Friday, December 21, 2007

Life in San Diego

San Diego has been our short-(er, long-)term stop-off and stomping ground through the fall. We left San Diego mid-September after getting Pangaea settled at Harbor Island West Marina and flew back to Seattle to get our affairs in order for our longer departure to come. We moved out of our rental house, stowed our stuff in storage, farmed out our pets to unwitting friends and family members, and spent precious time visiting all before saying our farewells. Ben had an interview with Customs and Immigration and passed with flying red, white and blue colors. In celebration of his new citizenship, we taught him the secret handshake and made him recite the Pledge of Allegiance (feeding him the lines, of course).

Mid-October we drove Ben's truck south to San Diego, visiting Natasha's family in Newport, and Mary's in Eugene, OR en route. It was fun to see the new additions (Benjamin and Iris), checkout Natasha's and Charles' newly acquired veterinary hospital, and tour Mary's and Ryan's new home and property. How cool! Our truck was loaded to the hilt and our shocks were toast so we gas-guzzled and bounced our way south.

So, now here were are! We have been splitting our time between life aboard on the boat, and late nights and sleep-overs at Kristi's and Lili's place in Crest, in the hills of east San Diego County. Fun times: visiting with my mom on her week-long visit; late-night chats with Kristi and Lili, soaking in Kristi's new jacuzzi on a deck overlooking a canyon, with a view to sunset and stars; side-trip to Mazatlan to see vet school friends; cavorting with dogs; decorating and landscaping with Lili, harvesting; crossing items off our list of things to do. Less fun times: sanding; varnishing; window-mounting; toilet installation; evacuating Kristi's home from California's fires of the century; getting the truck towed; getting the truck towed a second time; making lists of things to do.



Sadly we lost Wolf to his 2-year battle with cancer in November. He had accompanied us on our drive to California, and settled quickly into life on a sailboat. We knew his time was near, so we cherished every moment we could have with him and, when he was no longer comfortable, we let him go. He rests now at the foot of a boulder at Kristi's and Lili's place, overlooking the canyon. We were lucky to have him in our lives. We love you Wolf!



Now we're heading into crunch time, madly dashing about to finish boat-related projects, arrange our affairs and plan for destinations ahead. Christmas is soon to come, and go. And with the approaching New Year, we'll be off....!!!!!

Special thanks to Kristi and Lili for support, companionship, sleeping accomodations and creative inspiration.

Love to all of you!

12 comments:

Penelope said...

Great blog! Can't wait to read more about your trip as you set off...

Tia said...

Hi Shawn and Ben, We were so excited to hear you have your blog up. It's awesome! Merry Christmas -- Love, T, D, C & M

Nicole said...

Hi Shawn and Ben,
How wonderful to be able to follow you around the world like this. Your blog is fantastic!

A happy new year with even more wonderful experiences and friendships (old and new)!

Love ya!
Nicole

Josh Burker said...

Great to see you got your blog going! Awesome photos and narrative! Sorry to hear about Wolf: he will be missed.

Meg and I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas and that your New Year holds many new experiences and accomplishments.

Love, Josh and Meg

Tangolf said...

Hi ! Popey the Sailorman and Olive (is that right ?)

It's nice to have some fresh news of you both, a few hours before the "larguer les amarres" time. And I am eager to be able to follow your around-the-world journey

Your blog is really fascinating. Could I give a suggestion to make its reading easier ? If you could print the subtitles of the column at the right of the page in an other colour that white....

Apart from that...bon vent and good luck.

Uncle Jef

Tangolf said...

Xanks for the new colour for the headlines in the column on the right.

Marianne just gave me some good news from Morocco. Everything is going well and everybody's fine. The "arrières" are doing well together.

So, it's D-2 now ? Have a good new year's eve on mother earth, and a nice jorney on board the Pangaea VS.

Uncle JeF.

Unknown said...

You're a week away from leaving and I can't tell you how much I've loved having you both here. You will be missed more than you know but I can't wait to read of all the adventures coming your way!

Love, Kristi, Lili, Sadie, Tessa, Manina, Jackson, Elmo, Chaka, Flash, Turtles & Pigeons.

The Californians said...

Hi Shawn and Ben, Happy new year 08 ! Where are you now ? Don't forget to keep us posted and to tell us about all of your adventures !
By the way, we missed you in Morroco...
Bisouxxx a vous 2 et aux dauphins.

Uncle Lee said...

Hi Guys:
Just wondering if you have come up with a "new" departure date
yet?

Love,
Uncle Lee

doglady said...

Hi Shawn this is a test from MoM

Ben and Shawn said...

Hi everyone,

Bear with us....we're almost there. The boat's about shipshape (forgive the pun), but we're waiting out San Diego's decidedly Seattle-like weather (it's currently raining and windy in the wrong direction). It looks like weather should be looking up on Wednesday night. We'll post a new update before we shove off....!
Cheers!
Shawn

Tia said...

HI Shawn and Ben, Have you left yet? Hope the weather is cooperating. Please post more photos! Love, T, D, C & M