Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Our Land Aventure!

Current Location:  St. Augustine, FL (heading north on the Inter Coastal Waterway).

The following are blog entries are about our time spent on a “holiday” from our boat Knee Deep. We decided to fly to Florida and stay with friends while Ben delivered the boat up to Key West. (see www.Doolittlecruising.blogspot.com for details). Apparently they now appreciate the luxuries of land living since living aboard a sailboat!

Venice, Florida
By Mickey

Today I will be writing about, once again, skipping long passages.  Once Papa and Grandma left, we had a decision. A few of our friends now have a house in Venice, Florida. Mom, J.P. and I could stay with them while dad sails to Key West.  I hesitated, but decided it was time for a break.  And so our adventure began.

We left Shelter Bay Marina at around 9 o’clock in the morning. We said good-bye to dad and took the shuttle to a busy bus station in Colon, Panama. Next, we took a bus across Panama, which is only a two hour bus ride, to Panama City. At Allbrook Mall (the bus station) we stayed for three hours. After that, we took a taxi to the airport where we waited for six hours. Finally, the plane landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  We took a rental car to Venice and after 19 hours of traveling, we had arrived at our destination.

Rick, Deena, Dick and Maureen were waiting for us. Rick had made a fantastic dinner, but the good cooking didn’t last long.  Deena and Rick left the next day to Boston, so it was Dick, Maureen and those crazy Doolittles left. That house was magical. The toilets had magic flushers. It was so big that I had my own bed.  The house outlets had unlimited power and there was a pool that was clean and cool. It had awesome internet, a beautiful view of the lake and the best of all….drum roll please….T.V.!!! I’ve been on the boat too long. It was extremely different being back in normal civilization.

Playing in the clean, cool pool!



We had fun with Maureen, Dick, Deena and Rick!!




Update

By J.P.

Here we are again writer and reader. A while ago we decided to go to Florida. Dad was going to take the boat up to Key West, while me, Mickey and mom took an airplane. After we got packed up, we got ready to enter the shuttle. It was sad. We spent a while saying good bye, but finally we left.  We took a shuttle, a bus, and a cab to get to the airport. We had about a five hour wait, then we left at 2:00 a.m.  We arrived at about 5 then went to the car rental. After getting the car we went to Rick and Deena’s house.

It was different from the boat. They had those magic flushing toilets. We had our own beds, we had T.V. and we had air-conditioning, which we don’t have on the boat. A disadvantage; dad wasn’t there, but at least Rick, Deena, Maureen and Dick were there. It was fun to see them again.

A few weeks later, we were alone. Everyone had left, although it was easier to do school. I found out about a game called Yu-gi-oh and it’s a card game. It’s WAY too complicated to explain, so moving on.  I loved it! You can tell by how much I’m explaining it! Finally after a month, we got packed and returned to our boat in Key West.

I couldn’t tell if I was sad or happy. I was excited to see dad, but didn’t want to leave the house. We took an 8 hour drive, then finally met dad. But in the end, it was just another adventure!

 
Yes! Cable T.V.!!
 
 
 
Snoball was fun to take care of. We've never had a cat before!