Catch Up Time

 It has been over 2 months since I wrote in this blog. If I told you that I have been so busy that I didn't have time, that would not be far from the truth. We have been on the go since August 19th. In my previous entry I included some details of the plan. We followed that plan almost exactly and everything went well. It felt like we were on a schedule, like a normal vacation. I guess that is what it was, a vacation. 

We will start with our 7 mile trip from Southall Landings Marina to Dandy Haven Marina on August 19th. There was almost no wind, but we didn't care. It felt great to be out on the water. We more or less drifted most of the 7 miles to the inlet and then fired up the motor and pulled into the marina without incident. The following day we hauled the boat and got our first look at the bottom. 

Here was our spot for one night before we hauled out on the next day. It is a beautiful and very protected place.

SHIFT coming out of the water. Andy and is crew did an awesome job. It is always a nervous time when your home is being lifted, but they take great care and my mind was at ease. 

Next she got a good power washing. If you look closely you can see the prop and water line around the stern is full of barnacles and oysters.

In this shot you can see I have scraped the barnacles off. That took most of a day. You can see one of the large paint chips that went all the way to the gelcoat. We decided to raise the top of the line of the bottom paint called the boot stripe. We raised it to the blue taped line. 

Another area of the hull where the 2 year old bottom paint had worn away.

I spent a couple of day scraping and polishing the prop. I took it apart and added lubrication and added some pitch. She was ready to be soda blasted while we took our trip to Missouri and beyond. 

 We lived on the boat without air conditioning or refrigeration until August 23rd. We had our friend Dave drive us to the Richmond, Virginia Airport Holiday Inn. Thanks Again Dave! We stayed one night in luxury we had not felt in a long time and then got up the next morning and caught our flight to Atlanta and then Missouri. 

When we come back to Missouri, it feels like we are jumping on a high speed merry-go-round. The pace that our children live at, is way faster than we normally live. We love the time together, but it requires coordinating our daily schedules of activities to be where we need to be when we need to be there. 

We got to attend the first football game of the year because our grandaughter Isabella is first chair flute in the band. 

You could always pick her out because she wears orange shoes.

This is a shot of a later game after they got their uniforms. I just love the entire atmosphere of a High School Football game. One of my favorite parts is sitting and watching the game with my grandson Will and talking football. I think he knows more about the game than I do and that is saying something. 

We went to soccer games for Will which had a tough year. He did score a goal for me in his final game that we got to see. It was a huge highlight for me. 

We got to spend some quality time with almost all of the grandkids and that was great. Our Daughter, Shannon and husband Brian are always such great hosts to all of the activities. The hosted all of us with passes to Silver Dollar City for a family evening. We also enjoyed some time with our son Mark and his wife Callie. It has been great getting to know her better. 

My partners and I put on our annual Motorcycle race at our ranch. It was a lot of work, and it went well. There has been a bad drought in the mid west and it was very dry. We were expecting a very dusty race, but the evening before we had a thunderstorm drop about an inch of rain and hail on the property and we had perfect conditions for the race. 

We winterized our RV at the ranch and put things in storage until our return some time next year and then went to the Springfield airport to rent a car for 10 days on October 1st. We drove to Russell, Kansas that first day and on into the Denver Area on the 2nd. We spent 3 nights in my parents complex. We got to see my brother Alan and his wife Denise, who were also in town. They were on their way back to their home in Texas with their motorhome. We took Mom and Dad up to their beloved mountains to see some changing aspens. 

I have always loved the contrast of the evergreen trees and the changing aspen.

Does it get any better? Yes, I miss the mountains. 

Me and my 91 YO father. Mom and Dad are doing pretty well. We loved our time together. We finished the day with a nice meal in Idaho Springs. 

On October 4th, we headed south. Not by the fastest route, but by way of the mountains. We drove up 285 then diverted up Turkey Creek Canyon then on to Kenosha Pass. Then over into Fairplay. Then down to Canyon City, then over to Salida. We stopped for lunch along the Arkansas river. Then we drove south on 17 to Alamosa. Then over to Fort Garland and then south on 159 into New Mexico. Then East on 38 through Red River. We stopped there and walked around a bit. Then down through Cimarron and over to Clayton, where we got a hotel for the night. It was a very long day, but the drive was beautiful and amazing. We had never seen Red River before and we were very impressed. 

You may ask, why did we divert up Turkey Creek Canyon. Well, this is a home that we lived in for a few years in the early 1970's. It is all dressed up for Halloween. I have to see Chalet Marie when I can. 

The top of Kenosha Pass

A wonderful lunch of Peanut Butter and honey and apples along the Arkansas river.

The Arkansas River is beautiful.

This is a Chollas plant

The Cimarron valley is beautiful

We went right by the Philmont Scout Ranch. This place has a special significance to many members of our family.

We got up the next day and continued my drive to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Area and Kim's mom's house. I say my drive because I was the only one that could drive the car. To add Kim was $13 per day and I am way too tight for that. We had a short visit with them, but then left the following morning to drive to Houston.

We called a couple that we met sailing that live south of Houston. Brian and Gill invited us to dinner and we had an awesome time catching up. They are planning a trip to Mexico in their sailboat in the spring. 

Then it was on to Texas City, Texas for the Bolton Brothers Birthday Bash. Kim's father is one of 6 boys and 2 girls. The three boys still living have birthdays very close to each other. One of Kim's cousins planned a birthday bash for all three. It quickly became a family reunion. There was no option, we had to go. Kim's Uncle JoJo was turning 90, Uncle Jimmy was turning 88 and Her dad, Richie was turning 86. It was a very enjoyable party and I will never forget how much fun they all had. I would estimate that there were 150 people at the party. I got to see so many people I have not seen in a long time, but a clear highlight was Kim's aunt LaLa and Uncle Bill came, and they are not really part of this family. I also got to spend some quality time talking to Kim's cousins husband named Skeeter, who used to cruise on a 65 foot Motor Vessel. 

The sad footnote to this party, was that Uncle JoJo died 5 days later. He sung and danced at the party and we will remember him doing that. 

The following day we made a quick trip down to Galveston to see Kim's uncle Kenny. Kenny is 86 and one of my favorites. He is doing better than we had heard, but we pray for him every day. 

We left Galveston and drove to Dallas to see my Brother Brian and his wife Julie and daughter Katherine. My brother Alan and wife Denise came over. Alan's Daughter Erin and husband Tim joined us as well. They have two young boys and another is due very soon. We had a great time and Thanks to Brian and Julie for hosting us for an evening. We slept great and then drove back to Missouri the next day to complete our nearly 3000 mile drive. It was crazy and awesome at the same time. We just love spending time with the entire family and we got to see almost all of it. The following day we returned the car to the airport and flew back to Virginia. 

Ok, so that covers most of the time gap. In my next entry, I will write about our time in the boatyard when we returned. Thanks for reading.