Headed South, Visiting Family, Air Boats, Gators and Back on the Water

January 12 Through January 21 (Click on the images to see and scroll them in full size)

On January 12, we left home to return to our looping adventure. Along the way, we stopped at my brother Bill and his wife Donna's house in Heber Springs, Arkansas for a quick visit. On the night we arrived, Donna made an awesome Salmon dinner for us and on Saturday I spent the afternoon fly fishing on the Little Red River at Dripping Springs. We caught 17 fish in the two and a half hours we were on the river. Did I mention that my big brother is a GUIDE on the river? That night, Donna made us an early birthday dinner of my favorite, beef fondue with all of the sauces that I remember from when my mom made it.

Sunday morning, January 15 we headed out for Okeechobee, Florida with an overnight in Columbus Georgia. Tuesday morning was a busy one, I had to update my Coast Guard captain's license which required a physical that I wasn't able to schedule back home. So after at trip to the doctor's office, we headed over to pick up Patriot from Indiantown Marina at 1:00 PM where she had patiently waited for us. Then we headed to Glenn and Carol's over in Port St. Lucie at their condo, where we would be staying for the next few days visiting and organizing Patriot for the next leg of our trip.

The next day, Patriot got a long delayed spa day and we had her detailed by Anthony's Dockside Detailing, they did a great job, even though it took them all day long.

Thursday, we were supposed to take an air boat ride, but a planned burn in the area prevented it, so Glenn and I replaced Patriot's Starboard radio antenna which had a disagreement with a bridge a few years back. Finally, on Friday we were able to take our air boat ride in the Blue Cyprus Recreation Area with Ken's Air boat Rides, which I cannot recommend highly enough. We rode in a 4 passenger air boat and saw tons of alligators, from babies, to ones that were close to 10 feet long. What an awesome 2 hour ride it was.

The ride was really exciting and this video does not do it justice! If you are ever in the area take a day and do this, you will not regret it!

Saturday, January 21st, we just hung out on boat and cleaned out cabinets and reorganized boat for our time in the Keys. Sunday, I took the opportunity to do an engine oil change while we delayed our trip to the Keys. We stayed in port due to a small craft warning. Tomorrow we will leave our friends for the next month and head to Marathon Key!