July 15 - Sept 19
Family and Friends
Inishnee went on the hard in Trinidad for hurricane season. We contracted with Power Boats boat yard to have work done in our absence, packed our bags and headed to the states. A 4 hour direct flight took us to Miami Florida.
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| dinner and dominos |
Son Stephen met us and drove us to North Port Fl., his home and our temporary abode. We purchased a used car with Stephen’s help to take us overland over the next 2 1/2 months. While in Florida we started ordering parts and making purchases for our return to Inishnee. Stephen and Amanda treated us to several awesome homemade dinners and lively conversations. Lucky we were able to catch up on national politics with every turn of the tv channel. After nearly a week we headed north to Michigan.
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| Kathy, Jim, Carrie and Janis |
Carrie and Janis hosted our visit to southern Michigan. We dined with friends and shared adventures.
Carrie and I on our annual pilgrimage to Shipshewanna IN and the flea market, our girls day out tradition, 26 consecutive years.
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| Relaxin' Shipshewana style |
We enjoyed the Saugatuck Venetian Festival and shared stories with Bill and Terry, Carl, Dave and Rose and Bob…
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| Venetian Festival |
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| Nolan and Theresa |
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Linda, Jeff, Nance, Bob, Jim
Denny, Carol |
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| Kathy and Carl |
We spent time with daughter Theresa then with grandson Nolan who accompanied us to northern Michigan to visit with mom, Helen Haskill; 92 years and doing great… living on here own, checked on by family and friends.
We took a day trip to Petoskey, Charlevoix and Leland, enjoying the northern Michigan summer.
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| Grandpa and Noland |
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| Mom (Helen) Haskill |
Mom has made dozens of afghans for friends and family over the years… my croquet skills lacking…. mom tutored me in knitting. I have nearly a dozen homemade washcloths to take home!
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| Elk farm in Gaylord MI |
Continuing on to Illinois for more family time. Roof top dinner with Yang and Peggy in Chicago. An evening with mom Nee, aunt Eileen and uncle Dudley at their retirement community. Peggy and Jim hosted a gathering at their home in Dekalb, then on to Rich and Mary’s for a couple of nights. The Nee’s have perfected eating, imbibing and reminiscing….
En route to son Alex’s in Minnesota, we stopped for lunch in Wisconsin with Jack and Brian…
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| Roof top dinner |
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| Architectural tour Chicago |
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| Mom (Jean) Nee |
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Rich, Peg, Jim L
Tommy, Jean, Mary, Kathy, Jim |
Alex, Nicki, Nora and Natalie hosted our longest layover. Getting to know our adorable grand girls over the course of the next few weeks was amazing; babysitting daytimes and family time in the evenings. Only one 911 call needed ! … then we went solo for 10 days with the kids while Alex and Nicki vacationed in Alaska. Lots of diaper changes and daily excisions; parks, zoo’s, library and nature center trips had us wiped out at the end of everyday. Tons of gran-baby pictures and wonderful memories to leave with.
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| Calf Creek Canyon |
We took a quick trip to the south west to use up flyer miles before they expired… Las Vegas, Nevada, Utah and California… 5 national parks, a few monuments and some state park… 2,000 miles on a rental car in 6 days….
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| Helping blanch LOTS of tomatoes |
Back in Minnesota, we spent a few last days with ‘our girls’ before circling back through Illinois and dinner with Tom and Adriela in their lovely apartment near the Chicago Lakeshore.
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| Jim, Kathy, Tom, Adriela |
Michigan: doctor, dds appointments, a few quick meals with family and friends rounded out our time in Holland.
Off again, we had a great visit with Jim and Cindy (sv Splash) in Hamilton, Ontario. They were our boat buddies in North Carolina and again in while goin’ DDI (down de islands). We had an amazing dinner prepared by Colleen, Paul and Frenchy after a day of drizzly sailboat racing for the guys and damp shopping for the girls.
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| French, Jim, Cindy, Paul, and Caroline |
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| Keegan at the Aquarium |
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| Ben chasing Keegan |
Next stop, New Jersey and son Ben with Amy and Keegan. They have recently returned from military life in Hawaii… They bought a house in which Ben was nearing the end of renovation projects… Keegan kept us all running… eyes open and he’s off! A day at the beach, one at the aquarium and another bike riding filled the mid day hours.
The temps were dropping and shorts with legs all the way to our ankles were dug out from the bottom of the suitcases… the leaves are changing colors …
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| Silly Nee's ... |
Garret and Minsook hosted our visit in North Carolina in their newly purchased home. Their subdivision rests on rolling hills amongst pines, A creek running through the space with trails for walking or biking.
Then the last leg and back to Florida. we took over 2 bedrooms at Stephen and Amanda’s packing a repacking our purchases for life aboard again. A new carryon was required bring our checked bags to 4! We headed to the beach with Stephen and friends Carrie and Jan who are new land barons in Florida…. unfortunately the Red Tide spoiled our hopes of trolling the beach for long… but, beverages to the rescue at the White Elephant Englewood Beach improved our moods.
Time to face reality and head home to Inishnee…
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| Red Tide on Manasota Key |
10 weeks: over 6000 miles on the odometers. 21 states. One province. More than a few goodbye tears.
Up at 3:30am for the 3 hour drive to Fort Lauderdale… Then a horrible accident just before the city limits; helicopter airlift… A short window to make the flight… Budget Car rental employee drove us to the terminal… they seemed to sense we were flustered when we jumped from the car and requested a luggage cart and directions to the shuttle as the car started rolling backwards… opps! forgot park….
The bags checked, security cleared, we were able to catch out breath… boarding began just as a woman approached us… ‘don’t I know you?’… OMG, yes. Sharron from Power Boats returning to Trinidad as well. Her husband was meeting here with a taxi at hotel airport if we would like to share it…. yes, of course…
So, we have returned to Trinidad and are making the boat ready for launch in 2 weeks, Oct 18… many, many improvements over the summer.
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