I Am Never Leaving Sunnyland Again!
Alex Watsons shot from this morning in Tavares FLA. He refuses to leave. Sorry Tavares
I recall the feeling the day we showed up to Lake Dora and it was in the 80’s. Thinking that ya wake up, get in the car and BAM you are in 80 degree weather. Well…What goes up, … you know the saying. We hit hell on the drive home. First it rained the entire trip. like a dark cloud of reality following us. How could it get any worse? SNOW! Tons of snow.
I95 in Virginia. Welcome the hell home!
There is nothing like being slammed with wet heavy snow while trailering your boat, and dealing with sunburn. Ahhhhhhh! Getting updates from Tavares about how rainy it is! Ya but it aint 30 and snowing on a highway! It will be interesting to see how Matt Byrne made out. He was full of bragging about how blue the sky was in Georgia. I suppose part of any fun trip is the cold hard fact that at some point you have to make the trip home.. Let us know how you made it home?
The Boatress enjoyed the trip!
Is that a spacesuit the Boatress is wearing to assist with re-entry to the real world?
One last dip in the ocean before we leave.
Ahhhhh! Don’t go home, stay in Florida, go to Fantasy of Flight………………
I’m thinking about doing that…
Hey turn up the heat a little for that poor woman. Just because you have sunburn doesn’t mean you have to keep the widow open and put her in a hypothermic coma. Good luck on those roads, snow gets here later this morning.
After the storm hit Tavares, it moved on down to Orlando, causing delays, cancellations & re-routing. Miami was a total mess too, with hundreds of planes needing to take-off. I finally made it home at 1:30am without my checked bag. But that’s a minor inconvenience compared to pulling a boat through torrential rain & snow!
This just texted to me from Matt Byrne.
Oops, here’s the pic
Hope that’s not hail?
Well day two of the trip home sucked, snowed nearly the entire way, nothing to slippery, mostly just wet roads. The boat is a mess! Almost home 60 miles to go…….
Matt…two words.
Double Cover!!!
Go back and read my article in the Brass Bell. You will never pull your boat exposed again.
Leaving Tavares at 10:45 am. It’s 60 and sunny. We’re heading towards your hell. Anyone know how 95 is looking today?
Much better. Made the commute this am
I meant 9:45 am a slip of the finger.
Safe travels Kim & Johnny – It was great to see you both again. Until next time…
So sad I didn’t get to see you, Texx! Come visit us in NJ!
Good idea Natashia, I would like to visit Lake Hopatcong some day soon. I’ll bring a “pigs ear” for the puppy…
Going to try and get to the Hopatcong Show this June, it would be great to see you there.
Going to try and get to the Hopatcong Show this June, it would be great to see you there. I wonder if I can register yet?
Texx great seeing you hope you made Key West!
Keep those engine blocks from freezing!
Goodbye Florida. Hello Georgia! Pulled the plugs before we left. Headed for cold weather, no engine for “Wiki Wiki”
Didn’t mean we had no engine only that it wouldn’t cracking from below freezing temps.
It gets slushy in NC and VA.
Since we were able to pull the boat out four hours earlier than we have planed, we made it all the way up to the north side of Atlanta for the night. Today was going through the mountains heading toward Cincinnati for second night. So far we have had great weather the last hour or were we now have snow flurries in a little wet roads. Sure yet cold last night about 8 o’clock in the windshield this morning was 24 degrees when we walk the dog.
That should read wind chill
Left Sanford 4AM Sunday. Good driving to the lower Ga. border, Then lousy all the way to Frog Level, Va. Really happy not to have a classic in tow; almost everyone out there was a NASCAR wannabe. Rolled over end-for-end and tasted a windshield once in the 60s, and that was enough. So, you ask (or maybe not) where is Frog Level? About three miles north from an antique store called Two Frogs on a Bicycle. US 301 from the Richmond bypass North, and about 70 statute miles west of Bivalve, Maryland. CQ
Not the way you want to end your camping trip. Heavy wind gusts. Lost an hour in traffic
I hope Paul wasn’t involved.
