We left Vancouver in the rain on Friday, Oct 17 in our rented Hundai Santa Fe, which we practically filled with stuff. We had spent the day getting wet and cold while tying on tarps to cover the boat, the idea being to protect it from the flocks of ducks and geese in the nearby Fraser River as well as to protect against water intrusion. It was difficult to leave Toga there in the boat yard, looking lonely – especially for Ralph.

Goodbye gathering with our Vancouver friends, Anne and Henri

Have a good rest, Toga!

We headed south and had no trouble crossing the border, except that my tomatoes and half of a lime got confiscated. Strange rules we have regarding produce. We picked the worst time to travel through Seattle and hit all of the traffic on our way to Matt and Hilda’s house outside of Tacoma. We were greeted with a wonderful home cooked meal and lots of libations. We spent two nights there visiting our family and we got to celebrate brother West’s birthday. We took a trip to the Defiance Point zoo – what a wonderful little place! We had nice weather and only a little rain.

Brother West’s birthday

Penguins!

On Sunday we took off early, drove all day and stayed in Redding, CA. Not much to report there. Monday we headed for Santa Cruz where we stayed with my Aunt Annette and Cousins Danna, Keith, Madi and Kohl. We even got to crash another birthday party (Madi’s 20th)! It was a very nice time, even though it was short.

My pal and cousin Danna

Beautiful Santa Cruz beaches

On Tuesday we drove to San Luis Obispo and got to see our son, Jacob, who attends Cal Poly. It was wonderful to see him and we did the typical parent visit of grocery/essentials shopping and out to lunch. Ralph and I love Jacob’s dog, Charlie, and we convinced him to come with us and visit for a while. So, with Charlie in tow, we headed home.

Our friend Charlie

Welcome back to LA!

We are slowly acclimating to the comforts of being at home. It has been wonderful to see all of our loved ones! We have a long list of things to do to get ready for the sailing season next year and plenty of house projects to keep us busy as well. I am going to try to get a little consulting work this winter, so we’ll see how that goes. Thanks to all of you for following along on the first part of our adventure! It’s been great to stay connected this way. Hope to see all of you soon.