Uncategorized · April 25, 2021 2

Traveling Man

It’s been a long few days. On Friday, Robbie and I left Minneapolis at 4:30 AM CT with a 5×8 trailer mostly, but not completely full of my belongings. My emotions were mixed as we drove away, I have a long history in Minnesota and the last 7 months with Sylvia have been wonderful. I am truly excited for what lies ahead but it is always hard to say goodbye, even if just for a few months. I will sorely miss her and our time living together.

Eighteen hours and forty-five minutes later we rolled into Rob’s driveway in Maplewood, New Jersey; 12:15 AM ET. It was a slog but the company was amazing! It’s a rare thing in life to be able to spend that amount of concentrated time with an adult sibling and we made the most of it. So deep in conversation were we that I missed an exit near Cleveland and added a short detour to our route. Coincidentally, the detour sent us driving through Boardman, OH, the childhood home of our mother, Libby. Near the end of the drive, Rob and I switched off every 100 miles or so to keep fresh eyes on the task. I took the last shift through the Delaware Water Gap while Rob spun a spicy mix of tunes on Spotify to keep us alert.

After sleeping in for a bit, I spent Saturday with the NJ Gilpatrics hiking and catching up with my sister-in-law, Kelly, and my nieces, Azure and Lynne. New Jersey was having one of those bright and warm spring days, marvelous, delicious weather. We capped off the day with a huge sushi feast.

South Mountain Reservation

 

Intoxicating Perfume

 

Today, I finished the drive with a trip over the George Washington Bridge, up the Major Deegan Expressway, across the Cross County Parkway and up I-95 to Rhode Island. It rained the whole way but that didn’t dampen my excitement. I crossed the many inlets and estuaries of Connecticut, seeing the marinas and boatyards along the route. I chortled in excitement as I passed Mystic. I will be staying with my parents, John and Libby in Portsmouth, RI as I get a fairly long list of tasks done on Sans Souci in preparation for her launch in mid-May– two weeks away.

GWB

This afternoon, with the trailer emptied into a large, but mostly organized pile in their garage, John and I ventured into Fall River to return the U-Haul. Since we were there, we stopped at Borden Light Marina, my home base for summer cruising and living. Not much going on but I got to see for the first first time where I’ll be for the next several months.  After Fall River, John and I paid a visit to Sans Souci at the Sakonnet Safe Harbor Marina in Portsmouth. My first time setting foot aboard my new home as the owner. It was momentous! There were a few things I wanted to check on for some research this week and, well, I just wanted to see her. There were a couple of guys working on their boats in the yard and we had a nice chat with Tom and Will.

Borden Light Marina

Sans Souci On The Hard

Happy Sailors

I’m now unpacked and more settled in for the next couple of weeks living with Libby and John. It will be a very busy time with a huge work project due and the large list of projects on Sans Souci. We are about to sit down for a nice dinner of stew, prepared by John, chased with what promises to be a terrific 2005 vintage wine.

Special Occasion Wine!