Fall Colors

Living in Tucson where there are four seasons: early summer, summer, late summer and next summer, we rarely get to see fall colors like most people. So we really enjoyed driving across the country this fall on our way back to EcstaSea where she is berthed in Charleston, South Carolina.

We drove east through New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri and into Nashville, Tennessee where we stayed for a few days. We stopped at the Loveless Cafe and had their world famous biscuits and I (Willow) was introduced to moonshine in my iced tea. So now that we are in the South, i will continue the exploration of my newfound love of "moonshine". Did you know that it comes in all kinds and varieties? So far, the cherry is my favorite!!!

While in Nashville, we explored the music world every night at such places as Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. Music everywhere and always along with happy hour at all hours. The Captain procured tickets to an Alan Jackson concert at the Nashville Hall of Fame auditorium. And as to be expected,
Alan Jackson did not disappoint, but delighted us above and beyond expectations.

Then on to my Captain's home town of Chattanooga, Tennessee. So wonderful to see my "Southern Gentleman's" roots.

Then on to more fall colors in Highlands, North Carolina. Magnificent reds and more reds...

And finally on into Charleston, South Carolina and EcstaSea! And just as soon as we got her into the water, it was full moon. What  a gift from the Mother once again as we settle into our ocean life. And now soon, on to the Caribbean....

End of Summer

Really….and we do mean REALLY???  where did the summer go???
Well, wherever it went, it went way too fast!!!
And now it is time for us to leave the desert and return to our ocean home on EcstaSea.
So just a few last pictures of a wonderful but fleeting summer…

Our fishing trip to Alaska…

The sockeye salmon were returning and going upstream to span and end their life cycle:

Silver Salmon caught on the Kenai River:

Richard's catch of sockeye salmon from our fly-out to a glacier lake:

Our catch of halibut and ling cod caught on the Gulf of Alaska:

And then our catch of more halibut from Cook Inlet:

Needless to say, we have lots of fish that we were able to give to friends and family and still have more in the freezer.

While we were fishing three Alaskan brown bears were playing in the stream and lake very close to us. Luckily, they paid us no mind as they were too busy eating the salmon...

The wildlife was incredible and everywhere we looked there was more to see. Eagles flying, moose crossing the roads and even a pet reindeer:

So my Captain was finally able to show me his love of Alaska and fishing, and it was quite an experience!!!

And since variety really is "the spice of life" for us, we just had to take a trip to Las Vegas. One moment in the wilderness of Alaska smelling of fish and the next glitzing it up in the casinos. From one playground to another--but isn't that what it is all about??? Really, it's all play in a play that we make up and we have the lead role and character in it. We get to produce, direct and even design our own costumes.

And Vegas is great for dancing the night away in the many discos:

The monsoon rains continued and the desert around our home bloomed with color and beauty…

And it was the first time we had ever seen flowers blooming out of this  yucca…

And as always the colorful sky above our mountains…

Yes, it has been a fast summer with so much fun. And we are ready to slow it down a little as we head back to EcstaSea, where life is slow and easy and in harmony with the wind and waves. Both the desert and the ocean support and nourish our souls and we are forever grateful to have the privelege to live with both.
"Thank you" Tucson..... and "hello" EcstaSea!!!

Glimpses of our desert home in Tucson

When we came home to Tucson we found an abundance of peaches just waiting to be picked and eaten from our new little dwarf peach tree! Yuuummmmmm….

 We finished our fountain project in the backyard. Now we can hear the sound of refreshing water here in the desert.

Our little Dharma Girl got sick and moved on to the doggie playground beyond form. She gave us 15 years and we say "thank you"...

What a lovely and loving visit we had from our sister Vicki and her love, Pam. Another sister added to the clan.

The monsoon rains came this summer with great exuberance and drama to entertain us. It is quite a novelty for us here in the desert to see rain drops falling in our pool. And even more fun to see it pour down the rarely used gutter into the backyard:

And then the rainbow over the mountains…Yes!!!

And then the desert and our backyard exploded with color as the rains brought the desert to life:

Our beloved hummingbirds that keep us busy filling their feeders with sugar water:

Life is sweet here in our desert home this summer. It is such a contrast from our life aboard EcstaSea, yet equally exciting in it's own unique way. And to wherever we are, we realize that home is not a place but is in each other's heart. So we are always "home" together….

