Playoff game...

Steph and Dan enjoy basketball.  When we were in Phoenix this spring, we took in a Phoenix Suns' game.  Today was the playoff game between the Phoenix Mercury and the Minnesota Lynx.  Steph and Dan have gone to a lot of the Mercury games this season, and have season tickets for next year.  They treated us to this playoff game!

After lunch with a bunch of their friends near the stadium, we walked the short distance to the game.  Well, 3 of us walked, Steph rolled there, pushing with one foot on her scooter... she tore a muscle in her leg last month and is rolling instead of walking.  Because of this, we had seats on the floor in the Handicapped Area.

Checking out the Brittney Griner poster on the way in...

Greiner is 6'8" tall, a wingspan of 7'4".  She is Steph's favorite player.

Settled into our seats...

Both teams warming up...

It was a good game, but the Mercury lost it in the 4th quarter...

End of the season for the Mercury; the Lynx are in the finals against the Atlanta Dream.

We were among the first 3,000 to get in the stadium, so we received free t-shirts and white pom-poms.  The Mercury fans are loud, and there was plenty of action on and off the court.  It was an entertaining afternoon.  With Steph's leg in a cast, we were allowed to use the elevator instead of the steps.  It was quieter on the way out.  Check out the pom-poms...

Confetti party!!

Little Izzy is adjusting.  We are sharing a house with our daughter and son-in-law for a week or so... rather, they are sharing their house with us.  It is great to spend time with them.  Steph and Dan's cats, Jake and Torrie, are sharing their house with Izzy.  We alternate which cats get the run of the living room, keeping Izzy in our room, or Jake and Torrie in the master bedroom.  Izzy is not sure of the turf here, and she knows other cats are around... when she does come out of the bedroom, it is in "slinking" position, following the wall closely, her instincts protecting her from being "flanked."

Since she spends more time in the bedroom, she gets plenty of rest during the day.  Guess what that means?  Yep - night time is party time!!

Izzy is used to having a "private bathroom"... her litter box is in a separate cabinet in both the boat and the 5th wheel.  Not here.  The litter box is in our bedroom.  It is way too quiet in that room in the middle of the night - time to liven this place up.  Way beyond "scratching" in the litter box, Izzy was playing "Dance Machine" in the litter box... and the pellets of the Breeze System against that plastic poop box are not quiet!

I laid there, trying not to laugh.  Joan sat up and tried to give Izzy "stink eye" in the darkness.  Neither of those were successful.  Yeah, she became my cat again.

Looking back...

Big Red got a new experience: running 80 mph... nothing in tow.  We covered plenty of miles and are settled in the Phoenix area for a few days in our daughter and son-in-law's home.  Traveling without "home" behind the truck is certainly faster, but not as comfortable; it's a different mindset.

It felt odd looking down at the tach, seeing the RPMs around 2,000.  Big Red is happiest towing at around 1500-1600 RPMs, running 60 mph (+/-).  She felt like a sports car, running solo.  We picked our route based on "best time" rather than most scenic or most direct.  Along the way, we reminisced about RV trips we've made through this area over the last three decades... the southwest was where we first came to escape the cold South Dakota winters through much of the 90s.  It's been a few years since were were through St. George and Mesquite - population booms!  There used to be an unpopulated area between Las Vegas and Henderson... now, it is one continuous mass of homes, businesses, roads, and traffic.

It is warm in the desert.  Looking at national weather, we left the Pacific Northwest before the big storms arrived, even though we drove through rain for the first couple days.

The view from Big Red as we rolled through the Virgin River Canyon...

Learning to sleep in a rectangle bed...

Yeah, we had some motel time to get used to that again.  It was fun having room to move around in the shower.  A loaded omelet breakfast sandwich for breakfast was a treat.  Izzy has some "running room."  We're adapting well.

A trip to Wal-Mart this morning (good time to go - no crowds) was a treat after a summer without.  I took care of a writing project while Joan did some laundry... with no coins!  We picked up mail - it's been over a month.  It may all sound mundane, but enjoyed getting back to our normal.

This afternoon, I swung by a Honda dealer to check out the new Forza scooter and the Grom motorcycle... batting .500, they had a Forza, but not the Grom.  The Forza was right next to a PCX on the display floor - it was interesting seeing them side-by-side.  I am anxious to get back to the scooters.  In fact, driving around in the big city (Phoenix area), I was really missing my urban 2-wheel traffic fighter...

PCX on the left, Forza on the right.  The Forza has a bigger engine and is more highway capable.  Bigger overall size, too.  The PCX still looks "just right" for me.  Fun to check out the new models, though.

