Road Trip

We’re back in the NW and trying to get used to the c-o-l-d again! It averages around the mid-70’s during the day but when the sun goes down so does the temperature and Chris & I have a blanket feud much of the night. My parents are letting us stay in their 29’ RV while we are in town and that has made life much easier in all sorts of ways. We are currently parked at the Jantzen Beach RV Park (right in the PDX flight path so it’s just like when I lived on the boat). This is a nice park with the River on one side, the shopping mall on the other and just a short walk to the marinas on the other end of the Island.

The trip home from Mexico was very nice though a bit rushed and it wasn’t without it’s share of “excitement”. First we had a blow-out in the middle of the Mexican desert but Chris, being the he-man that he is, had the spare on in no time and we were back on the road. Crossing the border involved an inspection of the truck contents but the Homeland Security people made it a pleasant enough experience and didn’t find any contraband. We had a nice visit with Chris’ mother, brother, sister-in-law, niece and cousin in Tucson but were only able to stay 2 days because Friday morning while brushing my teeth, one of my brand new crowns popped right off . This necessitated a trip BACK to the dentist in San Carlos in hopes of seeing him that day. As it turned out, we cooled our heels at the Adelaide apts for the weekend and it was Monday before I got the crown re-installed. Tuesday morning it fell off again when I was brushing! My dentist back here has kindly re-cemented it but it is apparently too big and may end up being replaced. Sigh…

From Tucson we drove to Las Vegas to see Chris’ son, Sterling, & his family. We crossed the Hoover Dam on the way (after successfully passing through two security checks). We didn’t have any drugs, guns or bombs and only 4 cans of Pacifico but we did have to explain what the mainsail was! The dam is an awesome accomplishment and the new suspension bridge they are building there is especially amazing.

We had a great dinner and nice visit with Sterling, Julie & Vivian and will be seeing them again when the family congregates in Florence (OR) over the 4^th. Next morning we left for Sutherlin (OR) where my daughter, Amanda, is. This is a two day drive so we decided to take the state highways instead of the interstate in order to see some new scenery.

The Nevada landscape was pretty much desert but many of the cacti were blooming so it was pretty cool. We spent the night in a lovely room at the Nugget that had a view of the RR tracks and a metal scrapyard. Chris doesn’t gamble but I managed to throw a half dozen quarters into slot machines as we walked by. No luck. No surprise.

Northern California, between Reno & Mt. Shasta, began as desert but before long we were ascending into the mountains of Lassen National Park. This is a beautiful area which is reminiscent of eastern Oregon. We passed a large military area around Susanville and saw a number of munitions bunkers (at least that’s what they appeared to be) that were camouflaged so they couldn’t be seen from the air. I was fascinated and tempted to snap a few pics but after thinking about it decided not to chance having MY picture taken by a surveillance camera. We passed beautiful Honey Lake and were intrigued by its gorgeous sky blue color. Over the past year we have become very attuned to the different colors of water which are influenced by such things as the depth, what the bottom consists of and the current sky conditions. This lake is surrounded by what looks like limestone so we thought that might be what the makeup is of the bottom and thus the reason for the color. Apparently it has a very high concentration of mineral salts and in the summer becomes an alkali flat.

Shortly after we’d stopped in Tonopah for lunch we passed the Desert Lobster Café and were disappointed that we were no longer hungry. This is a very large powerboat that sits in the middle of nowhere and has been converted into a diner. We definitely intend to stop here next time!

After a nice visit with Amanda’s family (where I got to meet my brand new great-grandson) we made the short trip to Portland, spent a night with Keely & Josh (Chris’ daughter) and then picked up my folks’ RV. We are quite happy to have the use of their “dirt yacht” while we are here. Now we are using our remaining time to visit friends & family, take care of business, reorganize our stored belongings, start collecting the things we need for next year’s cruising and do a little sight seeing. Stay tuned…the adventure continues!

Season End

I am sitting in our air conditioned room writing this and waiting for Chris to return from working on the boat again. We both went over and did some work this morning but then I spent 2 hours in the dentist's chair again and he thought I should just relax for a bit. We have been working, working, working for the past several days trying to get as much accomplished at the slip as possible. We are so grateful to Chris' friend, Wally, who allowed us to use his slip while he was gone as it made it so much easier to get the boat ready for dry storage. Top photos show Chris washing lines and yours truly going through all the stores to decide what to leave, what to give away, what to toss, etc. Only two of the myriad things that needed doing.

"Faith" was hauled out yesterday and it was a pretty amazing production. We had an appointment for a 2pm haul out so we spent all morning working and hauling things off the boat & to our little motel room. At noon we left the slip to go pump out the holding tanks one last time and arrived at the boat ramp right on time only to find that a gigantic power boat was in our spot! There is no room to turn around so we tied up to the dock on the other side temporarily but it was a little tricky as the wind and current was pushing us toward a row of powerboats docked there. Once the powerboat was out, the line handlers took over and pulled "Faith" to the correct side of the dock where we waited for the tractor and trailer to arrive. They pulled her onto a very large trailer that has 6 or 8 pads on hydraulic arms so they can be positioned for about every kind of keel. Then, out of the water she came, slick as could be, just like your average skiboat behind a pickup. Next she was off to the work yard where they would pressure wash the bottom and Chris & I will do some last minute chores to get her buttoned up for the summer.

Tomorrow at 11 am they will move "Faith" to the dry storage yard where she will wait patiently for us to return in November so we can all resume our travels. In the meantime, Chris & I will stay here for one more day to re-organize all the "stuff" that is going home with us and then will be off to visit family and friends before our big adventure in French Polynesia aboard "Carinthia". All I can say at this point is "What a ride this is!"