Sunshine on my Shoulders

Greetings from the sunny part of Florida. Since we crossed the Gulf, most days have been in the mid 70’s. We are actually in Palmetto, Fl which is south of Tampa and across the river from Bradenton, FL.

While in Clearwater, we rented a car and drove over 400 miles to Panama City Beach to bring the van back to the warmer Florida. It was a long drive both directions and Kevin was getting sick along the way. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do a one way rental, so Bev was In the rental car and Kevin was in the van. We traveled through Tallahassee, which is the capital. We were told that Tallahassee was the highest part of the state. About 10 miles before arriving in Tallahassee, two of the tires on Bev’s rental car showed low pressure. We continued on to the hotel and would address that in the morning. The following morning, Kevin walked out to the van. Upon starting the van, his two rear tires showed low on tire pressure. Wow, that is weird, both vehicles had low tire pressure. Kevin found a tire shop where they filled both vehicles tires with air and they explained that loss of tire pressure happens all the time there. It has to do with the height and humidity of Tallahassee. It was also cold as Kevin had ice on the van windshield. We dropped the van off in Bradenton and found an urgent care. The found an infection and loaded Kevin up with good drugs. We turned in our rental car before closing and used Uber to get back to the boat. The next day we had a nice uneventful cruise to Gulfport, Fl. It was a nice marina where we stayed 1 night. We then crossed Tampa Bay towards the Manatee River to arrive in Palmetto which is on the Manatee River. It was smooth sailing and we had a great view of the Tampa Bay Skyway bridge. On another note, after 4 days on the drugs, Kevin is beginning to feel better.

We have been bouncing back and forth between two Safe Harbor marinas and spending time with Bev’s family who live in Sarasota and Bradenton.

The highlight of our trips back and forth have been the dolphins. On one cruise we heard quite a ruckus outside the pilothouse doors. Bev looked out and dolphins were jumping our bow wave and slapping the water making a noise similar to a belly flop would make.

We are going to be here longer than we planned as Kevin is going to have some elective surgery. At least we are enjoying the 80 degree temperatures and sunshine. We hope to continue our travels around January 20, 2026.