I love my kids

Cruising Scouts - Acquire Propane Merit Badge

Today, I think I am going to think of this year's adventure like a Scouting adventure. I have to earn my stripes, my merit badges. Just like when I was a Brownie way back when. Then, once we are back and I am all "boat schooled and s--t", I can hang out at the yacht club and be "one of them", the Eagle Cruiser. The Real Thing. Ta Da! Little Ole Me! Today's Mission was to get Propane for the stove. We weren't out of propane. But we could be. One day. Soon. Maybe. We were running on another tank but Marcus said that if we run out then we'd have no way to cook. And he also said that getting propane is not something easy like getting fuel at the fuel docks. And I am thinking we are in a massive municipal marina with several hundred boats, many of them fishing boats, who all must use propane. How hard can it be? Apparently, it is not easy. Propane vendors are not located "close" to marinas. Not in Seattle, either! I could see that I was going to have to sweat a bit to earn THIS badge. Yesterday, while coming back from a trip to the grocery store (I must have earned THAT badge then too. YIKES! Is here extra credit for doing all this with a toddler in tow?), I started "hunting" for a gas station that had a sign saying it sold Propane. Very close to the marina, near the Hispanic grocery store, I saw a Chevron that had tanks. I have never been the one to fill them so I had no idea that there are different tanks, sizes, etc. And that "swapping" filled tanks is something you do for your barbeque grill, not for your boat. Who knew? I dragged Max and Samey up to the Chevron only to be told that they can't FILL tanks there. Only exchange tanks for same size tanks. Our is much smaller. BUT Apu was kind enough to mention curtly that I could get it filled at the "Ice Factory". And a guy in line chimed in, "Yeah, on Milpas". Thanks, Guys! Hey, I know Milpas! That is on the Trolley route! Near Trader Joe's! So, Attempt One is a failure but I have gained the sacred knowledge of where I need to go to accomplish my Merit Badge Task! (Never mind that we walked RIGHT IN FRONT of this place when we made our Epic journey to Trader Joe's exactly one week ago today... we apparently did not notice the signs...) Max helped me lug the empty canister back to the boat and I made plans to find the "Ice Factory" and trolley over there in the morning with Samey while Max took his Science test, before Marcus and Ben got back. SO. This morning, I check online and find out that, indeed, there is not only such thing as an "Ice Factory" it is also called "Santa Barbara Ice and Propane". On Milpas. Which is a street that ends at the beach, near the end of the trolley line. OK. I can handle this. Late morning, Max dinghys us over to the dock closest to the street with the canister strapped (no, uber roped - Max-style, from the trip the day before) to our rolling cart (this is a BIG marina). We head across the parking lot to the trolley stop and wait. And wait. The trolley stop is next to a playground. Samey wants to play. I tell her later! After we do our very important job! And then the trolley pulls up and it is the same guy who has been driving us back and forth along that line for the past three days. And he tells me, "Oh no. I am not allowed to take that on the trolley." I say, "It's empty!" He says, "Rules. But, if I were to not "see" what you are bringing on board, I might not notice that it was on board." And I say, "OH, I see." And another guy on the trolley says, "Go over to that little store and get a bag! The trolley will be back here in a half hour!" So, I take Samey back off the trolley and drag her past the playground explaining to her that I need to go get a bag to hide the canister and then we can get back on the NEXT trolley. As you can imagine, this makes NO SENSE to her. Trudge, trudge back across the parking lot and into the store where the guy is actually nice and, as I purchase an ice cream sandwich for the toddler who wants the playground, he gives me a white trash bag to "hide" the canister and put it back on the rolling cart, all the while they are