Giving Thanks

From David Campbell's book "The Ephemeral Islands: A Natural History of the Bahamas":

   "Most people harbour the misconception that the adventure of Bahamian natural history necessarily lies over the horizon.  Among the glamorous flamingos of Inagua, in the pigeon metropolises, at the bottom of the sea or on lonely beaches where the green turtle nests.  However, the rewards of nature appreciation are only a function of the observers imagination and patience.  There are natural dramas and items of striking beauty in even the drabbest of environments: man's cities.  Any backyard, any weed patch will do, whether in Bain Town or on Bay Street.  Turn over a stone or glance into a nearby tree and, by careful observation and study, you will find a hint of wilderness".

After driving through some pretty "drab places" these past couple of days, surrounded by cars, concrete, and asphalt, I was happy to be reminded of this.  Today I am thankful for all the truly wild places I know.  I am also thankful for being able to appreciate the nature I find (and my children show me!) under stones in the concrete jungle.

Pennsylvania - Finally!

We finally made it to Pennsylvania today after rearranging our plans the past couple of days due to the weather.  I (Scott) was originally scheduled to meet with Garrett College in western Maryland, but rescheduled that meeting so I could meet with program director at Greenfield Community College in western Massachusetts - very impressive campus and program.

We stopped at the YMCA in Northampton, Mass and all enjoyed dodgeball in the pool as well as a hot shower, and Steph even got to go for a run.

We've been challenged the past couple of days finding both time and an internet connection to post current blogs.  We've lately become connoisseurs of Walmart parking lots, evaluating them on their distance from the interstate, quality of wifi signal, and freshness of their produce sections.  So far, Chicopee, Massachusetts is in the lead and Leavittown, Pennsylvania is way, way, way in last place on all criteria.

After sitting for several hours in gridlock outside of New York City, we fell short of our goal of Washington D.C. for today.  Instead, we'll head to D.C. tomorrow to visit the National Zoo (Ri and Wren's pick for Thanksgiving Day) and then a couple of the Smithsonian museums for the next couple of days before heading for Florida.

Here's to finding the ideal Walmart urban camping spot...

Bittersweet

We left home today after a very busy couple of days.   The house was so clean it echoed.  All our personal possessions stowed in a spare bedroom in preparation for our renters to move in. No dust bunnies... no dog Blue... no "us" to absorb the sound.  We said our teary goodbyes to family and friends, and we were off.  In a van packed to the gills with (most) everything we'll need for the next 6 months (except a boat), we headed south down the Airline.  To to begin our adventure.  Finally.

First Post

Finally got our blog up and running! Thought we'd start with a photo of our boat Kiawah.

We're busy planning, packing, and anxiously awaiting the day when we jump in our car and drive to Boston to pick up an RV that we are delivering to Orlando for a rental company. Once there, we'll rent a car to take us to our new home for the next 6 months, a 40' sailboat named Kiawah. From there, we'll begin a 6-month sailing adventure to the eastern Caribbean with our children Riley and Wren to end sometime in the summer of 2014 back here in Maine.  We hope you enjoy our posts and pics.  We'll be updating this page throughout our adventure, so feel free to sign up for automatic email of our posts if you're interested in following along.

Cheers!