The Redwoods

When I asked Hubs to describe the drive he responded with "Wet and sporty".  Which took me immediately to a conversation we had with our friends from Shambala.  "Wet and Sporty" really means, "I know today sucked, but look at what we are doing!" There are so many things that translate so easily from boat to RV.  You would be amazed!

The sporty drive took us through the Avenue of the Giants.  Again super challenging for Hubs to fully appreciate as he was driving, though the idea of me behind the wheel would have proved a lot more frustrating I'm sure.

We camped amongst the Redwoods, tasted sorrels from the forest floor, took a ranger guided tour (where we learned about burls and burl poaching) and Coco earned another* Junior Ranger badge.  She also wrote a poem :)

Redwoods

 Tall and majestic.

Growing to the sky 

and big over the years.

Falling,

burning

and living.

Inspiring us and awe-inspiring us.  

Magnificent trees.

 


*She has too many to count.  She has worked her way across the country earning badges.  So proud.  I love homeschooling!

The Lone Star State Part 2

San Angelo State Park in San Angelo, Texas was our home for a little longer than we had originally planned.  The weather went from mid 70's to freezing within a day.  So, while we weren't really stoked to be at a stand still, we were grateful to plug in RV Airabess for a few extra days.  Bonus~ there was semi-decent wifi (a novelty on this trip). 

Our first couple of days there we biked around the park, which is massive.  Lots of desert terrain, and open space.  

Coco and Hubs took to the trails, which they both LOVED.  But, thanks to so many cactus needles there where 5 tire repairs.  

Then... it snowed.  Not a lot. But just enough so that Coco got to make her first snowball.  
Plus a pretty cool book exchange.  
Oh, and there were bison..... um not really.  Actually the park is host to THE Texas Longhorn Herd.  We saw where they should have been, but missed seeing them in person.  As for the bison.  Supposedly they are in the park too. The only ones we got to see where these.

We finally left San Angelo after a week and went to Monahans Sandhills State Park for a couple of days (and put our shorts back on).   Probably one more day than we needed.  It's name is pretty self-explanatory.... sand dunes everywhere.  Which for this Florida family was surreal.  First, we kept expecting to see the ocean on the other side (just more dunes).  Second, you are actually allowed to play, slide, roll, jump down them... a novelty.  Where we are from the dunes are off limits.  
So we played on the dunes.  And got sand EVERYWHERE.  

The place is in the middle of no where and the only reason we chose it was because it was a halfway point to the Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks.  That being said, it was a good time and cool experience.  
The drive there however.... looooonggg and boring through oil fields and dust. 

Now onto Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

From Sea to Land

Now that we are settling in to this RV thing, I suppose I should explain why the quick change. 

First, I want to preface by saying that our boat was/ is solid.  Our decisions had nothing to do with the strength and integrity of our Prout, aka s/v Airabess. 

Our 'plan' was to cruise the Bahamas and make our way via Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands.  That is what we have been working towards for the last seven years.

We crossed the gulf stream from Key Largo and checked in in Bimini.  We got stuck in Bimini for almost three weeks, after making several attempts to get across the Bahamas Banks.  This is not unheard of for cruisers.  In fact it happens all the time.  We were being impatient, but it was more than that. 

We were realizing that the Prout was not the boat for our family.  It was perfect for small day sails around the Keys, but once we got her out into deep water, it became clear that it wasn't working for us. 

Hubs is 6 foot 3, Coco is four foot seven and growing like a weed, I'm only 5'2.  But add all of us together, plus a dog.... we were getting super cramped.  We were not handling the passages very well, nor the waiting to make passage. 

That, and it just didn't feel right.  Hubs and I were constantly second guessing ourselves.  Did we read the weather patterns wrong, should we have taken the window early, did we take the wrong window. etc...? 

There was also the feeling of complete vulnerability.  You are at the mercy of the ocean and wind.  If you make the wrong decisions it could end horribly, or you could make it back to port with a great story.  The anxiety of miscalculations and over thinking and down right fear was getting to be too much. 

I will admit that I don't know that I am made of the right kind of stuff to be a blue water cruiser.  Not that we had planned on that anyway.  But there is no way to get to the island hopping that is in the brochure unless you traverse the deep blue. 

So, we had to make a choice.  Did we keep heading southeast towards the USVI, or do we turn back.  It took those three weeks in Bimini for Hubs and I to finally speak what the other was thinking.... we didn't want to do it anymore. 

I was suffocating on the boat.  The images of snorkeling off the back of Airabess in crystal clear water, laughing and playing on deserted beaches was not enough of a lure anymore. 
I missed fresh food and having a door to my bedroom. I hated being at the mercy of the weather~ to go, to stop, to choose what's next... I was humbled and humiliated by the whole experience.  

The joy that we had been working towards was still so very far away.  I didn't want to wait and work for it anymore.  Neither did Hubs.  Coco, well, she wanted to keep going, but only because that is what we had been promising her for years and years (um, yeah, no guilt there).

Hubs and I wanted freedom.  We thought that living on a boat and cruising would give us that.  In reality, we felt tied down by the weather and sea sickness (Coco, Ms Willow, and occasionally me when it was necessary for me to go down below)

We headed back.  We put Airabess up for sale and started looking at rvs because we realized we weren't throwing in the towel completely.  We just needed to change our vehicle to freedom and adventure.

