Thursday, May 29, 2014

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Meanwhile, back at the beach...

KikiO keeping me focused on what matters in life...



Snow Cows

The cows mentioned in my previous post...

Sailing Across America

Coming to you from Indiana, this morning; just now crossing the Big Bayou River in Southern Indiana, bound for Saint Louis. You're right, not a lot of sailing around here. So what is this sailing blogger up to? I just delivered an RV from Portland, Oregon, to Georgetown, Kentucky.

We had originally bought that 2012 RV with an eye toward living in it. (Just crossed the Wabash River into Illinois; also remarkable because I served in the USS Wabash AOR-5 for five years.) When our plans changed and we set course for Hawaii, we no longer had a need for an RV of any sort. So, after a year of storage, found a buyer and just delivered it to him in Kentucky.

We had a great beer in Georgetown with some friendly locals and we stopped for supper in Louisville, the self-described 'weird little town,' where our self-described redneck Jew host was quite friendly, rednecky, and a little jewy, but in a pakalolo-friendly way.

I can heartily recommend the brisket, pintos, rice, and greens at Smoketown USA.




Now, my little brother and I are driving back to Portland. Original plan was to stop by to see Kris's cousins at the ranch in Centennial Valley, Wyoming. However, looking at today's Wyo DOT map, you may note that the ranch is currently surrounded by red roads, which is the mapmaker's way of letting us know those roads are closed.

After swapping text msgs with Ed at the ranch, I found out that they have received 14" of snow in the last day and something like four inches in the past hour. The cows are mad and the local mothers will be enjoying the honored day tucked in the bosoms of their house-bound families, I guess. I don't get Bear Tree pizza, which I was greatly looking forward to, but I will get something good to eat in Colorado.

Changing plans on the fly, we will head through Denver, and over the Rockies on I-70. Aiming to head across Utah and half of Nevada, on US 50, which you may also know as The Loneliest Road in America

Some shots from the road this week:









 Aloha!


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Too Many Books, a Guitar Player, a Girl Singer, Some Malted Milk Balls, and a Big Road Trip

Wow, crazy busy! We got out of the house last week; moving the final few pieces into a half-full 4x7 storage locker. We will be out of that by the end of this month and everything will be on the boat. 

The first week on the boat it was interesting to watch how low the port hull got, as it has the forward quarter-berth, where we were staging most of the stuff as we offloaded it from our lives. Probably the biggest single weight was the five rough-totes full of books that we ended up donating to Friends of the Kaneohe Library. 

Ouch. 

Mostly mine. :(

Onward! 

Our first boat guests were my son Conner and his g/f Genevieve Bellemarre. Remember that name! She got an email while with us that contained her final mastered LP and it's terrific! She has a beautiful voice and a knack for songwriting. It was great to be able to listen to her stuff! 

Don't tell her, I don't want to spoil it, but I already world-premiered it at O'Toole's in DT Honolulu for the lunch crowd on Monday. :)

That kid's gonna go places! 

They left yesterday, as did I. I'm currently sitting in a little cafe in Canby, Oregon. This space used to be a variety store where my grandmother worked. I'm enjoying sitting on the couch here and imagining this must have been right about where the candy counter was and where grandma supported my malted-milk ball habit. 

This afternoon, I'm going to swap cars with my father; take his truck and pick up our fifth-wheel toyhauler, my little brother, and head off to deliver to the new owners in Kentucky. 

I expect it will take at least a week to get over and back. 

I got a brief visit with Queen Medbh and will spend a night with the younger of my offspring next week when I return. 

Nice to be here and enjoying some sunny spring weather in the Willamette Valley. 

Aloha!