Home, Sweet ..........back in Grants Pass

So even this guy is giving me the look..........You know, the HEY! where the hell have you been? Well, I can't think of a single excuse for not writing sooner. I guess we've just been having too much fun getting plugged back into the real world.

The answer to the most asked question, is, no. Claudia has not left me yet, even though I can't promise her an actual onboard shower or a real mattress to sleep on for our return to the Sea this fall. Yet. We have acquired a little outboard motor for our dinghy, but Sojourner is still ours. She has been shown a few times, so there are buyers out there, but no sale yet. We are stlll, however, optimistic.

In the meantime, let's see if some new pictures
will help. Here's Claudia amidst some of the very
expensive plastic storage containers we filled
with our personal stuff. You see, expecting our
boat to be sold, we were forced to remove all of
our stuff and put it into storage for the summer. At least this way, when our buyer does appear, we won't have to travel to LaPaz.

So here is our Sojourner resting on the "hard". I hope there are some more boats in the yard there by now. She looks rather lonely....

Here's a shot from the top of the mast. I've always wanted to take one of these, but in fact I forgot the camera the first time up, so we got to do it again!?!?!? Hey, it's my scrapbook, so I get to put the stuff in it that I want.

The two weeks before leaving LaPaz were hectic to say the least. But we finished on time and had Sojourner hauled out on the 24th. We spent the night in a great little hotel in the city and left the

next day in Dario's truck for Puerto Escondido. You may recall that this is where we were introduced to Dario and his Ballena about six weeks earlier.

The road trip was fascinating. I've never thought of desert as being beautiful before seeing the Baja, but it really is. So many colors, huge cactus, and mountains and the occaisional view of the blue Sea for background. And don't forget, the very twisty road . These temples - not all quite as elaborate as this one - were everywhere to remind us to pay attention to the road.

Hopefully, this shot through the windshield gives

you some idea of the grandeur. It really was quite a trip.

The view from the balcony at the Singlar Marina Puerto Escondido. Here we spent the afternoon and night with Dario aboard Ballena. A good time was had by all.

Claudia enjoying Ballena's cockpit, rum baba in hand.

A couple shots of the nearby city of Loreto where we explored for a few hours before boarding our bus for Tijuana. And the rest, as they say, is history. Well, there was the nineteen hour bus ride. US Customs - not bad actually. the $60 cab ride to a car rental place. Breakfast at Denny's!! and a first meeting with my Cousin John Pohling of San Diego. Then a two day drive to home in Grants Pass.

So, the real question is would we do it again? Stay tuned. E