Residing at Camp Vero

This starts week three on the ball at Vero Beach City Marina.  Ed's brother Tom and nephew Joseph flew in from Phoenix for the Thanksgiving weekend.  It's been two years since we've seen them.  At 15 Joe is now taller than Ed's 5'11".   Instead of turkey, we grilled a side of beef for Joe.


The boy can eat, and when he's done he eats some more.  A half loaf of bread, 5 eggs, peanut butter, fruit and a quart of water followed by a protein drink for breakfast.  Later in the day, father and son played in the water and competed in kayak races.  The old man didn't do too bad.  On day two, Joe and I hit the mall.  Mission Ipad was accomplished.  Joe was a great help in getting us started with our new electronic device. 

Today, Joe actually ate a whole large pizza with ham, mushrooms and banana pepper... sans the cheese... for lunch.  He watches the fat content.  The dough ball with vegetables was washed down with three full glasses of water.   All I can say is I'm glad I don't have to haul groceries back to the boat for the hungry teen on a weekly basis.   We would have to get a larger dink.  His dad had a rental car.  Thanks for small favors.   We ate out a lot over the weekend.  I'm still in awe at watching Joe eat two who entrees at Vero Beach's Ocean Grill last night.


Tom and Joe bid farewell and headed for Orlando this afternoon.  They will catch a plane back to Phoenix in the a.m.  There were several firsts for Joe.  He learned to drive the dinghy.  He saw his first manatee... not too many of them in Phoenix.  He rode public transportation with me to the mall.  He learned to economize on water while doing dishes. Jugging water helped nail that lesson down.  To his dismay her quickly figured out what the baggies and the little white bucket is for in the head.  No paper down our toilet.  Joe was impressed that we only use electrical outlets when running the Honda 2000 generator. 


Tom and Joe now have a closer understanding of what it means to live aboard.    Imagine is rafted up to Pioneer, crewed by longtime cruisers Judy and Tom.   Joe was impressed with how friendly cruisers are.   He was even more amazed that his lost Oaklely sunglasses were found by another cruiser who left a note to call them on the VHF. The crew of Cookie Monster found the shades and were able reunite Joe with his glasses just before they left for Orlando.   He thought they were gone for good.  "Boaters are cool", he said.