It seems like ages since a post has been posted to our posting site. Maybe it seems that way because it has been ages! I guess it is the shock of being back that has kept anyone from writing.

The last several months have involved a few transitions. Most have not gone as well as we hoped. The kids started back in their Homeschool co-op at the beginning of September. After a few speed bumps the daily school routine has finally settled in to some sort of normalcy. All three are playing soccer, which of course is great but necessitates far more driving than we anticipated. I guess the whole 'living on a schedule complete with a color coded calendar' way of life is taking a whole lot of getting used to. Funny as it was pretty dang easy to huck the schedule off the side of the boat when we started down our cruising road. It seems it didn't sink, it just caught a ride back to Seattle and waited patiently for our return.

We have been living aboard at Shilshole Bay Marina since 1 September. It is home to about 1,400 boats and a fair number of other live-aboards. It is quite lovely, with grand sunsets and views of the Olympic Mountains. It is also dang cold. Seattle itself is of course colder than we have grown accustomed to. Shilshole is usually 5-10 degrees colder with its breeze blowing across the 56 degree water. The day we moved out here it rained and didn't get above 60. Once we settled into the slip the oxygen tent went up for the first time, the space heater came out and it will not be put away. Why we didn't dig out the flannel sheets when we were at the storage unit in August is a very good question!

Our goal remains to stay aboard until gainful employment is found. Some goals may be better off left un-achieved. We do like being on the boat, it is just quite different doing it in this environment after having had the great tropical outdoors to escape to whenever we felt like it. Now before leaving the boat one needs a dock key, the dog, and (gasp!!) socks, shoes, and even a coat! Curse this foul weather!!

We had the crew of Solange come down and stay aboard with us last weekend before they flew off to resume their cruising. Solange has waited patiently for them in Grenada where it is warm. High 5 also remains in Grenada and will be rejoined by her crew in November. They both aim to sail west along a similar route as ours and are all looking forward to warm water, bright sunshine, new cultures, cold beer, fresh seafood, ...To say we are jealous would be a grand understatement. Isn't one of the 10 commandments, "thou shall not covet thy buddies cruising agenda?" If so we are in a world of hurt!

I do not mean to sound ungrateful. Just honest. We know oh so well that we have been tremendously blessed to have done what we just did. We just want to do it longer! We left knowing that we would return. We just didn't have a clue as to how much our travels would change us and how difficult the re-entry would be. The trick now is to hold onto those changes and implement them into our life shoreside. Life is just too precious and too fun to not enjoy every bit and to make the best of the lessons one learns along the way. To steal a Jefferson quote, revised by our friend Steve aboard Uliad (Uliad.net), 'wisdom lets one travel, and then perhaps be more happy.'

Did I mention it is cold here??

Yes, yes. It has been a while since anything was posted. It's not like we have been busy or anything. Just driving from house to house to family member to friends and back around again while waiting for Salt & Light to arrive via truck. And when the truck shows up with the bow cleats darn near ripped out, that has to be repaired and the bottom painted and the boat waxed, and so on. Of course when the trucker refuses to pay for the damage because he claims the teak was rotten (do not get me started there), and that they don't actually load boats, they only transport them so it couldn't be their fault. Well then of course we have to go around their worthless insurance agent directly to Lloyds of London to file a claim as well as prepare to file one of America's favorite pastime - LAWSUIT. Such fun being back in Seattle!

Well that is enough of a vent for now. The rest of the road trip you ask? It was awesome. So much has happened I can barely remember where we went after Sedona. It could have been the Grand Canyon (North Rim is much better than the South), staying on a ranch at Zion and riding horses, hiking Bryce Canyon, driving across the expansive and beautiful north of Nevada, 4th of July at the O'Connor's (above photo with the cousins!), staying at Dave & Molly's house in Eugene, but I'm not sure. Just one big blur that will surface into our consciousness sometime when we really need it. Like now!

We have had some serious fun back in the PNW as well. One highlight would be driving up to the Solange house (Kevin, Melissa, James and Caleb Clarke), to meet up with them and the High 5'ers (Gary, Janine, Tavish, Bradley, and Richard). The Clarke's live in Courtenay BC, right near a river that is great for floating down on an 85 degree day. The weather was perfect and the beer was cold. We had a blast exploring the area and the town. There is neat little gift shop in town that had all sorts of gifts, cards, and more. The name of the store? Uranus. Yep, it's true. Just let your minds wander for a bit to all the jokes, comments and gag's that 6 juvenile adult minds can come up with. And don't blame me for the depths you can sink to. It's not my fault.

