Chip & I are up at our cottage for a few days in North Carolina getting it opened up for the busy Summer season in Highlands...we had the TV and phone on "vacation" mode over the Winter and they don't get switched back until May 1st, so we are really getting a full dose of peace and quiet. Did most of the yard work yesterday, the rhododendrums are on the brink of bursting open any day...we are at 4000' so the tiny lime green buds on all the trees are just beginning to show. It's Springtime in the mountains. We could not have predicted how much we needed these few days to get away before our journey begins to get connected and to oragnize our thoughts. We brought all our "loop" trip navigation material with us and we've been pouring over it; selecting routes and picking out the marinas we want to stay at along the way. Anticipating we'll be in Ft. Myers the first night, then onto Clewiston as we make our way through the center on the state, slicing through Lake Okeechobee...Only 17 days till departure.

Discovering Ithaka

Only a few more weeks to go and we will be off on The Great Loop trip. A voyage of a lifetime...Preparations seem to have escalated in the past month. It is becomming more real to me...Last night Art and Sharon gave us a Bon Voyage party. Our lists are getting shorter...Three years of planning finally coming together.