Voyage 2004-2005: Chapter 3

16 Jan 2005, Heading South, 26 34.299 N/ 082 01.346 W

We pointed the RV South on I-75 heading for Bradenton to see the crew of SV Magic. It has a pretty boring drive as we were on the interstate for a long time. We tied up at Holiday Cove RV Park around 1500 and gave Ren and Barb a call at their Anna Maria place. They invited us over for great chow and good vodka. The next day, they came by boat to take us on a mini cruise of the area. Unfortunately, we had RV problems and had to take it to the RV place (turned out to be operator error).

When we got back Ann went shopping at a local antique store and had to buy some nautical stuff (of course). On our last night at Holiday Cove, Ren and Barb took us to a nice seafood restaurant. We ate, drank, bid our farewells, and promised to cruise south together this fall. Again, we pointed the RV south, had breakfast at a gas station (best sausage biscuits we ever had), and arrived at Cape Coral around noon. We were visiting our Northern Virginia friends who are part time citizens of Cape Coral. Before we had a chance to 'party', Ann goes and gets sick (probably too much full time Bob exposure). So, Bob, PJ, and Dennis talk politics for 12 hours. Good thing we are all on the same side of the aisle. Bob headed back to the RV for we had an early departure in the morning

19 Jan 2005, Hard Alee, 34 05.932 N/ 077 55.092 W

Land voyages are shorter than our voyages on SV Jule III so it was time we tacked the RV and headed back towards Wilmington via a stopover at Manatee Hammock Campground near Titusville. We have included Manatee Hammock in all of our land voyages since 1994. The 'kids' really like it there as there are lots of places to sniff and do other important things.

Manatee Hammock is a great springboard to visit other places. We headed for Cape Marina where we visited our friend, the harbormaster Carma. Bob had to get one more Roberto's restaurant fix, where he consumed another "Raury's Special". We met Ray and Marcia, avid Rialta owners (same type as LV Jule III) who are active in RV-ing around the country. The last night at Manatee, we shared dinner with them at a local eatery. We were admiring Ray's wheel covers on his Rialta. When he told us that he got them at Wally World (a.k.a. Wall-mart), we rushed down to the local Supercenter and bought 4 covers for a total of $12.00.

All good things must come to an end and so it is true for Land Voyage 2005. We left Manatee at 0800, picked up I-95 at 0815, and drove on the very boring road for many, many, many hours. We felt that we were finally home when we crossed over the Cape Fear River on the 110' lift bridge.

We are now home. Stay tuned for continuing adventures where we hope to doing the cruising scene on SV Jule III in 2005 and 2006. Assuming good health, we should be on the water for a year starting in April. Check the web page often