It's been a while since we have updated the blog but things have been a little hectic here stateside, especially the past week. We flew to Chicago to celebrate Lee's mother's 102nd birthday and to attend his brother-in-law's memorial. It was nice to catch up with the Chicago family. But the weather in Chicago is crazy! In just four days we experienced weather that was cold and windy, then rainy, then warm and balmy, and then finally lightning and thunder. One day we went to visit Lee's mom and it was 40 degrees when we left in the morning and was over 70 degrees just three hours later.

From Chicago we flew to Denver to visit Lee's daughter and family. They recently relocated to Denver from Thousand Oaks so this is the first time we've seen their new home. She's due to have a baby around April 22nd. They have three girls and think this one is a girl too. It was fun hanging out with the girls; they are all really cute and super smart. They drew us pictures of Sirocco sailing in the ocean under a full moon. We also went to gymnastics class with the two younger ones where they showed us their acrobatic skills. The weather in Denver is crazy too. When we arrived Monday morning it was 24 degrees. On Tuesday it was in the mid-70's. And it is very dry. Both Lee and I experienced sinus and contact lens problems the entire time we were there and are looking forward to returning to the Mexican warmth and humidity.

We are now back home in Oceanside. We fly back to Puerto Vallarta on Sunday and willl splash Sirocco on Monday. The hope is to start our journey north to Mazatlan on Tuesday and catch up with our cruising friends either there or somewhere in the Sea of Cortez.