Start of the Holiday Road Trip

09-11 November 2017

We arrived in Tallahassee and proceeded to Costco to get some tires for Chelsea's Prius. They had been marginal when we handed the car over to her, and the trip out from Arizona was close to finishing them off. We had a nice dinner at one of their favorite places and talked, had breakfast and talked some more, then we finished packing up the car and hit the road to Birmingham.

There are no freeways between Tallahassee and Montgomery, so we were on back road highways the whole way. I'm glad it was light until then, and the countryside was beautiful. We had dinner at Urban Cookhouse in Montgomery, which was a small chain that I wasn't familiar with, and it was very good. This began our eating our way across middle America tour. Back in the car we went to the outskirts of Birmingham to spend the night.

In the morning we went to Big Bad Breakfast ("Lard Have Mercy!"), which lived up to its name. Kind of new Southern and very delicious. Back in the car we went, headed north. We thought of going to Dollywood, even though it was a bit out of our way, but the hours were so restricted in this pre-holiday time it really wasn't going to work out without costing us another day, which we didn't have. So off to Nashville we went. We had a late lunch, early dinner (linner) at Hattie Bs Hot Chicken. We drove by the downtown location and there was a line going around the block. We discovered there was another location so off we went, where there was more like a 15-20 minute line out the door.

While we were in line a local explained to us the origin and and diffusion of hot chicken throughout the Nashville area. The story may be apocryphal, but as they say it's too good to check. Apparently a cheating man was served chicken by his angry mistress, who had used every spice she had to make it as painful as possible. Of course he liked the chicken and it was then reproduced at one restaurant for years, gradually spreading through town as family members and restaurant workers moved around.

I had the medium and Heather had the mild. The medium was good but bordered on painful for me, but Heather's mild was a little too mild. Somewhere in between would have been about right for both of us. Forget the actual hot version, much less the "Shut the Cluck Up". We hit the road again, headed to the thriving metropolis of Mt. Vernon IL on the outskirts of St. Louis, while the hot chicken percolated through our unfamiliar digestive tracts.

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Holiday Road Trip Prep

03 - 09 November 2017

After we got back from Atlanta and Savannah we had about a week to prepare for our long holiday road trip. I had a handbook meeting the next week in Wichita, with Thanksgiving the week after, where for the last 50 years my family has had a picnic somewhere outside of Prescott, AZ. Heather had medical appointments back in Phoenix just before and after Thanksgiving, and I had an eye appointment. We looked at the airfare and rental cars required and it made at least as much sense to drive, even with Heather's Companion Pass on Southwest. After dragging a 12 foot trailer across the country with all of Chelsea's crap in it, another cross country road trip no longer seemed as intimidating.

Since it really didn't seem worth the effort to go back to the boat a week after Thanksgiving, only to return to Arizona and New Mexico two weeks later, we decided just to stay, spending most of that time at Heather's mother's in Las Cruces. This meant we would be gone from the boat for more than seven weeks, again a new record on the longest we had been away since we had bought it. Between moving Chelsea and renting the house and now the holidays we were spending way too much time way from the boat. We will have to make up for that when we get back just after the first of the year.

On Friday at the clubhouse there was a Coast Guard presentation on communications and safety that was mostly familiar. Our diver was scheduled for the next day to clean the bottom, and based on the noise inside the boat it was pretty bad. I got the dinghy in the water for the first time since we had arrived in Brunswick for another guy to buff the hull. We had had it done soon after we bought the boat in Houston but it hadn't been done since. Much to my surprise it was about half of what they had charged in Houston and it looked great. We'll have him return when we get back to the boat to do the topsides.

We finished arranging holiday airfare for the kids and refilled the water tanks. We cleaned the car and checked the oil. We emptied the fridge and the freezer and the pantry and cleaned them out. We finally got to the fuel dock for our pump out, and after much discussion and planning and preparation had a perfect docking back into our slip, somewhat making up for the first time. As our departure got closer we started cleaning and straightening the boat, including the catch-all nav desk and the dreaded back cabin which had not been gone through since we left Marathon.

On Thursday we finished buttoning up the boat and checking the lines and left for Tallahassee to see Chelsea and Travis on our way west.

