We are surviving the winter - hah!

I know, we shouldn't be complaining - it is San Diego and we do have very mild winters.

Beautiful Balboa Park

But, it is cold to us old people that are use to living in the tropics.

Catherine and Ryan @ Sunset Cliffs

We have purchased a heater, an electric blanket, and a de-humidifier. Oh my!

Enjoying beers and Ocean Beach

However, as I went through our pictures for this blog post, I decided to quit whining.

Sweet Panda!

We are at the beach in shorts and t-shirts and the skies are a gorgeous blue.

Doug and John checking out the tide pools

No more complaints from me - promise!

Stranded

Plus, we are loving living in a "destination city" and having company on Moondance.

Lots of Flamingos

Our nephew, Ryan, and his sweet wife Catherine came for a second visit.

They are so much fun and so easy to be with - we had a great visit.

Funny Monkeys

We spent a full day enjoying the San Diego Zoo (2nd best in USA), touring the tide pools at Cabrillo Monument, hanging out in Ocean Beach, and lots of time at the brew pubs of course!

View from Point Loma

Plus, we were fortunate to have John, my boss from Sandia, join us for a few days.  Fun catching up with him too.

Come back again soon, please!


Our Besties from Washington, Wanda and Steve, came to visit too.

Wanda and I have been friends since 8th grade (amazing!) and she is such a joy to be around.

Steve and Wanda @ beautiful Coronado Island

Lots of laughter and catching up, pub crawling, plus some tourist stuff of course!

Historic Coronado Hotel - wow!

We drove out to Coronado Island (my first time) and walked along the beautiful white sandy beach.

Interesting creatures in the Tide Pools

And, the Coronado Hotel is amazing - so much history.  Out of my budget, of course, but we loved wandering around.

It felt so good to have my toes back in the sand!

Cool stuff at the Air & Space Museum

While touring the tide pools at the Cabrillo Monument we were fortunate to be invited to share lunch with some sweet people.

First time for Iraqi food - it was excellent.

Never say No to free food and a chance to learn new cultures!

Adam promoting cruising in Fiji

And, we strolled thru the Air and Space museum - lots of great history. There are 17 museums in Balboa Park - we are just getting started.

And, then, it was time to say Good Bye (I don't like Good Bye's).

See you next time Wanda and Steve!

Next, we had a surprise visit from Adam - manager of Vuda Point Marina in Fiji. He was promoted cruising in Fiji, which we highly recommend.

Nice to catch up with you Adam!

Ospreys are back!

Looking back on February, no wonder we didn't get any boat work done.

We were busy, plus there is that whole work thing...

Before company - oh my

But all is well here in sunny San Diego.

Hope the same for all of you.

Spring is just around the corner and more company is coming to visit.

We better get busy!

I just turned around...

And, it was 2018.  How did that happen?  But, I am happy to put 2017 to Bed!

Big windows = lots of decorations!

It has been a big roller coaster with big highs and big lows.  Fortunately...

Too much? Nah!

It all turned out well. 

Catherine and Ryan - Sweet As!

We have jobs (kind of), a new boat and home, our families are doing well, and we are enjoying San Diego and love having company come and visit us.

I have high hopes that 2018 is going to be fabulous!

Me and Mom - always in the kitchen

Wrapping up 2017 included a quick trip to Texas to have Thanksmas with the Family.

Thanksmas with the Family

Lots of laughter, games, too much food, and family. 

Plus hours putting together a Wasgij puzzle.

Love those puzzles, but this was a tough one!

Phil and Danette come to visit!

Phil and Danette flew down from the cold Northwest to spend Christmas with us on Moondance.  The weather cooperated!

Checking out the coast

We spent 6 days touring San Diego and checking out the local pubs and eateries, plus playing tourist.

San Diego is a big city and we are just starting to explore. Always more fun when company is in town and you take time off work - hah.

Visit to Old Town

A special treat, having friends from High School days drive down from Long Beach area and join us.

Good times with old friends and family

We spent hours just talking and catching up, plus a pub crawl in OB - which is always fun. We loved spending time with all of you - thanks for coming!

Good stuff just grows on trees

New Year's Eve was just the two of us.

Tree art?

We wandered around the Hood checking out the pubs and watching the festivities and then back on Moondance just in time to ring in the New Year.

Unfortunately, no fireworks on the water. Oh well, we had a good time, plus got our exercise.

Chasing down electrical wires

Nice to just spend time with my Sweetie!

Even with all of the fun stuff and the goofy work schedules, we still had time for some boat work.

Doug is working on electrical issues and other fun stuff.  I continue to sand, varnish, and paint.  Oh boy! 

Enjoying the sunshine (and a beer)

Moondance is looking better all the time - of course, we have a long way to go...

Hope your December was fun and festive and you appreciated all the time with your family and friends - as we did.

Happy 2018 - may it be good to all of us.

Cheers!

PS:  Getting ready for more company.  Yeah!

Enjoying Life in the Big City!

