The time has finally come to move again, and we’re pretty happy about that. Winter is – in our opinion – over-rated generally, but for Nicki and I, it’s just old news.

Thursday we packed up the little apartment which has served us so well, said good bye to dear friends who have loved us through the last two months, and pointed our noses… West.

No, not south, west. We needed to check in with some family (my mom & brother, and Nicki’s brother and nieces, all in Vermont) so we traipsed off to the land of colder and deeper for the weekend, proudly sporting new snow tires on the little red car. Here’s hoping we don’t have to test them out on this trip!

Sunday it’ll be a six-hour drive back to Rockland, put the car back in storage at the RV, then fire up a friend’s car for the two-hour drive to Portland ME. We’ll get a room for the night, and board a 5:30am flight to Tampa.

I have a feeling it’ll be an early-to-bed evening once we get there.

But there’s lots to look forward to! We’ll rent a car to drive back to Sionna in Marathon on Tuesday, and once there, we’ll start putting her back together so we’ll have a place to sleep, food to eat, etc. Local knowledge says that there’s little or no waiting list in Marathon for a mooring, so we’ll probably try to get one to make the departure preparations easier.

But there’s one more thing to do before we leave, finally, to resume a bit of cruising. We have to go to court.

You’ll remember, perhaps, Our little run-in with the Law back in December? Well that case is finally going to court on March 7th. Appearing in court will require renting a car and driving six hour up, waiting around, then driving six hours back. Which – I’m told – is why officers tend to target visiting boats for their tickets, rather than locals. What boater would be crazy enough to go to all that trouble and expense to challenge a $90 fine?

Well, I guess that would be me. We’ll let you know how it goes…

In the mean time, we’ve seen Robins and Cardinals in Rockland, Maine, so if you’re spending this winter in the frozen North, take heart! Spring really is somewhere around the corner.

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