February 2008 postings

February 27 ,2008
A lot has happened since the last update. I want to fill you in on everything but will try to hit the high lights.

The Party on January 26th was something I will never forget. Special thanks to Michelle Boley, Scott Morlan, Rick Rentschler, Patti Wagner, Lee Baumann, and I know some others. It was a special night, my only regret was that I couldn't spend more time with each of you who attended. It was especially great to see Steve Haltom a long time friend from high school, Randy and Judy Holloway in from Idaho, John and Thyel Turner who were there all the way from North Carolina, Tami Melindez from Florida, my girls from Houston Sharon, Mo Sally, Marianne and Jennifer I really could go on all night. Of course I don't want to forget all the agents , AFO staff and my peers I have worked with over the last 30 years who were there. Someone asked me What I will miss the most and without hesitation I said the people. I thought about that later and should have added the experiences we have all shared together is really what I will miss. So many memories, I have really been blessed to have known and be associated with such great people.

The month of February has really been a blur. On the 1st we flew to Houston to get our Texas Driver's licenses, see Jennifer and Trace and spend time with Doris and Scott Barb's Mom and Dad. We then drove to Dallas to spend a day with Beverly, D and Tre. Flew back to Denver and turned right around and drove to Ensenada to start moving aboard the boat. One day there and we sailed up the coast to San Diego to have some work done on the boat. Real important to have a third TV on board. During the first week here in San Diego we did a lot of shopping. We would fill the car up with stuff go back to the boat and put it in places. Everyday more stuff and every day the boat swallowed it up. Its hard to believe the boat is still floating. The next issue we face is where is all that stuff. If you can imagine we have enough food on board for 2 us to eat every meal for 90 days. Not only have we bought food for us but we have extra stuff to use for trading. The islanders love Spam. I hope we can find it before we reach the islands.

On the 19th we flew back to Virginia to see my Mom, Sister and brother in law; Mary and Tom. It was a great stay and was a lot of fun hanging out with my Mom and all her wonderful friends at the Virginian. We also got to spend time with my nieces and nephews their wives and future brides, significant others, and their cats and many dogs. Good to see everyone but Barbara and I were both anxious to get back to the boat and buy more stuff.

It is now the eve of our departure from the US. Tomorrow starts the journey we have been pointing to for the last 8 years. Can not tell you how excited we both are. We could easily stay another week and buy more stuff but we are going to give our credit card a break. Besides, we are running out of room.

That's it for now but I promise I will do better in the future keeping you posted on what we are doing. Got to get to bed because tomorrow we sail.