laughing about how much "safer" it is to have the canister wrapped in plastic and I am mentioning that I am also lugging around a toddler and they have a good guffaw at that, too. Untie, untie, untie Max's many knots, free the canister, drop the canister in the bag, cinch the bag. Decide I don't want to tie it back on there. Stubborn-like. I set it on the cart and use the plastic ties from the bag to "secure" it to the cart. Back across the parking lot with the canister in the bag, sliding around on the rolling cart because why? Because I refused to take the time to retie it back on and my husband does not believe in bungee cords (WHAT? Dangerous or something. He got hit in the eye one time... OK, OK but they are SO useful!!?), over to where the stop where the trolley stops - did I mention it is conveniently next to a little playground? We have time (the evil canister is concealed! Not secured but hidden, sorta) so I let her play. And then, she does that sitting down thing where I know she needs to pee. And so I take her behind a tree and she pees. And goes back to the playground. And I am watching her, watching the rolling cart and the bagged canister and watching for the trolley to come back. And then she tells me she has to poop. OMG. Whatchagonnado? So, off come the shorts, on with the diaper, hiding under the play structure and then me begging her to let me change her quick so we can leave the poop behind and be better prepared to take the other toxic materials on the trolley with the nice man who is going to pretend he doesn't see my canister wrapped in a plastic bag. Quick! Quick! Phew. Diaper changed. And time to spare. The trolley returns. We nonchalantly get on. The driver is kind. We sit. I hide the sloppy rolling cart with my backpack to be respectful. So he could really pretend he had "no idea". Samey is hungry. I have snacks! Here's an applesauce squeezie! And pretzels! And we're off to Milpas. Helpful as we descend, the driver and another passenger make sure we know to go up the the corner, cross the train tracks and next to the batting cage/pastrami deli (!!) is the ice factory ("Just like the Letter Factory", says Sam). There is an arch, HUGE, like a rainbow right there. Art. Samey loves it and wants to play around it. We do but I am eager to get this DONE with. Let's Go, Samey! She pouts. We walk, slowly, picking flowers as usual, up to the corner, down the street, over the train tracks, past the batting cages with me stressed about the canister sliding around on the rolling cart and the wandering toddler as cars and trucks whip by (did I mention this is close to the on and off-ramp to HWY 101?), to the ICE joint. We find it. We go in. He asks me where I am parked. I say I am on foot. Samey is dancing to the loud music. They sell beer, kegs, helium tanks and balloons. A real party place. He takes the tank, goes in the back, fills it and I pay $9.95. It takes five minutes, max. After all that. So, then we go out. Again, I refuse to tie the tank on. It is surprisingly light and I have doubts that it is even filled. It would fit the story, right? But how should I know? I've obviously never filled one before!!?? We walk our painfully slow way back to the Milpas trolley stop. Again, picking flowers and rocks. Wobbly tank in plastic bag. Cross the park with the rainbow and the bums. We wait, wait, wait at the trolley stop. We get back on the trolley with our same driver (I guess there is only one on that route? Thankfully, he is super Santa Barbara nice) who nods at us but does not say a thing and we head back to the marina. More snacks and water for Samey who just loves those trolleys. Me, too. Windowless, along the road that parallels the beach. It is a lovely ride. I thank our driver heartily after we descend. He waves at Samey and she waves back. And then rolling, rolling back up the long dock and finally to the boat. Mostly, I had to carry her, the backpack and pull the rolling cart for the last stretch up the dock. And there. Three hours later. We have a filled extra propane tank! Thanks to me! Yes, me! And Samey! Now, I ask you, DID I OR DID I NOT EARN MY PROPANE MERIT BADGE?