                       

Charleston

So feeling somewhat re-integrated into land living from our time in Ft Lauderdale and with finally getting an okay weather window to move on, we did so. It was a 2 day jaunt up to Charleston, South Carolina. Needing to put EcstaSea up for the summer out of the Caribbean hurricane season, we decided on Charleston as we have our family there. Richard's mom,  2 sisters and families all live in the Charleston and Sullivan's Island area. And after a challenging winter with the crossing and adjusting to the Caribbean, we were more than ready to fall into the loving embrace of family. We spent several weeks in a marina right next to downtown Charleston as we explored the possibilities available for Esea's haul out and summer storage. We love the southern charm of Charleston with it's easy way of being, not to mention it's fantastic restaurants.

And since most of the family had never seen EcstaSea, it was great fun to introduce her to them.

Richard, his sister Judy and husband Paul, with his Mom sharing around the table in the Salon…..

Sister Vicki and partner, Pam when they came to visit us in port…..

We happened by chance (hmmm, is there such a thing?) to find out that Kevin Costner and his band Modern West were going to play a concert here in Charleston in a few days. Our special and dear friend Larry Cobb is the drummer in the band and so we gave him a call. We had spent a week or so with the band a few years ago when they and we were all in Monte Carlo at the same time. So we know and love all of the band members and always have had great fun with them. And generous as always they gave us and the family front row seats to the concert.

Kevin Costner rolling his sleeves up at the beginning of the concert….

 Kevin pouring champagne and toasting the audience  at the end of a fantastic concert….

We had a life raft on the boat that had expired so we bought a new one for the Atlantic crossing. But we carried the old one with us also. But after arriving without the need of either, we decided to deploy the old one in Judy and Paul's  swimming pool. We thought it would be good to see how it worked and to salvage anything useful out of it before discarding it. So it was a fun day in the pool seeing what we "NEVER" want to see again---a life raft deployed!!

We found a great boatyard up river in which to haul Esea out and store her on the hard for the summer. So all is well and we spent some extra time enjoying our wonderful family at their beachfront home on Sullivan's Island.

We also celebrated our wedding anniversary by going to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Magnolia's.

Now it's time to journey on to our desert sanctuary in Tucson. We are ready to come home…..

Moving on up !

After some more dancing and playtime in the BVI, it was time to move on out of the Caribbean. Because of the summer hurricane season here we have decided to sail EcstaSea up to the east coast of the US and leave her in Charleston for the summer. Our seasons will now be reversed with us on the boat in the winter and in Tucson in the summer. And because of that we are somewhat confused and are not sure what time of year it is….

It was a six day sail north up past the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Bahamas. We took the inside passage up the Bahama Channel hoping to have calmer seas. The first 3 days were challenging once again with the second 3 days calm and serene. It seems to us that on the sea, it is either the worst or the best of times and we are always thankful that Yemaya gives us the best at the end to entice us to keep coming back.
EcstaSea has not seen American waters since we bought her and took her to the Med in 2008. And it feels quite odd and different for us to be back too. In fact, we had forgotten about the strict US security. So we were taken by surprise when just off the coast of Florida at daybreak a helicopter and a very fast power boat stopped,boarded, and searched us. It was the US Customs and Border Patrol with very big guns. Okay….here we are in the good ole US of A.

The coastline of Europe never looked like this coast of Miami, Florida...

We landed in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for a few days to rest up. The marinas in Ft Lauderdale are inland and up a river lined with big expensive mansions. It was all new to us and quite the sensory overload at first after being on the open seas for so long.

The inland marina actually turned out to be just a tie up along the bank of the river right in the downtown area.

It was quite a busy waterway and once we go used to the hustle and bustle of it all, it became great entertainment for us. All day long and especially in the early evening, everyone in their boats cruised along the river just for the fun of it. We sat in our cockpit and watched the parade with our happy hour drinks.
Water taxis all day long...

Gondolas aren't only in Venice….

And we even saw Jerry Garcia walking his little chihuahua along the river walk. So FYI, Jerry is not dead after all….

Cruising (crackers) ….

And this warning sign for the Manatees posted on the bridge in front of Esea….

And of course, great walks to the Starbucks for our much missed great Sumatra coffee….

We ended up being thankful for so much to do in Ft Lauderdale as we got pinned down here for a week due to bad weather out on the open sea. It also gave us time for the re-entry period that we always need when we come back to the States. But finally after much rest and entertainment it, was time to move on up to Charleston, South Carolina.