Three years after a terrible break in her right leg while skiing, Marcia decided it was time to get back on the slopes.
During the fall, we had traveled most of the Colorado ski areas in the RV and in earlier years Marcia had skied most of the resorts in the West. The decision was Snowmass at Aspen, mostly because we could convince brother Tim along with Kelly and Claire to join us for part of the stay.
Dan enjoyed the wood fire, hot tub and good wine while catching up on a lot of reading. Of course there were a few galleries in Aspen to lighten the pockets.
Pretty calm year for travels. No spring trip on the GMC instead we have a lot of boating between the Bahamas and the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes trip started in Massachusetts on May 3 and ended in Alexandria Bay, NY on Sep 6th. We covered over 4,000 nautical miles including all of the Great Lakes and locking thru the three great canal systems of North America, the Erie, the Trent-Severn Waterway and the Rideau (a World Heritage site). Superb weather and a great new boat.
A month in the fall in the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming and Montana with a touch of Canada included.
Marcia then enjoyed a birthday in London with a little Paris added in.
Back home for the winter with a nice trip to New England, NY and NJ for the holidays visiting friends and relatives.
Gog railways and bi-planes expanded our modes of travel this years.
The years travels with a great trip to Costa Rica with Chris and Kristi. While they are working hard to move the country forward, we are not joining the folks relocating there.
On to New Mexico for about a month of travels….caves, baloons, art….what a feast.
Summer on the boat started with a run up the east coast from Florida and ended with three glorious weeks in Maine.
Back out West to continue our road trip, this time it was Colorado with its wonderful mountains and parks.
Returning home has a real pleasure after the travels. In late October Peter and Diane Mahoney came down and we visited the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show together. Perhaps this was a mistake….only time will tell when we take delivery of the new 36,000 lbs baby.
This year we enjoyed Thanksgiving at home with a visit from Marica’s sister Jeanne Kisielnicki from Washington state.
The next week Capt Luke and Holly Hall visited for a few days of storytelling about the Canim days.
In mid December we went back up north to look in on the new baby underconstruction at Sabre Yachts in Casco, ME. A good visit with the Gero’s and then a dinner with the Plimpton’s. A tennis match with Mr. Spiro is always great.
On to New York to join Kristi and Chris for a couple of shows in NYC and then the Christmas holiday with Kristi in New Jersey.
Marcia and I had placed a bet earlier in the year on where the stock market would close, Dan said 15,000 and Marcia said 10,500….we decided to split the $1 bet.
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From Steamboat, we headed over to Ranger Lakes in State Forest State Park. From here, we did a side trip to the beautiful Snowy Mountains in WY and over to Ft Collins. Then we had to go west and south to get over into Rocky Mountain State Park. Coming out of Boulder, we encountered our most difficult road on our way to
Golden Gate State Park, 1st gear for about 20 miles of dirt road up the mountainside.
After a day in Denver putting the beast to bed for the winter, we enjoyed the art museums then headed for Providence, RI for John and Amy’s wedding.
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The GMC sprung a cooling leak and was out of service while we toured in the Smart. As soon as that was fixed, the hot water heater sprung a leak….hummmm. Into the Smart for a side trip to Utah to see Canyonlands, route 141 is one the best in the country, then Arches. From there up to Flaming Gorge, since flooded and not worth the trip. Dinosaur National park was closed for renovations. We picked up the GMC and headed for Grand Mesa, 500 lakes at about 11,000 ft elevation. Then over to Difficult Camp Grounds which served as our base for visited to Aspen, Snowmass, and Carbondale.
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We started with Labor Day weekend in Colorado Springs with Marcia’s brother Tim and his family. Headed west we first faced the climb over the Continental Divide at Cottonwood Pass (elev 12,500 ft). The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a very special experience, like a smaller Grand Canyon. On to Telluride where we would spend several days while in this part of the state. The road to Durango, the Million Dollar highway is spectacular. From there we went west to the four corners, visiting the ancient artifacts of the North American peoples and seeing the horrific conditions on the reservations. Mesa Verde should not be missed.
