For the past 4 months, we've been living the 3rd world life: slo-fi or no-fi, taking 'navy showers' on Moonbeam since there are no yacht clubs or fancy marinas, doing without some of the comfort foods we're accustomed to, and basically living a simple, back-to-basics life. It hasn't been a bad life ...in fact, it's been really good...(well, maybe I could have done without the wi-fi issues) but as we have moved from east to west, we kept getting the promise of more 'civilization', for better or worse: better wi-fi, better provisioning, better transportation....

The promise of anchoring off the Royal Bali Yacht Club was quite appealing. I was psyched. We took our dinghy in to find the RBYC so we could take care of boat business and get the lay of the land, so to speak. The directions to the yacht club which we had gotten from the man who helped us to the mooring the day before were not helpful. We thought the yacht club would be obvious, but it wasn't. That said, we pulled up to a restaurant on the seawall and asked an employee there for directions. In retrospect, it should have been a clue when he said he had no idea where the YC was. Really? There is a YC here and you don't know where? Anyway, we walked around, asked a few more people, and were finally directed to a small office with a sign for the Royal Bali YC. We spent about 1/2 hour with Ruth, the manager, in a little 15 X 15 room with 2 desks and a phone. Ruth is well-spoken and is a wealth of info about everything we needed to know: diesel, water, restaurants, supermarkets, etc. As we were leaving, I asked, "But where is the yacht club?" I was already planning my shower, my cappuccino at the YC while I caught up on emails, updated my apps, backed up to the cloud, etc. Ruth said, "it's here'. I went outside, looked around..and went back in to the office and said, "I hate to bother you but EXACTLY where is it?" She pointed to the office. OK. I got it. (I felt like Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin: "but, where are the condos?") That office was it. No showers, no cappuccino and no lounge with fabulous free wi-fi.

A few days later, our friends Steve and Edie arrived in Bali. They were staying at a posh resort in Jimbaran Bay and invited us to spend a day at their place. Our niece Shelley, Captain Ken and I took a cab over. WOW! Their villa was beautifully appointed and had a fabulous, private eternity pool overlooking the bay (85 degrees, no chlorine). We spent the day chillaxin' in the pool and catching up on each others' summers. And the free wi-fi: faster than in the states. I updated all 42 apps on my phone, 36 apps on my iPad, and backed up both to the cloud in minutes. Lunch....that was a real treat (after months in Indonesia): a cheeseburger and fries, served on the veranda. Each meal cost $37.50!!!!!.....which was $5.00 more than the dinner for 5 including beer at our fav warung later that evening. Just sayin'

In one day, We felt like we had been on vacation!