Walker Bay 10

Ben got a new dinghy... around here, inflatables don't withstand the test of time so he's been on the look-out for a hard dinghy. One fell into his lap yesterday when Mark dropped it off. I dig the green color scheme. If it was 8 feet long, I'd trade him for it!

First Sail of 2011

SoFla 2011

Everyone's heard of stormchasers, but have you heard of sunchasers? Ben, Lola and I fall into the latter category. We're addicted to Vitamin D and we'll do anything to get it. The three of us took a plane ride over to south Florida after the New Year. Once again, we were in search of the D to raise our spirits after the gloom that enveloped 2010 here in San Diego. Luckily, we found just what we were looking for in SoFla. Temps in the mid- to upper 70's and everyday, sunny. On the last day of our trip the temperature dropped to 62 degrees and cloudy. So before the withdrawal set in, we headed back to 75 degrees in sunny San Diego to get our next fix.  

Gail, Jessie, Sam, Ed

Our first stop in sunny SoFla was Boca Raton, to see my Aunt Gail, Uncle Ed and cousins Ian and Logan. We spent time yacking with the fam and yaking in the mangroves around the intercoastal.


Ian & Sam



Sam & Ed



Logan & Sam




Sam, Shane, Lola & Ben at the
Southermost Point in the
Continental USA, Key West

Next, we headed south, picked up Shane from the Ft. Lauderdale Airport and continued south until we hit the end of the road: Key West. We spent a few days living the good life before we headed back north... to Miami. 


Sam & Ben in Miami

After all the fun we had in Key West, the fast-paced city life of Miami didn't sit well with us, so we headed up to Ft. Lauderdale where we spent one last night partying with Shane at the Elbo Room and Bahia Cabana.


Shane at the Elbo Room, Ft. Lauderdale

The weather in Florida proved to be much nicer than the weather in Shane's neighborhood of northern Virginia. His return flight the following morning was cancelled due to snow, ice and airport closures, so he spent one more night with us, back at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Boca Raton. Shane flew back to freezing cold temps and snow. We flew back to a Vitamin D-packed punch here in San Diego. Let's hope it stays this way for the rest of 2011!

If you want to see pics of the entire escapade, check out my photo album:

SoFla 2011

Second Chances

We just got back from ten days in Florida. Once I get the pictures organized, I'll share them in another post. Ben's bicycle was stolen while we were gone, as always seems to be the case.

For those of you who know the saga of the cat next door, I was glad to snap a picture of her in a trap yesterday. A trapped cat may not seem worthy of a smile but this cat has been  living in squalor, left for dead for at least the last six months, and living a solitary life (with occasional visits by the owner) on this boat for as long as Ben, Lola and I have been here. We (and others) have been bringing her food and water... but a lonely life trapped on a boat is no life for a cat. So the mooring company captured her and they will be bringing her to the humane society. Hopefully she will find a forever home, but no matter what happens, at least she won't be living in filthy, sinking boat for the remainder of her days. I only wish I knew the name of the boat owner so I could report him to the authorities.