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Whatever have we been up to? Sorry it's been so long since we wrote. I think we were down into the Bay Area as of our last email. Well, Mandolin is still there! We are not there; we are in Tahoe.
We zoomed down to the Bay Area by the end of October because Todd's Mom twisted our arms and made us accompany her to Hawaii for two weeks. Luckily our arms turned to rubber and she didn't have to twist very hard. We flew out of San Francisco on November 2nd for two weeks of fun in the sun. Snorkeling, SCUBA diving, horsey back rides, volcanoes, green sand beaches, holy temples, more SCUBA diving, breakfast every morning with the surf crashing against the sea wall and picking papayas off of abandoned trees kept us pretty busy. I brought several books which practically never got opened. WARNING: Todd's Mom, Luanne, will wear you out!
A week and a half into our fun-filled trip, Todd's dad, Buzz, was in a head-on vehicle collision near Lake Tahoe. Buzz asked Luanne to come home, but said we should stay till our planned departure date. Luanne flew out the next day. The day after, without Luanne to wake us up, we slept in till 9:30. Our good friend, Jean, at whose home we were staying, was wondering if we would ever emerge. On our last day in Hawaii, Todd and I finally went to a beach, laid down on our towels and read books. It almost felt a little weird to not be snorkeling, diving, hiking, or picking papayas but we got over it.
In the collision, Buzz broke his scapula in his left shoulder and bruised a whole lot of internal organs. His recuperation and physical therapy are going really well. Last week, he got a terrible infection in his right knee and leg, which was caused by the accident. Turns out he had a piece of plastic stuck in his leg that nobody noticed in the worry over possible hurt necks and internal bleeding. He was back in the hospital for two more nights (yuck!), but is out again and on the mend.
On returning home to California, we planned to spend two weeks in Tahoe for Thanksgiving. Geez, we're still here, I think it's been longer than two weeks.
It turns out that we love water in all it's forms. Except perhaps as Chinese Water Torture also known as winter in Oregon. A little bit of this funny white stuff fell out of the sky towards the end of our planned time here. We then got a pretty decent storm and I had been itching to go skiing. You know, if we spent a whole season in Tahoe, I'd probably even get to be a pretty decent downhill skier. We found the cool ski deal at Mt. Rose Ski Area: bring a can of food and pay a buck for a lift ticket. That's right! Only 1 (one) dollar. Pretty cool. I took another lesson and was skiing really good!
Second Day, Second Run. Wipe out! Actually it was ... wipe out.... oof. (That's a slow motion wipe out caused by a snowboarder.) My bindings didn't release, which caused my right knee to go owie. Got to talk to a cute Ski Patroller. I also got to put ice on my knee for the rest of the day. The long and short of it is that we still decided to put off Mexico for a year and spend winter in style in Tahoe. (Yes, we are still planning on continuing cruising) The day after our decision, the doctor told me that, at the earliest, I won't be on skis for six weeks. And that's only if my knee heals itself. The doctor is pretty sure that I have a torn meniscus in my right knee. The meniscus is the padding between the two leg bones. This type of injury has a 50-50 chance of healing itself. It's feeling a whole lot better than when I first tweaked it, so say your prayers that I won't need surgery. If I do need surgery, I'm sure glad we have major medical insurance.
We won't be complete ski bums. Luanne is a Realtor affiliated with Prudential California Realty. I am working for Luanne taking over behind the scenes tasks that will free up her time to get more listings. Luanne says she has 20-30 hours of work per week for me which will be perfect. Meanwhile, Todd's helping Mom out getting her new computer setup. Todd's considering applying as a part-time Ski Patroller. It's a job he would really have fun with. (Hey! Then I'll be married to a cute Ski Patroller.) And some ski passes just might be part of the whole package.... Joining the Search and Rescue is also an option.
We're staying with Todd's parents, Buzz and Luanne. Luanne bought a new futon bed to replace the twin bed which had been in Todd's room until we made the decision to stay. Much nicer to sleep in the same bed together! Didn't think I'd be shopping for a bed when we set out on our sailboat from Portland.
Our friend Kevin asks:
>So given the chance would you have spent more time up north?
Yes, we would have spent more time up north if the weather hadn't prompted us to head south. I recommend leaving for up north as early in the year as possible. Desolation Sound is absolutely gorgeous. We've kicked around the idea of heading back up to Vancouver Island via the Hawaiian Islands after Mexico. But, who knows when we will be in Mexico?!
The trip to Hawaii was completely unexpected. Spending a year in Tahoe was also completely unexpected. I'd say this is a classic (or perhaps extreme) case of when to not be overly rigid with your original plan. Part of the reason we embarked on our travels is to spend time with friends and family. With Todd's Dad in and out of the hospital and Todd's grandparents not driving much, it feels pretty right to be here in Tahoe helping out. Not to mention the storms and high wind that Southern California has been experiencing.
I am sitting in Olympic House at Squaw Valley writing this trip log. Todd and Luanne are on the slopes getting in a few more runs after lunch and Buzz is at home cleaning ducks and walking doggies. It's not great skiing conditions yet. Tahoe needs a few more storms.
Just before flying down to LA to spend Christmas with Ellen's family we moved Mandolin from Scott's house in San Rafael to Sal and Julie's place in the Delta. This will be a great place to explore in the spring. The trip from San Rafael was long, but very fast. We motored the first bit up San Pablo bay, before we put up the jib and sailed off towards Benicia where we met Mom to pick up a chart of the California Delta area. The wind was really howling the whole day until sunset. We had our fastest sail near Antioch and Pittsburg. Consistent 7 knots with one burst to 8 knots. Should our boat go that fast? Wow, I was really impressed considering 6 knots was pretty fast for us coming down the coast. The sun went down as soon as we got to the delta. With no moon everything started to look the same in this maze of waterways. A current chart and our trusty radar really helped out. We were able to see exactly where we were in relation to islands and bends in the river on the radar that we would not have been able to see with our eyes in the low light. After 14 hours of sailing and several bounces off the soft muddy bottom we arrived in Discovery Bay where we are going to keep the boat for the winter.
We'd love to hear what's happening in your neck of the woods. Now that we're semi-settled and part of the working world again, we're probably not so exotic anymore. Perhaps that will encourage more of you to email us…
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