During our short stay at Legacy we were all work and little play. Oil changes, clothes packing, cleaning and more cleaning, and of course laundry!
All to soon the day came to stage our car at River Forest where we will be leaving Tourist for the summer. A special thanks to Bonnie & Bob of M/V B & B for bringing us back to Legacy and Tourist.
Thursday morning we cast off the lines and pulled out of the marina.
It was a beautiful day as we traveled across the Okeechobee Waterway through the locks and under the bridges. We took our time to enjoy our last journey for awhile.
As we approached the last lock we were overtaken by another boat. Big mistake!
Just after locking through it's only a short distance to River Forest and of course the guy that passed us was heading there too. Not a real problem except that it put us 2nd to be hauled out. Now that we're here I'm ready to get on with it so waiting becomes a minor irritation.
The staff is efficient and before long it was time to move into the travellift.
River Forest is an extremely clean facility and part of the cost includes pressure washing the bottom before they put the boats in the buildings.
The last couple of bags got squeezed into our car and we began our trek back North.
Friday morning we stopped to visit my Uncle Leo before we left the state. Breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Not my favorite place but convenient and a good place to visit. Don't you just love those golf tee games on the tables!
After our visit we traveled a short distance to Sarasota to look at a boat that we were not familiar with. We had a little time to kill so we rode past the Ringling Museum. We thought about going in but at $25.00 a head and our short time window we decided to put it off for another time.
With only a half hour before our appointment we found the brokers office and parked nearby. We also found this misplaced couple engaged in a public display of affection near the waterfront.
The boat was bigger than Tourist but with less storage space and overall poorer quality throughout. Still it's always fun looking at boats!
Day two of our travels home ended in Valdosta, Ga. Day three we traveled through Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Lexington, and into the outskirts of Cincinnati.
By now if you know where we live in Northwest Illinois you've realized this isn't the shortest way home for us. We chose this route so that we could make a surprise visit to Rick & Sarah (M/V Private Affair) at their restaurant, Pirates Cove. And surprise them we did. I thought Sarah was going to fall over when she saw us.
Our visit was great but short before we shoved off to get some sleep before our last day of travel.
Mothers Day and we're back on the road through a bit of Ohio. Across Indiana and into Illinois. One other thing. It's cold! For the first time in months I put jeans on and shoes. Yuck!
The sign used to have a caption at the bottom that said Governor----- welcomes you to Illinois. Now it simply says The people of Illinois welcome you. In this breeding ground of political integrity (imprisoned Governors) it was cheaper to change the slogan only once. Hey didn't our President come from here?
Just sayin!
Across the prairies we traveled.
As has become somewhat of a tradition we met everyone in Savanna, Illinois at Manny's Pizza for dinner. This time we were also joined by my parents. Pam was in heaven surrounded by family and especially the grand-kids.
Fortunately it was still light out as we came into Galena.
Just a few miles further and we were home. Now what do I do?
Clean and wax M/V Vagabond's hull so it can be launched.
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