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Savannah

02 November 2017

On the way back from Atlanta we were (quickly) passed by a series of Ferraris, Maseratis, Lamborghinis and such. There were lead and trailing Range Rovers who I guess were organizers (and bait cars for the speed traps). They stopped at a gas station up the road. They all appeared to be asian, with both they and their shotguns looking like they were in a Fast and Furious movie, or a music video. I'm guessing a whole lot of money that payed for a Cannonball Run like tour of the states.

We had some time, so we decided to stop in Savannah on the way back to the boat. When we had visited several years ago it had been really hot, and it smelled pretty swampy everywhere, but especially along the river (along with the delightful odor of stale beer). It was much cooler this time and very pleasant, shopping and noshing alongside the river. We took a spin around Forsyth Park.

We had dinner at a place called Treylor Park where Heather tried the Peanut Butter and Jelly Wings. About dark we bundled back into the car and headed down the road an hour to Brunswick.

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Atlanta Aquarium

01 November 2017

We wanted to visit places that were near the boat and the Atlanta aquarium had been on our list for a while. It seemed like a good time in this lull before the holidays so off we went.

For some reason the Japanese Spider Crabs really creep me out. First of all they are huge. The body can be bigger than a basketball, and the leg span 12 feet across. The crab in the picture below is tapping the glass. You can just see them looking at the people walking by and thinking - I would totally eat that. Why that is somehow worse than a shark doing the same thing I don't know.

We went to the dolphin and sea lion shows, but the main tank is the star. It is simply amazing, big enough for a few whale sharks and hundreds of other fish and such. A great place to hang out for a few hours.

W went to dinner at a BBQ place called Fox Brothers. We shared an everything plate which had sausage, pulled pork, brisket and ribs. The BBQ was good to great, but the best was the Frito Pie, a concoction of onions, melted shredded cheese and brisket chili all mixed up in and served in the Fritos bag. Heart attack on a stick (or rather in a bag).

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No Pump Out, No Pump In

23 - 31 October 2017

We dropped into a routine of visiting the grocery store and West Marine every day, and catching up on our laundry. We were starting to prepare for a meeting I had in Wichita the week before Thanksgiving, and given that trip and the holiday timing, planning on not returning to the boat until after the 1st of the year. We confirmed medical and eye appointments for while we were back in Mesa between the holidays.

One of the things on our list that was becoming more urgent was to pump out the holding tank. We really needed to empty it, and we didn't want to leave it full for the entire time we were gone. We checked the fluids and the batteries and cranked over the engine. We let loose the lines, Heather put the engine in gear, revved up the engine, and - nothing. We had no propulsion and were drifting away from the dock. I jumped onto to the dock with a line and pulled the boat back alongside.

Another thing that was on our list was to have the bottom of the boat cleaned. We are a mile or two downstream of the city's water treatment plant and the water is full of ... , let's say nutrients. When it was hot and the water was warmer things grew in the water at a phenomenal pace. While it was now cooler and things had slowed down, we hadn't had the bottom cleaned since just before we left Marathon. Since we couldn't drive the boat at all the prop must be covered in growth, ruining the aerodynamic shape of the blades, and perhaps jamming the mechanism that allowed the pitch of the blades to change. Another item for our startup checklist - before releasing the lines put the engine in gear and give a little tug against the lines. That and don't wait so long between bottom cleanings. As the bottom paint slogan goes, if you think having a dirty bottom slows you down, imagine what it does to your boat!

We scheduled a bottom scrub for later in the week and decided to go to Atlanta to visit the aquarium. I had only been once years before and Heather had never been. This having a car available at any time was obviously going to our heads.

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Expanding Our Range

22 October 2017

After about 10 days we had run thru most of our food and entertainment options in the greater Brunswick metropolitan area at least once and were looking to branch out some. Over fall break in 2009 we took a southeast trip from Charleston to St. Simons Island and points between, which included looking at boats at the very marina where we were now ensconced. We decided to take a quick trip back over to SSI, having forgotten just how close it was. It was literally just a bridge away, but clearly on the other side of the bridge was where the money lived. For some reason it was a particularly jarring transition. Well, it is very pretty. We had a nice brunch just off the main strip then walked around. I don't remember the dock this picture was taken from being there before.