There was a ton of interest in the boat, as we had it priced to sell and it was sold within a week and a half of our return to Marathon.  That meant it was crunch time to find a new 'home'.  Fortunatly, we did find one quickly.

So, less than a month after we set sail, we are on the road.  Admittedly the gas thing is a serious concern of mine. It is so completely not me or us.  After getting our carbon footprint so low living aboard to then pull up to a gas station as frequently as this rv traveling warrants.... it's hard to swallow.  The next adventure is going  to counter that.

Already we are feeling a little more in control and a lot more adventure.  We are going and doing and seeing.  We are showing our girl the world.  We are living a life extraordinary.

I hope that any readers that are out there still want to follow this family's journey to the elusive there even though we are traveling in a different way.  We are still Airabess. We are still dreaming.   #findingmywaylivingthisdream     

Stuff

While we sort through our stuff in a house we have lived in for 12 years I am so glad Hubs and I are pretty minimalist.  Not that we don't have a ton of things (some we need, some we don't), but we both like to keep it simple. 

After living aboard Airabess we realized that even we have too many things.  Things that we really don't need to have a full, amazing life. 

In an effort to get the heck out of here and get back to our boat we are trying to process all of our possessions.  There are a few items that are super sentimental and I am fortunate to have an amazing friend who is going to hold on to those items for me.  Everything else has got to go.  

If we don't use it it's outta here.  

As I've stated before here, this process is overwhelming.  Clothes, and furniture, and knick knacks, tools, and books... 

Even Coco is on this bandwagon.  And she is 7.  Most children are pack rats.  They want to keep everything.  EVERYTHING.  But, she has surprised me as of late.  The week we came home she, of her volition, went through her room and started a give-away pile, and a sell pile.  She still isn't too keen on tossing anything (and some of the things she wants to sell... well they aren't really sell-able), but she is motivated.  She is as ready as we are to get back to our boat.  She wants to go home.  

Home.  It has changed for this crew.  I love our beach cottage. Over the last 12 years, Hubs and I (mostly Hubs) have ripped out every wall, cabinet, and counter top... even the floors came up and were replaced.  It's ours, part of us.  I never thought I would so willingly let someone else take up residence.  That was before our Shakedown. 

That was before I realized home, for this family, isn't our house.  It's us and it always has been.  I/we just needed to remind our selves of that.  We are not completed by the things that we own, but the experiences we have.

The Shakedown

Focus

This lifestyle is an adjustment.  I've said it before, but it's not all sunsets and rum.  It is hard work and planning~ both to get here and to sustain it.  Living on  a boat has many challenges.  Living on an old boat has more.  But we have done it.  This very first adventure has taught us so much about what we are capable of and what we really aren't.

We know now what type of cruising family we are.  A lot of the illusions have been shattered.  Some of them have been tempered, and a select few have been illuminated.  I personally, am grateful for all the ways in which this life has presented itself (some more so in retrospect). 

Now that we have finally, four months later, worked out the kinks... it's time to head back to our home port and take the next steps.

We have decided to haul out Airabess here in the Keys.  For a few reasons.  She needs it.  It has been almost 3 years and she needs a new bottom job.  We could take her back up north... but that just does not appeal to anyone in the crew.  The ICW, while a good way to get our feet wet, is  not the way we want to travel.  It's at times very narrow and the opportunity for actual sailing is very small.  Plus, the bridges.  I NEVER want to do that again.  EVER.  We all agree on that point as well.

Another reason to go on the hard here is that Airabess won't be a distraction to our planning.  We have tons to do when we get home.  And we have done the 'work on the boat on the weekend' thing for too many years.  We need to focus on getting our family and financial repsonsiblities in order there~ so we can get back here.  We already have a list of projects and purchases that we need to get through.  But this time, Airabess will get our undivided attention... it's just going to be a few months from now. 

We will be in work mode for awhile.  And that feels good too, because we have a clear objective and timeline. 

That is what is going to get us back down here more quickly I think.  We don't want to leave her on the hard for longer than necessary.  And that is just long enough to take care of things back home.  If we took her home... we might not be as focused or in as much of a hurry to get anywhere.  Plus we would have to do the ICW AGAIN.  I did say that wasn't going to happen.  Bonus, we will be super close for the hop to the Bahamas when we are ready to go. 

So, this crew is in transition mode again.  I feel like it will be a very different this time around.  We know what to expect.  We know what we need.  We know what we want out of this thing.  So, we are headed back to make it happen.  A few months of landlubbing for an indefinite adventure... I'll take it! 

I sure am going to miss the sunsets though.  

Summertime Sadness

We are not boat slackers.  We are not boat slackers.  We are not boat slackers....

I'm so sorry Airabess. But... Lately we have been. Summertime life. It has taken over.  And every time we plan on heading your way~ Life has its way with us.  

So sorry. 

It's not all fun and games.  Truly. It's yard work and jobs, and laundry. 

Believe me when I say...  I am ready to hang the laundry on your lines. 

Soon. Very soon, you will be tired of our "life". 

We are a fun bunch though.  

Are you ready?

I know we are.