Sally
07/25/2010, Wilsonia (near Sequoia & King's Canyon)

We're now back from a very relaxing week spent with Darlene up at The Kovar Cabin in Wilsonia. The skies were a beautiful blue the entire week and the temps were in the comfy high 70's - so much better than the yucky gray stuff we left behind in San Diego (and unfortunately came home to)! What happened to our wonderful San Diego weather while we were gone?!!

The little village of Wilsonia is so lovely - rustic cabins spaced out around beautiful meadows with giant sequoias, redwoods, and all sorts of other pine trees surrounding it all. The meadow behind Darlene's cabin had a wave of purple wild flowers running through it with fringes of wild, white azaleas that smelled fantastic. We enjoyed watching the local wildlife (chipmunks, squirrels, and lots of different birds) from the back deck while playing lots of rummy tiles (I should say while getting our tushies kicked by Darlene!) and catching up on some reading. Our last evening, we were treated to two bucks frolicking in the meadow - they were so beautiful and graceful looking. Of course, we had to name them both Chuck - you know, as in two buck Chuck!!!

Each day found us exploring the surrounding area - this picture is taken in front of the Sentinel Tree in the Sequoias. It's amazing how tall and regal these trees are - way taller than the Kauri trees in NZ! It was interesting to read about them in the little museum and then drive through the tunnel tree nearby. We are saddened to hear there is a fire now burning in the area - we hope it is quickly brought under control. Darlene loves swimming at Hume Lake and we enjoyed visiting there twice. The first time, Darlene rented a kayak and both she and Glen had fun paddling around the lake. The beach area at the lake is just perfect for lazing around and reading. When Darlene asked if we were able to relax there, we had to laugh and answer that if we were any more relaxed, we'd be comatose! On another day, we found a beautiful spot at Stoney Creek. There are natural pools formed into the huge boulders along the creek with crystal clear water running through it all. The water is run off from high in the mountains and was a little chilly, but Glen plunged in up to his neck. Darlene and I opted for wading, and even Penny enjoyed getting her tooties and tummy wet in the cool water.

The people of Wilsonia are all close friends and it was nice to meet quite a few of them. They all look out for each other and laughingly call their community "Wilsonia Place." It was fun to take daily walks around the area and Glen and I tried hard to de-thrown the local horseshoe champs, Will and Pam, but quickly found we need more practice. Good thing they just put in a horseshoe pit at our marina! We hope to get back up for a rematch before the end of the year (and before snow covers the stakes!).

Darlene is such an awesome hostess and, as always, fed us way too much yummy food - including two homemade peach cobblers (Glen's favorite!). We bought freshly picked peaches, plums, and tomatoes from the fruit stands in Dinuba both on the way up and back - amazing how much better they taste than the grocery store versions. So much for thinking we might lose a couple pounds!!! It was amazing how quickly the week flew by and before we knew it, it was time to leave. Darlene has a revolving door on the cabin and was looking forward to her next visitors (especially grandson Wyatt!) within the next few days. The cabin is so comfy and the area so gorgeous, we can see why she gets so many guests.

Back home on the boat, this week finds us trying to get more projects done. Glen is finishing up painting the cockpit as I am typing this, and I continue to go through all the cubbies and bilge holds to reorganize for life in the "real world" - ugh!!! It took an entire day just to go through all of our paperwork and get a file box set up with such mundane titles as "car insurance" and "tax info"! I still don't know which school or grade I will be teaching and am finding it increasingly difficult to not have anxiety attacks about it. Principals go back to work August 2nd, so hopefully I'll know something after that. My first "have to report" day is August 18th with kids starting the 23rd. Wherever it may be, I will be going back to work in a wonderful new wardrobe thanks to my sister, Gladys. She has been acting as my "personal shopper" and there was a big box waiting for me when we got home Saturday evening full of lots of cute capris and tops. Now I need to work on organizing our closet space! :)

We are still trying to clean out stuff from our storage room and are looking for a home for some of the stuff we had kept thinking we would be moving back into the house. If you could use a 29" Sony TV (not a flat screen), let us know - we'd love to give it to someone we know rather than donate it to a stranger. Give us a call 808-756-5510!

