Well hello to my
​long lost ​buddy "blog", it has been a while and sorry to my friends that read us.. We are back into our cruising life. We have been back for already a week in Mount Hartman Bay, Grenada where our baby Picaro was waiting for us. We will get back to that later, I will let you know in my "short version" how our ​six week ​trip on land​ was​.

August 6th to September 17th

We arrived
​on our flight ​to find the weather so horribly humid in Florida wow, Grenada is hot but Florida is really hot and sticky. Our good friend Randy ​Tice ​picked us up in Miami. My car battery was dead and the moment we walked in​to​ the condo ​it ​was very co​m​fortable and fresh but when we crank​ed​ down the AC something went wrong. Some wires were cut, George tried to fix it but we needed Freon and another part to make it work perfect. About 425$ later, we had cold air blowing. While th​e​ repairman was there, I took my backpack and some shopping bag​s​ ​and​ walk​ed​ to Publix to get dinner and breakfast. It felt like I was still a cruiser walking, walking and walking to get provisions. All good but I didn't expect that. We had a list of boat stuff we wanted to get because in Grenada the prices are high. So the next few days we went shopping to knock out that list. It felt like the green $$$ were flying left and right. Consumer's lifestyle!!! We had to attend to our storage, its stupid money we are spending there. ​We must all have that stuff you keep in case of. Now that we look at it, why did we keep this for??? So a lot of it started to go to "drawer #13" meaning the garbage. Just a recommendation, shred your personal papers as you go because I think we had over 30 pounds if not more of it to shred. Don't hold on to "stuff"... It feel​s​ good to eliminate​ it​. We had ​a ​nice get together with friends at Danny​ and Gladys's​, little dinners here or there with other friends, visited my friends at Boca Woods CC. It was fantastic to see everyone. The most common question was which island did you like the most? A: Grenada, Culebra and Culebrita. Did you get scare? A: no because my captain was on top of weather information from different sources so we had no calamities.

A funny fact: the moment I landed my nose started to run
​,​ then I got a cold ​and I couldn't stop the sn​ee​zing. I figure I got allergies, but I never felt it while I was ​stateside​ full time. Now, I got back to Grenada it stopped right away. I sneezed once and don't have to carry a box of tissus (Kleenex) with me. Weird!
I was anxious to hit the road and head north. After doing all those long passage it seems easy to drive for twenty two hours in a row to Long Island NY. We stopped to see Catherine and John O'neill
​for three days. They were kind enough to show us around. ​They were great hosts and we were able to rekindle our friendship.​ I got goose bumps when we drove by Shinecock Hills and The National (sites of US Open). I haven't played golf since last February. ​W​e saw the north fork, very quaint nautical village and the south fork with the lighthouse. The weather was fabulous too. We met new friends at a BBQ by the sound. We left at 3 am for a fourteen hour drive to Prince Ed​w​ard Island to visit George's olde​st sister Demitra. Wow again, the weather was much cooler and "cold damp" but with good warm clothes for me ​I ​got very comfortable. We ​hadn't see them since last June 2013, so we had a lot to catch up on. We visited Demi's friends on the island, antique store​s​, galleries​ and a ​special friend that makes candle​s​. We saw the biggest tree o​n​ the island. Walked on the beach at low tide, helped train "Ty" the dog to get groomed, and not jump on people. We had lobster poutine with bechamel, lobster tacos, lobster wraps, potato chips dip​ped​ in chocolate, why not right...!!!! We crossed the beautiful bridge coming in and ​then three days later when we left ​they nail you with a forty five dollar ​toll coming out. Hope you come to PEI. It's beautiful there.

We left early in the morning for another eleven hour drive to my sister
​s​ and my mom​s​. We drove the scenic road​ where you drive across northern Maine to eastern Quebec. We waited about thirty five minutes to get back into Maine at the Customs. The weather was beautiful. So far at that point we had about ten minutes of rain, meaning a light drizzle. We didn't see any deer, moose or g​eese. We arrived at my sister Claudiane​'s​​ and Charles late afternoon. We had a lovely dinner with my mom Lili and JL, nephew ​Lucas ​and niece​ Flavie​. We were there last year in October for my sister​s​ 50th birthday. Again a lot of catching up to do, pictures to show and then crash​ed​. I gave a golf lesson to my mom and I hit some golf balls a little, I didn't lose it, thank god it felt great! I guess I missed it more then I thought. I "schlep​ed​" my clubs ​with us ​even ​though I knew I would play just a couple of rounds.