We get the weekend with the kids, some big city shopping next week, then time to roll again.  On 4 wheels.

Contrasts...

One last driving day for a while.  We are settling in at our daughter and son-in-law's home in the Phoenix area.

When we left Cedar City (Utah) this morning, it was 38º.  On the bright side, there was no precip (finally).  On the not so bright side, the wind was, again, blowing like stink.  We had options for directions: one way past Lake Powell, the other way skirting Las Vegas.  Less than 10 miles difference between the routes, but at least an hour shorter via Vegas... it's Vegas, baby!

We had a tailwind all the way to Vegas, then a crosswind as we made our way past Hoover Dam and on to Kingman, AZ.  That turned to a headwind after we fueled up there.  Not a big deal since we weren't hauling something high profile behind us.

We rolled into the Phoenix area before rush hour, getting to see a good portion of the new 303 Expressway - it's going to be a traffic mover when it's done.

We moved in and are waiting for "the kids" to get home from work.

The contrasts?  It has been chilly and wet the past few days.  Today: hot and dry.  No question we are back in the desert...

Now, she's into it...

A long day on the road.  Another motel.  Little Izzy is no longer afraid of a change in rooms, but seems to look forward to the new exploration opportunities.  Tonight's room has two queen beds - perfect for leaping back and forth.  And when I'm done with that, I'm going to show Izzy how to do it.  Yeah, I'm kidding... I don't leap much anymore.  But, Izzy is having fun with it.

It was cold and just starting to sprinkle when we left this morning.  The temp dropped and the rain picked up.  And to add to the fun: the wind blew like stink.  Gusts approaching 50 mph at one point.  I was glad to not be towing anything high profile.

The speed limit across Oregon was 65 mph.  Up that to 75 across much Idaho... today, Big Red got to run 80 mph legally across parts of Utah.  The fuel mileage didn't suffer much, and the miles ticked by.

All this new stuff is scary!

Motelling it.  In our younger years, we traveled by private plane and stayed in motels and hotels.  A lot.  It wasn't until Joan suggested we buy a motorhome (when Steph went off to college) that I learned to appreciate the convenience of trading off speed for having your own bed, bathroom, kitchen, and living room when traveling.

Little Isabella is almost 5 years old.  Prior to this trip, she has spent one night in a motel, when we returned to Texas after my Mother's funeral.  This is a traveling cat.  All the rest of the miles, she has had familiar surroundings.

The first night out, she was not a happy girl... she missed her boat, and it was obvious.  Carrying her into the motel, she flailed in her carrier.  She never flails in her carrier.  If she had a tin cup, she would be rattling it against the bars!

Last night wasn't so traumatic.  But, we learned from the first night... when we had to move the bed to get Izzy out from underneath it.  This bed was on a platform... with only a small opening near the head of the bed.  I said, "We need to stuff pillows in those openings so Izzy can't get behind the bed."

When we let her out of her carrier, she slinked (slunk?) between the platform of the bed and the bedspread.  I said to Joan, "Iz thinks she's pretty clever, hiding there."

Once we were settled in, Joan and I went to the restaurant in the motel.  When we came back, we found that Izzy had pulled the pillow out from where we stuffed it... I could hear her laughing and saying, "He thinks he's so clever, trying to keep me out from where I want to go."

The cat has a point.  I'm also doing better at understanding her.

This room has a king bed... it was pretty luxurious having all that room... not have to play footsies if you don't want to... plenty of room for a cat right down the middle.  This room is bigger than the room from the first night - room for a cat to run and play.  While there is plenty of opportunity for climbing in a boat, there is not a lot of "running room."

All things considered, Izzy is doing OK with this new form of traveling.  We'll see what day 3 brings.

Snow SUX...

That's a running joke with my TrailerSailor friends: I have the US Trademark on the words "Snow sucks" and every variant of that (under the trade name Snow SUX®)... every time you swear at the cold crappy weather, you have to pay me a royalty.  If that were true, I'd be rolling in the bucks... or, people would be constantly ripping me off. ;-)

When we left Anacortes yesterday, the National Weather Service was predicting snow for elevations above 5500 feet.  Instead of going east on I-90, we ran south on I-5.  Today, we turned east at the Columbia River, and ran along the scenic Columbia River Gorge...

Yeah, it was overcast... occasionally spitting light rain.  Until the road turned away from the Gorge - the the rain began in earnest...

And, yes, at one point, the rain turned to snow...

Fortunately, it wasn't long lasting, but... Snow SUX!

