June 6, 2016 - Change of plans!

If you have been following our blog, you know that our intent was to ship the boat home quickly, regroup and re-provision, then take off for a summer of fun in Alaska.  Well, we aren't doing that after all.  Why, you might reasonably ask....

Well, while we were leaving Puerto Escondido about a month ago Kathy took advantage of our Telcel cellular-based internet and did a little job searching.  She found a few very enticing jobs close to home and submitted her applications and resume.  A few weeks later she got an email from one of them requesting a phone interview.  We were in an area with cell coverage so the kids and Steve took off on the dinghy for an hour while Kathy had her interview.  Kathy felt it went well, but also that she could have answered some questions better.  The next day she got an email from the prospective employer stating that they wanted to check her references.

Several days later we loaded our boat on the ship in La Paz and got in our rental car to drive south toward the airport at San Jose Del Cabo.  About an hour into the drive Steve's cellphone rang with a Mt. Vernon number that we didn't recognize.  Kathy answered and it was the employer calling to make an offer of employment!  It was a great offer, for a job Kathy was excited about.

But, Kathy still had questions about the job, wanting to know more details.  She made arrangements for another phone conversation with "her manager".  Plus, there was an additional job of interest and while in the Cabo airport, Kathy made arrangements for a discussion with them at our next stop in the Phoenix Airport.  Then after that discussion they scheduled an additional interview the following day with additional people.  Now, two positions close to home gave us reason to believe that Alaska would not happen and that there are local opportunities in the Information Technology industry that are exciting to Kathy.

That second job didn't turn out to be a great match for Kathy's skills and interests.  But the first job sounded even better after she had that phone conversation with her new manager.  Kathy accepted that first offer and is VERY excited about the job.  

Life brings adventures.  We have enjoyed our extended voyage and are now ready for what may come ahead here in La Conner.  We never had the plan to leave La Conner permanently, although we left our options open, and we kept our home.  Now as life would have it, we can return to where we began this trip, Steve with his business and Kathy with a new opportunity in employment, and excitement for whatever comes next.  Cindy and Kevin are excited to be home and to see friends and family.

Again, this blog will likely not be as exciting as it has been in the past.  We have plans to post a few entries about what's it is like living on a boat for a year and a half.  They will be written by our children, from their perspective, so they might be interesting......

June 1, 2016 - Victoria - and the end of cruising in Mexico

This blog is likely the last one for this trip.  We have started some writing and took many pictures and videos of living on board the boat over the past several weeks, as our regular posts did not seem to really cover day to day life onboard.  We hope to post some of those soon as they will help put in writing for Cindy and Kevin how life was for us, and give them something to look back on to help them remember what it was like.

First a couple pictures being at home for the few days before heading to Victoria to pick up the boat.

The legos we left at home came out as well as Nerf guns.  Our living room requires
some careful walking.  Give the kids the room, look what happens!
Glad we had some friends over so they needed to clean up.

After no rain for nearly a year while in Mexico, Cindy and Kevin head outside
on our first morning back to enjoy it.  They were both excited to get out in the rain.
Notice:  shirts and pants, and jackets.  No more Mexico attire....

We had an adventure on a Washington State Ferry.  Believe it or not, Cindy and Kevin had never been on one in all their years as we always boat to the islands whether in the US or Canada.

Walking the ramp to the ferry in Anacortes

On the ferry as we leave Anacortes.  Yes, the brown on the deck is rust!

Getting ready on the boat deck for offloading in Sidney B.C.  You walk off on this stop before cars.

We walked through Sidney, got some Canadian cash and caught a BC bus to Victoria.
BTW, Mexican and Canadian bills are just beautiful, beats the green USA.
Modern Double Decker bus so we were on the top deck and in front, what a great ride.
This bus was a total of $10 Canadian for us, not as cheap as Mexico but a nice ride!

Lunch at Fisherman's Wharf with Kathy's cousin Jackson.
He owns Jackson's Ice Cream right behind us.  It has been too long since
we last saw each other and great to spend a bit of time together.

Jackson with a side view of his floating ice cream shop.  The boat here
was owned by his Mom up north in BC and Kathy had the privilege to be on it
years ago before it was floating.  It used to live in their back yard.

Jackson's shop from the front. If you go, he says the Salted Caramel is a favorite.
He was out of it as the US Memorial Day crowd ate it all the day before we arrived!

Ok, now on to picking up our vessel.  We wish we had more time in Victoria to visit and explore but now that we are back home, there is too much work for us to be able to spend any time in Victoria. After visiting with Jackson, we decided to walk toward where the ship would dock when it came in overnight.  To our surprise it was finishing docking right then, maybe 3:30pm (12 hours early).  As we talked and walked, the couple in front of us heard us talking and started a conversation telling us that their vessel was there too.  It was loaded on the ship in Florida.  More than this, Linda and Martyn live down the street from us in our community, wow, small world.  This is a new vessel for them, so exciting!   As the afternoon turned into evening we met with Mike and Vee of m/v Freedom, the exact same boat we have.  There are not many of our model vessels around so we had a great time with them having dinner.  We wanted to see their boat float but it is under the top deck (lots of work opening decks) and they were not scheduled to float until around 8pm, 11 hours after us. They are planning to stop in our area as they head south to Tacoma, so we will get to see them soon.

To our amazement the ship is there.  m/v Adagio is there among the cranes.

Zoomed in from shore, there is m/v Adagio.

Our ride to the ship had us getting to play with Cooper, 3.5 months old.  The driver
for our ride said since he was a taxi driver today he figured he could bring him.  This very
large inflatable is normally a whale watching tour boat.

Adagio floating in the water, the sling from the crane raising as we came out on the inflatable.

MOVIE...........to come of our departure (gratis Mike and Vee on land watching us depart)


We always feel that we are blessed in life.  Today was no exception.  Although we were 20 minutes late getting onto the boat, since the ship offloading was slow, we had a good day getting home.  Currents were in our favor and Deception Pass had a slack current at 1:30pm.  If we are late we will have to go north up around Anacortes and motor for 4 more hours.  If we get there in time we can be home in an hour.   Abandoning our leisurely and relaxing cruising style of Mexico, we ran both engines with more umpf than normal and made it in time to get through.  We could not have made it but the STRONG currents and extra power helped us make it eastbound from Victoria.   For almost an hour our 6-7 knot boat was going 12 knots! We were home within 5 hours of leaving Victoria.  We then said, "wow, that was not that far to go, we could visit Victoria for a fun weekend."    We may go back there to spend some time exploring this beautiful city over the summer.