The Plan Details

Remember---it's still just a plan, but we think we know what we want to do and how we want to get started. It should be interesting to come back to this post after a few months "at sea" to see how the plan played out.
We have always felt that we like to "walk before we run" into any major changes in our lives, so, we think we will start out with another run down the coast to Port Aransas and Corpus Christi, just to get our feet wet. Besides, Port "A" is one of my favorite places. It just has a nice rustic charm about it that appeals to me. After returning home I plan to set out along the intracoastal waterway, towards the west coast of Florida with stops along the way in New Orleans, The Miss. and Alabama coasts and various ports of call in Florida. Diane is not thrilled about the ICW route between here and New Orleans as it can be very busy with commercial traffic, especially large barges and tugs, so I'll probably be looking for some crew to help me navigate this leg of the journey.
Eventually, we want to explore the west coast of Fla and the Keys and then hopefully over to the Bahamas, returning to the States before the new hurricane season ensues--head up the east coast with the thought of summering somewhere in the northeast (I'd like to spend a month in Washington DC and see the monuments and museums the way they should be seen, with plenty of time to spend.
Who knows!! we may hate it after the first few weeks or we may love it and keep going. We'll certainly take time out to visit the kids and grandbabies and we hope to see a lot of friends and relatives along the way. The boat has a guest cabin!!