Chromatic Gate by Herbert Bayer

Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens

Marcus and Ben flew up to Seattle on Thursday for the long weekend to join their Bertschi friends - boys, girls and Dads - for a YMCA Camp Orkila retreat. Third grade autumn is the last one they can do so they decided not to miss out on it. Ben is therefore gleefully connecting with his best buds and Marcus is enjoying the time with other Dads, too. That leaves Max, Samey and I ALONE in Santa Barbara. On.The. Boat. It just feels so odd to be here without Marcus. And without Ben here, my homeschooling duties have been put aside and, suddenly, I have oodles of time every day. Well, there is the toddler but you see my point? I spoke briefly with Lesli Franklin on Friday morning about connecting her son Seth with Marcus and Ben for the retreat. I was lying in bed reading while Max and Sam slept and I could hear in the background and in her voice the 8:45, pre-school, launching the day panic loud and clear. On the one hand, I felt pretty lucky to have stepped out of the stress but on the other hand, I feel pretty far removed from the rest of the planet in not such a nice way. I decided to take Samey to the zoo. Max wanted to stay behind so Sam and I headed out. We finally figured out the trolley system so getting to the zoo (despite the LONG wait for the trolley to come) was SUPER easy. "Door-to-door", as they say. And let me tell you that zoo is glorious. There is a reason that they call it a "zoological garden". The plants and landscaping, the layout and grooming are just as fabulous as the zoo itself. Lots of open exhibits so that you feel really close to the animals and the experience is very cozy. Fabulous exhibits. Amazing animals. I read online that they have two baby giraffes there so we went to that exhibit first as the feeding coincided with our arrival. Sam wanted to feed "Lu-Lu" but she got scared so I had to do it. Did you know that giraffes don't make noises? But if a baby does it's sounds is almost indistinguishable from a lion?

The lion exhibit is right next door. Max, Samey and I had watched the old movie "Born Free" (thanks, Mom!!) the night before so she was super prepped for the whole lioness thing but seemed not too thrilled when they started rough-housing right next to her on the other side of the glass!

Right before she came over to us!

I loved watching her watching the gorilla. I amazes me that kids are so blase about being less that a few inches from such creatures and seem not to realize the significance. I guess that is the curse of the zoo format in general. This photo capture the only moment when she seemed to realize that she might be able to "connect".

There is a fabulous play garden in the middle where Sam and I spent a great deal of time (we were in no hurry...!? rushing to get where?). Right in the middle is this mound/hill that kids can climb on and slide down. SO EASY and the kids were LOVING it!! There were pieces of cardboard there that they could sit on and use to slide down the hill on. Sam had fun with this but she was getting tired, too. She did, however, LOVE this statue of a fox and hugged it continuously and played her sing-song games around it for quite awhile while I sat and people-watched.

I was feeling a little lonely for my friends as I watched a group of moms chatting there while their kids ran around and played. I just had to take the following photo as I was struck by the fact that Santa Barbara mommy culture is so similar to Seattle! They wear Tom's! They have Bob strollers! They used Camelback water bottles! They bring healthy snacks! In earth-friendly containers! In a Trader Joe's insulated bag!

We really had a wonderful day there at that zoo. I highly recommend it to anyone who has the chance.

We made the trek on the trolley back to the marina to rejoin Max and, after dinner, we dragged Max down to the beach for a romp in the sand at dusk with us. Sam just loves the sand. I love having time for her to just explore it. And Max was so cute with her. Playing chase and carrying her on his back. I love watching the two of them play together. Such a gift.

It was a fine day, indeed. Odd - for sure - without Marcus and Ben but a good day nonetheless.

Another (Short) Missive from Santa Barbara

I've decided that these days in Santa Barbara, although many more than I would have wanted or needed, are a sort of "crusiers boot camp" of sorts. We are slowing down enough to really have it sink in what we are doing here. That we have actually embarked on this adventure and left the "regular" behind. Case in point. After trekking what should have been a short 1.8 mile walk to Trader Joe's that instead ended up being like some sort of odyssey or rite of passage, I found myself feeling oddly grateful and resentful of my car. How easy it is to drive to Trader Joe's and load up on food and supplies if you don't have to carry them back in the hot sun with a tired toddler in tow who wants to read every letter (thank you Leap Frog Letter Factory!!) she sees and pick as many flowers as she can (we stupidly forgot the stroller). I now find myself saying to the kids, "Now that you know how hard it is to get grapes, are you sure you want to inhale them?" And, loading up the dinghy and driving over to the laundry and waiting the 32 minutes for the wash and then the 48 for the drying... takes some of the fun out of laundry, right? SPOILED I AM! But guess what? In those "wasted minutes" I met another woman from Seattle (Anacortes really) who is doing the Baha Haha with her husband (True North) and then a really interesting fellow who was also doing his wash and who, in exchange for some of my suds, drew an amazing map of Santa Cruz island in the Channel Islands for me and explained where to go and where and how to anchor and basically mapped out a whole adventure of an island I would have otherwise known nothing about. THAT doesn't happen in my laundry room at home! And the whole "9 pm is the cruisers midnight" thing? TRUE! We all go to bed between 9 and 10! Exhausted! And sleep is so different on a boat. Hard to explain. Perhaps it is just less disturbed - physically and mentally. I have less on my plate and therefore less stress and therefore less that keeps me awake at night. I am finding that simplifying and streamlining one's life is indeed a fascinating process. I am still in a bit of shock about the whole thing. It is quite surreal, really. But here we are. Launched and adrift. Lost and found. And because of this brave leap of faith, I can send you photos like this:

