Saga Isn’t Over – Palm Coast Marineland, FL, USA – October 28. 2022   

Ron started asking himself – what’s my time worth? We spoke too soon, and our chart plotter isn’t fixed. We have tried multiple cards, Sailing Hubby has taken it apart multiple times, and it still only works intermittently. Not good when this is what is driving our auto pilot and keeps us from not only running aground but also hitting other boats. It’s time to cut bait and invest in a new one. Sadly, if we get a new chart plotter, we must buy a new radar too. Ugh! This is a multi-thousand-dollar expense we were hoping to avoid but it we are spending cash, at least it is on the stuff that keeps us alive and this is it. The hitch is the charts for our new chart plotter are sold out everywhere…great. We finally found one to purchase with the charts included and although it was a bit more, we really had no choice as the charts are not optional.

And since the fixing never ends, the engine on the starboard side has had difficulty starting.  Sailing Hubby has figured identified the issue and it’s a doosey.  Our starter was only attached with one bolt since it had fallen out and it broke the bracket!  At least we had a spare of this already and he was able to fix this pretty quickly.  Now that we have one that actually attached it works just fine.  Insane.

Then we tested the dinghy engine and of course, it needs parts too.  It needs a new fuel filter after nearly getting stranded in the middle of the intercoastal.

At least we got a break one of the days and got to drive up and see a couple of Caribbean Friends we had met this past season to have lunch which was awesome to see them again.  They are getting ready to launch from a boat yard in St. Mary’s GA.  In addition, Ron found a guy selling very reasonably priced scuba equipment.  He got a weight belt and a new mask, and I got new fins and a new mask.  He hopes to do a lot more spear fighting (as we hope to head to the Berry Islands) for actual fish this year and not just lobster so this will help him.  He also bought a longer spear on Amazon to make this easier as well since you can’t get as close to them as you can the lobster.  We both struggled with our equipment last year and knowing it’s something we really like to do and want to do more of it will pay off having better equipment.  Hopefully this will also lower our grocery bill since Ron won’t need to buy much meat if he catches more fish.

Over the next few days, we finished up our provisioning, Ron scrubbed the entire boat with the power washer, I got all our provisions repackaged (cardboard = cockroaches so it had to go!) and put away on the boat, and as he installed the new radar and chart plotter, I learned how to hoist him up the mast! 

Our list of project is quickly coming to an end and now we just have to get gas for the dinghy, refill our propane tank, and we found out one of our hatches on the starboard leaks so we get to fix that. We are also waiting on a couple Amazon deliveries (read into this spare parts) and we are out of here on Monday!

No Rest for the Wicked – September 7, 2022, St. Augustine, FL, USA

We only got a couple days rest to get ourselves over COVID and thankfully that was all it took.  We quickly got back to work on the boat where we could continue to keep to ourselves but still be productive.  Our first order of business was to make our surround for the boat.  We took a day to pattern and had ordered all our materials which was shipped during our “rest days.”  About 4 days later, several wrestling matches with the sewing machine later, and a few curse words from our Captain, we had a surround!

Personally, I think he did a heck of a job with only a bit of logistical help from me.  After this project, we had our confidence up and now, onto gel coat fixes, sanding the ugly “charter boat” blue stripe off the sides of our boat (to be replaced by grey to match our new canvas work), and some buffing has kept us busy this past week.  Keep in mind the weather in Florida is approximately 100 degrees and rain each afternoon so our work has strategically been mostly in the mornings.

Our next task thankfully involves some air conditioning.  We are going to make dinghy chaps to cover our dinghy.  We must fix a slow leak in the dinghy yet but have ordered our supplies which we hope to have here very soon. 

But not to worry, we have carved out a little time for play. Mom & Dad came down to see the Artemis launch (supposed to happen before Labor Day, then Labor Day, and now not till October). Sadly, since we didn’t get to see the launch, we decided to head to Fort Matanzas which is just a short ferry ride away.

Fort Matanzas is a National Monument and was built by the Spanish and used as a supply channel and back entrance to St. Augustine.  IT was very strategic to the defense of the city and helped them maintain control of it from the British who invaded from the north.  After this the built the Fort to be even stronger.  It was manned by 6-9 soldiers including one officer.

Eventually, after the fall of the Spanish Empire, the United States took control in 1821.  Ironically, Ron and I have anchored near here last season and didn’t even realize what we were anchored nearby.

We Are Positive – August 21, 2022, St. Augustine, FL, USA

Well, it was inevitable, I guess. We finally tested positive for COVID19. I got it first and Ron shortly after. It isn’t that big a deal really, but just feels like a bad sore throat which turns into a bit of an annoying cough. I guess I should be grateful I have not gotten it until now, we are both vaccinated and boosted (so it isn’t that bad – just feels like a cold), and we have a place all set up with no plan to travel in the next few weeks, so we won’t be spreading it.

I slowed us down for about a day but other than that, we have really been doing what we had planned without too much issue.  Ron has been to the boat everyday and we’ve been walking 5 miles all but one day.  We even checked off a couple boat projects already.   

