Yahoo!!! We are finally ready to start our adventures again!!! It has been a long time coming and I can imagine all of us are feeling a little unsettled but with the Canadian/US border open we are going to see our boat in Florida.
If you remember when we left the boat in March 2020 we had to come home even before taking the boat out of the water due to my mother being very sick (she survived but is now in Long Term Care and this year she broke her hip and is wheelchair bound…which is a challenge with someone with dementia who walked continuously). Our trip home was traumatizing to say the least with restaurants closing along the drive, restrooms sparse and few hotels open…and we were in a rent a car from Florida to Maine… My biggest fear was that the U-Haul store would be closed before we got there as everything was closing and then we would have no way to drive across the border. Thankfully our U-Haul was ready and we drove it to Saint John, NB. The best $700 for a 3hr ride we ever spent. On the bright side our drive on the I 95 was pretty well solitary as there was NO traffic…eerie but you always got to look at the positive and we made great time!
For 20 months we had not seen the boat but thankfully we met some wonderful people in Eleuthera who live in Georgia that came to look at it in November. They FaceTimed with us and we decided that we would like to have someone keep a closer eye on the boat and clean it when necessary. We were fortunate enough to hire a wonderful woman named Sara. I believe she cared for it even better than I do. When we came back the boat was very clean with no signs of pests!!! We will definitely be back to Green Cove Springs again knowing someone like Sara “has your back”.
So let us fast forward to November 15… COVID rates are low in Canada and the USA and it is the day we leave our daughters in New Brunswick and eagerly cross the border in Maine. This time we decide we will drive our old automobile to Florida and keep it there while we are sailing. This way we will have an automobile to drive home if the world falls apart again.
As with everything in our life there is drama…even though I keep saying I want a peaceful existence there is never a dull moment. As we never know how far we are going to drive each day we usually do not book a hotel in advance when we are off season. Therefore the biggest challenge we encounter is finding a dog friendly hotel. In the past I have used numerous Apps to book online but it is always a challenge with a dog because even though they may say they are dog friendly some mean service-dogs only and some mean yes your dog can stay at $100 a night. Therefore, I have learned to call the hotel a few hours before we plan to stop. If you know me you would realize that I do an extensive review of the hotel and also check the bedbug registry!!! I don’t like surprises.
This time we decided to drive through the Shenandoah Valley again as the drive through the mountains is breathtaking. The number of trucks on the road is unbelievable and they even have side roads up the mountain for them to drive up if they lose their brakes going downhill. Driving through Pennsylvania was also very interesting as the sizes of the buildings are blocks and blocks long. They are all one story and take up many acres. Very interesting indeed!!
Midway Pennsylvania was a great place for us to stop the first night. Unfortunately, finding a dog friendly hotel was a major challenge. I called at least 10 hotels and I was feeling desperate. Finally I contacted a Quality Inn and I spoke to the guy for 20 minutes as he recorded all of my information. I thought yes!! Thank god another place for us to stay that seems safe and clean and dog-friendly. Anyway after 20 minutes he put me on hold and then when he came back to the phone he said that he did not have a room available but that he contacted the hotel next door and they could take us and that he needed my credit card number in order for them to hold the room. I asked for the number next door and he would not give it to me. I hung up!! I may be blonde (white now) but I am not stunned!!! Lol but now I thought “we are going to be sleeping in the van…”.
Thankfully (not!) I contacted a hotel (Extended Stay) that took dogs so I booked; without doing my due diligence. Initially I was ecstatic.. at least we had a bed for the night. However, once I did my reviews I read that there were bullet shells often littered outside the hotel, as well as, vomit and it was a few feet from a methadone clinic. There was NO way I could stay there. Byron never said a word as I booked a 5 star hotel (Hilton) in a swanky neighborhood. My piece of mind is worth paying for 2 hotel rooms…right!!! Lol.
Our second night we finally stayed in a beautiful new hotel in lower South Carolina (La Quinta)… only 5 hours away from the boat.
Finally we arrive to our storage unit to drop off the load we have brought with us and then go to the boat. Byron is in his glee…it has been a long time coming. Now the work begins!! Getting C Whisper ready for the insurance survey and then ready to proceed south was going to be quite the undertaking.
Follow along with our adventures as we complete our marine survey (for Insurance), progress south and hopefully make it to Bahamas. Our tracker will be activated soon for you to see our location.
Happy sailing for us and please stay safe everyone.
Live Life Now!!
So Happy for you Both!!! The Dream continues!!! As you continue preparations…just know we cheer you on as you sail south to ready for your crossing to Paradise!! Diddie and Dan
Thank you. Looking forward to moving south but in the meantime loving Green Cove Springs while doing boat chores!!! Maybe you two will visit wink!wink!