Ben, reading his SECOND book!!

Baby Sky Bison

Santa Barbara's "Wet Wednesday" racing in the background

A visit to the beach before dinner tonight

No EATing, A lot of PRAYing and big LOVE... A night to remember.

Those of you who know me know my take on the book Eat, Pray, Love... bunk. If I was given a 2 million dollars advance to write a novel about what I decided to do after my divorce, I think I could come up with some similar drivel. If you write something knowing it is for others, like a blog, don't you write differently? Experience it differently? Make different choices? Don't you add and remove thinking of the reader and not the words or the experience itself? I have been doing a lot of contemplating on this concept lately. I look out at a scene and think, "oh, man, this will look great in my blog"... instead of just enjoying it- or NOT enjoying it as was the case of the overnight trip from Morro Bay to Santa Barbara. I am very, very grateful to be able to tell you that I am writing this particular Blog entry from the safety of the Santa Barbara Municipal Marina. In fact, we have been here now more than 24 hours and are just now starting to recuperate. The bottom line? Thanks to my husband's amazing boat handling skills and my oldest son's mettle (BIG LOVE for them both), we made it safely through the night passage from Morro Bay to Santa Barbara. 12 hours of NW wind, 20-30 knots with gusts up to 35 knots and 12 foot waves. That got us around Point Conception. Then another 6 hours to Santa Barbara. Unless you've been in a boat in those conditions, in a relatively small vessel, it is indescribable. The sea is so powerful, so vast, so large, so unrelenting. Let me be the first to tell you that I was sick almost after leaving the harbor and I was basically useless for the entire trip. We were SO unprepared. I was shoeless, without a coat or hat! Ben was in shorts! Samey was in shorts and a t-shirt! Blankets were below! No way to eat or prepare food (NO EATING). Woefully unprepared for emergencies at sea. Scarey to think back on how lucky we were, really. After getting sick and beginning to be scared about having her above deck, I took Samey down below with me and just concentrated on not going crazy or vomiting as she and I lay in our bed while wave after wave after wave after wave pounded the boat. The main cabin is directly under the cockpit so I could hear everything the boys were dealing with as I passed in and out of consciousness. Samey was so calm and so easygoing. She was amazing, too. Ben chose to stay above. He is SO brave. All were tethered. Ben and Max both were sick several times but Max really manned up. He and Marcus kept each other going. I know Max did not feel well but he stuck to it and did what was needed. The weather was so rough that we blew out our auto pilot. One huge wave just hit the boat in the right angle to put it out of service. This meant that the boat had to be hand sailed for the entire trip, even when, in the morning, the seas calmed down. Around 7, I felt able enough to go above deck and check on the battered sailors (I left Samey sleeping below) and I was able to take over for a little while so Marcus could rest. Dolphins abounded on both sides for several hours. Like a blessing. I had spent the night praying that everyone was tethered and that the night would be over soon. When Samey was hungry, I had to get up and get her some food. It was a herculean feat for me to do. I was SO SICK. I could barely get up and go to the bathroom, I was so pinned to the bed. By morning, Marcus and Max were wiped out. Even Marcus admitted to moments of NOT liking it. We headed to Santa Barbara so as to get to a marina to fix auto pilot. But it was a night like none I have ever experienced. BRUTAL. I will be glad if I never have to experience anything like it ever again. Santa Barbara looked like heaven. Beautiful weather, beautiful beaches, amazing harbor and marina. We spent the day attempting to "right" ourselves. Marcus - who held us all together and kept us safe - was exhausted. He is amazing. I find myself SO grateful that he knows SO much about this boat and about sailing and is making this trip possible for us. That was hopefully, the worst passage our trip south will include. Shall I mention, one more time, that I was USELESS?! Today, Marcus spent the day swapping out the auto pilot and greased all the pulleys and adjusted the holes where the cables were running because they were running. Ben and I did our schooling and then, in the afternoon, we went up to the beach and played in the waves for awhile. Our plan is to be here for a week or so. Not sure if we'll make it to the Channel Islands before heading to Ventura. The calm after the storm, I suppose.