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Settling Back on the Boat Before the Holidays

10 - 21 Oct 2017

After we got back to the boat we still had a bit of paperwork left to do, mostly related to the house and taxes n'at. There was a talk about spares at the clubhouse Friday morning which boiled down to bring at least one of everything on the boat that's going to break - and everything is going to break. And when it breaks you also need to have the tools and know how to go with the spare to fix it, because there may not be anyone else around. That afternoon we drove over to Tallahassee for a quick visit with Chelsea and Travis. Mostly we ate and talked.

We came back to the boat the next evening and started working on family travel for the holidays. Neither of the kids was going to be able to get to Prescott for Thanksgiving. It was just too quick of a turnaround. This was also going to be the first for the kids where they had to brave the airports during the Christmas break.

The next Tuesday I was walking to the clubhouse I was joined by a little friend. It looked like a snake our oldest daughter had had when she was younger, an albino corn snake named "Clover". The snake did not respond to the name "Clover" and slithered across the parking lot to the deeper grass on the other side. That's not conclusive because Clover never liked me.

I had an exec handbook call Thursday. The following morning was another clubhouse talk, this time on spearfishing. Important safety tip - don't hand around with a fish wriggling on you spear lest something higher up the food chain shows up wanting to share - your leg.

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Boat Show

05 - 09 October 2017

We had driven the afternoon and evening before for as long as we could stand and made it as far as Rocky Mount NC. From here we could get in the car in the morning and be in Annapolis in a couple hours. We made it to the show a little late for good parking and we ended up in front of an elementary school on the grass (they use boat show parking for school fundraising). It was a lot of the same as past years, but we enjoy going back to our favorite places in Annapolis.

After a few days of being on other people's boats and looking at all the toys available we were ready to get back to our boat and stay for a while. We drove back south on Sunday, making it as far as the cosmopolitan Lumberton NC for the night. In the morning we finished making our way back to the boat, this time to stay for at least a few weeks.

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Hit and Run

04 Oct 2017

We headed to the boat in the morning. There was some hurricane damage in town as we drove to the marina, mostly signs and awnings destroyed. The sign below was from a chiropractor's office. They had lost their sign but not their sense of humor.

There were a whole lot of downed trees, some of which were clearly more than a 100 years old. There were cut up trees and brush piled up by the road wherever we went. We got to the marina about mid day and walked down the dock to the boat. To our great relief it was very dirty but little else was changed. We went below and the cabin was dry with no indications of damage. We unpacked our clothes, most of which were dirty, and then looked at each other. We could settle in and spend the night, or we could pack up some clean clothes and head up the road toward the boat show, which had just started in Annapolis. If we got going we could be at the boat show in the morning. So we did.

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Back to the Boat

30 Sep - 3 Oct 2017

I drove to Las Cruces on Saturday morning. With my early start the traffic was no problem, and I was there by mid day. We unloaded the Solara and started preparing to hand it over to Heather's brother. I hadn't had as much time to work on it as I had hoped, but it had spent most of the year in the garage.

The one sticking point was the title. I had developed the habit of putting car titles and such in an organizer on the desk, and the titles for the other four cars were present and accounted for. I had paid it off years ago and was sure I had it. I searched thru everything as I was emptying the house. I thought maybe I had put it in the Solara's glove box, but no such luck. And getting a copy was one of those things you had to be present in Arizona for. I was out of time and luck, so it would have to wait until next time. I handed over the car to Rex and kept our insurance active.

We reorganized what we had in Las Cruces and packed what was staying for now in a corner of a back room at Heather's mother's house. The bulk of it was cases of photographs going back decades. The plan was to scan and organize them over the Christmas break.

Another deadline that was looming was the US Sailboat show in Annapolis the next week. We wanted to go if we could even though we didn't have any immediate major purchases in mind. Just working your way through all of the vendor tents is educational, and we did have some needs that were going to become more urgent at some point in the near future.

On the 3rd of October we flew back to Jacksonville and picked up the car. It had been in the airport parking lot about three weeks longer than we had planned. Even with the half off coupon we would have been much better off getting 60 mile rides to and from the airport. Since it was very late we didn't want to go straight to the boat, just in case it was less than habitable. We spent the night in Kingsland about halfway between Jacksonville and Brunswick.

