Puddle Pirate’s crew has finally made it back to the PNW. Lew drove from San Carlos Mexico to Lake Havasu, then to Redding California and finally we arrived in Washington after 1,998.5 miles on the road. Of course we had some stops along the way. When we left Mexico the temperature was 85 degrees. As we drove north the temperature started climbing. I thought we were going north to cool off. When we arrived in Lake Havasu the temperature were 113 to 116, now that was hot. Good thing my mom had air conditioning at her Havasu home. After resting up for a couple of days it was time to get back on the road.

I wanted to leave my mom’s house in the same condition as we arrived so it was time to clean up our mess and head out. I asked the girls to get the vacuum and use it on the rugs. They both looked at me with the strangest looks on their faces. It was like they had forgotten what a vacuum looked like. Well this was apparent when I showed them my mom’s 1960’s vacuum. You know the kind that has the bag that expands with air as you vacuum. As soon as she turned it on she screamed and ran. She thought the expanding bag was going to blow up in her hands. I guess it was one of those had to be there moments to appreciate the funny in it.

After we packed the car up we were off on our road trip back to the PNW. As we drove throw Phoenix the temperature were getting even hotter, I didn’t think that was possible. It was a good thing that our Jeep had good cool air-conditioning. But when we hit traffic the air conditioning had to be turned off so our Jeep would not over heat. The freeway was littered with casualties from the blistering heat. I didn’t want to be one of the casualties so we inched our way along without air. As we sat in the traffic I was wishing I was back in Mexico sitting on the deck, sipping margaritas. In Mexico, if I got to hot I would just jump off the deck into the 80 degree water and cool off. Why were we leaving paradise for this rat race of a freeway? Oh yah to visit our family and pick up more toys for Puddle Pirate.

While we are in the PNW we will be picking up another boat for our continued adventure while we are here. The PNW is a great place to be in the summer, with the Puget Sound cool waters and the temperature in the 70’s it is a nice break from the summer heat of Mexico. Leaving Mexico was not without its adventure. The day before we left San Carlos, Lew had a little fender bender with local young driver. The teen was driving his mom to the store and Lew was attempting to merge into his lane. Our Jeep only sustained a caved in bumper but the other car lost its right head light and blinker. Good thing we had Mexican insurance or as the gringo’s call it “stay out of jail insurance”. We all had to go to the police station and pay our fines. It was only $50 dollars and we were on our way. The young driver and his mother were met at the police station by our insurance adjuster and all was well. I do know from the little Spanish that I could understand, the mother was not happy with her son’s speeding and lack of brakes to stopping before sliding into our car.

That little accident was now the topic of our farewell dinner with our cruising friends on Destiny and Permanently Temporary. We are going to miss them all and can’t wait until we return to our cruising lifestyle. Lew said it is weird taking a vacation from paradise but we have some unfinished business here in Washington and need to get things tied up before we can make the puddle jump next March to the South Pacific.

Puddle Pirate’s short stay on the rocks in May did some damage to our keel and fiberglass, so when we return to Mexico in October we will be doing some fiberglass work and Puddle Pirate will be getting a new bottom job. She is also getting new sails for our South Pacific jump. A full batten main and mizzen along with a new 130 Genoa and new stack packs for the sails; Puddle Pirate will be looking good when she comes out of the yard.

Lew will be also installing a hydro vane and SSB. Our new 8 man life raft from our family on Papillon is all ready to be mounted on the deck so after everything is done Puddle Pirate will be looking good and ready for the open ocean. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared about the crossing but I do love adventure and so far I have not been disappointed. Even with all the adversity the adventure out ways everything we have been experiencing. It is totally worth it!