Well we're finally in Key West waiting for a weather window to cross to Mexico and feel like both we and the boat are ready to go. The push to get South is behind us and our boat project list is looking pretty good, so it feels like a good time to start our blog so we can stay in touch with family and friends.

It's hard to believe it has been 5 months since we quit our jobs and 3 months since we headed out of Boston harbor on October 13th (a very cold day!) and began the push to warmer states. It seemed like every time we got to a new place, the weather would be warm for a day and then turn cold- which kept us moving! Even now in Key West, after 2 weeks of very hot weather, a cold front has passed and we've had temps in the 50's again! Except this time, it actually feels good- I think.

On our trip down the East coast, a major hi-light has been seeing family & friends. On our previous cruises, we never had the opportunity to see so many people and it has been a lot of fun. It was so nice to spend Thanksgiving with Roland & Mariette, not to mention allow them to pamper us for a while in Vero Beach! This Christmas was pretty hard with no family get-togethers. I guess that's part of cruising though; it isn't all perfect.

In the past few months, I've been able to resume running again and consequently, I'm a lot happier, plus we've had some great runs in various towns along the way. We've been using our folding bikes (Dahon Speed TR's) and are always amazed at how far we can get with them as compared with running or walking. When we visited Cumberland Island National Park in Georgia (one of our favorite places), we biked all over the sand roads looking up at the beautiful oak trees and scaring lots of armadillos along the way. It was a great place to bike since there are virtually no cars on the island. While we were in Vero Beach, we sort of took up tennis too. I can't say we're any good yet, but we're sweating a lot! Combine these activites with the typical cruising routine of hauling all your own groceries, laundry, propane tanks and diesel and we think we're getting plenty of exercise on the trip!

We can't wait to have this passage to Mexico behind us and be in warmer, more tropical waters. We're anxious to begin diving and taking lots of pictures too. We've taken a couple of swims here in South Florida but the water isn't clear this time of year and is actually pretty chilly. But for now, we have to sit here and wait for a good weather window with Southeast winds. With any luck, it won't be much longer.

Here are a few pictures we got of some of the get togethers but we wish we could've gotten everyone (you know who you are!!).