Leaving the Keys we made a very spontaneous decision to join Emily and her husband, Steve, on a week long cruise to the southern Caribbean ports...yet keeping this a secret from Steve until the last minute. The ship was leaving from Tampa and we were headed that way with a great chance to spend time together and make up for the week they were unable to join us for Thanksgiving in the Keys.
November 28th we put the motorhome in storage at Kozy Kampground and found boarding for Foster near Worth, Fl. But first we had to add a little stress added to our lives. We moved the RV into the park for storage and decided to catch a wonderful happy hour along the Inter coastal to celebrate the upcoming trip. But, just as we were ordering apps at the restaurant we got a phone call that water was flowing out of our motorhome back at the park. The stress level rocketed to the top as we raced back to discover Paul had left water running into the toilet (to do a super cleaning) and he'd forgotten he'd left it all on...oops!
The area around us was flooded.
Inside the motorhome was flooded. But Foster was fine, Pk pulled up the wood flooring, we wiped and wiped the water up and realized it wasn't half as bad as we'd thought it would be. So, we finished packing, slept well and drove to Tampa the next morning.
We arrived in Tampa Saturday evening and stayed the night at the Hyatt Hotel near the airport using their park and cruise package. We were on the ship Sunday morning by 10:30. A bright beautiful Tampa Bay day and the Norwegian Sun sitting in the harbor.
It was finally time to let Steve know we were joining them for the week's holiday, so after a quick bon voyage phone call to him, we came around the pool deck and totally surprised him where he and Em were enjoying a bottle of champagne.
Once he got over the shock, we joined them and laughed off and on till the bottle was empty.
Sail away photos at 4 PM.
Sunset as we sailed out of the harbor.
First stop: Roatan, Honduras.
A taxi ride to a private beach for the day, so fun!
Even a Christmas tree at the port
Other ports included Belize, Costa Maya and ending with a day in Cozumel. Such fun spending days doing different things but gathering back together for dinners at the specialty restaurants, one of the free bonuses of the cruise.
We returned to port on Sunday morning, picked up the car and drove back to Fort Lauderdale for our flight on Jet Blue to SFO and time with Charlie. With a rental car for the week it was easy for us to drive to Ukiah and take the RV out of storage. We set it up next to Charlie and Mary's providing a little guest room for family coming out to visit.
Wednesday morning we drove Charlie to Santa Rosa for his second round of chemo, all on the same day as a huge storm blew into northern California totally flooding Healdsburg. This is the Safeway parking lot about 6 blocks from their home, right down town Healdsburg.
Friday we drove over to University of Pacific and our hometown of Stockton to pick up our niece, Molly...time for her Christmas break.
It was wonderful having her home with all of us for a few days.
My brother Kurt, Laura and niece Neevie came in the night we were leaving. Lots of laughter, but too much noise.
Our goodbye wave from Charlie as we left that night for our flight from SFO returning to Florida. So very hard to leave.
Back at the ranch, Paul had work to do. Time to tear out the flooring and this time he installed a wood grained vinyl, hoping never to have water problems again.
We had a week at our favorite Corps of Engineer Park, Ortona South, near Labelle in southern Florida.
Stunning sunsets each night along the canal.
The park is not far from Fort Myers so we took a day to tour the Henry Ford and Thomas Edison historic homes and property. A wonderful day with lunch along the waterfront in town.
Most of the days I sat and read, Paul was doing his handy man thing repairing the floors.
Luckily for me, my dear friend, Jill Heuer was visiting her in laws near Fort Myers so we joined them for an outdoor lunch at the beautiful Veranda Restaurant. I think I get to see her more with her visits to Florida than in California.
Then it was time to move again a little further north to Oscar Scherer State Park south of Sarasota, Fl. The weather was chilly but perfect for bike rides, afternoon lunches and walks on the beach.
This was our second visit to the park and we loved this site...# 64. Private, roomy and so quiet at the end of the loop.
I set up our new flowers and moved in for two weeks! That's longer than we stay most anywhere and it was so nice!
We spent Christmas Day at our campsite after a brisk morning walk on the beach. A quiet but very relaxing day.
The next morning we were up early and excited for a visit from my sister-in-law, Susan who I hadn't seen in maybe 25 years!!! She was about an hour away and brought our nephew Jason, his son, Alex and her husband Greg for a wonderful day together. We sat and talked and laughed and told stories and reconnected and of course ended up with a walk at the beach together. A perfect day!
Once we said goodbye, Paul and I stayed at the beach for a most gorgeous sunset. The best Christmas present ever to have this family back in our lives again.
Knowing Sarasota has been the winter home for Ringling Bros Circus for many, many years, it wasn't surprising to learn there's a Circus Performance School there also. Our timing was perfect to catch one of their shows, amazing young performers doing every kind of circus act.
With only another day or so in Sarasota the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens was another place I wanted to see, and so glad we did!
The beautiful grounds of the former Marie and William Selby home are dedicated to the research and collection of epiphytes (airPlants) especially orchids and bromiliads. The orchids were my favorites, in every color and shape.
Then, some time along the bay before heading back to our campsite.
The beaches at Siesta Key just west of Sarasota, are so beautiful, we spent another afternoon riding around the beach and neighborhood. Cute little town and couldn't pass up lunch at this very cool place, serving right out the window of the VW! so fun!
But our best ending to our year and the month was another wonderful experience with Emily and her family back up in Safety Harbor. She invited Paul and I to join the 5 of them for a fantastic New Years Eve celebration. Oh, what fun!!! Paul got to meet their new dog, Pablo
Our nephew, Zachary and his love Amanda were visiting for the week from Washington state and it had been way too long since we'd seen them.
Our evening started with a fabulous production of The Phantom of the Opera.
And finished with such a fun end of year celebration at The Fly Bar.
Wednesday morning we drove Charlie to Santa Rosa for his second round of chemo, all on the same day as a huge storm blew into northern California totally flooding Healdsburg. This is the Safeway parking lot about 6 blocks from their home, right down town Healdsburg.
We spent Christmas Day at our campsite after a brisk morning walk on the beach. A quiet but very relaxing day.
The next morning we were up early and excited for a visit from my sister-in-law, Susan who I hadn't seen in maybe 25 years!!! She was about an hour away and brought our nephew Jason, his son, Alex and her husband Greg for a wonderful day together. We sat and talked and laughed and told stories and reconnected and of course ended up with a walk at the beach together. A perfect day!
Knowing Sarasota has been the winter home for Ringling Bros Circus for many, many years, it wasn't surprising to learn there's a Circus Performance School there also. Our timing was perfect to catch one of their shows, amazing young performers doing every kind of circus act.
So after changing into our finer things at our hotel nearby, we took tons of photos and nibbled on pizza waiting for the limo to come take all of us to Tampa for an evening at the Straz Center.
HAPPY 2015 and cheers to another year of fun and adventures!!!
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