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Sally
07/17/2010, Pier 32 Marina

We have a new addition to the family! She's a Sangria Red Mazda 6 and boy is she cute! She's actually almost a month old now, but I refused to take her official baby picture until we got her re-washed and, well... we are still living a bit on island time! :)

It's been a bit nerve wracking taking our new little girl out on these horrendous San Diego freeways, but somehow, its all coming back! I totally love the side mirror feature of a blind spot indicator - how did we (or at least, I!) ever drive without it?!! After several trips to Escondido, Encinitas, Oceanside, and of course uncountable trips to the West Marine out on Rosecrans, we now have over 1,000 miles under her booties. In addition to traveling to our "comfort" places, we are trying to get to know our local surroundings. We now know how to get to the closest Wal Mart, Post office, bank, car wash, and several yummy taco shops. Pier 32 is starting to feel more like home, although it still feels we are so "far away."

Lots of little projects (like scrubbing out and reorganizing the storage areas in the bilges) are getting done and we had the best compliment ever when the surveyor who came to check out the boat for insurance purposes said several times it sure didn't look like we had just gotten back from a long cruise! We bit our tongues and didn't point out all the other little things we feel need to be done - eventually. Most of our other projects require a paycheck or two before tackling, so sanding and varnishing the wood on the outside of the boat is probably up next - not our favorite thing to do, so we're sure we'll be able to find lots of excuses to put it off!

We continue to be blessed with so many invites and visits from family and friends. A combined birthday/anniversary party at Carl and Olga's, a slumber party with Dennis and Cathy after a day of sailing by the boys on Dennis' new boat, a fun evening at the Elk's club watching Rick's new band play (called Full Energy and they were awesome!), and today a concert by the Palomar Concert band including Glen's grandson, Austin - an awesome baritone/tuba player. Tomorrow (Sunday) we will be leaving in our new little girl to head up to the Sequoia area. We will be spending a week with Darlene up at their cabin in Wilsonia, and are excited for the chance of a long road trip. The area around the cabin (more like a beautiful 5 bedroom house!!!) is gorgeous and we'll be visiting Hume Lake as well. Penny is going with us and we can't wait to spend time with the little fuzz butt. Chances are we won't have cell phone coverage or internet for most of the week, so don't worry if you don't hear from us or can't reach us... we'll be back! :)


BTW... This picture was taken at our marina. The sculpture sits up on the deck overlooking the docks. There's a great little restaurant on the deck and also a nice white, sandy beach area where you can sit in the sun and read! The color of the car isn't showing as pretty as in person! It is a metallic red - not exactly Christmas red, but not burgandy either - the name Sangria fits it well!

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Sally
07/11/2010, Pier 32 Marina

Wow! Wait til you see our decks... they are beautiful!!!

We got a call last weekend from our dear friends Ron and Robin asking if we had plans for this weekend. We naturally assumed the next question would be, "Do you want to go to Catalina?", but were shocked when we heard, "Would you like us to come down for the weekend and help paint your decks?!!" After checking to see if they had totally lost their marbles or were playing some kind of joke, we quickly said yes - how could we pass up an offer like that? And so, these two wonderful people arrive on Friday and the afternoon was spent clearing and scrubbing the not so lovely deck. Saturday morning found all of us down on all fours with tape in hand. Four rolls of blue tape and eight sore knees later, and we were ready for paint. A quick run back to West Marine for another quart of beige to get just the right shade, and the paint started to flow. Ron and Robin have painted their deck three times and have become the experts, so they did the honors. Can you tell the difference in the picture?!! The paint has sand premixed into it to help keep the non-skid texture needed on the deck. It turned out beautifully and we can't begin to thank R&R enough. (We did try, though, with lots of food and drinks!) Now the hull and cabin tops are looking pretty shabby next to the fresh deck paint. Any experts out there on that who might want to come down for a weekend?!!! :)

The entire week has felt a bit like a giant slumber party. We had a great time back at the 900 dock of Harbor Island West and were thrilled to see so many of our old dock friends. We also got to meet lots of new 900 dockers, but couldn't resist taking a group photo of the "Classic 900 Dock Rats!" (Will put it in the gallery some day when I catch up on Hawaii pictures!) Typical of dock parties, there was so much food left over from the party on the 4th, that we had to have another one on the 5th! Tuesday found us back at our new marina and awaiting a visit from another old friend, Denise (from Arizona). We hadn't seen her since her visit to Tahiti (and time on the hard!), and it was wonderful sharing stories, photos, and videos of the trip. Denise was traveling with a couple of friends, Ryan and Jim, so it was a bit cozy for the two nights they stayed, but a very fun time, and our circle of friends has again grown - always a good thing!

This coming week should be busy trying to check more things off our "to-do" list, although it seems we keep adding more than crossing off. We have a surveyor coming on Thursday due to switching from "cruising" to "normal use" insurance on the boat. Let's hope he doesn't find even more stuff for us to add!

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