A couple of notable things occurred today. The first was truly a random act of kindness. We had walked into the town of Oriental, grabbed a coffee and a bagel for lunch at "The Bean" and continued on down the main street intent on going to the grocery store about a mile or so down the road. Along the way I spied a hairdressing salon and decided to go in and see if I could get a hair cut. As I went in a lady was also heading in and said a very friendly "Hello". I was able to make an appointment to return in an hour and as I headed out the salon the lady asked me if we were walking to the grocery store. I replied that "Yes, we were" at which point she handed me her car keys and insisted we take her car to drive to the store, then take everything back to the boat and return in an hour by which time she would be done with her manicure and it would be time for my haircut! We were blown away by this friendly gesture. Once we had done shopping and I returned the keys to her at the salon she told me that she and her husband used to cruise and that she knew how tough it was sometimes to get the shopping done without transport. She also commented that she had no qualms lending her car to a cruiser as she knew that there was no way they would run off with her car and leave their beloved sailboat behind - how right she is! It is acts of kindness like this that restore your faith in humanity.

The second notable event was that we received a "senior discount" at the grocery store. What does this mean? We were both flabbergasted when we reviewed the receipt and noted the $2.69 discount. Tom thinks it is because they thought he was shopping with his mother - very rude! Well, whatever the reason, we'll take the discount.

So we have had a happy, easy day here in Oriental, it has been sunny and warm. Tomorrow we are hoping for some action along the depth sounder front. We'll keep you posted.