It Only Took 21 Years...

Alice has made her home in Indio for the last 21 years, but had never visited Joshua Tree National Park, just a short drive east of there. Since it is Springtime and the flowers should be blooming Bill decided to take her there last weekend while we were home. It was a gorgeous day and we found a multitude of photo opps, from rocks, to trees, to wildflowers and some cactus. Unfortunately, we were early for the cholla blooms and late for the Joshua trees, but nonetheless it was a great little one day jaunt into familiar territory for Bill who was BORN in Indio and an eyeopener for Alice, shown standing near a cholla- That is all you want to do, as these cacti are also called jumping cactus, which embed their barbed thorns in flesh that even just brushes them briefly! Bill was dwarfed by one of the rock formations...

Grumpy Arrives~

Tuesday, April 8 marked two arrivals: we returned to Grey Wolf from California and Barry and Cindy crossed over the Sea of Cortez and arrived at the Santa Rosalia Marina in time to get situated before dark- see above photo. They had smooth water at the beginning and end of the 75+ mile trip, but got rocked and socked out in the middle with 20 knot winds and seas of 3-6 feet! Now that is nothing compared to what one could encounter, but was definitely not to Cindy's liking... she being used to being out on sailboats on lakes! It sure will be neat to have their company for the next four weeks. Once we have provisioned and have calm weather we will head down to Bahia Concepcion and enjoy the anchoring out lifestyle for a while.

A Fast Trip to Fresno

We took Grey Wolf back to the Santa Rosalia marina the end of March and made a very fast one week turnaround to San Diego, Indio, Fresno, Indio, and San Diego again! We bought boat supplies, saw family, Alice went to the doctor for her aching joints, and the main purpose was to get Bill to the dentist to start an implant since he had lost a crown in February. Our son-in-law Rod began the implant procedure with a marvelously painless first procedure. Coincidentally, the night before was our grandson Blake's Eagle Court of Honor, shown above. We enjoyed a too short visit with Rod and Alison's family and we look forward to seeing them again this summer.On the San Diego front, Eric and Arlene will move this June to Indio where she hopes to get a position with Juvenile Hall so Eric can work on finishing his degree. Owen and Melinda have rented a cute little home not far from the apts. she has been managing so she can concentrate on her career as a hair stylist. Lots of changes this year!

Sealife and Other Interesting Sights

We spent a wonderful month on anchor in Bahia Concepcion. Some days were clear and windy, others were overcast and calm, and the last week was cranking up to 90 degrees every day with LOW humidity- a miracle by Baja standards. Alice decided it was time to work on her tan and managed to get burned instead... when will she ever learn? We have gone out in our dinghy a few times and have drooled over the many kayaks we saw crisscrossing the bay. We are getting closer to deciding to buy one- a two seater, we think, instead of two singles! That way when Alice gets tired Bill can just bring her on home~ HA. There are numerous areas for snorkeling or diving and that is next on our agenda, once the water warms up! Barry and Cindy are due to join us next week and go anchorage hopping for about a month. Shown above is a small ray Alice shot in shallow water. Also shown above is a bottom cleaner... well, Capt. Bill as he was cleaning the bottom of Grey Wolf one day!