4 MONTHS IN JAIL.....

Geez, I feel like I was arrested four months ago for a crime I didn't commit, was put in jail, and was finally acquitted last Friday afternoon. I'm guessing CJM feels the same way. After I packed and repacked the car.... (CJM calls me the Master Packer and I always ask her if she wants to take EVERYTHING or just SOME of the stuff!)

From 2012-05-06

we swung by to say goodbye to our cellmates....Matt, Jabet, Lola and Oscar. It was as if we were actually leaving them behind still in jail. It ended up being a tearful departure. Not sure if they felt like we got out of jail and they were left holding the bag or if they might actually be thinking they were gonna miss us. Matt was actually working Saturday morning so we didn't get to say goodbye to him and Lola was just happy-go-lucky, talking up a storm, and mostly interested in going outside and playing in the water. I do think Oscar could tell we were abandoning him. As we pulled out of the driveway his little face was crammed under the gate and remained there until we were out of sight.

Now for a long boring recap of our four month prison term.... It began right after the First Annual Bimini Wahoo Challenge, one of the best fishing trips the 2 Captains and FF III have ever participated in(see prior posts). When we returned, the building was all framed,the drywall was up, and as all projects seem at that point, we felt like we were way ahead of schedule and that we would beat our deadline of being finished by April 27th by days if not weeks. NOT HARDLY :) That's when the real work began for us. Many of you that have cruised with us know we can sleep in on occasion. Neither one of us could sleep while we were in "prison." Sleepless nights and early mornings alternated between CJM and me. Usually not long after 4 AM and sometimes by 3 AM but always before 5AM one of us would give up the fight, get up, and put on the coffee. We would then begin searching the Internet for decorating ideas and decorative items or making sure we had dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's for DNR and the Division of Health Lodging Authority and that the rooms were actually big enough to house all the things they needed to house and on and on and on.

Most of my days were filled with doing as much of the finish work as I could and then making sure that all the subs were on the job as needed and that they had all the materials they needed to complete their tasks. I'm sure you also noticed that our well driller took up residence with us for a few weeks. To make a long story short when he finally finished drilling that enormous hole in the ground he dropped part of his equipment down the hole and had to move over and drill it again. The extra drilling was on him,thankfully, but the pain in the ass was on us. The "Warden, Sr." and the "Warden Jr." (now I know that Jabet comes by her nickname "The Warden" honestly) must have thought I would be well suited to work in the penitentiary store assembling knick knacks for sale as they had ordered literally ALL of the furniture unassembled! Most mornings I arrived at LHR before daylight to begin assembling ALL of the dining chairs and end tables and installing ALL of the towel bars and racks and tp holders and grab bars and shower curtain rods and on and on and on. Whew!

I know you say, "Didn't you guys go to Florida for a couple weeks back in March?" Well, yes we did. But, we also spent the entire time working on the FF III. We hand waxed the entire boat and spent the entire two weeks servicing and prepping her for the journey we are about to embark upon. You know....YOU HAVE TO WORK REALY HARD TO HAVE FUN!!!! Well, we were acquitted and got out of jail last Friday afternoon and are finally on our way. In fact, we are 164 miles from Homestead right now. The GPS says we will hit Islamorada at Happy Hour :) We are happy to be on our way and are sorry to have left our "cellmates" holding the bag. But, as always we are leaving knowing the place is in good hands....with Matt and the "Warden, Jr."!!!!!!!!!!!!!CTM