Mike and Beth's Adventures

 My Brother and I Have you ever wondered about the meaning of "wealth".  It can take many forms and can be measured in ways that don't involve counting money.  True, monetary wealth is an enabler but so are other forms of wealth.  Understanding and valuing the "non-monetary" dimensions of wealth is important.  Our stop in Austin Texas is a clear illustration of this. Bret and I took primary flight training while still at UC Davis   In Austin I had the opportunity to renew my friendship with two gentlemen that I met during my freshman year at UC Davis.  We were all in Army ROTC together in the late '60's, during the Vietnam era.  It was a tumultuous time in America and for the world.  We trained together, worked in the dining hall together, and attended basic training together, I went to rifle matches with one fellow and completed primary flight school with the other fellow.  Both my classmates went on to careers in the military and...

I am always a bit sad when our time in the PNW draws to a close.  Each visit is amazing.  Maybe I feel this way because of the grandeur of the experience.  One never knows when or if you will again visit.  It is like saying goodbye to an old friend who lives far away, hence there is uncertainty about future time together.  The PNW experience invokes strong emotions, feelings and thoughts.  It is beautiful in its stature and harmonious in its vastness.  It is the kind of emotion that feeds the soul.  You do not want it to end.  Being in nature reminds you that there is a rhythm to life that is simplifying in that it strips away the unnecessary chaos which waits to assault upon return to “civilization”.  Perhaps my reluctance to leave is procrastination.  I like the simple rhythm and want to delay the tenseness and harshness that accompanies chaos.  Perhaps this all boils down to the fact that I like being on vacation and the sim...

Our ramblings this last week have included celebrating Canada Day in Ladysmith and then returning to the shelter of Newcastle Island to wait for a weather window to cross the Strait of Georgia.  This wait lasted 4 days as the wind made a passage untenable.  On the day we departed Ladysmith we could see that an extended wind event was arriving.  Our hope was we could sneak across the Strait before it built to a nasty level.  Our hope were dashed within the first mile of poking our nose out into the Strait.  It was one of our first warm days of summer so we left the skylights in the cabin roof open.  We did close the one on the top of the vee-berth.  We could see white caps out in the Strait, but thought we could use a technique where we pick up our speed and skim along their tops.  Wrong!  Didn't work this time.  The wave height and interval resulted in Amy Marie burying her bow and sending water over the top of the cabin, creating a love...

Mike and the Mangrove Cut February 19 th , 2022 We traveled through a great variety of features on our voyage to John Pennekamp State Park .   The density of Keys and shoals increases as you head east to Key Largo.  With more obstacles to safe navigation, there are cuts through mangrove islands, cuts through limestone and coral formations, and considerable weaving to remain in water sufficiently deep to provide safe passage.  A challenge, but we loved it! Mangrove Cut on the way to Pennekamp The traffic volume was also greater due to travelling on a Saturday.  It is best to avoid travel on weekends in Florida.  On weekends,  people explode from land to sea, and want to see and do it all at 50+ miles per hour.  Boating courtesy, such as slow passes disappear and it is not unusual to have a sport fishing boat, with multiple outboards pass you in close quarters at high speed.  Wake management is no-existent.  It is every boater for them...