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03-15-10 Sneads Ferry, NC – Thanks

[Rick] With us safely back in Sneads Ferry, the time has come to end our great loop adventure. However, we recognize that we would not have had such a great time without some help from many people. Along the way, we met many wonderful people and we have become friends with many. Included in this group are friends or relatives who joined us for a day or so. These folks include (dates are in parenthesis so you can look up the blog entry if you wish):

Louise, Betsy’s childhood friend that drove 4 hours (one way) to spend a day and a night with us. She is the only overnight visitor we had…after all it is only a 26 foot boat! She slept on the convertible dinette table in a sleeping bag (6/24).

Chris Gunter, Betsy’s nephew that lives in Rochester, NY, drove to visit us in Oswego, NY to visit (6/30).

Tina, Trina, and Tara, the Zephyrhills wild bunch. We drove there, then they drove to Clearwater, all during Christmas week.

Ryan, my nephew, and a great kid, and his mother Bonnie, visited us in Boca Raton (1/23).

Betsy’s second cousin Ben Newland and his wife Rose, took us to Disney’s Wild Kingdom and let us stay with them in Orlando, FL (2/9).

Another of Betsy’s second cousins, Scott Makepeace and his wife Pat, drove from Jacksonville to St. Augustine to take us to Osteen’s Restaurant for the best shrimp dinner we have ever had (2/16).

Friends from college days Duncan and Cami Mills, hand delivered an air conditioner/heater to us. They picked it up in their hometown of Richmond VA and drove all the way to Great Bridge, VA, to deliver it to us. We really used the heater. The air conditioner, not so much (5/28).

Jimmy and Gaye Thomas, friends from Wilmington also visited us in Great Bridge (5/28).

Kim Volek, a former member of our church in Sneads Ferry, dropped by for a visit in Beaufort, SC. We had never actually met Kim but she had been reading our blog regularly, and had moved to Beaufort after we left on our trip (2/27).

Sue, daughter of our Topsail Beach neighbor, and her husband Gary, dropped in for a visit while we were in Isle of Palms, SC. They just happened to be vacationing there and Sue’s mother knew from reading the blog that we were there at the same time (3/3).

Dolli and Jimmy Adams, our friends from Lumberton came to Myrtle Beach and took us to Sticky Fingers for lunch and catching up.

There is another group of important people. These are the ones that we owe thanks, in a big way. We cannot name everyone, But, here goes:

We start with Glenn in Chicago. He towed us around the Carp Crap and we are truly indebted to him. Not only did he save us $600, he showed that there are friendly, helpful boaters on the water (9/3).

Sid in Luddington. He offered us, complete strangers, the use of his truck while we were weather hostages and he was great company docked next to us (8/16).

Bruce in Fairhope. Shared his lovely town and church with us (11/29).

Tom and Patsy Conrad. These wonderful people let us tie to their dock and kept us entertained for three days (12/1 – 12/2). In addition, Tom’s weather musings, well respected by AGLCA loopers, helped us pick the right day to cross Florida’s Big Bend.

Ron and Marji Cyr also let us dock at their home in Punta Gorda FL and were wonderful hosts just after they had completed the loop themselves (1/11-1/12).

There were many, many other loopers that we travelled with along the way that were so helpful to us, but we can’t mention them all for fear of leaving someone out. Just know that if we travelled with you even for a day or two, you were special to us and we will not forget you.

I have saved the biggest thanks for last. We do not even know how to begin to thank Tom and Billie Hayden for all their help. Tom took care of our mail, certainly not the easiest of tasks. Tom and Billie “managed” the two disasters at home when the water pipes burst on the Florida heat pump and flooded our downstairs with thousands of gallons of water. They were a constant source of information and news from Sneads Ferry. Thank You Very Much.

This is probably our last blog entry for this trip. We will leave the blog and website open so anyone can refer back. We hope that everyone has enjoyed reading the blog as much as we have enjoyed having you as our “virtual crew’. Now, cast off your lines and go live a little……..

Betsy, Rick, and Beamer

2 comments:

  1. Rick and Betsy,

    Congratulations on finishing your Great Loop!! We really have enjoyed reading about your adventures (hey, we even shared some like trying to get off the boats in Clearwater). We'll certainly look you up as we pass through Sneads Ferry.

    Enjoy your time on land,
    Gerry and Linda - MV Monk's Vineyard

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  2. Was so great to see you at church Sunday and welcome you both home! We will miss your blog - have enjoyed it so much - thanks for sharing your exciting adventure with us all! Hope to see you again soon! hugs,
    Margaret & Tim

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