Bradenton Florida

December 26, 2010 Crossing Our Wake Celebration and Christmas in Bradenton, Florida. It is December 26 and time to catch up on the blog. We crossed our wake at Maximo Point, Florida and Ruth aboard High Spirits took the picture as we crossed the Lat and Long point we had previously determined. Many Loopers return to the marina of their beginnings, we were going on to Twin Dolphin Marina at Bradenton. After arriving, we had a small celebration with friends that we had traveled off and on with during the approximately 5,243 miles. This does not include the original trip from Amarillo, Texas to Florida or the miles by rental car at the many stops along the way. In the picture is Ruth and Wayne of High Spirits, Jill and Richard aboard Finally, and Bill and Phil aboard Gullwing. It was a great achievement for us, being such inexperienced boaters. We can now fly the Gold Burgee, showing that we had completed the Great Circle Loop. Now several decisions will have to be made, but not before meandering down to Key West for the winter and over to the Bahamas for early spring. It is now time to go back to Amarillo, Texas to see family, friends, and for yearly checkups. Piper said that she was not going to be left behind. She was able to fly coach with us, and she did very well. Although she would have preferred First Class. I explained to her, that in coach with us was first class for her. The option was the hole. We made our flight to and from Amarillo, and got back to the boat on the 22. Nancy setup and decorated the Christmas Tree that Captain Alys had given her many months ago. We had our Christmas Eve and relaxed. Bill and Phil had Nancy and I along with Claude and Yevett aboard Trusty III to their home for Christmas Day dinner. It was a great time with friends. We will now stay at Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton until the middle of January, then start to move to the South.