Brave Sailor Ben

Santa Barbara Yacht Club in the background

Morro Bay to Santa Barbara

Our amazing crew. Exhausted.

Getting ready to leave Morro Bay... heading into a night of wind.

As I type this, we are getting the boat ready to head down to the Channel Islands. High winds and rough seas are predicted and I am steeling myself for a night of discomfort. I've got my scope patch on... We've had such a great time here in Morro Bay. Such a nice little town and I'd come again to see it. There is a sand spit across the channel and, as I write this, Marcus has taken Ben and Samey on the dinghy there one last time. They so love the beach and there is almost nothing better than watching them play freely, unconstrained together in the sand. Max is attempting to get caught up on schoolwork while we have great internet service. Marcus is providing guidance now and things seem to be better on track than they were before. We were joined late last night by our Seattle friends on Sand Dollar for a brief interlude. They have already shoved off early this afternoon and are heading in the same direction but on a different schedule. We hope to meet up with them again tomorrow in the Channel Islands if weather permits and if not then at the latest in San Diego. Ben loved spending time with Easton as they are fast friends. So cute watching them carry the shopping bag together back from Albertson's with our provisions and sharing a tray of sushi (Easton's first). Kaley and Nate seem to be holding up well and enjoying their adventure and Shauna and JC are very organized and deliberate in everything they do. And meeting their skipper, Al, was interesting, too. Not sure when we'll have internet again if we are able to anchor in the Channel Islands. I'll keep you posted, as they say!

Sun-shiny Morro Bay

We decided to do an overnighter so as to travel at night from Monterey Bay to Morro Bay. It seemed like a good idea to do it when the little kids would be asleep. And Marcus loves that kind of sailing. Despite weather warnings from other boats we have connected with along the way and who are waiting in Monterey Bay, we decided to rely on Marcus' read on the weather predictions and leave last night.

A boat in Monterey with a great name!!

Once again, the seas were so benign and the tides and winds helpful. We ate some chicken stir-fry while underway and watched Surf's Up which is one of Marcus' favorite movies. Samey watched the whole thing and loved it, too. She says she wants to surf! Afterwards, I went below with Samey and we basically slept the majority of the ride which took us 17 hours (109 nautical miles). It was rocky-rolly but really not bad at all. Ben was with us awhile and then up top (tethered, of course, as were Max and Marcus) with the big boys. It was a long but relatively easy trip. We arrived around 1 pm. Morro Bay is guarded by an immense rock structure and it is incredibly lovely here. Really feels like we are getting closer to southern living and away from the Pacific Northwest. We are at the dock at the Morro Bay Yacht Club and the view is spectacular. Marcus had only slept 2 hours or so we left him to shower and the three kids and I took the scooter and the skut bike and went to explore the little town for awhile. They have a very sweet little aquarium here and the kids liked feeding the sea lions they have there. And Max loved seeing his favorite animal up close: octopus.

We're just sitting on this lovely deck overlooking the "rock" and the marine traffic passing us by. Not sure how long we'll stay here (weather-dependent as usual!) but it feels nice here so I am glad to stay awhile if need be. If it weren't for the dang flies again! EVERYWHERE! Yuck.

Monterey Bay, Cannery Row, Seals and Otters

We've now been two nights in Monterey Bay at the Municipal Marina. All day and all night the harbor seals (some of whom are HUGE) are barking.  BARKING. Hundreds of them. I went to do laundry the night we arrived and almost stepped on an otter who was lounging on the dock! Scared the bejebus out of me. And at the far end of the dock a huge bull was barking away. Kind of amazing how much they "own" the harbor. We did an excursion yesterday and walked down Cannery Row. Samey picked all these flowers for me.

