While our boat sat at the boatyard at the Atlantic Yacht Basin, we had plans to go home for some appointments, see friends and family, and to get our dog Flash. It was a welcome sight landing back in Seattle with a lovely sunset.
Day Island Yacht Club
We ended up leaving Washington D.C. a day early and was able to attend our yacht club’s dinner meeting. A few members have been following our blogs and saw that we hit bottom a couple of times. They felt it was appropriate to honor us with “The Shorts.” The Shorts are given to members who experience learning opportunities (usually embarrassing), and are flown from the boat. I shall proudly fly them when we return.
Tacoma Daffodil Marine Festival
Tacoma Yacht Club hosts an annual Daffodil Marine Festival where many yacht clubs in the area come and attend. We couldn’t be away from Matt and Tonia for so long (after all, it’s been 2 days since we’ve last seen them) that we rushed to Tacoma and the awesome Daffodil festival to join them in the antics. We also saw many of our other boating friends and I helped support Day Island in the trivia contest. We won the Most Spirited Award.
Friends
We tried to see as many friends as possible during our brief stay at home. I obtained a visitor’s pass to the same gym as my friend Mandy so that we could see each other in the mornings and work out. She also invited me to a Rainiers Baseball Game. Her husband Eric even came over to help Boris rebuild our gate.
KayAnna, Robby, and their family came over a couple of times for dinner and board games. I also went to explore Pike Place Market with KayAnna and Adeline. I’ve been to Pike Place Market many times, but never stopped to really appreciate the area. While on the Loop, I like to explore each town and admire the art, decorations, and shops. I finally slowed down and saw Pike Place the same way as I view the towns on the Loop and began discovering many charming details that I never noticed before.
Our visit back home was great timing as my friend Kristin was also in town for a weekend. We were able to catch up over dinner.
Steve’s friend Toni was also throwing a surprise birthday party for Steve so we ventured north to help celebrate. We were able to finally meet Toni and got our Matt and Tonia fix again as we hadn’t seen them in 1 week. It was great celebrating. On our way home south, we stopped by to see our friends Greg and Sandi.
The kids also took advantage of the opportunity to see their friends. The hardest part for the kids on the Loop is them missing their friends. The next two weeks we were a revolving door of their friends visiting or having sleepovers.
I was very thankful to see so many friends and catch up.
Family
We missed my nephews first birthday by a month. When we left, he was just starting to stand; he now walks. It was great seeing my brother and his family along with my parents. I also convinced my mom to make some delicious Chinese food for dinner. We feasted over egg rolls, pearl balls, and all sorts of other amazing food.
My mother-in-law Vera has been staying in our house while we have been gone. She’s been taking care of our dog Flash and deep cleaning the house. We delayed taking Flash with us as we originally were going to go to the Bahamas and had time constraints with obtaining a pet permit. We came home in time to celebrate Orthodox Easter with her.
Our visit home went by quickly. I enjoyed sleeping in my bed and utilizing my recently renovated bathroom. It’s wonderful taking a long hot bath without worrying about the water level in the tank. The two weeks are over and we are ready to return to our adventure.
Philadelphia, PA
Our original plan was to fly into Philadelphia and get a rental car to drive to Hershey Park. We would play for a couple of days and then drive back to the Atlantic Yacht Basin in Virginia to return to the boat. While at home, we decided that we would put off Hershey Park for when we are in Delaware City, but couldn’t change our flight, so we flew into Philadelphia and then got a car to drive back to Virginia.
We flew in late at night (nearly midnight) and stayed at a hotel. The next morning, Boris had to work so the kids and I hit the pool with some epic games of Marco Polo. Afterwards, we went to see the Liberty Bell and get some tasty Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches before driving for 5 hours to the boat. The drive took us over a very long bridge and under water through a tunnel that extended across the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay.
We finally made it back to the Atlantic Yacht Basin with Matt and Tonia greeting us at the dock (they flew in the day before). It has been just over a week since we last saw them. Steve would fly in the next day to his boat in Bennett’s Creek Landing where we will head to later.
It was surreal stepping foot onto the boat. While in Washington State, our Loop trip felt like a dream as we quickly returned to our old habits of being home. Back on the boat, our dream became a reality once again as we refamiliarized ourselves with our new home.
Finally, many have been asking us about the repairs on the boat. We ended up with a very bent shaft, another shaft that was somewhat damaged, and two very bent propellers for a total bill of $5,500. With the repairs done, it is time to continue with our adventure with the addition of Flash.
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