We left
early from the boat on June 25 to fly back to Texas. We arrived in Amarillo that night at 10:45 PM
Central Time – whew, a long day. We were
greeted at the airport by Ann’s Dad – a welcome sight!
The days
and hours in Amarillo were spent divided among family, friends, and Jessica,
Craig, and Lyric. We always arrive with
very few plans but by the end of the week, every minute of every day is
accounted for! Of course any “spare”
time is filled with shopping trips to get the essentials that we hope to carry
back with us. Several items were ordered
and timed to be shipped into town for us to bring back. Some caused great consternation and some just
couldn’t make the deadline.
One of the
best parts of this trip included a surprise birthday party for Darrell’s
Mom. When we began planning to come back
for a visit, we mentioned to Jessica that it would be fun to have a birthday
party for her. Wellllll, Jessica took
the ball and ran with it! We had a
fantastic party and even managed to keep it a secret from her!!! Thanks, Jessica and Mike and John and David
for all you guys did to make this happen.
Of course we were especially glad to see some of the relatives who
traveled some distance to the party because we seldom get to see them on our
brief visits to Amarillo.
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| Mom opening her gifts |
We made a
couple of trips to Pampa where the kids live.
This is an hour drive one way to get there at 75 mph – wow, that is fast
after you have been travelling at 5 knots for most of the past year!!
One trip we spent an afternoon at the
waterpark there – Lyric LOVES the water.
On another afternoon, we took him to the park and he loves the
slides.
We also discovered he loves
bubbles except they are pronounced “duddles”.
What fun times we had with him!
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Fun at the Water Park
|
No trip
home is complete without fun times with our dear friends “the
railroaders”. These people are like
family and we couldn’t miss getting to spend time with them. Amazing that we have remained close even
though we left ten years ago.
Another
“event” just happened to occur while we were visiting. Darrell’s mom got a dog. She has been looking and talking about
getting one for some time now. I really
think that Roxy helped her make up her mind that she wanted one. Anyway, Journey came into her life a day or
two before we left. Journey is a cocker
spaniel and a perfect match for mom. She’s
not your typical high-strung cocker spaniel – very easy going. They are going to bring each other many hours
of enjoyment and companionship.
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| Mom and Journey |
July 2
found us saying our farewells and boarding a plane that evening. The time goes so fast! The trip back to Grenada was even longer than
coming down due to an 18-hour layover in Miami.
If it could have been just a little longer and not during the night, we
might have been able to connect with friends in the area on our way back
through.
Roxy was
glad to have us back home on the boat and I am quite sure that Bruce and Jan
were glad to send Bingo home. Our dear
friends, Bruce and Jan, from Celtic Rover were the ones who boat sat and
critter sat while we were gone. Next to
Bingo, the boat was the next biggest PIA!
On Saturday morning early, the
winds shifted and gusted with a tropical wave that came through here and Alibi
decided to go on a walk-about! Yep,
Bruce spent the morning in pouring rain getting her untangled from a French
boat near our anchor spot and getting her settled onto a mooring so she
wouldn’t move again. They are going to
think twice next time we are planning a trip out of Grenada. We are so grateful to them for taking such
great care of all we entrusted them with while we were gone!
Back in Grenada, life moves
on. Interestingly, our landlubber
friends ask us what we do all day. On a
recent day, I made a mental note so I could include it in the blog. On Wednesday, we got up at our usual time,
which is around 6 AM and drank our coffee relaxing in the cockpit of the
boat. At 0700, we listen to the weather
on the single side band radio (like HAM radio).
At 0730, we listen to the Cruiser’s Net on the VHF radio and this lasts
until a little after 0800 with all the activities to be announced. By 0815, we were loaded in the Dinghy and
headed to shore for 90 minutes of Yoga practice. After that we went for a swim and sat on the
back of a nearby boat to visit for a while.
In the afternoon, we went back over to shore and played Mexican Train
Dominoes – which Darrell won (second time this week). That evening, we loaded up and went around
the corner to the next bay and had grilled hamburgers with all the
trimmings. The evening was capped off by
some great musical entertainment and dancing!
So a typical day usually includes
an hour or so of weather watching (really listening), then some form of group
activity or social activity, a boat project or two and a few minutes reading. Many weeks include a shopping bus trip that
lasts from about 9 AM to noon to buy groceries and various hardware items. Of course most of our meals are prepared on
the boat – which takes up another huge chunk of time with preparation, eating,
and cleanup. In all, we really have very
little idle time.
Here we are for most of the summer
months because of what a local called “the windy season” since there are seldom
hurricanes this far south. I have a long
list of boat projects to find time for. AND
one of the purchases during our visit included a Wi-Fi antenna for the
boat. This helps us stay in touch with
all our family and friends (such as this blog) and gives another tool for
watching the weather. Another big boat
project for the summer months includes purchasing and installing a water
maker. I almost forgot another big boat
project we have been preparing for since January is to haul out the boat and
paint the bottom – a week of fun and mess!!
The kitten, Bingo, (should she make
it to maturity) continues to scamper all over the boat giving us many laughs. In fact, her latest hiding spot to sleep is
somewhere on top of the boom! For those
of you who aren’t familiar with sailboat terms, here is the definition of a
boom. It is the horizontal structure
that holds down the bottom of main sail.
When not under sail, the sail is folded on top of the boom and contained
by a sail cover – which provides many places to hide! Stay posted for more of her antics!!
We made a
couple of trips to Pampa where the kids live.
This is an hour drive one way to get there at 75 mph – wow, that is fast
after you have been travelling at 5 knots for most of the past year!! One trip we spent an afternoon at the
waterpark there – Lyric LOVES the water.
On another afternoon, we took him to the park and he loves the
slides. We also discovered he loves
bubbles except they are pronounced “duddles”.
What fun times we had with him! 
