Move over Cousin Eddie

Because Jaybird's got a new arrrrrrveeeeeeeee. We've talked over the years about getting a motor home in the future (based on the rumored progression from sail to trawler to motor home to nursing home), researched them online periodically and talked to some friends who had RVs. In the past few weeks, we visited a few dealerships (one with a 126-acre spread!) and checked out different styles and sizes just for fun. As luck would have it, we found The One. The owner accepted our first offer (that's a trend with us; it happened with Serendipity as well) and we're now the proud owners of a 2004 Tioga motor home. We'll have to name it Serendipity II so the blog can continue as both a sailing and a driving saga. We surprised ourselves, but are excited about some new adventures on wheels, especially when we're not cruising during storm season (like right now).

Our youngest son Jesse and his new bride Brittany plan to hike the Appalachian Trail beginning next spring (it will take about 6 months to complete it), so we hope to be the recon/reprovision/refresh vehicle for part of that, as well as hiking some of it with them. Our daughter Julie is bursting with ideas for Christmas gifts, like a dickey and some white bucks for Cousin Eddie (a.k.a. Jaybird).

After a toast and sendoff at Twin Dolphin (thanks to Tuck and Kathy for the beverage), we took our shakedown cruise to the Keys two days after taking possession of the RV. We had to go to Marathon, because the Admiral really needed a haircut and likes Jersey Girl there. The Captain had balked at driving 7 hours for a haircut, but since the A/C went out on Serendipity and he had a new toy to drive, he took the unit out of the boat and we drove it to Stuart for repair. We spent our first RV night in Port St. Lucie, waiting to pick up the A/C the next morning. Our second and third nights were spent in Marathon, at Grassy Key. We were on the water, and could watch the frantic activity of open lobster season. We visited Dockside to confirm reservations for early 2011, had lunch at the Hurricane, got haircuts, and enjoyed gorgeous sunsets. The Captain couldn't resist setting up his outdoor nest, and to make the Cousin Eddie picture complete, put a Christmas tablecloth on the picnic table and hooked up the flatscreen. Roughing it smoothly.

We left Marathon to head back to Bradenton, but decided to meander rather than go straight back. We stayed in Naples at what was advertised as a "tropical setting on a creek." Don't believe everything you read. The next night, however, was beautiful. We stayed at Periwinkle Park on Sanibel Island, and had a short walk to the beach for shelling, people watching, and strolling. The RV park also had quite a few tropical birds, a pair of black swans, and some ring-tailed lemur! The birds chattered, talked, whistled, laughed, and displayed their plumage. The lemur stared mostly, but when the Admiral talked to one of them and took pictures, he rubbed his rear end on the cage. Surely that's a sign of love and friendship in Madagascar.

On our way out, we drove all over Sanibel and Captiva, enjoying the beaches, cottages and castles, and had a great lunch at Doc Ford's. Usually we test every one of Murphy's laws, but not a thing went wrong on the shakedown trip. All systems work, everything was comfortable, and we had a ball. It's nice to be back in Bradenton, but it's also fun to start planning some road trips. The Captain was accused of being a CLOD (cruiser living on dirt), but we're really just enhancing our fun options. Now it's time to reinstall A/C in Serendipity; we survived over a week of heat thanks to the loan of a portable A/C unit from Lyle and Mickie (s/v Disappearing Blues).