What a Month!

In the last month we've seen two old friends from my high school, spent a week in Palm Springs, celebrated 3 anniversaries with one more this week, sold our truck, and checked off more projects off our list than I thought possible. That's a busy month!

I couldn't believe when I got the e-mail that my friend, Burkhart, and his family were visiting California on their vacation from Sardinia this year. We spent a lovely morning roaming the Getty and trying to catch up on 24 years of history. A few weeks later I got and e-mail from him saying we hadn't taken any pictures. Well we had a lot of ground to cover and were a bit busy. The other day, I got an e-mail from another friend, Angie, saying she was in SoCal for work. It turned out we were only 30 minutes apart. She moved around her schedule and we had a lovely afternoon touring the bay on our dinghy (Komen). It was particularly fun because Angie is also a live-a-board boater. We haven't seen each other in 23 years and I must say she looks amazing!

Scott and I celebrated 8 years together in July and decided to take a small trip to Palm Springs. As most of you know, I love Palm Springs! We spent 7 lovely nights soaking up the heat, eating, drinking and floating in the pool! Two of our friends were coming through and stopped to stay with us. That was a treat, as they'd never been there before. The day we returned was Linux's anniversary with us. We've had the pleasure of his company for over 7 years now. About a week after that we celebrated what I now call Cruising Day, the day we finally left Portland on our boat. Our final anniversary will be this week, when we spend the day doting over Pixel and her anniversary of coming to live with us. I haven't decided what special treat to give her yet, but I'm sure she devour it.

Selling the truck was a difficult one for Scott. He loves the Ramcharger, and with good reason. She's been a fantastic vehicle for us. We've logged over 60 thousand miles with her. We've traveled across country twice in her and down to Mexico and back, plus I can't count how many trips to California and the Oregon Coast. We're gonna miss her, but I'm sure she's going to a good home where she can roam in a field and munch on grass all day! Next month will be my turn to say goodbye to the Blue Flash, our Volvo station wagon. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a car more.

As for the projects, all I can say is WOW!!! The boat is in constant disarray, and the cats aren't happy about that, but it seems just about everyday or so we are crossing things off that rather looooooooong list we have. The two of us are very pleased and excited about it. We are also very nervous for our next adventure and spend a lot of time looking over cruising guides of Mexico and secreting plans together about what each of us want to see. It's all very crazy here aboard Reisender! But we are happy and well! Keep your fingers crossed for us that we can keep this pace up!

Cheers and fair winds my dear friends!