Cheryl's Notes:

Well, we made it through a nasty weather front. It started Thursday about noon, and cleared by Saturday morning. In between, we had high winds and about six inches of rain. The wind changed direction so many times, that we figure our anchor is buried like a dog tie down. We spent the time reading, baking cookies and watching movies. Bev got her tooth fixed this morning and so we are now ready to move on. We will be taking our time moving down towards Fort Lauderdale. We think we will spend Christmas there, and then head to Miami for New Year. Arne says that they have fantastic fireworks over the water.

We finally put up our small stock of Christmas decorations. Our tree is under the v-berth and will probably stay there. But, "our stockings are hung on the bulkhead with care, in hopes that Poseidon soon will be there". We also brought some lights and planned to run them along the lifelines, but that might make future travels difficult. If we end up in a marina for Christmas Eve and Day, could run them while on shore power.

We went to shore today to wander around and went into an Italian market. Boy, you can tell we are in Palm beach. This store had a bakery, deli and meat market that was unrivaled. They had cured ham from Spain that was $99.99 a pound. I think that I would choke trying to eat that sandwich. Some of the meat and fish was priced by the half pound. We tried a bunch of free samples and then the guys dragged us back outside. I think that they were afraid that we would spend our entire cruising kitty at one shot. Bev swears that things are more reasonable in Miami. I think that it is time to move on.

John's Notes:

The Viking's need a new offensive line coach. Last night we watched Favre spend most of the game on his back thanks to the lack of blocking ability of Brian McKinney. Julius Peppers ate him alive.

It looks like we might be heading further south tomorrow. I'm hoping that we don't spend all of our money in marinas before we get to the Bahamas. Between daily shopping trips, repairs and marina expenses, this trip has cost us twice what we spent in 2 ½ months this summer in the Chesapeake. I'm looking to finally getting in some zero dollar days anchored off some great beaches. Just not sure that it will ever happen. Bev and Arne like to go to shore every day. Cheryl is ok for a couple of days but then gets cabin fever. Me, I could stay aboard for days and it doesn't bother me. I like the solitude.

Today we spent most of the day in a mall. Just like Mall of America, they had it all. For the first time in my life I walked into a Nordstrom's. The only thing impressive about the place was the prices they wanted to charge. I'll take WalMart and Target any day. Well, Eddie Bauer and L.L. Bean are my favorites. The stuff never wears out and never goes out of style. A fashion plate I'm not.