Out of Washington, across Oregon, into Idaho.  We are in making-miles mode.

High and dry...

... and - good-bye!

Well, the weather wasn't dry.  A rainy morning when I hooked Big Red up to the boat trailer.  Our friend, Herb, kindly gave me a ride back to our boat from the boat yard where Wild Blue will be hauled out.  Joan did her last minute maneuvering of stuff, deciding what goes and what stays.  The folks at the boat yard are very cooperative, even suggested we pull the truck inside the storage building so we could do our last minute moving from the boat to the truck where it is dry.

We untied Wild Blue one last time for this season, made a stop at the pump out station, then down the waterway a bit to the boatyard.  When we pulled up to the staging area for the Travel-Lift, there was a sailboat there... not much room.  We tucked Wild Blue in under the sailboats bow sprit, and waited for the Travel-Lift operator to come back from lunch...

Right on time, they went to work.  Joan put Izzy in her carrier and put her in the truck.  The lift crew positioned the straps...

Up and out of the water...

The bottom looked surprisingly decent!  The lift operator said they could do a "courtesy spray" as part of the lift out...

With the bottom looking good, they lined the boat up with the trailer...

They put her right into place, and we strapped her down...

We pulled the boat to the indoor storage facility, flushed the motor, did the last of our stuff-moving, shut everything in the boat down...

... and hit the road.

Our timing was such that we hit rush hour around Everett... and Seattle... and a few more places as we slowly made our way south.  We didn't quite make it out of Washington State, but we are on our way.  We'll turn in early and get a fresh start on making miles in the morning.

Cacophony and a bug...

No, we don't have bugs on the boat... something got to me.  I was fine Friday night, felt like crap Saturday morning.  Great timing, since we are scheduled to pull the boat out on Monday.  And there is a bunch of cleaning and moving of stuff that needs to be done.

Now, some might think I scheduled this to get out of cleaning... au contraire - I wouldn't be allowed to clean the interior; the exterior is my domain.  I did my best to stay out of her way... you can only go so far on a small boat. ;-)

The weather weasels predicted crappy weather on Saturday... of course, it was beautiful.  They predicted really crappy weather on Sunday.  As of Sunday morning, they got that right.  90% chance of rain, high of 58º, and wind out of the SE at 30+ miles per hour.  Before I got out of bed, I could hear the sailboat halyards banging... clanging.  The wind was only 15 or so at that time... it continues to build as the day goes on.

It's a good day to be tied to the dock.  Even so, we are rockin' and rollin'.  The boat to the southeast of us is taller than we are - that helps.

Stay, take, toss...

When we haul the boat, we don't have to make these decisions: does this stay with the boat, go south with us, or get thrown away?  We don't travel light.  Joan has given herself 3 days to go through everything.  And by that, I mean: every damn thing.

Of course, it is because of her that we can take so much AND still have the boat liveable... she is very organized.  In the process, it looks like our boat has been rolled...

I know it will be clean and organized, as long as I stay out of her way.

Starting the wrap up...

A tire with no air when I went to the storage lot to check on the trailer.  It wasn't "flat" thanks to the dual axles.  We picked up a compressor, added air, then took the trailer to Discount Tire... good folks - they had us in and out in short order and the repair (bad valve stem) was free (we buy our tires at Discount Tire).

The shuffle between the boat and truck began.  Joan has moved every item on this boat to determine what stays and what goes... no sense hauling anything back that will have to make the return trip in the spring.

Happy Hour on the dock with the crews of Nudibranch and Willie's Tug - probably the last of those get-togethers before we head out, since the wet weather has moved in.  Mother Nature is going to make our departure more work, with rain and wind.

Izzy news: no news, no "encounters" with dogs today.  With all the "stuff moving" in the boat, she knows something is up.

Full moon revisited...

This time with my little point & shoot instead of Joan's phone camera...

For full disclosure...

I think I know what made Izzy so tough last night...

A full moon (from Joan's iPhone).  It couldn't be that she is big and tough - here she is in "stalking mode"...

Does that look scary to you??  ;-)

To vindicate my little furry girl, she and I were walking up on the main sidewalk above the marina this morning.  Coming down the walk: a lady walking a small dog.  The lady said, "Lulu likes cats!"

I said, "Well, Isabella is usually pretty friendly to everyone..." but held the leash snug, just in case.

Lulu and Izzy got nose to nose... the lady was smiling... I was hoping there wouldn't be a "Hissssss!"  There wasn't.  They sniffed at each other.  Lulu's tail wagged.  Izzy's ears didn't flatten.  Both good signs.  Lulu is a Yorkie/Chihuahua, smaller than Iz.  They walked around each other and all was good.  The lady and I visited while the furry ones kept a friendly eye on each other.

