Visiting Friends and Family Everywhere!

As we traveled the Pacific Northwest we were able to see so many old friends and some family members, too. There is a problem entering some of our photos, since the blog program is turning them sideways. The above photo shows Bill with his aunt, Ruth Johnson, who lives in Sequim, WA. It was a gorgeous day on the Olympic Peninsula, with the lavendar fields in full bloom. As we returned to her home from dinner out, deer were grazing in her neighbors' yards! We also visited Bill's cousin Mildred and her family in Lynnwood, WA, where they have retired. We stayed with our son-in-law Owen's parents Owen and Janet Walker in Bellingham, WA. It was special getting to know them better! In Portland, OR we saw Alice's daughter Stephanie. We had lunch with Alice's foster son, Chris Woody, in Medford, OR.

Friends ranged from Pat and Rod in Lake Tahoe, whom we met on their sailboat in La Paz to friends from when Alice and her family lived in Eureka, CA in the 1970's. Several are pictured on the right of this page. Others were our boating friends Ted and Carolyn in Moscow, ID who were proud to show us their new 52' trawler in Tacoma, WA, their daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Mike and their family in Burien, WA. It was fun to 'catch up' with Jan and Larry in Wilder, ID, friends from the desert who have retired to a cooler clime. Alice's high school friend Shirley and her husband Warren have retired from Chula Vista to Central Point, OR where her mother lives. We enjoyed seeing all three of them.

Our last visit was with Jim and Marilyn, teacher friends in Eureka. It was interesting to see the changes around the town Alice called home from 1970-77. The first night was misty but the following morning cleared to a beautiful sunny sky and a great photo opportunity around town. Bill enjoyed driving through the beautiful redwoods where he remembers vacationing years ago. Then it was on to Sacramento where we spent a weekend getting acquainted with our lovely state capital.

Alice's daughter and son-in-law, Alison and Rod, put us up both leaving and returning. It was great to visit with them and their nine children and say goodbye to grandson James, who was packing to leave for BYU as we headed home- whew! We'll talk about Alaska another time!!!

Summer 2008

Summer 2008 found us putting 5000 road miles on our little Prius~ what a gem she is, at 47 mpg!! Alice has been slaving over a large sized scrap/album for the entire eight weeks, while Bill was collecting supplies and parts for Grey Wolf. He left on Friday, Sept. 12 for Santa Rosalia and some very intense days of work. Alice has managed to sign up for Medicare, begin some dental work, get her battery of doctor appointments booked, and has touched base with quite a few friends. She has been procrastinating on doing this blog, as she doesn't know where to begin! She has saved some photos to the laptop hooked to the printer, but that one does not have internet, so now she will have to regroup and access those photos. Suffice it to say that the summer was great and the opportunity to see old friends and make new ones was priceless, even though our Mastercard DID pay for it!! Don't give up on us; there is more to come- MUCH more.

Alice's #One Grandson Graduates

Alice was on hand for her oldest granchild's high school graduation in early June in Clovis, California. James Michael Kellogg graduated with honors as a President's Academic Excellence recipient, member of the National Honor Society, and a Life Member of the California Scholarship Federation. He will attend Brigham Young University this coming fall.
Alice found herself VERY busy the two weeks she was with Alison and Rod and their 9 busy children, since everyone had 'an agenda' with the closing of the school year. She did laundry, cooked, babysat, and ran errands... no wonder Alison is so slim and trim. She hardly has time to EAT!

What a Work Horse, That Bill~

When we drove home in May Bill had a job awaiting him back on the boat. He picked up a new water maker, along with several other 'boaty' items and then headed south again. Alice stayed home to prepare for her trip to Clovis, CA and her oldest grandson's high school graduation. The Magic Man, aka Bill Johnson, installed the lovely new water maker system and then decided to hie himself and Grey Wolf across the Sea of Cortez to the bustling harbor at Guaymas, Sonora so he could have the boat pulled out, surveyed for new insurance, and then repainted. Being a frugal guy, he decided to do the painting all by himself!! A three day estimate turned into a two week project... First, he waited three days to be pulled out, then found so many barnacles that it took him three days to scrape them all off. Upon getting a good look at the bottom he found numerous paint blisters, which he then scraped off, filled, and sanded. He also sanded the entire bottom, and in his words "You have no idea how big this boat is until you work on the bottom (50 ft. long, 17 ft. wide...)" Trekking back and forth to the city for supplies was a challenge with no vehicle. No black paint was to be had, so Bill settled for blue. The propeller was damaged in the pullout, so he hired a man to repair it. A through hole was leaking, so he had to re-fiberglass it. Since he was "on the hard"- in a boatyard- the A/C did not work, as it is water-cooled. He could hardly sleep at night and drank a gallon or more of water every day to keep himself hydrated! Once the job was done and he was back in the water he had to travel to an anchorage and wait out the wind before crossing back over. He was able to catch up with brother Barry and his friend Cindy before finally crossing back over, and two good dinners with them began his recovery from the ordeal. The icing on the cake was catching a 51" dorado on his way back to Santa Rosalia!! Two days later Alice returned via bus: all's well that ends well, in the words of the Bard!

Her maiden voyage...

While we were anchored at Balandra on Isla Carmen Barry offered to take their kayaks to shore so we could try there since we have been talking about buying our own. By the time we got around to doing it, though, a pretty strong breeze had come up. Alice was determined to do it anyway, so Barry gave her a brief lesson in paddling and away she went. As long as she was going with the wind all was well. When she decided to turn around and get back to the group on shore the wind kept pushing her back. SO, she decided to dip the paddle a little deeper with a little more energy~ and that was all it took~ into the drink she went, overturning the kayak in the process! The life jacket did its job while she clung to the overturned kayak. Bill and Barry jumped in the dinghy and came out to rescue her. Barry got the kayak turned right again but Alice could not get back in, so she got to get towed all the way back to the shallows! What a show for the bay to watch... She has to try it at least once more to see if she can do it right... her maiden voyage and SHE is the one who got christened!!! (Notice our boats in the bay...)

And A Good Time Was Had By ALL!!

The Loreto Fest has drawn to a close. A good time was had by all. There were about 100 boats in the harbor plus various land people- those who live here and those who just came to visit! Alice's chili did not take the prize but did receive a lot of good comments. She made five quarts and all that was left was on the serving spoon! Barry and Cindy did not win the horseshoe tournament but gave it a good shot. We had the chance to visit with a couple who just returned from four years in Australia-too bad we can't make it that far... Alice donated two sets of jewelry for the silent auction, proceeds going to local schools. One sold for $12 and one for $30! Now it is time for Cindy to fly home and for us to take Ted to a few anchorages and let him get a real taste of handling a boat this size.

Happy Birthday, Bill!

The evening of April 30 found us on brother Barry's boat, along with his girlfriend Cindy, our friend Ted from Idaho, and another couple we made friends with in La Paz. Cindy fixed a MARVELOUS turkey dinner as "The Feast before the Fest". Chocolate cake and ice cream from Grey Wolf topped off the evening and wished Bill well on his upcoming 42nd anniversary of his 29th birthday!!! Today is the beginning of a four day event called Loreto Fest, planned by and for cruisers here in the Sea of Cortez. There will be seminars, craft classes, food, games, contests, food, dancing, a swap meet, food, a silent auction, a chili cook-off, and more food. We look forward to seeing those we've met before and making new friends as well. Alice hopes that her pumpkin-chicken chili will be a winner at the cook-off. She also hopes she can stay on her new eating plan which does seem to be helping her drop some inches... no scales on board and that is just as well.

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!