Goodbyes.

There have been so many goodbyes for us this week, it’s hard to keep track of our various states of sadness, anxieties and on the flip side for a few things, excitement. In addition to saying goodbye to our dear Ruach compadres/winter family (for the short while until we make the large island-crossings on MDI this summer), we said goodbye to our Jensen Beach friends as well. We’ve also said goodbye to warmth on our skin, any semblance of decent TexMex for months to come, Indiantown Marina and our beloved Chickadee. We’re also also in the stages of saying goodbye to the sun as we’ve known it, our flip flops, and what’s becoming my favorite stretch of Florida driving-the back roads to Indiantown through cattle farms edged in palms and pines.

Saying goodbye to flip flops seems like a minor complaint to have, but the implications are terrifying to think of. In an effort to ‘be fancy’ at one point about a month ago, V wore socks one day, which necesitated wearing shoes. An hour later, a quarter-sized blister started a blood trail onboard that has only barely abated. Shoes all day without pain and suffering?! Re-entry conundrum.

On the plus side, we’re saying goodbye to our scattered methods of communication and work, and I am not alone in thoughts of how nice it’s going to be to have my desk to pull up to once again.

On the super plus side, I have all but said goodbye to my school marm title, and I get to watch that yellow miracle-mobile come pick the girls up on Monday morning and take them to infinitely more qualified teachers for whom I can only hope they offer more attention.

Our road to the current I-95 has been a busy one. We motored along the Okeechobee Waterway on Sunday and pulled into Indiantown Marina in time to start unloading and getting things ready for hauling the next morning.

All went well with the haul on Monday morning, and the crane came a couple of hours later and hauled the mast. Friends graciously took the girls to a science museum in West Palm for the day, so Andy and I had a very productive day of cleaning, stowing, organizing, laundry, and taking mast fittings off in preparation for its paint job to be done this fall.

Yesterday’s list was shorter for me, and we were able to escape to the beach for one last surf romp of the trip.

Today Andy did most of the final tuck-in and covering sans mast for support while I packed, unpacked and repacked the car for hours on end. (I was hoping, along the way, to find an extra 10-20 cubic feet for maximum stuffage, but alas, none presented itself.) We now drive along like a primed jack-in-the-box: open a door incorrectly and various combinations of gear might jump out at you. Here’s to hoping Jack stays in the box for the next 30 hours!