Friends and Family in Fort Lauderdale

Hi All…Ben here again,

We’ve had a busy couple of weeks since I last wrote. Izzy’s brother and sister-in-law, Dick and Cathy, came from Atlanta to visit with us for a few days. When they got out of the car, they had so many suitcases I thought for sure my little friend Angel must be in one of them....dissapointed...I guess Cathy brought too many shoes. That's what Jeff says happens when he travels with Izzy.

See...here's me with my little friend Angel at Thanksgiving.

They had Bloody Mary’s with Izzy and Jeff on the sundeck the morning they arrived, so the day got off to a good start. Dick said Izzy makes good bloody Mary's, so they had a few until they ran out of celery. A fun dinghy ride and a visit to see friends Fran and John made everyone even happier.

They did a lot of eating and drinking away from the boat, so I got some overtime in my watchdog job, and earned treats at time and a half. (That job is pretty easy.) They took a ride to Deerfield Beach and had dinner with Brian and BJ.And they went over to Fran and Johns and had a barbecue. This is a picture of Jeff with John and Dick. I can tell by this picture that these guys are drinking wine and telling lies while the meat cooks. Fran made a tasty pasta dish too, and everyone got real full and came home laughing and a little goofy. Izzy says that Fran is “Italian” and that her pasta is the best. I had a little taste of some of it because Fran gave them big bag of leftovers to have for lunch the next day. I wish Izzy could be “Italian” too so I could eat that everyday instead of the dog food she gives me. I think Izzy must be “Purina”.
We went to the beach, took a walk in the sand and looked at the vacationers with their red sunburned faces. They didn't take a swim, and neither did I. Apparently they don't want Izzy to give them a scrubbing like I got after that dip in the canal. The beach water looks a lot cleaner though, and you don't have to fall in from the edge of the boat. Here are Dick and Cathy at the beach in Fort Lauderdale trying to keep out of the water. Izzy and Jeff with just their toes in the water.

Dick helped Izzy put together her new bike stand so she could ride her bike while we are on the boat. That sounds crazy to me. I hope that doesn't mean that I'll get out less often. After all, the best exercise is definitely a nice long walk with a dog. Jeff said not to worry, because he thinks she'll forget that she has it.

This pretty red boat came into the canal one day. Izzy wondered if Jeff had started a fire somewhere, but she was relieved to find out it was just out for a ride. Man, I was really getting to like this Fort Lauderdale routine. I got to sleep in until about 8:00 or so before anyone disturbed me, then I could usually convince one of these two to get me down off this boat and take me for a nice long walk down to the beach or around the canals where I could practice my gecko chasing techniques. I have to admit that I haven’t been successful in that area yet. They’re fast little buggers.
But one day Jeff began talking about starting the engines! I was a little nervous about that. Sounded like the house would be moving, and I’d have to get my “sea legs’ working again and go back to using the “yard” instead of going for nice walks. And I'd have to say goodbye to my new friend Marley in the yard next door.
Jeff and Izzy seem excited that they are going to start the “Loop”. Coulda fooled me…I thought we’d been doing “loops” since we left Irvine and my nice lake.

In preparation for leaving, we had Bottom Cleaning Day! The man in the funny rubber suit came over and got in the water and swam around the boat like I did that time a few weeks ago. Only thing different is that Jeff gave him money when he got out...I didn't get paid.

Infact, I guess it was Bottom Cleaning Day for everyone, cause when that guy got out, Jeff and I had to have our bottoms cleaned too! Bottom and top cleaning for Jeff

Bottom Cleaning for me, too!

I don't know if Izzy got her's cleaned, but there weren't any pictures of that in the camera.

Our new friends from down the canal, Parke and Moira, are going to be leaving in their sailboat to go back to Ottowa soon too, so we'll will plan to see them in the summer. Jeff was a little nervous about getting out of our slip since we don't have much space to back out and turn around. You remember the fiasco we had getting in here, don't you? The water is shallow, so when the tide is low our bottom sits on the ground. That means we have to leave when the tide is up and there's no wind.

Jeff asked me to cross my fingers. He must be joking. Have you ever seen a dog cross his fingers? I tried it and it doesn't work. He just had to pull it off without me. My plan was to sit up in that navigation seat and keep out of the way so I wouldn't be blamed for another screw up.

As it turned out we were all nervous for nothing. Our neighbor Ian helped guide us out and made sure we didn't hit his nice sailboat. Jeff turned the "Izzy R" around real smoothly and off we went up the canal to anchor out in front of Fran and John's house for our last night in Fort Lauderdale. Jeff and Izzy dinghied over to their house for another one of Fran's great "Italian" dinners and I stood guard on the boat. I did a great job and got the treats!

The next morning we went out into the ocean near Brian's grandma's condo. This is a picture of the buildings where Gladys lives and where the waves get bigger. After we passed these buildings, our boat rolled around in the deep water all day while we drove to Palm Beach. We were all glad to get to the inlet and find calm water to anchor in Lake Worth. Here's a picture of us having wine on our back deck that night. Well, Izzy threw out the plant I had in my yard, so I don't have anything to "aim" at anymore, so I'm going to go on strike and insist that they take me on a walk. I'll let you know how that goes in the next note. Till then....

Love,

Ben