Friends and Family

When we arrived in Lake Worth, we thought maybe our friend Gunnar, who lives in Utah, would be visiting his parents in Palm Beach.  It was an off chance, but we texted him.  Turns out his parents live about a mile from where we were anchored - and he was in town!

Gunnar and Amanda joined us on the boat and invited us to watch the Palm Beach Boat Parade at his parents house the next day.  Some other friends from Utah happened to be flying in for Gunnar's party and it would be a great chance to catch up.

The next day, my oldest sister Katy, my brother-in-law Asif, and my niece Sara came out to the boat too. It was fantastic to see them (it had been about a year and a half since we'd seen them last).  They came aboard Stella Blue for a tour and then they went above and beyond and took us to run tedious errands.  We made all the usual cruiser stops at West Marine and Costco, and even a quick Walmart drive-by.  It's amazing how fast you can get from place to place when you have a car - an appreciation you acquire when walking becomes the primary means of transportation.

The next day we obtained Kala's health certificate which is required for her to be admitted into the Bahamas.  They had to get a weight for her so this is always an intriguing moment for me.  When we got her last year and she was six months old, the vet estimated she would probably gain about another 15 lbs, topping out at 50 lbs.  That was a good size.  When she stepped on the scale in West Palm - I couldn't believe she is now 66 whopping pounds of nothing but love.  Needless to say - there are many walks and swims planned in her future.  

The winds which had been horrible for the previous four days (gusting to over 30+ knots throughout the day) were forecasted to diminish so we made plans to leave Lake Worth and head down to the Keys.