Dear friends and family,
We last wrote to you from Bremerton,
having returned to Washington
for the summer. Since then we’ve done a lot of driving and a lot of boring
errands to get ready for the remainder of our voyage. We stayed at Steve’s parent’s
house, worked on our properties in Pacific and Snohomish, visited, and gathered
equipment needed to continue the voyage. After attending Steve’s high school
reunion we drove south to Ginny’s mom’s and grandma’s house in Los Angeles and spent a week with them. On
the way we also visited a half-sister and aunt of Ginny, whom she hadn‘t seen
since she was little.
We then drove swiftly across southern California,
Arizona, New Mexico,
Texas (it took three scorching days to cross
this giant!), Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, and Florida. What a hot trip! We took a week
instead of our usual month, camping each night. Our favorite spot was a national
wildlife area just east of Las Cruces,
New Mexico. We parked among
cactus on a high desert in the foothills of the Organ Mountains.
The air was hot and still, the stars bright and close.
At the Sea Pearl factory near Tampa we picked up our boat trailer, new
sails, and boat parts. Then we returned to Larry and Karen’s place in Stone
Mountain, near Atlanta.
From Washington to Georgia our Isuzu pickup averaged
32 miles per gallon! We will leave the P’up and boat trailer here. Tomorrow we
fly from Atlanta to Miami,
then to Panama City.
There we will pick up our new 2hp outboard motor and take buses and boats back
to Bocas del Toro, where Thurston
awaits.
Once we have installed various new equipment we plan to sail
east along the coasts of Panama,
Colombia, and Venezuela. From
Trinidad we will sail north through the Antilles and Bahamas
to Georgia, completing our
circumnavigation of the Caribbean.
Enjoy some new pictures at https://picasaweb.google.com/ginnygoon/RoadTripUSA#
Take care - we love you all.
Love,
Steve and Ginny