That would be why I stay in hotels!
Where is Paul H. in the process? He still has to get back….
Fortunately I am still in Tavares, where I will remain until Saturday. So far I have not only driven about 3600 miles but have also put 25 completely trouble free hours on the venerable Sea Skiff. The Skiff was used on the river cruise (ran it both ways), as a photo shoot boat and as picnic transport for 12 people on Friday. It also served as a floating pub/living room through the weekend, and Alex and Mike even enjoyed a sundown sojourn on it on Friday evening. It has once again distinguished itself as a most perfect boat for a week like this.
If I can get home (about 2800 MORE miles or so) I think I will have broken the curse!
Kim, that’s the best way I know of to get out of owning an RV. Owner was probably elated. Was he dancing in the median?
Ok, that came across a little bitter. Because…
Alex we don’t know what happened to the owner. We think he took a picture, called his insurance agent, and just kept going.
I came home to this.
But fortunately, also to this.
Oops. I mean this.
My day hasn’t gone as planned.
Not at all.
What is worst, driving an uncovered boat for 16 hours through snow and slush or driving 16 hours with a canves cover flapping in that same snow and slush? How do you make that call?
When I towed my liitle mahogany AristoCraft long distances I put light netting over the cover and tied it down snugly all around. Worked perfectly — no flapping!
Alex at least you’re home and you are having a cold frosty beer. Mike no surprise your day isn’t going as planned, does it ever? Especially when it involves airplanes. Maybe you might come across Woody Gals luggage in you travels.
That was Alex posting for me…again. He does that from time to time. I think Paul is doing an “intervention” on me and has me locked in his truck for six hours with the Skiff behind us. All the beer is out of reach….
Paul’s doing an intervention? That’s almost as bad as Paul running a Daycare.
Almost…
Leaving Dillon, SC with a bang. No rain or snow yet but we know it’s ahead.
Wiki Wiki is going to be Wiki Dirty by the time you reach New Jersey…
I rode the friendly airline home, only took 13 hours. Met many happy fellow travelers , lounging in terminals that smelled like HS locker rooms. Never drank so many $7 warm beers, so good. Lucky for me Alex wallet had spilled out a few Benjamins and MikeM credit card works good. Thanks guys, next year I,m bringing a boat to have your driving fun
Well, it was no dog day afternoon in Palatka, a little cool at the start.
as evidenced by the kids in this Hacker ready for the southbound portion of the Northbound cruise. Are u confused now?
Nevertheless, we were lined up ready to go.
Any Woodyboaters out there? Just crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge into NJ. No rain, no snow, no sleet, no salt. Slight drizzle passing through Lorton, Va but that was it. A couple more hours and we’re home.
Home!
Poor little Tucker has been waiting by the door! Give him a biscuit!
floyd r turbo, I love your dog. What character in her face!
Alex,
That’s Stephanie’s dog, this is her first St Johns cruise and she’s captain of the little red fiberglass outboard cruiser that’s in the picture I posted above and was at Tavares Sunnyland Boatshow also. She is a cute little pup.
Oh, and Steph’s boat is named “Sunburn” which is what your retina’s will be if you stare at her boat too long and her Ford F150 is the same color.
John Rothert says:
Nice to see old friends in Tavares…flight home an hour late but otherwise ok. Sorry to have missed friday event.
John in Va.
Thanks to WoodyGal for the enjoyable ride to Orlando Sunday morning. We were a little dizzy finding our way onto the Florida Turnpike from Rt 19 but got to see the countryside (some of it 3 times) before solving the mistory maze.
A huge thunderstorm blew through Orlando at about 3:00 pm with 70mph gusts that almost took me with it. Flew home Monday morning and was welcomed by 12.6″ of snow.
and for all you northerners you need to watch this: http://www.youtube.com/embed/7KhSMKfU8HE?rel=0