Cheryl's Notes:

We spent six nights in Portsmouth/Norfolk. We had a great time exploring both sides of the river and meeting some new and old friends. We spent the last couple of nights with Zan and Bob from Cheers. They were actually at Northwest Creek for part of last year. A big thanks goes out to Peggy who took us ladies in her car to run errands. John and I did walk to the Food Lion. We forgot the lesson that if someone in a car tells you that the grocery store is about a half mile down the road it is probably more like a mile and a half. Oh well, we really needed the exercise.

We are now docked at the Hampton Public docks. We timed it perfectly. We had a certificate for a free night that we received at the Annapolis boat show last fall. On Friday and Saturdays they have a free shuttle out to the Target and shopping mall, so we were able to explore a little farther out. Tonight there is a free concert right here at the waterside. What a life we live! We even met two fellow cruisers from Bayfield and Superior, WI.

Unless we end up sticking here for a while, we intend to run up the York River to Yorktown tomorrow.

John's Notes:

It's been a slow week. We stayed in Portsmouth a few days, for no particular reason other than there was no reason to leave. Then the weather was supposed to get bad so we stayed a couple of days more. Thankfully, the weather turned out to be nothing more than a little rain to wash off the deck.

Now we are in Hampton and still not in any hurry. I'm not much of a shopper but we went to this kewl mall today. It's not your typical Mall of America affair. It's built like an old downtown with all the stores on the streets with parking in front of the stores. It was kind of refreshing to just walk the streets and window shop. Might not be as much fun when it rains though. I seem to remember a similar place like this in Columbia Heights back home. This is a much larger scale though.

I met a couple of fellow cruiser yesterday. The fact that they own a trawler makes the story sad enough but we got to talking and he tells me the story about buying the boat four years ago. Seems that they have four children who were counting on mom and dad to supplement their lifestyle. Since buying the boat, three of the four kids have not spoken to them in four years. Appears that they are annoyed that the parents are spending their inheritance. Good for mom and dad. Not sure I would want to have those kids as mine.

Honda......don't leave home without it. We have a Honda generator that recharges our large house bank and provides AC power when we need it. The boat in the above picture, however, takes it to a totally higher level. He takes his Honda, in this case a car, with him. He says that he has ramps that enable him to get the car off the boat. Not sure where he finds docks that will accommodate the car, but that what he says.

Also, check out the other pictures we posted today. We are posting some great pictures in a new gallery titled Summer 2011. You can always tell a "sailor" from Yankton, SD, but, it appears that you can't tell him much about boat design or construction. This is one unique vessel.