The bus system here in the Florida Keys is really well thought out. Marathon seems to be the hub of activity. The Lower Keys shuttle which goes to Key West reaches as far north as us, and the Upper Keys shuttle leaves from here and ends up in front of WalMart in Florida City. So today, for $2.35 per person, the girls and I took Sarah up to Florida City to meet up with her mom who was driving down from Palm Beach. The first impression of the bus was a feeling of comfort and quality. The bus looked new, the interior was tastefully done in a navy blue with splashes of yellow and red in the upholstery, and the same blue was carried out in the plush carpeting the lined the walls. There were overhead compartments for storage, individual lights and fan controls, and even TV screens suspended from the ceilings. And I was happy to note a bathroom tucked into the back corner. I was starting to feel positive about the 2 hour trip up north and joyfully sat down. There the joy ended. The seats were like rocks, and I was so close to the row in front of me that my knees were firmly placed somewhere in the vicinity of my forehead.
I should have known that we were in trouble when the bus arrived at our stop 15 minutes early: this was a woman driver who was going to get the job done and done quickly.Her mission was to put all other motorists in their place - behind her. But she did get us to our destination on time and I gratefully crawled off the bus at Wal Mart. Unfortunately, I was going to have to board again in a few hours. Hopefully I will regain feeling in my right leg by that time.

This afternoon the man beside us put on a show off the back of his boat. People in their dinghys tied up to each other to enjoy the show. We had side row seats though right from our cockpit which was nice since 5 people in a 9 foot dinghy doesn't make for a comfortable platform to enjoy much of anything. There was some classical Spanish guitar, folksongs, and then this woman that sang opera. What a mish-mash but very enjoyable. They even had a microphone so the audience could hear. The most interesting part, though, was watching the dinghys try to leave at the end of the performance. Think bumper cars with blades. No loud popping noises but then, anticipation is half the fun.

I decided today to no longer just sit back and be a passive rider whenever we dinghy anywhere. I feel so inadequate when I see a woman pull into the dock, alone, and in total control of her vessel. My thoughts were that how hard can it be to drive one of these things anyway? I've managed to drive a car 260000 miles in the last few years without any trouble, I can certainly do this. So I rode to the dock with the girls and then decided to drive myself back - alone.

I strode confidently to the dinghy and sat on the tube. Taking a deep breath and holding my head high, I untied the boat from the cleat, pulled out the choke, and yanked on the starting rope. The boat leapt forward like a stuck pig and tried to crawl up on the dock. Desperately, I tried to remember how to turn off the motor. My mind was whirling and I drew a complete blank. I turned the handle on the motor back and forth and all I succeeded in doing was getting intimately acquainted with my neighbors dinghy. Lever! That's it, push the little lever and it would go in reverse. Yes! The dinghy quickly backed down the line of dinghys at a rate of speed I didn't think it was capable of. I smiled at the shocked faces of those onlookers who were amazed as I whizzed past. When I ran out of dock, I flipped the switch again into forward and shot out of the basin into the channel. With a wave at the cheering (?) crowds, I settled myself more firmly into the rubber tube, threw back my shoulders and raised my chin to the wind. Now I was free. Free to try and figure out how to maneuver through a field of 100 larger boats and the attendant mooring balls. Oh yeah, and how do I pull up to the boarding ramp when I get home?

I can do this. I know I can, I know I can. And if not, well, land is out there somewhere. Or I could just wait until I ran out of gas.

This morning everything on the boat was drenched. The cockpit in spite of the bimini had 1/2 inch of water in it and all our clothes felt damp just from the humidity. But there were showers to take and after 6 days some of us really needed one! I also was finally able to wash our linens that the dogs had peed on in frustration for not getting to shore. Sometimes I just feel like the Hillbillies have arrived in Beverly when we pull into places. And the worst part is that since our boat is so unusual people are attracted to it so there's no hiding the mess along some back wall and being discreet.
Our mission for today was to get cleaned up and get to church. Since we couldn't find the telephone number for the bus driver, we just walked the mile and a half and arrived right on time. It felt good to see all the people that we haven't seen since spring and we were surprised that the pastor even remembered our names and acknowledged from the pulpit that we were visiting! The sermon was about thanskgiving. Not the holiday, but a day to day gratefulness to God for what He's done for us. As people living on a boat, I feel like I am always asking God to help us - help us to not hit that really big expensive ship, help to protect us from that tow that suddenly appeared around the bend, please don't let our anchor drag.... And even when something happens like an engine failure, I'm thankful that He helped us sail safely out of the way of the cruise ship, and let the tow boat driver finally see us when it was important. We are just so blessed it's incredible.

Lisa and I left last Sunday for the trek down to Alabama to see Kittywake again. If you have noticed other pictures of her deck, it's a beautiful purple blue. It will also give you 2nd degree burns on the bottom of your feet if the sun is out. So before we left her in