Ron had gotten the fiberglass repair completed and it turned out perfectly even though he was quite stoned from the resin fumes!  He has also been working on the new Bimini top which we needed to reconfigure before we can pattern out the surround.   One more day on this and we should be able to do that. 

He has had company too.  As hard as we tried to keep the birds from nesting on our boat, they were determined, and we have one.  Now I feel too bad to take it off since it has birds in it.  I have to wait till they leave to clean it up.

I guess we will keep to ourselves for another week and we will test again to see if we are still positive or not.  We could be in a much worse place that’s for sure!  Life is tough in paradise.

We’ve Got Some New Wheels – August 12, 2022, Jekyll Island, GA, USA

The reasons started to pile up for us to put the motorcycle away now that our trip our west was wrapped up. We still want to travel the east coast at some point, but it seems that is much more feasible by boat. There are issues traveling with a motorcycle on the east coast.

Our first issue is weather. In August there seem to be rain showers every afternoon and our travel would be slow going. This would also make the road more dangerous trying to navigate in the rain, negotiate semitrucks in the rain, etc.

Secondly, we really miss having a kitchen and my hotel room cooking is lacking. Being vegetarian is hard enough for the occasional meal, let along every meal. I have to say the finding something at the gas stations is not impossible but not the best either. Let’s just say our health has declined and something we do not want to continue ignoring. We aren’t exercising, aren’t eating the best, and that can become the root of many issues.

Lastly, we have the time now to make our last changes on the boat before next season and since the hotel costs seem to be overpriced (in my humble opinion), it would help our budget to stay in one place for a while so this means, back to St. Augustine we go to visit the boat.  We picked up an Airbnb on the beach with a kitchen and laundry. 

We also put the bike back in storage and rented a car.  Our first rental was kind of funny – take a look.

More than that, there was also something wrong with the key fob and every time we tried to unlock the car, the alarm would go off and if looked like we were stealing the car.  Very funny.  So, we took it back since this would most certainly get old and got ourselves some new wheels.  This one is nearly as interesting since it has “lane assist.”  This feature nearly drives the car itself which of course drives my control freak hubby crazy!

After a fun filled week visiting Columbus and Cleveland, and getting our new wheels, we took off to Jekyll Island for the parents’ resort.  We stayed a couple days then headed south to St. Augustine.  We will spend the next month here, hit Columbus one more time to see all the Daughter’s before we shove off again in October.  I now get to put together my best honey do list for the boat!

Back to the Heartland – Columbus, Ohio, August 4, 2022

Over the last several days, we wound our way through South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and ended up in Ohio again yesterday. Let me just say we passed A LOT of corn and soybeans. Much of it looked like this…

Based on my new expert observation of nothing but farmland the last 4 days, it is time for dusting the crops.  That means every now and then we have an exciting moment which looks something like this.

Or that fact that we had one of the freeways shut down on us when a semi going 70 miles an hour plows into a construction truck (or at least that was the story of the truck who pulled into the gas station behind us after following us through the stand still of traffic).  Once again being on a bike had its upside since we were able to weave through traffic to get back to the exit and find an alternative route.  The bad news was it included gravel roads.  This is not fun on a motorcycle, but my experienced hubby managed fine, and we found our way out (no thanks to Apple).

Now that we have managed to ride nearly 9,000 miles here are a few new items to add to our trip notes.

• I have a farmer’s tan…on my face.  It’s attractive.  You can clearly see the lines from the chin strap of my helmet and sunglasses.  Ron’s looks the same, but his beard is nearly blonde as well. 
• The number of RVs on the road out west is insane.
• The farther east we got, the more rain, traffic, and more semi’s we encountered.
• We passed an inordinate number of other bikers heading to Sturgis and I am glad we won’t be there during the very insane week.
• Since we are from the Midwest, it became increasingly boring as the scenery was all too familiar.
• We had hoped to go through Upper Peninsula Michigan but due to the temperature and storms, had to change plans and go the route we did. 
• We both desperately want a home cooked meal after eating out and from the gas station the last couple of months.
• Hotels are sold out everywhere…including Columbus and are 25-50% more expensive than we planned for them to be.  Thank goodness for some good old fashioned travel hacking.  It shocks me.

We have decided to change up our whole plan again cause…why not? We have loved this so far and while we want a few days break, we don’t want to quit, and we will share more on the new plans soon.

Badlands & Bikers – Keystone, SD, UDSA, July 30, 2022

Ron and I had a blast in South Dakota.  We started in Sturgis and spent one night there, one in Keystone, and our last in Kadoka (OK  – not as fun here).  Not only was Ron able to get every needed bike part including changed brakes in Sturgis but we also got our rally t-shirts.  Both of us had been to bike week in Daytona when we were young (Ron many times since his parents would go every year) and I had happened to be there during spring break one year.  This impression was still fresh enough (some 30+ years later) that I really didn’t feel the need to experience Sturgis during the actual week of the rally but was fine being there early.  We then moved onto Keystone to drive Needles Highway and to see Mount Rushmore.

