7 Jan. Arriving in Pensacola on a grey and chilly day. That's the Naval Air Station in the haze. Low temps were below freezing for about 5 days. We probably won't get much sympathy from the folks back home.
Palafox Marina in downtown Pensacola. There's a major effort underway to revitalize the harbor area. We met a local Grand Banks couple who were very helpful with transportation and information. Spent two nights here.
	One of the fattest pelicans we've ever seen!
20 Jan. Harbor Docks in Destin, FL. Primitive docks but a great restaurant, popular with the locals. We were headed for Sandestin, but stopped here because Choctowatchee Bay was pretty rough.
	21-22 Jan. Sandestin Resort. We were treated to a special "mini vacation" by Jimmie and Carolyn Ladner, longtime friends of John's sister. They hosted us at their condo. It was a beautiful place, good company, good food and a great discount shopping mall (says Pat). This gave us a pleasant break to revive our spirits! A very exotic spot with prices to match (says John).
The narrow path Bay Harbor at Sandestin.
	22 Jan. Between Lake Choctowatchee and Panama City, the ICW is mostly a ditch, but a pretty one.
One of the strangest barge loads we've seen on the ICW
	Your tax dollars at work in Panama City
Sunset in Panama City as seen from "At Ease".
	23 Jan. Panama City Municipal Marina. Nice facility, completely rebuilt after being destroyed by a hurricane a few years back.
Between Panama City and Apalachicola, the channel passes through low country identified on the chartsas "impenetrable swamp".
	24 Jan. Scipio Creek Marina in Apalachicola, a quaint little fishing village of 2300 people. Here we'll wait for the weather break which will provide us with a little calmer seas. This is the point when we leave the ICW and cross the Gulf. It's a long run and open water all the way. Needless to say we are looking for a period of calm before this part of the journey. The wait may be 5 or 6 days. There are some beautiful old southern homes and a lot of interesting history to learn about. Development in this area is not nearly as intense as the rest of Florida, and the locals are proud to call this area the "forgotten coast". While there isn't much of a commercial district there is a great Piggly Wiggly for grocery shopping. The bikes are getting a workout back and forth to town.

26 Jan. Mooching pelicans gather around a returning fishing boat in Apalachicola.
		27 Jan. Some nasty weather moving in on Apalachicola.
29 Jan. Passing a rare operating shrimp boat as we leave Apalachicola. Many of the shrimpers are idle due to low price competition from Ecuador, Africa and Southeast Asia.
		Early morning, 30 Jan. Arriving at Clearwater Beach marina after a 20-hour overnight Gulf crossing.
1 Feb. Clearwater Beach marina, downtown, within walking distance or trolley ride to all the essentials. A most welcome spot to regroup and enter the warm part of Florida.
		1 Feb. Our neighbor in Clearwater Beach. A classic wooden yacht built for the Canadian owner of Moosehead Brewery in 1915, and commandeered by the Canadian Navy for patrol duty in WWII. Now undergoing restoration by her new owners, who just moved to Clearwater.
1 Feb. Pat's love of turtles extends to some extreme examples! This 5-foot high guy greets visitors to the Clearwater Beach marina.

	4 Feb. Riviera Dunes Marina in Palmetto, FL, where we arrived after a 45 mile run from Clearwater. The weather was nice, so we ran down the "outside" in the Gulf, thus avoiding about 8 opening bridges. This is our home for the next few weeks. The view is from our upper deck, looking past the floating pool toward the clubhouse and restaurant.
6 Feb. Neither sunshine nor heat will keep a determined quilter from her sewing machine!
	13 Feb. This one is for Pat's fellow Sweet Adelines in the Yahara River Chorus. Our rental car came with an interesting license plate!
14 Feb. This is about as close to a 2000 lb manatee as you can get! The Mote Aquarium in Sarasoa is a fascinating day trip. This manatee and his/her partner eat about 136 heads of romaine lettuce per day!