Logbook: January - March 2003
In January, we decided to visit our families before we set off on our voyage. Although we usually try not to travel to cold climates in the winter time, there was a very special reason for doing so - Mary (Rich's mom) was celebrating her 80th birthday (in Maryland).
On the way to Mary's party, Jan stopped in to see her family in Cincinnati and escorted her cat Ali to her new home with Aunt Judy, Uncle Fred and Grandma, and cousins Oscar and Felix (also of the feline variety). There was a bit of hissing the first few days, but everyone's settled in quite nicely now. While in Cincy, Jan's friend Anna (Masur) Gryce threw a bon voyage party for Jan. It was a "hen" party of girlfriends from school - both grade school and high school. This is a quite a group of girls - we've been friends for many, many years! Jan and her girlfriends
The 80th birthday celebration for Rich's Mom was a surprise party - and, was she ever surprised to see her whole family together in one place. That doesn't happen very often since they are scattered around the country. It was so much fun!
The guest of honor, "Mother Mary" arriving at the
party with Rich's sister KathleenThe Crowell cousins - The two big ones in the back are
Rich's sons Erik (left) and Andrew (right)Upon our return, we had a few projects to finish up before we could take off. While we were out of town, we had the interior wood on our boat stripped, so we had a lot of sanding and varnishing to do. We also needed to tie up a few loose ends in the engine room and have some work done on the electrical systems.
Finally, it was time to get serious about our departure from Marina del Rey. Our friends Sara (Masur) and James Williams hosted a bon voyage party for us. What nice friends we have!! The Party Gang!