We spent some wonderful hours at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My favorite part by far was the jellyfish exhibit.

Ben loved the Deep Sea Tank that had three Hammerhead Sharks and two huge sea turtles as well as some amazingly large tuna fish. Samey liked the gifts shops with all the stuffies but somehow we managed to get out of all of them without having to make a purchase!!! We stopped at a little beach, San Carlos Beach, on our way back to the boat.

Today, Max, Ben and I did schoolwork in the morning while Marcus and Sam did a scooter/bike adventure. We walked into town to Starbucks to get internet and next we'll go to Trader Joe's to get some more provisions. I am loving the time together as a family. Tonight, we'll do an overnight as our plan is to get to Morro Bay (17 hours away).

Half Moon Bay, Calfornia

We were able to leave Alameda today, early this morning in a cold, heavy fog. It never quite left us as we made the 35 nautical mile trip to Half Moon Bay. We passed under the Golden Gate Bridge but could barely see it at all! The sea, once we hit the Pacific waters, was as benign as it could possibly be. I had my Scope patch on and my wrist bracelets (all for sea sickness). Max, too. Ben got a little sick but mostly we all just turned the boat over to Marcus (who never gets sea sick!), put on our foul weather gear and hunkered down. Mercifully, Samey slept below for the entire 6 hour trip which meant that I was able to stay above, eyes closed, and even slept for most of it, too! In this way, I avoided feeling sick much at all and the time passed quickly. I find if I keep my eyes closed, I really do better. And being above deck is key! The fog shrouded the harbor at Half Moon Bay still as we approached. The stench of the fish factory and hundreds of pelicans and seagulls along the sea wall was quite overpowering, as were the thousands of black flies that stuck to us as we grabbed a mooring ball and got settled. We took the dingy over to the marina and went for a walk to get away from them! Unfortunately, the cute little town of Half Moon Bay is 4 miles away so we just explored the shops and restaurants near the marina. And, did I mention?, were able to get away from the horrible flies. Max found some flip flops (not easy to walk into a store that sells men's size 14 shoes!!) and this surfing store even had choices for him! And we decided to eat at a restaurant near the marina as eating covered with flies was so unappealing to us all. The food was excellent!! I had a ceviche salad that was incredible. We all decided we did not want to stay very long here. The flies were gone by the time we returned from our excursion. Cold here. And foggy. The eery fog horn blows every 30 seconds. I tire of the lonely sound. Tomorrow, we head to Santa Cruz.

"Take Off For Landing" (aka Finally Leaving Encinal and Alternator Dies and then Coming Right Back)

Well, after a fun week of homeschooling and friends and relatives and the pool, we WERE heading out for Half Moon Bay early this morning... But it was not in the cards. Poor Marcus. The alternator blew (or something... he is down there right now problem-solving with other brilliant minds like Chris Carden). We are back at the pool, doing our schoolwork here today since the boat is torn apart. Again. It does give me a chance to get caught up on my blog! Some photos from the week:

A view of Appa at dusk at EYC, Alameda

 

I guess this is why people love California.

It's been quite a week. LOTS of time with Pete and Rachelle which has been wonderful. We sure will miss them. And we had a fabulous lunch in Berkeley (for Rachelle, Samey and I) with Ginny near the Berkeley Yacht club on Fourth Street at Zut! including drinks with absinthe! WHOA. Samey learned to swim this week and now puts her head and face in the water and, wearing her little swim life jacket, she can swim all around the pool unassisted! Amazing! And Ben does front and back flips off the side of the pool incessantly. Max spent hours learning to splice and whip lines with Pete - quite a gift for him to learn these skills from someone with so much knowledge. I love the family time together and seeing the kids together. Yesterday, I got to spend some time with my old friend from graduate school (Thunderbird), Josephine Sabolboro, and her sweet 7 year old daughter Ava. Samey and I met them at Jack London Square in Oakland in a restaurant called The Forge. We haven't seen each other for 16 years or something crazy like that but it was like time stopped. She is just as beautiful, smart and fun as ever! They came back to EYC afterwards to meet the rest of the family and to see the boat. Fun!

