EVEN NOW; WITH A THOUSAND LITTLE VOYAGES UNDER MY BELT.
I STILL FEEL A MEMORIAL CHILL ON CASTING OFF.
-E.B. White

Monday, March 16, 2015

Baby It's Cold Outside/Taking Care of Business



In our last post we instructed you to stay tuned to our next adventure - and some of you may have guessed we were heading to the north country (our home).  We had a small window between Arizona trip and our kids arriving for springbreak so we took the opportunity to quickly drive home and take care of some business.  The temp of 1 degree above 0 in the previous post was just a glimpse of what would only get worse.  By the time we hit Champaign, IL the temps plummeted to 14 degrees below zero (a record for them - 2 below was their previous record).  However, by the time we hit Minnesota it was a balmy 15 degrees.  Great to catch up with family and friends.  Rick managed to squeeze in some ice fishing and son Brad, Rick and dogs enjoyed a fun day of pheasant hunting on the game farm.

Izzy and I enjoyed lots of hikes - as you can see, not much snow in Minnesota this year.

Father and Son, braving the elements to fish on Bald Eagle Lake.


Not much snow - but very thick ice.

Sadly, we forgot to get a picture of the two hunters and their dogs - Brad & Rylie with the hard days work.

One of the best things about being home in the winter is the great comfort food - Hot Turkey sandwiches, with mashed potatoes and gravy - yum!
And after a long day of pheasant hunting....
Our daughter-in-law Katie prepared a great Pot Roast - mmmmmm.  Soooo Minnesotan!  

Back to boat for some maintenance before the spring breakers arrive (aka our kids and grandkids) - the annual re-marking of the chain.

Also on the to do list was a cover for the induction glass cooktop.  Insurance for things that fall out of cabinets during bumpy crossings.  Also nice to have extra counterspace!  Nice to have Doug's workshop relocated to Naples for boat projects.

Another item on the list is chaps for the dinghy - more on that later.

The kids arrived on March 7th - unfortunately Brad's bag did not arrive until late evening the 10th of March.  Bag tags include, sorry for the delay and RUSH!  Delta told him to purchase clothes on arrival - and so shopping we did.
We all agreed the boys dealt with a missing bag better than the girls would have.  Brad showing his I had to get new clothes sad face.   
    Of course, sunday found us all at Stans.  We still cannot figure out why the kids have sweatshirts on, its that Mn thing.  Brad & Kate have been to Stans before and, they told us the Bloody Mary's are to die for - they were right!
our neighbors (on vacation from MN) Mike and Anna joined us for an awesome lunch at Isles of Capri beach side (minus Mike, taking pic).
Smiths - Alligator Alley - Airboat -Awesome.
Grandmas Brag Book - beautiful Georgia and handsome Cooper.

We loved having them here - see you soon back in MN.  
We are heading east tomorrow to stop at River Forest to pick up our stored fuel.  Plans are to continue east and head to the Abacos.  Again, stay tuned.

P.S  Special shout out to niece Shana and husband Keith on the birth of their grand baby Cooper
and niece Ali and boyfriend Josh on their recent engagement.