A Big Wedding, concerts, a play, strolling thru beautiful Balboa Park, Turkey Trot, and off to Texas we go!

November has been a busy blur, but we have had a great time trying to keep up with it all.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs.!

First, the most important event.  Our wonderful friends, Ana and Rauno, flew from La Paz to get married here in San Diego.

Celebrating the Big Day at Balboa Park

We are so happy that we could celebrate their new beginning and we are wishing Ana and Rauno many many years of happiness and love.

Thanks for letting us be a part of your Big Day!

California Tower - Balboa Park

So, working backwards now...
on Thanksgiving Day, we signed up for Father Joe's Village 16th Annual Thanksgiving Day 5K.

Making our move - passing!

We are so glad we did - what an experience.

I liked their faces!

7500+ men, women, children, dogs (and TRex), ran, trotted, and walked to raise money for San Diego's homeless.

TRex - our hero

Father Joe's Village prepares and serves close to 1 million meals to our homeless neighbors in need. 

Good works.
We will do it again next year (if we are still in town)!

Getting some Culture at Ocean Beach

We got lucky and found out about the Ocean Beach (OB) Restaurant Walk, which benefits the local toy and food drive.

There were 48 restaurants, bars, and breweries involved in the walk.  All serving samples of their favorite dishes, tastings of beer, and all kinds of good stuff.

Meeting new friends - Derek and Terri

It was great!

Just because

We only made it to ~15 - way short of our goal to visit them all - hah.

But, we were fortunate to have met Derek and Terri - friends of the family (Anessa and Eric) - who took us to all of their favorite places.

Look forward to spending more time with them, plus signing up for next year's walk!

Strolling around Liberty Station

We celebrated our birthdays with concerts.  My gift was seeing the Tedeschi Trucks Band.  A little too much jamming, but loved hearing her voice.

Doug's gift, seeing Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie.  They put on a great show!

We also found a small local theatre - inexpensive and entertaining.  We will go back for sure.

Working in the Man Cave

And of course, there is a little work thrown in... 

Everyone should have an aquarium...

Our list continues to grow and our progress is slow. 

Between jobs and fun stuff, we have lots going on and not doing well at prioritizing.

Busy day on the Bay

Oh well, we really are enjoying San Diego and being back in the USA.  Lots to see and do and lots of visitors - our kind of place.

Grinch is in Town

Excited about spending ThanksMas with our family in Texas.  A quick trip, but it will be crazy fun.

Life is good for the crew of Moondance.  Hope the same is true for you and yours.

Now, it is time to get ready for company - yeah!

Sunrise on the Bay

Enjoy your holidays and your family time - make it special!

Festivals, a Birthday, and Lots of Baseball!

And more fun, of course!

We are enjoying beautiful Fall weather here in San Diego.

So pretty! (Thanks Kenny for the photo)

It is a little cooler at night, lots of dew on the deck in the morning, ocean temperature is dropping, and a few trees are changing color.

Other than that, it feels just like summer.  Good thing we don't miss the four seasons!

Enjoying the Blues

One of the best parts about being back in California - there is always a festival going on and we love them.

San Diego Blues Festival

We got lucky.  A friend at work won VIP tickets to the San Diego Blues Festival and didn't want to go.
We did and had a great time.

All kinds of wonderful blues, plus we like being VIP's even for a short time.

Not quite!

In celebration of Doug's birthday, we took the weekend off work - yeah!

 A pub crawl, a party on Moondance, and we attended the Adams Avenue Street Fair.

Land Ho

The Fair has been going on for 36 years, which is pretty amazing.

Lots of vendors, food, and over 80 local bands.

Fiery sunset

But, 3 days of partying wore us out - we must be getting old!

Nice to see Dietmar again!

Another reason we love being back in California is seeing family and friends. 

It has been a long time since we have had a "home" in the USA and have missed company just stopping by.

Dietmar (s/v Carinthia) came to visit recently. 

Paint does its magic again

We haven't seen him since Fiji days.  Loved catching up with him again - even for a short time.

It was fun spending time with Patsy and Tim (s/v Talion) too.  Last seen in Mexico in 2011.

Perfectly safe!

And, nephew Kenny (from Reno) came by for dinner an overnighter.

We have enjoyed the company for sure!

In our spare time, we have been getting Moondance prettied up and are happy to report, the guest cabin is done (almost) and ready for company.

It is amazing what lots of sanding and 4 coats of paint can do.  Of  course, our cabin is a mess!

Life is a beach

Doug is busy putting in a fancy new head/toilet, fixing the wiring, and all kinds of fun stuff - in his spare time...

Plus, fixing things that suddenly break. It is a boat, ya know!

And, it's time for Baseball playoffs - we love this time of year.  So many games, which means lots of time at the pubs. Go Cubbies!

We are thinking about everyone everywhere that has been in the path of disasters this year.  So many struggling.  Hoping they can get control over those wildfires up north... Scary stuff.