We went up into the Appalachian mountains with our buddy Patrick and some friends for a long weekend. It was a great time. As much as we love boating, the change of scene was a welcome one. The campfires, cold air, trees and changing leaves reminded me of home.
The photographs below are a chronicle of our high altitude adventures:
Way down yonder on the.... Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me!
They don't call them the smoky mountains for nothing
I don't recall what this place was called, but it was cool:
On the plate is a "southern chili dog" A hotdog in a bun, buried in chili, topped with cheese, oyster crackers, ketchup and mustard. Eat it with a fork and spoon.
The view from the porch:She thinks my tractors sexy.
LeeAnn and Patrick... you can clearly see, are holding up the waterfall.
This has been a seven month process. All the work has been in two chunks. The bulk of the work was done in March 2008. It wasn't until October 2008 that I completed the laminate counter top, and it might be another 6 months before I complete the last few finishing touches. There are other things that are more pressing that need completing.
Overall I'm really happy with how the rebuild has gone. It's turned out better than I'd hoped. Although I owe a lot of that to borrowed tools and generous help and advice from various boaters whose knowledge and skill far exceed my own!
(it might take a few minutes for all the pictures to load)
We've gotten a few calls and emails from home asking us how we are doing. So I thought it would be nice to give a quick update.
We're definitely fine. I got off work early today, and LeeAnn has been off since Thursday. We've got everything tied down nice. We are all stocked up on food, water and movies from Blockbuster.
Hanna is pretty much a blow out anyway. Everyone was all worked up in the marina (including ourselves). Quite a few boats were hauled out, some people went up the river, but it appears that we are just going to get a little wind, and some rain. Not really a big deal at this point unless Hanna gets a sudden second wind.
I personally blame our good fortune on Captain Jim, who is a few boats down from us. Captain Jim is known to be a bit of a witch doctor. If you ever meet him, try not to maintain eye contact as it has been reported that he can "read you" by the colors in your eyes. I have never actually seen this done, but Captain Jim has let me in on a few "eye reading" secrets.
It is not unlikely that Captain Jim is on his boat at this very moment preforming a séance which is diverting the heading of Tropical Storm Hanna.
Captain Jim is also a bit of a ladies man. Though I am not completely sure if the women I see him with are real... or simply wizardly apparitions. The inside of his boat is decorated with statues of nude angles, both black and white. It would not surprise me if he some how bewitched these statues, kinda like that one movie "Mannequin" - starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Catrall. Or perhaps the angels are simply guardians.
Right now it's just a rainy day, hardly any wind at all.
We anchored out with some friends (Josh and Amy) a while back:
I don't know why I decided to flip off the camera. LeeAnn said "do something" and... I suppose I could have just gone with a "thumbs up" or maybe "rock and roll". I don't know. A woman gives me a command and first thought that comes to mind is the middle finger. I might need to see a counselor about that.
We recently took a tour through the beautiful Cypress Garden. Scenes from three major motion pictures have been recorded at this location:
The Patriot - Mel Gibson civil war movie.
The Notebook - AWWWWW
Swamp Thing - They say it's still out there!!
We thought it was a very nice place, and LeeAnn and I encourage you to go, if you are ever presented with the opportunity.
It cost 10 dollars per person to get in. The attractions include a few small aquariums/live animal exhibits, a walking path, and a guided (and/or self guided) boat tour through the swamp.
The boat swamp tour is the main event, and it alone with worth the 10 dollar admission. They give you your own boat to paddle around in, Or you can take the guided tour and have someone paddle you around.
I think you are presented with a lot more information on the guided tour, but you have to squeeze into a boat with a dozen southerners, in a swamp, on a South Carolina summer day. Sounds awesome. Maybe next time....
Anyway, here are a few snapshots:
Keriikee!!!
Oh black water, keep on [stagnant], Mississippi moon won't you keep on shinin' on me!
I recently Sailed From Bermuda to the Azores in Portugal. This was my first Trans-Atlantic sail. Here are some videos:
Above ground... well graves I guess. In Bermuda Our Vessel
A few hundred miles off of Bermuda this little bird flew into the cabin and landed on my shirt. Bill grabbed him and warmed him up for a while. It was a very gusty day, and we assumed the bird had been blown offshore.After seeing nothing but blue and grey for days and days and days it was really a pleasure to see some green. And on top of that, a really strange looking foreign green. All I could thing about was getting food and ice water. it was my mantra. The restaurant by the red umbrellas had these really good shrimp pastry things called Rissóis de Camarão. Horta, Azores - One of the few places in the world where more people arrive by sailboat than airplane.
This appears to be an abandoned church, what's amazing about it is in the next few pictures.
Standing on the rim of a Volcano, or Caldera. It's last activity was sometime in the 1980's.
Lisbon, Portugal:
Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me!
She thinks my tractors sexy.