The idea of our visit was to spend equal individual quality time with all our siblings/family and a few friends. We spent time with George's sister Desi, nephew Adoni and mom Vicky in Brossard. We went to that great Quartier dix 30 shopping mall for a walk and a great coffee for George and Desi and I had a great chocolate and raspberry smoothie at the Juliette et Chocolat coffee shop. Vicky cooked for us some great greek meals including pistachio and her famous cookies. We had some quality time with everyone. We visited my sister​'s​ new chalet and ​new ​condo (just moving in), went for a boat ride with my bro​ in Lake Champlain​ and went to ​both ​​my nieces ​soccer games. They won the Quebec Cup and are heading to the Canadian Championship in Vancouver ​the ​beginning of October. I'm very proud of Alexa for that. Marika played great games too. We saw Adoni​'​s hockey practice and Jack​'s​ football practice. I played golf with Lili and JL ​at Mount​ Orford​,​ it was beautiful and I played great considering​ how rusty I felt​. It was nice to spend time with them. We celebrated Alexa​'s​ 18th birthday and my brother​'s​ 20th ​Wedding Anniversary. We saw a couple of friends. I had never been to the Old Port of Montreal, so we walked around and visited Nick​'s​ super restaurant "Terraces Bonsecours". It's highly recommended, with delicious food. I had never been to Mount Sutton that​ was also​ in my backyard​ growing up​. We went for a two hour hike in the forest. It felt good to walk the mountain. I was ​also able to visit Felix​'s​ school and Eloise​'s​ first day at school ​as a ​5th grader. With my sister Isabelle​ and​ Eloise we played the "Rigolfeur". It's a mini putt putt but with funny stuff like water squirting, something moving when you retrieved your ball, hit with your opponent​s​ foot, or nose... Weird fun games. We walked Bubba, Mozza and Ty (our sister's dogs). Went to Adoni's hockey practice on a Saturday morning. I surprised my friend Mario for his birthday. I had called him and told him I was in Florida. The next day, I showed up on his doorstep he could just not believe it. Mario mentioned it was the best birthday gift he ever got! We had family dinners, friend's lunch and dinners. George spen​t​ time with his friend Alain in the ​eastern ​township​s​, Timmy ​who was up ​from NY, Frankie and Nick​ and Todd​. Unfortunately time went by so fast and we didn't have a chance to see everyone. I'm sad about that a little but it's difficult to time everything with everyone​'s​ busy schedule. I had to admit that saying good bye was very difficult​.​ I cried a lot of tears because I know it will be a while again before I see my family.

Then we left on Saturday at 5 a.m., thinking we would stop in New York to visit one of George
​'s​ friend​s​ that ​we missed the first time we drove by Long Island. We were getting closer to the exit when ​George and Micheal spoke, he was ​very​ busy with an event at his restaurant​...too bad we'll try again another time​. We decided to continue on to stop in Delaware to see the Frangakis family. It had been five year​s​ that we saw Niki and Andrew. Elaine, Stephanos, Barbara and Ernie welcomed us. We had a nice dinner. We got an invitation for a Greek Wedding next July in Chios, Greece. That sound​s​ like fun! Again it was time to say ​g​ood bye and ​head​ back to south Florida. We left at 10 am and drove all the way to Deerfield Beach. We arrived at 3 am in a downpoor. We were welcomed by an awful storm coming into Jacksonville too. We were going 38 mph on highway 95 and those truckers were flying by us splashing the accumulated water. We had about one week to get ready to go back​ to the boat​. We finished emptying the storage, organized the condo with what we kept​ from the storage. I played 18 holes at Boca Woods and visited with the members. I was so happy to see everyone and​ would like to say​ thank you for the warm welcome. It was great to ​see you.

Just a funny situation: We had kept an old 1997 life raft, well out of date and we trashed it​ in the dumpster​, the next day I went to throw away more trash and the raft had opened. The lid of the container was popped open too. It was so funny. I ran back in to tell George and he took a knife to it to deflate it. We hunted for three duffle rolling bags. We found them at the ​Festival ​Flea market on Sample road. We packed four duffle bags ​with​ fifty pounds each plus two bags ​each ​for the plane. We could have filled more up. We left stuff behind, but how much can Picaro swallow.

We decided to sell my beautiful, lovely Kia Soul +, with my live disco
​ sound system​! It was the most logical thing to do since it would have sat there in our friends garage for many months, plus the money we are saving (insurance per example). We found a good home for my car, ​Larry and Eileen's​ granddaughter ​Nicole bought it. A win win situation. We saw some Facebook pictures and ​Nicole looked really happy. Like my mom always say​s: Another thing taking care off. ( Une autre chose de faite in French).

We got ​to the counter at the airport. George was so careful packing the bags and keeping ​them under fifty pounds​ each,​ but when we got on their scale it showed 50.9, 51.5, 51.2 and 51.7. So we had to repack some stuff into our carry on​s​ to make it 50 lbs exactly. She wouldn't accept the bag over 50lbs. George was upset but hey what are you going to do? The flight went great, a little delay in Miami due to heavy rain but got here fifteen minutes earlier. George from Survival Anchorage gave us a taxi ride then a din​gh​y ride to Picaro. The bilge ​was full of dust so that’s great​. ​T​he walls and the ceiling had some mildew, but everything felt great​ and look​ed​ good. I was expecting the walls situation but ​was happy all the work I did before we left help​ed​ the situation. I spen​t​ the next day cleaning everything, and started to put ​Picaro ​back ​in order. We played volleyball, met our friends for cocktails and dinners, met new friends. George found me a great specialized ​mountain ​bike for ​a ​low budget cruiser. We bought veggies and fruits from Organic Jenny and went to IGA​ grocery store to stock up our empty fridge​. We tried our new ​infaltable ​SUP​'s​ (stand up Paddle boards) that we can convert into kayak​s​. I gave a volleyball clinic to thirteen kids, they seemed to like it. They organized a fundraiser for Big G. He’s a driver for Survival Anchorage that need​s​ dialysis for the rest of his life three times a week. So the yachties pitched in ​to help and got him about 2700$EC (Eastern Caribbean money) that’s a little over 1000$ us; that will help for one week​'​​s​ treatment. It rained a lot so we were able to fill up the four water tanks (220 gallons) in a couple of days. I already red two books, cleaned Picaro’s ​underside,​(d​didn't reach the keel yet​)​, ​and ​cleaned the waterline. We had some barnacles but not ​to​o much fuzz and I had a million of miniature shrimpies on me, George found some in my ears too! A little bit ​of boat work ​everyday goes a long way.

It’s nice to be back, we are truly enjoying the cruising community ​in Grenada ​and life on Picaro!