We had a chance to see Mount Rushmore from Needles Highway even though it rained on us.  I do have to say Mount Rushmore was cooler than I thought but also smaller.  Did you know there is a national vault hidden behind Lincoln’s head holding the Declaration of Independence?  There is quite a bit on controversy around Mount Rushmore and the Indians are “retaliating” by carving Crazy Horse which is the largest carving in process in the world.  There is currently no completion date planned.

The four presidents were chosen for specific purposes.  George Washington since he was responsible for the “birth” of our nation.  Thomas Jefferson since he wrote the Declaration of Independence and made the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the size of our nation representing “growth.”  Teddy Roosevelt since he not only ensured monopolies didn’t rule all major industries and was also instrumental in the building of the Panama Canal which was seen as “development” during the most industrialized time in our nation.  Lastly was Abraham Lincoln and he was chosen since he “unified” the nation even through the most difficult time of the Civil War.

The next morning, we ended up going to Badlands National Park and I tell you what, I felt like I was in an episode of Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote all day. It was cool but was really a smaller less colorful version of the painted desert we had seen in Arizona. We did the “badlands loop” and let me tell you knowing what we know now, we would have skipped the unpaved parts of it and just driven through the main portion which is the prettiest. One of the funnest parts was all the prarie dogs! There are hundreds of them!

Then to wrap up our day we ended up at the Minuteman National Landmark which is a historic missile site used right up through the 1990’s. Apparently, in 5 states the US still had “Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles” ready to launch at a moments’ notice which is what keeps the peace with the other nuclear superpowers. They call is “MAD” which means Mutual Assured Destruction. Nothing unsettling about that. The little informative movie and the exhibit talks about how much less risk there is now of nuclear destruction but based on what I see daily in the news with Ukraine, it is hard to still see it that way. They tried hard to convince the audience that the Bay of Pigs in the 1960’s was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war.

Big Sky Country – Cody, Wyoming, USA, July 28, 2022

As we left Idaho, we tripped over these two little beauties – Upper and Lower Mesa Falls before heading to “Big Sky Country.”

There is definitely a reason they call it this and I must admit Wyoming caught me by surprise.  I have never heard anyone talk about how beautiful it is here!  We didn’t have any intention of stopping here but Cody had Mexican, so we made the command decision.   We were on our way to Yellowstone and this was the only place with hotels left.  We went to see the volcanic geysers since the park sits on top of a volcanic hotspot and even got to see old Faithful erupt.  She draws quite an audience!

I had hoped to see a bear but no luck. We did get to see the park as it has rejuvenated from the wildfires and it seems to be coming back quite nicely. The park and the unique rock formations are quite beautiful all through the 3.500 mile park. We also drove through part of Grand Tetons as well.

Undressing on the Road – California, Oregon, Idaho USA – July 24, 2022

Avenue of the Giant was awesome and as we finished it out, we decided to start our trek east via the northerly route across the US since any farther would not result in any warmer temperatures. During our ride from Fortuna, California (50 degrees) this morning to our final stop on our way got us back to 107 degrees (well that was fast) and the 50 degree swings in temperatures presents an interesting challenge as to what to wear in the morning. I have become quite adept at changing clothes on the road to accommodate. Ron, on the other hand has adapted his strategy differently than I have and it isn’t quite flawless yet.

Oregon was…interesting.  It now holds the record in our books for the worst Mexican Food, we drove through not one, but two swarms of locus, and we drove through the town of Weed.

Other noteworthy items were the fact we drove by Lake Albert.  It is an inland saltwater lake that is disappearing, and no one knows why.  Here is all that is left, and the salt looks like snow does it not?

But not all was lost since we did get to see the 14,000 foot Mount Shasta Volcano.  Coors Light anyone?

Idaho is nearly what I thought except for one surprise.  It is the largest farmland stretch I have ever seen, the roads are nice, and gas is cheap again.  We got to see the Blue Mountains which are pretty but the thing that surprised me the most was the gigantic sand dunes!  I realize we are driving through a section of the country called “the high desert,” but somehow it was just not what I expected to see.

Big Trees – Jackson, CA, USA, July 17, 2022

Flexibility has been key in our travels.  For example, when we encountered 100+ temperatures, we changed plans to get out of AZ.  Then, when the hotels in southern California appeared all booked, so we headed north (hard to believe there is a recession looming when EVERYONE is on vacation!).  We had hoped to go to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, but due to the wildfires closing off the roads, we changed plans yet again. 

To fill our big tree quota, we headed to Calaveras State Park in Northern California allowing us to see the Sequoias and get an affordable hotel. We snaked our way over the Sierra Neveda Mountains which are stunning with huge pine trees everywhere.

Then we took a 5-mile hike to explore the park.  The sequoias are wider than the redwoods and the redwoods are taller than the sequoias.  Naturally growing sequoias are only found in California (west of the Sierra Nevada mountains) and China due to the specific growing conditions required which is moderate winter temperatures, great amount of water but low humidity.  Sequoias can get to an age of 3,000 years old.  We loved seeing these trees up close.