The Weekend

We spent the entire weekend being glad that we were back on the boat.

Sissy and M&M are glad to be back on the boat too.

Ryan hung up the hammock that he got for his birthday.

We visited with the neighbors and caught up on all the latest gossip and news.

Sis ran around making sure that all the beds are still comfortable and that all her toys are where they should be.

M&M lounged around enjoying the weather, soaking up the sun and today the rain.

We put away almost everything that we had brought from Oklahoma and California. Surprisingly I have found a home for most of it. And the thing that I am having the most trouble with is clothing. I didn't even think that we had that much.

Ryan picked up a new hobby this weekend.

He has started making his own tortillas. The first attempt was a fail, the second were decent, not great but edible, and this last batch was pretty good! I think that he is getting the hang of it.

We also inflated the new dinghy and took it out for a sunset cruise this weekend. And then again for a mid afternoon cruise, another was a trip to the Turtle Club, and a third, fourth, and fifth time just because Ryan wanted to take the dinghy out. :)

Oh yeah ... and Ryan proposed!

:)

It was a bit of a surprise and we have no date or plans made.

But as soon as we make any I will let you know.

Hope your weekend was as great as ours!

Jen, Ryan, Sissy and M&M

Home at Last!

After nearly 3 months and 5,000 miles we are finally home.

Getting here? Getting here was a challenge.

We will begin with first packing the camper.
It was a full load after two sailboards, a bicycle, three beach chairs, and Marilyn's things. Then in Phoenix we added a new 14' dinghy with trailer. It was a bit crowded to say the least.

An impressive windmill farm on the way home. Windmills for as far as you could see.

The sun setting in Phoenix.

And then that is when it happened....Tucumcari, New Mexico, 3:36pm September 1st, 2009.

The poor brown truck had enough; after 260,900 miles she gave up. Ryan thinks that she spun a camshaft bearing. All I know is that she screams every time the engine is running. Poor girl she made it a long way. And she never even realized that she was on the homeward stretch -all down hill and straight from here.

So now what?

Now we start listing everyone that we know with a truck big enough to come get us. (It was a small list.) But after a few phone calls James and Jessica are suckered in with the promise of a road trip. They arrived September 3rd and picked up us and the camper. On Friday the 4th Marty and Annie loaned us a truck and trailer and we went back to get our truck.

*Thanks to all of you! I don't know what we would have done without you.*

So with lots of help we made it back to Oklahoma. Now how are we gonna get everything that's in the camper to the storage container or the boat?! Hmmm. I KNOW! We can rent a U-Haul. Then Ryan decides for the same price as renting a U-Haul we can buy one. So that is what we did. And Ryan couldn't be happier! HaHa.

And that is how we eventually made it home. It was a great time the entire time. Yes even the times that we were lost or broke down and stranded. The trip was a memorable one and we are glad that we had the opportunity to take it.

Now?

Now it's time to get back to work on the sailboat and prepare for our next great adventure!

It just keeps getting better.

Sorry for the lack of updates, retired life is just sooooo busy, I'll try to recount our latest adventures/activities.

We enjoyed spending time with Amy before she flew back to Taiwan. We went out to eat at Pancho's and had way to much to eat, after much deliberation we decided not to go with her to Taiwan, not sure what we would do with our dog, maybe next time. We had a lot of fun and was sad to see her go. Jen was excited to find out that some of Amy's family follows our blog. So to those of you - HI! Jen is glad to know that someone is reading.

On Saturday John, a friend of Marilyn's, took us sailing on his 40 foot Hunter. Sylvia, Doug, Marilyn, Jen, Sissy and I enjoyed a wonderful time on the boat. Thanks John for a great day. Nothing better than some good reggae, good company, and a sail boat!!! Then when we got back to Marina Del Rey Doug made us all an excellent dinner. I got his recipe for pototoes. Thanks Doug, it was great.

Marilyn & Jen

Doug & Sissy - Chillin

While we were in LA, we decided to purchase a couple of sailboards. No big deal - found a couple on Craigslist about 70 miles away and they were real cheap!! So we decided to go get them. The seller met us at the front of a gated RV park. I knew something was up when his mullet was purple and he looked to be about 65. So we are driving through the RV park and I see a woman who is wearing a beige shirt...No Wait!! She was completely NAKED except for a belly bracelet. Then we pass a guy in a golf cart wearing only a smile. We arrive at the sellers house and then he says to us "In case you haven't noticed. This is a nudiest colony." (UMM yeah I think we noticed. Thanks buddy.) I told him we had, and I jokingly told him about our trip and that I wanted to go get our camper and stay there awhile. This immediatly excited the guy and he started undressing Jen with his eyes. Needless to say we quickly paid for the boards and left. As we were leaving we drove by the tennis courts, where four guys were playing tennis with nothing on but their tennis shoes. You don't see that everyday. (Wish we hadn't seen it that day.) Then at the gate was a sign posted reminding us that there was no nudity beyond that point.