Samey and Ava

Me and Josephine

 Here are some photos from this morning as we made our attempt to leave...

Pete, Rachelle, Max and Holm... And Appa!

Pete prepares to cut the lines.

So. We missed the tides today.We'll try again tomorrow. I guess, a usual these days, it was a computer user error... We should be fine tomorrow!!

Labor Day, No Labor (except the labor of Homeschooling)

Another day at the pool. AFTER my first eye-opening experience with Homeschooling. OMG. Talk about overwhelming. Two full tubs of books and materials, 16 pages of parental instructions for "Day One". I see the slavery ahead. May I just say for the record that there is not one cell of my body that has EVER wanted to Homeschool. Not ONE. I have total respect for it but have absolutely have NO desire to do it. But we want this trip for each other and we want to take the kids and so, we just have to do it. Its going to take awhile to get into the routine and figure out what we really need to do or not. Today, we did Science, Spelling, Composition and Phonics. We did not even get to Reading, Social Studies or Math and I was wiped out!!! (Not to mention my high-fallutin intentions of also doing piano practice, cursive writing, Spanish or reading a book!!!) I am trying to be patient and trust that we can figure out a method to get the schooling in but can I say one more time: OMG! I will keep you posted but I find myself feeling thankful for schools and teachers! On a more fun note, my beloved cousins, Martha and Richard Gurley, and their son Lukas visited us at the pool today for a fun, late lunch by the pool.

Ben and Lukas swam for hours while I got to visit with Richard and Martha. Holm showed up a little while later and took Max out for dinner to celebrate his 51st birthday (Holm's).

Marcus and Pete worked more on the rigging and Pete is teaching Max to splice lines. So funny and so nice to step out of "The Routine". I don't check email or my phone half as much (I am ashamed to say) as I had become accustomed. A very, very good thing. A little unsettling but reassuring all the same. Holm (Happy Birthday today to him, Alexandra del Tufo and Kristopher Reichert!) asked me if I had "left Seattle" and my answer was a solid "yes". Don't get me wrong: I miss everyone, for sure. But we're on an adventure. A BIG one. That is such an amazing gift - for me, for us, for the kids.

Redwoods to Encinal Yacht Club, Alameda, California!

If you've been following this religiously then you'll notice I took a couple of days off from reporting. Blame it on exhaustion. On Friday, Ben and Samey and I left Crescent City at 10:15 am after one last swim in the pool (nobody was eager to get back in the car), and headed south.

Goal? Make it it Marcus and Max by nighttime. And what an incredibly spectacular drive. 101 South in California is just so beautiful.

The redwoods took my breath away. Avenue of the Giants was incredible. If you've never seen them, you just can't imagine their magnitude and their magnificence.

A fallen giant almost as big as Ben!

Two mighty beings

We had to make several stops throughout the day (where's my pink crayon, I gotta go pee, I want ice cream, I can't find my headphones, I'm hungry, I gotta go pee again...) which set us back a bit but every stop was worth it. I also loved Mendocino County, Sonoma County - the vineyards, the rolling hills - driving through just as dusk set in. It was a very long but rewarding drive. And then, thanks to my beloved cousins Richard and Martha, I learned that the Bay Bridge was closed for the weekend and, with their help, we had to do a long detour in stop-and-go traffic and by the time we rolled into the Encinal Yacht Club in Alameda at 9 pm, I was spent. But we were SO glad to see not only Marcus and Max but also Pete and Rachelle there waiting to welcome us.

Oh, those silly bowls never get old!

We spent Saturday and most of today unpacking the car, packing up the boat, deciding what stays and what will go back in the Highlander with Holm when he drives it back up to Seattle. Ginny James came today for lunch at the Yacht Club and sat with us in the sun for a few hours while the kids swam and swam.

The Magnificent Ginny James

Pete and Marcus have been working on fixing some rigging problems and I decided it was time to update the blog. Lazy days here. Feels fine.