That was a few weeks ago and they are all came down here for the weekend and stayed with us while we house-sat at Brian & Molly's. We thought about going for a sail Saturday to pretend we were all back in the Caribbean. Let's just say if we could have taken away the clouds, sweatshirts, long pants, shoes and socks, added about 20 degrees to both the air and the water, it would have been almost like being there.

We still had fun.

The great road trip begins and continues. Salt & Light remains in Seabrook (still!), while her crew continues on without her.

So where have we been? Well, it took about a week or so longer than expected to find the right car. We had forgotten just how much fun that process can be. Dealing with car salesmen for days on end sure does make one wonder just how the US auto industry survived as long as it did before crumbling. What a ridiculously archaic and frustrating process. Thanks to the Texas style hospitality during our car search of Ken and Kelly Hutchinson, Bill and Mary Hallmark, and Ron and Judy Preston, we finally stumbled across the right land vessel and were on our way from the Houston area. By the way, not enough can be said about the kindness of Texans and the pride they have in their state. I think we can all learn from them in this regard.

First stop Dallas and the new home of our old neighbors Craig and Wendy Boyer and their 3 girls. Their older two, Ethan's buddy Kate and her sister Maggie, were off at camp (bummer!), which left 3 year old Olivia to be spoiled by all of us. The kids had a blast on the trampoline and learning to ride a rip-stick while the adults had a great time just hanging out. The only tourist thing we did was to visit the Sixth Floor Museum. Located on the sixth floor of the old school book repository overlooking Dealy Plaza and the infamous grassy knoll, the museum was very well done and a great history lesson for us all. Right down to X's marking the spots on the road where JFK's limo was when each bullet struck.

From Dallas we were off to Las Cruces NM to see the Kraft's, our friends from West Seattle. Liam had a blast with his buddy Solomon and it didn't take long for the rubber bands to start flying in an intense rubber band war. Dave and Marissa are just finishing up having a home built with an amazing view of the Organ Mountains, which do indeed look steep and craggy enough to rip your Organ's right out. Probably not why they got their name but what the heck!

The road north to Albuquerque and Santa Fe beckoned and we pushed on after a few days of hangin' with the Kraft's. Drove a little of the old Route 66 and saw a lot of the classic architecture along its route through Albuquerque. Along the back side of the city runs a huge mountain that had real trees on it so we decided to take a scenic route through the mountains to Santa Fe. Real trees, meaning something resembling a Pine, Cedar or Fir had been non existent during our drive thus far. The terrain is very dramatic and pretty but in a harsh, you're sure to die of thirst should you stray, kind of way. It sure gave us a new appreciation for those who settled the area. The trees were not quite as big or prevalent as they looked from a distance but we did stumble onto the former ghost town of Madrid. It is now a funky artist's enclave and was made famous by the movie Wild Hogs. It is just as it appears in the movie.

North and West of Santa Fe and up in the mountains is of course Los Alamos and all of its labs. Even better is Bandelier National Park and its Indian cliff dwellings. We stumbled across one section that sees very little traffic and we were able to hike in, around and through the caves with no one else around. The difference between the ruins near the visitor center that were 'managed' was amazing. Having decided the scenery in the back roads was infinitely better than the interstates we decided to concentrate our efforts on the scenic route. Let's just say it paid off. High mountain plateaus and peaks that go on and on and...

We stopped along the way to Sedona to see the ice cave and volcano crater in Bandera. Not quite as hands on as we hoped but fun. The kids had fun picking bits of 'jewels' out of the sluiceway set up for 'real mining'. Further down the road and out in the desert is the Petrified Forest National Park. Calling it a forest is a bit of a misnomer as you are out in the middle of the desert. However the petrified trees are lying around everywhere. Thousands and thousands of bits and chunks strewn all across the 100 degree desert. Strange and eerie.

Pulling off in Flagstaff brought more trees. Real Ponderosa Pines that smell incredible in the hot sun. Or goal was Sedona and the venerable Hampton Inn where we were to meet up with the Gifford family. Jamie and Behan, along with their 3 kids Niall, Mairen, and Siobhan are buddies from Seattle who also chucked it all to go cruising down the Pacific coast and then on to the South Pacific. They have been in Mexico for a while and are spending the hurricane season road-tripping off to see family around the country. We discovered we were in the same region and of course had to hook up. Of course it makes perfect sense for two cruising families to meet up in the Arizona desert. We had spent time together back in Seattle planning our respective adventures and it was great to compare notes and experiences over a few dark & stormies. A bummer that they will be back cruising in a few months while we'll be working again, but that's the way it works!

Well that catches us up all the way through Sedona. As we are now in Sacramento we'll have to stop here and finish up the road trip with another post or two. Yes, and a bunch more photos!