Time Goes On . . . Quickly!

The time is flying; I know that for some, my reports about what we are doing may be too chatty, but for those of you who know me well, you know when I get talking, it takes a lot to stop me.  And, obviously, I don't get enough of it in real life, so I transfer that wordly abundance to paper (or, in this case, the interwebs).

We've just been having mostly fun, with a few bumps in the road, but nothing major to report (oh, except for the generator fuel pump).

Dred Pirate Tom

The day after our fun meeting with Sea Monkey and Aladdin, we did some chores on shore and then set sail at what would be a low tide to get under a cluster of bridges and travel just a few miles away to the Hobe Mountain.

We were anchored just off shore of the "mountain," having a quick lunch before going exploring when I heard a faint "Gary." What?  Then I heard a faint 'Ruth?"  We scrambled topsides to see another boat about to touch bow to bow.  It was Tom on Aladdin.  What a fun surprise!!

He said he noticed the "second prettiest boat" out on the water (because he's a Moody owner, too) and came over to say hello.  We laughed and visited for a while and then he had to continue on because he was meeting family further south for the holidays. 

Welcome to the Jungle!

We launched the dinghy and headed to shore; Gary had an idea of where the ICW side of the trail was to get to the mountain, but we had to poke around a while before finding it.  I was not happy.  I did not think it would turn into a jungle excursion; but, eventually, we found a brambly path up the side of the dune and over to the park.

A sign proclaimed that the entrance to the park was actually 15 miles further south; ack!  No, wait, I read that wrong.  It was 1.5 miles, but STILL!  Of course, my renegade husband found a split in the fence and we snuck in the back way. Down a sandy path we trudged, hot and sweaty, until the platform got closer and eventually we were able to climb to see the view.  Elliott had found a turtle to watch, so Gary and I hit the heights.  The view away from the water was misty and primeval looking; I fully expected to see a dinosaur or two.  Towards the water, there was, of course, a highway, cars racing by, and houses, some more mega- than others.

While we were up on the platform, two guys walked along with their dogs and, as they got closer, the turtle that we named Fred, who had originally been so slow and munch-munch-munching along, skedaddled out of there so quickly.  That turtle could sprint!  The guys came up to the platform so we struck up a conversation and took photos of each other for keepsakes.

Crossing back over the highway was probably the scariest part of the trip (Florida drivers, in general, sucketh), though I did feel like a real explorer having to back down the cliff again to prevent from falling head over heels and face planting in the mangroves.

Safely back to the boat, we charted the next part of our course to North Palm Beach.  And guess what?  We were meeting up with more 'burg friends!!!!