I still haven't found the ornament - a fine little wooden carving of a sailboat that hung on our tree at Christmas. But every year it served as a reminder of what adventures lay ahead for us if we would just keep moving forward, toward the dream.
Well, as you know, in September of 2008 we pulled the docklines on our little "Sojourner" and our adventure began. It was no longer just a dream. It was actually happening! We were free to move about the world at will. How nice it was that Mexico proved to be far enough. We were warm for the Winter, and adventure and new stuff to do filled every day. What a joy.
Of course this meant that we wouldn't be home for the holidays, but that didn't seem quite as important then. And, truth be told, I didn't miss the annual shopping madness one bit. Claudia, however, is a shopper. And a Mother. And while it was easy for me to believe that being away from our family for half a year at a time was, in some way, good for us all, I'm pretty sure she never felt that way. Still, she hung in there with me for the whole package.
Until one day.....................
Clearly there were new dreams being formed. Now, even our big new comfy boat "IRIE" couldn't fill the void.
We managed one more full season in 2012 - 13, but you may recall that it was far from our best. Between the fuel tank crisis going on for more than two months and the unusually cool weather, the dream was becoming thin. Now, the attraction to being home was coupled with something of a push to be there. I was receiving an attitude adjustment as Hank Jr would say.
Our short cruising season this year was altogether outstanding as I've written here before. The weather was warm, IRIE was perfect, and we got to spend lots of quality time with our friends on the water. Yet, it was as though the stars and the planets were somehow realigning or something. There was little doubt that this would be a good time for us to move on.
By the end of last month, we had sold - well, sort of - our magic carpet IRIE. And,while the process was a torment of frustration and heartbreak, now that it's done, we're both happy for the release and we're looking forward to a new future. That future doesn't have a face on it yet or even a fuzzy picture, but of course, putting it together will be half the fun.
Let me just say that we have learned and grown and experienced far more than we dared to imagine during this chapter of our lives. An altogether positive experience, with the laughs and the character building, the many happy hours and sunsets, the sunrises and the wonders of Baja, writing the story on these pages, and all of it enriched greatly by the friends we traveled with along the way.
So on this Christmas day, allow us to wish for you all, dear readers, the excitement and joy of reaching your own dreams and the pleasures of having family and friends to enjoy it all with.
And we leave you with a few pictures of a recent trip to the Oregon coast:
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