Sunday morning found us cleaning up the bits of stripped wire and replacing the remaining items back in their proper places. We were expecting guests. Sheryl's mother and stepfather drove from the Cary area to see the boat and visit with us. Their timing could not have been more perfect, as Sheryl and I both needed a day of 'downtime' from work and boat projects.
The weather turned out to be extremely cooperative to make the visit comfortable. The weather was relatively cool, and a steady wind kept the air fresh. We ate lunch out in downtown New Bern, then retired to the salon aboard
Prudence to show them how we live. The afternoon was filled addressing those basic questions many landlubbers pose to us about our plans, as well as those questions any mother would ask to make one sleep better at night. We hope that we left a good impression regarding our collective confidence and capabilities, as well as our utmost regard for safety. After all, the boat is named
Prudence, and we intend to conduct ourselves consistent with this ideal.
The evening found us out to dinner at Outback. That is right, dear Reader,
two restaurant meals in one day! We are truly living in the lap of luxury. We visited for a while longer on the boat after dinner, until the sun began to dip below the horizon. Our guests retired to their hotel room while we watched day turn into night. It actually got cool in the early evening darkness. I nearly dug through my clothes shelf for a sweatshirt, but instead simply climbed beneath the covers in the v-berth and read a book until my eyes grew heavy.
On Monday morning, I started work early, then spared a moment to enjoy coffee and a bagel in the hotel lobby. While I returned to work, Sheryl took our guests on a tour of Oriental and a ride across the Neuse River on the Minnesott ferry. They were back to the boat by lunchtime, where it was our turn to provide sustenance. From the galley, delicious, made-to-order quesadillas were produced, and an enjoyable meal was had by all. With a beautiful, sunny afternoon in which to make the drive home, our guests took their leave of us.
On a separate front, many of you may have noticed that our photo gallery has been down for the last few weeks. This is due to the fact that Yahoo Photos is closing down. Consequently, we have moved all photo albums to Flickr. Fortunately, they provide a tool for migrating all of our photos. Unfortunately, they needed to be re-ordered after migration. With 4160 photos to juggle, Sheryl undertook this Herculean task over the past few weeks, and the job is now complete.
CLICK HERE to view some of the recent photos you have missed (due to the transfer time), and enjoy the new gallery organization.