Tuesday. June 21
Haul out for Maja was scheduled for 10am. Considering that we had prepped for this event for 2 days, and were up this morning at 6 a.m., at it some more, all things went smoothly.... thank goodness for travel lifts! Maja fit easily into the sling used to lift the boats out of the water, and we did not need to drop the rigging for the head sail, which we worried about up to the last minute.
The marina crew was great. Nice parking spot.
The hard part came on land. No electricity. Up and down the ladder to remove gear that is going back to MN with us or to the dumpster. Cleaning out lockers. Remving all remaining boat lines. 102 deg. Humidity. Nasty weather to be working outside. The marina crew amaze me as they work in the yard wearing jeans and boots and l/s shirts.
Once
Maja was on the hard, all we had to do was complete the "last minute" prep of the plumbing and electrical systems .... which of course, ended up taking several hours! Dan used agricultural netting to cover the cockpit/cabin top area to help keep the cabin area cooler (bugs too .. even though the marina crew tell us not to worry about bugs). We don't have the space to remove all the remaining dry/canned food on the boat, so we are taking what we can and leaving the rest ... with fingers crossed.
By 4pm, Dan was ready to catch a ride into Green Cove Springs with one of the marina crew and pick up our car rental. And then, as the song goes, "
on the road again...". It felt great to be in an air-conditioned car after working in the nasty heat all day. It felt bittersweet to be leaving
Maja behind, in a boatyard. It was a relief to be on our way towards Minnesota after taking 2 weeks to get this far. It was scary as hell to be travelling at 70 mph on the interstate after travelling at 6 knots!
Tuesday night: We made it as far as Macon, GA. Too pooped to continue on, we got a great walk-up rate at Baymont Motel off the interstate.
Wednesday, 6/22: We traveled to Louisville KY, our usual half-way point to MN, and favorite place to stop and see Dan's cousin, Sheila. We arrived in time for dinner, and as we prepped to get back on the road at 9:00 pm and push on overnight to MN, what should appear on the near horizon? Yes, a tornado! A huge thunder/lightening storm blew though the area ... sirens were howling ... the TV screen was bleeping. Radar looked like the storm would pass away from the direction we were heading, so we started out anyway, even though the tornado sirens were still blowing. 5 miles later I made Dan turn around. The roads were flooded. The rain made visibility nil. There was no way in hell I was driving over the Ohio River in these conditions. We wouldn't do this in a boat .... so we went back to Sheila's and slept off the storm in her delightful guest bed.
Thursday, 6/23: On the road by 6:30 am., Starbucks Grande in hand! This is day #3 of car rental. The car is expected back in MN at noon, and we'll be someplace in Indiana instead! Extending the rental one more day gave us time to stop in Rochester, MN and see my sister, Laury, who graciously handles our mail. The whole Schalau family is there including Marie from her new home in Fargo. Nice to hang out with people who know your name!
Friday - 6/24: On the road by 9am for the 75 mile drive to the Devereaux's in South Minneapolis ... our metro family!
Dan and Renee Devereaux are our long-time friends.
Collette is our Goddaughter. Sean is getting married this summer.
Today, June 24, marked our goal that we began 3 weeks ago in the Bahamas when we learned that our dear brother-in-law, Tim Swenson, would not be able to receive a bone marrow transplant, his only hope for the rare form of aggressive leukemia he had been diagnosed with 8 months ago. We arrived at the Swenson home around noon and spent 3 hours with Tim and Suzie (Dan's sister).
This ended up being Tim's last day at home. He died a week later, on July 2nd. A truly wonderful man - gone much too soon. Sad, sad. sad.
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July 4th
More bad news followed us to Webster WI. We were at Jim Garfunkel's home, preppring for a gala holiday affair of bocce and swimming in his pool with friends we haven't seen in a year, when what should appear on the near horizon? Black thunderclouds bringing TONS of rain and straight-line winds of 100 mph! Jim lost a 60x60 ft building and over 30 large mature trees. $100K in damages. The good news is that the house only sustained minor damage where an uprooted tree "leaned" against the roof. And our car which ended up under a tree was only hit by leaves, not branches.
I
It was incredible to witness such destruction in such a short period of time. And here we thought we were leaving our 'weather worries' behind us with the boat in Florida!
Fortunately, Jim had rented a portapotty for the weekend party, so we had a useable head when the indoor plumbing ceased to work. Water and ice became the hot commodities; and it was sure nice to have a gas bbq grill and gas stove in the kitchen to rely on. And he had a bunch of friends coming up for the holiday weekend who could help with cleanup!
We stayed for a week and just started to make a dent in the clean-up.
Tuesday, July 12
We returned to Minneapolis for Tim's memorial service on Monday, July 11. Sad Sad Sad Day.
We left Mpls for Gull Lake Minnesota, the resort capital of the state. Our friend from Baltimore, Tom McNally, has a family cabin on the lake that is now up for sale, so Tom is having a last get-together for family and friends.
A classic lake cabin ... complete with stone fireplace and 5 bedrooms!
Pontoon crusing on the lake with McNally family.
Eagle sighting
On Friday, we dragged ourselves back to civilization
Tuesday, July 19th
One of the best parts about retirement is getting to be spontaneous. Hence, our decision to leave Mpls for Ohio in order to see our daughter on her birthday. We haven't seen Michelle since January, and we missed her engagement in March altogether (except for Skype!). So, after spending the weekend at the Devereaux's, and attending Dan's 40th high school reunion, we decided to hit the road just as a nasty heat wave settled across the Midwest ... a taste of what we are missing in Florida!
MQK's apt bldg.
Our land cruiser
July 20-30th: Loveland, OH
As expected, we had a hard time leaving Loveland, OH. We kept staying on, one day after the other, despite the extreme heat, because it was so much fun to be there when Michelle got home from work every day! I doubt we'll ever get over missing the kids as part of our current lifestyle.
Loveland, OH is a very cute suburb of Cincinnati, so you get the advantages of both small-town living and big-city attractions. Michelle lives along the Little Miami River which has a paved bike path all the way into Loveland. Since we had our bikes with us, we were really looking forward to taking the bikepath along the river, into Loveland where Michelle works. Unfortunately, the midwest heatwave continued it's hold over this part of the country, and with daily temps over 100 degrees (and equal parts humidity), we did no biking, very little dog walking, and only a bit of swimming. That was a bummer, but we did get out in the evening with Michelle, and we did get in some serious shopping (replacing worn out shorts and tee shirts from our first 1.5 yrs of living aboard Maja) AND I found my dress for Michelle and Craig's wedding. That was a big accomplishment to cross off the list ... now I just need shoes (since my current inventory only includes tennis shoes and Birkenstock sandals!).
It may sound boring, but it was actually quite relaxing and fun to just do 'normal things' for the last 10 days! Going to the farmers market, cooking, meeting Michelle for lunch, renting DVDs. We could have staying longer, but it's August already ... time to hit the road again.
