice lunch at a Thai restaurant. It was yummy!

As we were window shopping, Jane and I were approached by a skin care consultant that insisted we try their eye cream. Once we tried this "stem cell" treatment we were loving it. Seriously, we felt a bit of a change and even saw a slight brightness to the area around our eyes. We could also tell the consultant used the product; however, it appeared he used it on one eye more often than the other.

The consultant was doing his best to sell this product and we thought about purchasing until we learned the cost was $1500.00 (yes, I said: fifteen hundred). Jane and I discussed would we use the product daily as recommended, which we didn't think we would. We also thought about our consultant's eyes and how they looked uneven AND certainly didn't want that to happen to us (have a lopsided look).

Jane thought we had an escape plan, she asked the consultant if we could show our husbands who were waiting outside. At this point, we would RUN! The consultant's counterpart, heard the conversation and went to get Joel and Ron for their feedback (and probably try to talk them into the purchase). BIG MISTAKE... As Ron and Joel walked in, Jane and I knew this would end soon. The consultant advised, he would take care of the men (we chuckled at that, take care of our men - LOL). After 20 minutes of this eye treatment, Ron nor Joel were not having any part of it! They said it was "Time to Go".

I think Joel and Ron like us just the way we are when it comes to $1500 (on make up). At the end of the day, we were thankful that our men, saved us AGAIN! No pictures of our eyes!

We played cards a couple of evenings: 99's and another game... I think it was called Shithead. Both games were fun! A lot of laughing took place!

Some pictures of our time with the Morgan's:

Friday, December 8th, The Morgan's headed back to St. Louis and we headed to Punta Gorda to meet Jim and Julie (sister and brother-in-law). They have a beautiful house (4 bedrooms and pool). We stayed there until Sunday, December 11th. They rent it out (if anyone is interested), it is a new build and everything is super nice! The pool is beautiful with a speckled bottom. Did I mention the pool is heated? If you are interested in this area (and their property), let us know, we can connect you with Jim or Julie. They have it rented for January!

Jim and Julie showed us around Punta Gorda and Cape Coral. We really liked Burnt Store Marina in the Cape Coral area.

Our last night with Jim and Julie, we wanted to see a nice sunset. We went to Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda, FL. Found a spot to sit on the beautiful, white sandy beaches. We witnessed an engagement and saw the sun set. Wrapped up the evening w/ dinner before returning back to Jim & Julie's house.

Julie and Jim headed back to New Hampshire where the weather was not so warm. It was a cloudy day for us in Dunedin, overcast and chilly (we could still wear shorts though :-)

We returned back to the boat and received a surprise! My brother and sister-in-law (Brian & Chauntiel) sent us this great pillow. I love it and will have it nearby on the couch! Thank you!

Our car rental was not due back until Monday, December 12th, so we decided to take advantage of having a car. We picked up some oil for the next "boat" oil change. Note: Joel changes the oil every 100 hours. We also drove into Tarpon Springs for some Greek food at Hella's Restaurant & Bakery. Thank you Debbie Watkins for the recommendation. We took the car back on Monday and returned back to the boat via Uber.

Monday, December 12th - Friday, December 16th - This past week was uneventful, mainly took care of various things to prepare for Christmas, Jonathan's visit and our departure date (12/20). Made arrangements via phone for marinas from Dunedin to the Keys.

Thursday (12/15), had some storms and confined to the boat the majority of the day. Not a lot to do and not much room to move around. The storm (thunder and lightening) lasted an hour or so; however, the rain was all day. The temperature dropped to the mid 60's and will remain until we depart on 12/20.

It's hard to believe we have already been in Dunedin for a month! We have enjoyed our time here, the produce markets, the adorable little towns, the boutiques and bike paths are amazing! The people are friendly, it is so easy to get around. We will definitely miss this place.

                          Shout Outs:
December 3rd:  Mary Katherine, my niece, gave birth to a 8lb 4 oz baby girl, Presley James - Congratulations!

December 4th: Happy Birthday to Jim Howard!

December 7th:  Remembering Pearl Harbor (1941), 81 years

December 9th:  Happy Birthday, Amanda Preis, Happy Birthday, hope you had a great day and hope you had the best dessert EVER! 

December 10th: My brother, Brian and his wife Chauntiel celebrate 33 years. Congratulations and wishing you many more!

December 13th:  Happy Birthday, Kellye Heise... see you in the Keys soon!  We will celebrate then. 

December 15th:  Happy Birthday, Kim Cole Klein -  Hope it was a great day and you were spoiled by your family and friends.                                               

Fun (and probably useless) information:

Rum runners: Originally were people who traveled by sea to get alcohol, bring it to America, and get it across the line of Prohibition. One of the most infamous rum runners was Bill McCoy. Captain Bill McCoy was one of the first rum runners to start up the business of smuggling rum in from Bimini and the Bahamas.

Bootleg Alcohol: The practice of moving bootleg alcohol didn't start with Prohibition. In fact, the practice of alcohol smuggling is said to have started around the U.S. Civil War. Note: There are still some alcohols that aren't legal everywhere, there is still a market for those rare bootlegged products.

• 1941 Ford Deluxe Sedan was the vehicle of choice (for Rum runners). These cars were not flashy, no chrome pipes or loud mufflers. Plain and dark color cars were the norm to prevent attention to the cars.

Nesting Owls or Burrowing Owls: Endangered species. Julie and Jim live near a nesting site for owls (not by choice). When builders find these nest, they are no allowed to build houses until the owls migrate to another location. These nest are to be left untouched.

Burrowing Owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural ares, deserts, or any other open, dry area with low vegetation. The nest in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs. Unlike most owls, these type of owls (burrowing) are active during the day.

Jonathan joins us on December 19th, here in Dunedin and will make the next leg with us! Super excited to see and share some of this experience with him.

I plan to do another blog or two prior to Christmas; however, just in case I don't, I hope you have a safe and healthy Christmas! My prayer for you, God's blessing for a meaningful holiday season with time with family, friends and great memories.