See?  Little Izzy isn't a big meanie.

We are gearing up to head out; moving stuff between the boat and the truck.  Joan took everything out of our cabinets, scrubbed the walls and sole, and sorted.  The cockpit looked like this...

It won't look like that for long.  While she worked on that, I had to figure out how to put an iron-on patch on our Sunbrella windshield cover (no self-respecting boat cruisers carry an actual iron)... I used my propane line burner to heat a metal plate, then used that to stick the patches on either side...

Yeah, no room for a work bench on Wild Blue, either.  New snaps for a couple of Sunbrella covers, and she's that much closer to being ready for a long rest.

We had to get as much done as possible today - the weather is supposed to turn this weekend... from our warm sunny days with highs in the 70s to cold, windy, and wet... a high of 59º, 70% chance of rain, and wind above 20 mph.  Timing.

Bad kitty!! Don't pick on those dogs!

Little Izzy gets brave after a meal... she will hop out of the boat and walk on the finger dock next to Wild Blue.  We keep an eye on her, and she rarely goes further than where the finger dock meets the main dock.

Joan made steak and baked potatoes tonight, and we had just finished supper, when Joan looked out the window and said, "Jim, you need to go get your cat!"

Izzy is my cat when she throws up, catches a critter, or goes on a marathon grooming session in the middle of the night.  Make no mistake about it, Joan and Izzy picked each other, and there is a very special bond there.  That bond aside, I hopped out of the boat to see what was going on... no cat on our finger dock... a couple docks down, there was a woman with two little fat-rat looking dogs, looking startled.  About that time, Izzy came streaking around the corner.

"I'm sorry if my cat bothered you - I didn't see her get out of the boat!"

She said, "Oh, she just startled us - she was crouching like she was going to attack!"

I laughed... probably not the appropriate response, but little Izzy is the sweetest little kitty ever.  "Oh, no - she is sweet.  She would never attack.  She does stand her ground, though."

Iz strutted back to the boat.  There is a sign on the docks that says Dogs Must Be On A Leash; it doesn't say anything about cats.  Especially sweet little 7 pound kitties.

Seriously, does this face look threatening??

-------------------

After supper, Joan and I walked to the nearby ice cream shop for dessert.  The owner has a pit bull who carried a Frisbee when he came out.  Joan played with the pooch when we finished our Strawberry Dream.  I'm pretty sure the pit bull would not have been intimidated by little Izzy...

Decisions made...

We lounged in this morning; it felt good.  Plenty to think about, ducks to get in a row.  We talked about how we want the timing to work, then started working the plan.

We nailed down arrangements for getting the boat pulled, bottom pressure washed, and indoor storage secured.  Wild Blue will get stored in the PNW for the winter... Big Red can cover way more miles in a day without a heavy load behind her.  That means motelling it, which I really don't like; and a side trip to see our daughter and son-in-law on the way south, which we are both excited for.

Marine Services worked with us for the timing on pulling the boat.  We'll take a couple more days to play, then get things packed away... some will go back with us, some stuff will stay with Wild Blue.  I know a lot of people put their boats away for the winter... this will be our first time doing that.  We'll have to make do with kayaks and the dinghy for the time we are in the Tropical Tip.

Joan started working on arranging things.  I was the pack mule.  Izzy was concerned that we would put her to work, and she bailed...

Well, for a short time.  She doesn't get too far away from us, but she seems happy to be out and about once again.

Joan did some laundry, I prettied up Wild Blue...

The bow faces south in Friday Harbor, and that blue brow was getting a little chalked looking.  An over-all washing and three coats of wax on the brow, and Wild Blue is looking good.

We'll do a couple more days out cruising, then start shutting her down for a long rest.

Lookin' into it...

We visited this morning.  No decisions, no commitments.  I have to say, Friday Harbor kinda feels like home after the last two summers.

Here's the only photo I took while in Friday Harbor this time, and it was on the way out of the marina...

Get it?  Sleepless?  Seattle?  OK, I thought it was kinda funny.


Well, it wasn't enough like home that we wanted to stay - we unhooked and shoved off around 11:00.  Another gray ol' day in the Pacific Northwest.  It looks wintery...

The visibility was actually pretty decent (especially after yesterday).  The view from the helm...

