Never Done

     It's good to be home; when I say at home I mean the boat, after all it is our only home.  After returning to Long Cove Marina on April 25th, we had the boat hauled on Wednesday April 27th.  For the next week, Sharon and I worked very hard on repairs, maintenance, cleaning and whatever else we could think of.  Then on May 5th we got a rental car and returned to central Pennsylvania to visit with family and friends.  It was strange to be driving a car again.  It's been 8 months since we sold our truck.  The rental company gave us a free upgrade to a  "full' size car, a 2011 Toyota Camry, because the intermediate sized vehicle we had booked had not been returned  by the time they picked us up.  So off to Pennsylvania we go with a trunk packed full of clothing, including dirty laundry.   We were able to surprise my mother with our return and in time for a pizza party thanks to my sister.  We stayed at mother's apartment for the next week and used her home as a base of operations as we ran many trips and errands.  One of our trips was to Rochester, NY to see our youngest son, Grant, at college.   He is doing very well at college except for the house cleaning of his dorm room.  Boys will be boys.  On Sunday, Mothers's Day, we visited Sharon's sister.  We also went to see our oldest son Jesse and his girlfriend Kelsie at Jesse's home, a firehouse where he is a live-in volunteer firefighter in addition to his day job as an Emergency Medical Technician.  While we were visiting with Jesse, Kelsie's parents dropped by and we were introduced to them for the first time.  We then went to my sister's home for Mother's Day celebrations with my mother, sister and all the nieces and nephews.  On Monday we were back on the road to visit Sharon's brother and on Tuesday to visit with Sharon's mother.  On Thursday we  went to visit our best friends Jeff & Wendy.   By the way, none of these family members or friends live in the same communities except for Sharon's sister and Jesse, so we did a lot of driving.
    Our return to the boat on Friday was uneventful except for the car full we brought back with us.  We have learned as full time cruisers that you do not pass up opportunities.  Among the clean laundry was 7 gallons of engine oil, 4 gallons of anti-freeze, wood trim & luan plywood, rope lighting, 25 lbs of beef-pork-fish, 2 "helm" chairs for the pilothouse and a ton of other "stuff".  And as if the car was not full enough we stopped at the liquor store and the grocery store on the way back.  Thinking about this, I believe the provisioning of a boat is never done.

Grant & Sharon in Grant's dorm room

 Grant with his Computer Science House (CSH) project over his right shoulder.  Grant used laptops as a video conferencing tool for the CSH rooms

Hotplates are not permitted in the dorm but clothes irons are, so one CSH student developed this "toaster oven".  Note - they trip the breaker ever time they plug it in!

 Jesse standing next to engine in his house

Jesse with sign that hangs over his bunk

 Jesse & Kelsie

88 Degrees

     Trying to escape the heat wave is Jesse, Grant, Sharon and Kelsie swimming in the Chester River.  No, the air temp was not 88 degrees.  The air temp was 100 degrees with a heat index of 109 degrees, it was the water temp that was 88 degrees!

Grant's Big Night - Part 2

     Last night was Grant's graduation from high school.  Pictured above are the 3 Eagle Scouts from the class of 2010.  From left to right is Baden, Bryce and Grant.  Congratulations guys on your second big achievement of the year.

Eagle Scout!

You will have to bear with us while we brag about our youngest son, Grant.  On Sunday, December 13, 2009, Grant passed the final challenge of Boy Scouts, the Eagle Scout Board of Review.  In addition to being  a Certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B), a Volunteer Firefighter,  and Outstanding High School Student, Grant can now add Eagle Scout to his list of accomplishments.  And he is just 18 years of age. Grant's next planned challenge is college, where he would like to major in Applied Networking & Systems Administration at Rochester Institute of Technology (NY).

Paddle Time

     Grant was needing to "stretch his legs" a little, so he thought a trip around Shaw Bay would help burn off a little of that excess energy that he had stored up.

How Long Do We Have to Sit Here?

     This photo is reminescent of days gone by when they were not so innocent and would have to sit on the bad boy bench.

He's a Natural

Grant takes the helm on the flybridge as we cruise the Bay.