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Cruising Maine in August is about as good as it gets. After some reprovisioning in Portland, we headed ‘down east’ working our way up to Acadia National Park with stops at Harpswell and Rockland. At Mt. Desert Island, we picked up a mooring at Seal Harbor and set off to find the bus which took us all thru the park. Even took a carriage ride along the magnificent trails. A side trip up the Penobscot River to Bangor, then on to Camden on route to Tenants Harbor. A quick stop in Rockport turned into most of a day as we visited with photographer Peter Ralston and had a great lobster roll. While with Peter, we met Mac Ferris who then gave us a tour of a museum quality boat he worked on Lionheart Concerto. This led us to visit with Libby Schrum in Camden who did many of the detailed pieces in the boat. We have now added one of Libby’s pieces to our wonderful collection of artisan furniture. From there we worked our way west to see the Geros and Rapps at Tenants Harbor. While there, we enjoyed a bi-plane ride at the Owls Head Transportation museum. Then on to a wonderful weekend with the Plimpton’s and friends at Cow Island. After a short stay in Portland, we decided hurricane Irene was closing in on us and we should hightail it home….the first time we have ever headed south to avoid a hurricane! With one stop on route at Cape Ann where our new friends Ian and Josie Gardiner provided a mooring and dinner, we headed for Boston. With a stop in Hull, we handed the boat off to Peter Mahoney who took it to Fairhaven, MA where it was hauled and put in storage during the storm. Tom and Jean Fisher were kind enough to take us to Logan and we were home in time for dinner. The summer was so wonderful, we are now considering making New England our summer home on a little bigger boat…but there is at least one more long trip ahead next summer.
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When we landed in Boston it was hotter than Miami but at Fairhaven there was a fog bank at the hurricane barrier and the temperature was about 75. A round of golf at Acushnet Valley then off to meet friends in Mattapoisett where the Calanos were kind enough to be our hosts.
We then cruised down Buzzards Bay to the Cape Cod Canal with an overnight at Onset, perfect timing for their illumination of the bay by placing last years flares on the beach all around the harbor. Coming back up the east side of Buzzard’s Bay, we hopped over to Hadley’s Harbor on the Forbes family end of the Elizabethan Islands.
On up thru Wood’s Hole and the outside of Cape Cod to Hyannis where we caught up the Bob and Paula Garrow. Golf at Twin Brooks, then off to Nantucket where we spent our first night anchored by off Mataket. Alone as usual, we simply do not understand why power boaters in particular just go from marina to marina instead of enjoying all of the wonderful remote anchorages. From there we went to the other end of the island and anchored up in the Head of the Harbor. Some time ashore to wander the town and play a round of golf at Skinners.
From there it was back to Cape Cod for a couple of days where we rented a car and drove around stopping at every art gallery on route. Leaving Hyannis, we went around Monomoy Island and in thru the breach to Chatham Harbor with the seals.
It is about 60 miles from Chatham to Provincetown, this takes us along the National Seashore where there are only small pockets of development. Mostly it is beautiful beach with a cliff backdrop and only occasional groups of fisherman. En route we stopped to watch the whales frolicking and diving….what a sight! At Provincetown we joined the Hull Yacht Club gang and enjoyed the town and good friendship for a couple of days.
With the weather closing in, on Saturday we sprinted the 100 miles from Ptown to Portland, ME where we ended this leg of the summer’s journey.
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Leaving Wickford, we cruised Narragansett Bay down to Newport where we spent a night ashore while a fog blanket layed in. Three Legacy 32’s on the same dock, 8% of the total fleet.
On to Westport, MA to visit the Howes then on to Cutty Hunk on the Elizabethan Islands. Local oysters right off the boat.
Next stop was Marthas Vineyard to visit many old friends of Dan’s. On Chappaquiddick we had a change to play a wonderful little 9 hole course with Lionel Spiro, the only time Lola has had a chance to play with us.
After a little over a month on the boat, it was time to go home and check the mail.