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Hurricanes 2017

Summer 2017

So our second season of dealing with hurricanes turned out to be the fifth most active since record keeping started in the mid 1800s. Growing up in the Southwest, hurricanes were a sort of curiosity that happened to other people. Now that we owned a boat that could be in harm's way, much less ourselves, it had a much more visceral feel for us.

For much of the season we were away from the boat, mostly in Arizona, but for more than a week hauling the trailer of Chelsea's belongings from Arizona to Florida. We tried to check the weather every morning and evening just like we were on the boat, but we missed those checks all too often. Every time we checked it seemed like there was another storm forming, or a worrying development for one of the already named storms.

We had done everything we could on the boat short of removing the sails. The conventional main sail was pretty secure inside a stack-pack type bag on the boom. There was little chance that the mainsail was going anywhere. The fore sail was a different matter. It's a roller furling sail. If it starts to unroll the newly exposed bit of sail can catch more wind and unroll it some more. This quickly becomes a runaway reaction. And if the wind was strong enough to pull the sail open there is little to be done but watch it tear itself apart or cut it down.

I didn't yet feel comfortable taking the jib down, so I secured the furling lines. For a little more safety I also tied down the drum that has to rotate to unfurl the sail. With everything else stripped from the topsides we and the boat were as ready as we were going to get.

Harvey hit Texas in late August, very near the boat's previous owner's home, and not far from where we had bought the boat and kept it during last year's hurricane season. Irma hit Cudjoe Key on September 10th, which is just south of the bridge from Marathon, where we had spent much of the summer. The area was devastated and we're very glad we had scooted out of there in July. After briefly heading toward the west coat of Florida, Irma started its strange march more or less up the center of the state. We had our oldest daughter in Tallahassee, our boat in Brunswick, and our car at the Jacksonville airport. Irma shimmied between our three areas of concern, with no more than about 50 mph winds at any of the three locations. The worst damage was to a side mirror on the car, which to be fair, was only held in place with a couple of zip ties and the end of a paint stirrer stick. We got back to the car late at night and the mirror was quickly repaired yet again, this time with a blue bungee cord. To my shame it's still there 6k miles later.

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Back in the Mesa House for Last Time

17 August - 30 September 2017

After flying from Jacksonville we got back to Mesa on the 17th of August. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the house. We had left in a rush and while we were gone the painter had been shoving the piles of debris and furniture around to get at the walls. Once the inside of the house was mostly done painting of the outside of the house and the yard walls got underway.

We had lived in the house for a long time. While we had made a lot of improvements we had some to do items that were up to 15 years old. We continued to sort and pack and donate and move things to the storage unit. We also had a small 5 foot by 5 foot storage space beneath the condo in Scottsdale that we had kept separate from the rental. This was slowly becoming our place to stash spare tile and such from both properties and tools for maintaining them.

This went on for weeks. We made progress every day, but some days we identified more new items to do than we completed. We blew past the three week mark, which is how long we originally thought this would take, but we started getting potential tenants walking through. The good news was we got a tenant who wanted to move in beginning in October. The bad news is we now had a hard deadline for everything.

By mid-September Heather had completed most of the tasks on her list and was helping me with mine. We soon got to the point where she had little left to do and couldn't help me much with the tasks I had left. After some frustration with that we agreed that there really wasn't any reason for her to hang around and we arranged for a flight for her to El Paso so she could spend a week with her mother. I'd follow the next week driving the convertible, which we were selling to her brother.

The tenant wanted to use the weekend to move in, so we agreed that she could on Saturday September 30th. By the time I had made my final trips to Goodwill and the storage units, then some last minute cleaning, it was well after dark on Friday night. I gave up and inflated the air mattress again, sleeping until about 4a on Saturday. After a quick shower I packed up the last of my stuff in the convertible. There wasn't even room left for another passenger, so it's just as well that Heather was already there.

Now that we were done, the house was nicer than it had ever been. We might even want to live there again, someday. I locked up, closed the garage door, and drove away just as the sun was coming up.

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