Weeks #23 & 24, 31DEC016 to 13JAN017, HANGING IN MARATHON

     We had a good visit with relatives and safe travels from 27Dec to our return to Marathon on 4Jan017. It is a long drive out of Florida when you start in The Keys. We got to Jacksonville the first day, and to our destination in SE NC by mid afternoon of the second day. We visited relatives in NC and Florida. And we attended an annual Christmas family reunion for the one side of the family. All us cousins catch up on what has been happening with our kids over the past year. And we started our drive back from Florida on a Monday morning to be in Tarpon Springs, FL by mid afternoon on Wednesday. We got that done. It was a follow-up dental visit for Barbara from the tooth extracted in early December. It was not a visit that went as planned. The mold for the permanent crown could not be made as the gum was not totally healed. We left Tarpon Springs with Barbara's jaw hurting again, and an appointment to come back to the Tarpon Springs dentist in two weeks. We got back to Marathon just before midnight on Wednesday the 4th.
      Barbara had rolled her left leg/knee some more while we were gone. She was in pain, so on Thursday morning we got in the rental car and went to Tavernier Key and the emergency room at Mariner's Baptist hospital. We were told it was the best ER in the keys. They diagnosed the left leg as having strained tendons at the knee and the attachments on the shin below the knee. The ER doctor ordered bed rest for 2 weeks and light use for 4-6 weeks. We went back to Marathon and did shopping and laundry before starting the rest periods.
      In the second week, I went to the nearby grocery stores as needed. And I worked on some of the small tasks to do on SummerTime as could be accomplished with an injured crew aboard. The weather is nice, and we are essentially grounded. But we do take the taxi on Thursday night to wing night at the Marathon Grill and Ale House. Wings are 35c each, so we eat well, sampling new flavors, and enjoy the company of other loopers and snowbirds on their boats. There are 8 of us at 2 tables. The wings cooked in "Old Bay" crab boil are the most flavorful. Not hot, but very tasty.

DOCK LIZARD