The only place the fog was thick was crossing Rosario Strait.  I was tracking one target on radar... was it one BIG one or two??  It looked like it would pass about a quarter mile off our starboard side... and then it turned like it was homing in on us!  I pulled back power to go behind it and saw it was a tug... with a tow.  Nope, there isn't any going behind that first blip - I put the power to Wild Blue and crossed in front of the tug.  No, I don't have a photo of that; I was kinda occupied.  Here's a look at the Washington State Ferry as it passed at a greater distance just after that...

That dark line about 1/3 up from the bottom is the darker hull - that's all we could see, even as it passed closer.  Odd sensation.

Through it all, little Isabella was wrapped up in her blankie in the V-berth, looking like a cat burrito...

A short time later, we pulled into Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes.  Joan said, "Hi Willie's Tug" as we motored past Herb and Wilma's boat in their slip... Herb ran down to grab lines for us at the dock we were assigned.  Wilma came by shortly after - good to see our friends again.

Next order of business: check on some storage for Wild Blue.  Twin Bridges Marina offers stack storage...

Then back to another marine services place in Anacortes.  Neither is inexpensive.  One of us is lobbying for leaving the boat here.  That would be a commitment that we are coming back next year... and that's about as committed as I can get right now.

That would mean a dinghy and kayaks for whatever time we spend in Texas this winter.  Decisions.

Back to the USA...

We have some discussin' to do.

We left Victoria this morning.  We have our heads into heading south.  The question of "to haul the boat or leave the boat," has come up again.  Our employer wants to talk to us... I know how that discussion will go.  It will come down to a vote... and I will be outvoted.  (Izzy votes in a block with her Momma.)

I am ready to do some two-wheel riding.  If the boat gets left in the PNW, there is a better opportunity to bring scooters this way next year.  Too far off for me to even think about.  Lobbying being done on both sides.  One of us is pretty sure she can sway the other.

Back to the present: I like Victoria.  What a great city!  Alas, it was time to head out this morning.  That clear weather that the weasels predicted... big surprise: they were wrong.  It was foggy when we shoved off.  On the bright side, we will burn less fuel traveling slower.  I had this route saved from an earlier trip, so this was easy.  Coming out of the opening to Victoria Harbour, the fog closed down...

The GPS/chartplotters show you where you are; the radar shows you where solid stuff (like other boats or land) is...

I like the chartplotter apps we have on our iPads.  The iPad Mini is my choice...

The visibility was down to 100 feet to 100 yards, more towards the 100 feet most of the way.  I use the autopilot to maintain course, so I can keep a watch for debris that might be in the water.  The radar helps us pick out other boats that might be a collision hazard, and we chug along at 8 knots or so.  With currents in Juan de Fuca and Haro Strait, the speed over the water ranged from 7 knots to 10 knots.  At one point, I pulled off power as a BIG target moved across our path... a large excursion boat passed 200 feet in front of us.

Joan follows along with her iPad and paper charts...

Back up for back up.  The going was slower than our usual cruising pace, but we are getting over 4 miles per gallon, compared to our 2.5 when we travel faster.  This makes a 10 mpg RV seem almost thrifty.

As we moved from Juan de Fuca across the shallows of Middle Bank in Haro Strait, the water lumped up.  Fortunately, it settled back into less than 1 foot chop when we got back into deeper water.

Smooth water makes for a more comfortable ride.  Little Izzy slept at the edge of the V-berth most of the way...

Well, until we got to Cattle Pass, where the water lumped up... and the boat traffic increased.  Izzy went to the floor by the aft dinette seat, where the movement is the least.  Joan and I stayed on high alert, with me giving her radar target positions and both of us keeping a watch... "Two targets at 11 o'clock, one at 2 o'clock, one quarter mile and closing.  Behind us now, one target at 5 o'clock, moving faster than we are."  It is very helpful to have a second set of eyes keeping watch.

I put the power to it through Cattle Pass, just so we didn't spend any extra time in the lumpy conditions.  North of there, the conditions improved - both the ride and the visibility.  We had almost a mile of visibility as we came into Friday Harbor.  I called the marina to see if we could get the slip we spent the summer in... no one with the "authority" to put an over-nighter in a permanent slip.

We cleared Customs - the agent on the dock said, "If you want to leave your boat here, I will take good care of it - love those C-Dorys!"  We had a short, but pleasant visit, since another boat was approaching the Customs dock.

We pulled into the slip they gave us, and settled in.  We'll spend a night or two here, do some "discussin'" and make some decisions.

It is raining right now (started on our way back from the grocery store); the wind is kicking up and we can hear thunder not so distant... it's a good time to tied to a dock.  ;-)