And another sign that we just had to take a picture of.....

:)

Us in front of the HollyWood Sign although its a little hazy

We got to go to our very first symphony, which Jen really enjoyed and for me it was okay. I will

say I was glad that I didn't have to dress up. There was an old man playing the saxophone which was pretty impressive for his age. His shoes were about 4 sizes too big and he had to scoot his feet when he walked. kinda funny.

Wild fires still burning in the background of Marina Del Rey

We also went to the Sawdust Art Festival, which is an huge art show at Laguna Beach (Thanks Aunt Tess for the Tickets.) Jen really enjoyed it, as for me - I was in heaven. I had beer, live music, and was the only guy in the place!!!

We went back to Aunt Tess's house and had lunch again; Uncle Charlie and Aimee came too. We went through the photo albums and heard some old stories about when Jen was little. Thanks again Aunt Tess for a nice time.

One of the blurred days in LA we went to the play Wild Boy. Very interesting play, minimal stage props. Very talented actors.

On another day we rode bikes to the Santa Monica boardwalk for the free concert. We didn't stay late but we enjoyed the bike ride and the sunset.

Sunset at Santa Monica Pier

On Friday August 28th we decided to go to a Howl at the Moon in City Walk. So we take the subway at LAX and go to Union Station to have dinner, then off to City Walk. We get there and the performers are excellent, but a little different from the other piano bars we have been to. We stay till about midnight then start winding our way back home, get back on the subway. We get to our first stop where we have to change trains. Opps in LA they close the subways. So my mom starts talking to these two kids with Green hair to see if they can help us. I think they were just as lost as we were, but one of them was trying to help us. Unfortunatley we were stranded at downtown LA. Not much help. So we walk up to the street to the bus schedule to see what we needed to do to get home. That is when my mom met Reggie, who had been with Jonny Walker since he got off work at five and was trying to get home to Long Beach, but had missed his bus. (Did I mention that it was now 12:46PM?) So Reggie goes on to tell us which bus we need to take. So here we are downtown LA on a Friday night listening to a drunk black man, surrounded by homeless people, in the middle of the night. Life is Great. So after about 45 minutes or so Reggie decides we are at the wrong bus station and that we need to walk down a couple of blocks to another bus station. There they are shooting a movie across the street (pretty cool) but nobody else is at this bus stop and as far as Jen and I can tell no buses. So now it is about 2 am we see all the bars close and the drunks going home. Still no bus. Finally one shows up and we get on it. But the bus driver decides that Reggie is wrong and we need a different bus so she drops us off at another station and tells us our bus will be there in about 45 minutes. Finally we have had enough and hailed a cab, 50 dollars later and some broken spanish we make it back home. The evening was an adventure to say the least.

Howl at the Moon

We went to another concert at Chase Park but it wasn't that good. The lady ruined all the old Doris Day songs.

We have gone to Venice Beach several times and even ran into the future us.

Can you see the resemblance? Spooky!

We have enjoyed our stay here at LA but we are beginning to get home sick and are ready to go back to the boat.

A night out with Amy and her friends

We had so much fun today.

Today we went to Thousand Oaks (it's not LA) and saw Aunt Tess and Aimee. We had soo much fun and she fed us so much food at lunch that we are still stuffed and didn't have a dinner. It was a feast and it was great. *Thanks!* Marilyn and Amy are still bragging about how nice my aunt is and what a good time they had. Sissy enjoyed the visit too and got a cool new toy and her own box of cookies (They smell so good they make me want to eat one!) M&M was sad to have missed the green M&M's and water that was waiting for him, but appreciated the thought. The house was exactly what I expected to find...a cute house with lots of character and love. I really enjoyed seeing the newest hobby of tile work as well; and can't wait to see pictures of the finished products. However I am ashamed to say that I didn't take any pictures, I didn't even think about any pictures until Amy pulled the camera out at the Hollywood sign. - I guess that I will just have to go back. :)
After our visit we went to Griffith Park Planetarium and watched the Center of Universe presentation, played with the interactive displays, and watched the sunset on the Hollywood sign.
Today was a great day!

Finally made it to LA!

We arrived early and surprised Marilyn on Saturday afternoon.
I think that she was happier to see the bed and Sissy than us. :) Just kiddin'

We went with Marilyn to a John Davidson concert on Saturday evening. It was a lot of fun! Ryan got drug up on stage and was a riot! Of course I didn't have a camera with me, but Marilyn's friend Helen got some pictures on her phone and said that she would send them.

Tomorrow we are going to see Aunt Tess, the Hollywood sign, and the Griffin Planetarium.
We would also like to try sailboarding while we are here.

Well I just wanted to let you know where we were.
We are headed out to dinner now.
More updates later.