In sunny Florida!

Ok, so we are a moving target these days...just don't get frustrated and use large caliber ammunition on us! Ron and Karyn flew down to FLL on Monday, and spent a couple of days in the Stuart/Hutchinson Island/Jensen Beach area looking at condos. The idea is to have a smaller home base once Ally is off to college and we are off cruising aboard Equinox. While Ron isn't sure we really even need a home base, the prices and availability of condos are such that we thought it worthwhile to look. We want something with ample storage for personal items should we want to rent it out, and a condo is key since we don't want to be dealing with home maintenance long-distance.

It was a depressing day on Monday...the condos we looked at weren't what we were hoping for, and after a tiring day of a lot of slogging about, we had an awful dinner at one of our (formerly) favorite restaurants here where Ron lost his phone... He'd been leaving things behind all day -- forgot his computer at home (grabbed mine instead by mistake), left our car keys in the realtors car & then he left his phone @ the restaurant. We'd gone straight from the place to our hotel room, and realized exactly where he left it on the table at the restaurant. We immediately called... and supposedly, no one found it. But someone definitely has it, as the phone is now shut off -- it goes to voice mail immediately, and wouldn't do that if it was still on. So...new iphone stolen. It was a disaster of a way to start the trip....very depressing!!!

On the bright side, we found a place we absolutely fell in love with!! After some discussion, Ron made an offer and --- after a bit of back-and-forth negotiation --- it was accepted!! We feel we got a fair deal for an absolutely beautiful, well-built new condo unit right on the Indian River in Jensen Beach! WE LOVE IT!! Ron was so excited -- wanted to buy the model with the furniture, as is!! But, the model was just more $$$ than we wanted to spend, and after seeing a few other units, we actually preferred a mirror-image unit. Thus...right now, we have a deal! We still need to consider all the ramifications, and will mull it all over during the required 15-day grace period. We go from euphoria over the place to uncertainty about whether it's the right move to whether we even need a home...AUGH!! Nevertheless, it feels right, and we're excited.

In any event, we're already moving ahead to clear out the shed/storage areas at home with an eye on getting things de-cluttered, and ready to show. We need to downsize, and are donating a lot of things to Oldfields, since we know the girls will use and appreciate some of the stuff we have, like our gym equipment and ping-pong table. It feels really good to lighten the load! We have SO much stuff, and we just don't need it!

While we were in Stuart, we stopped in at the Kadey-Krogen office to chat with everyone, which was great. It was SO nice to see everyone again! Of course, Laura was immediately working on Ron to think about getting the new 64' they want to build!! And Ron said he has a lot of good ideas for it...!! But, I think we'll stay with Equinox for the time being. We also popped into the Martek offices as well to say hi, and had to stop in at the Dolphin Bar Shrimp House before we headed south. We are now down in FLL visiting our Bahamas boating buddies, the Miles' (Miles Aweigh) before we fly back to Maryland tomorrow. Fun times and lots of laughs!

Whew!! It's exhausting traveling by plane...I need to get back aboard and slow down!