Aaaak! If you're a Gator fan, and you haven't already read about it, you can get it all here on GatorSports.com

Seems his 24-hour-a-day 7-day-a-week super high pressure job is getting to him!! Oh how I can identify with that.

But, I also agree with Dave's cousin Bryan, the quintessential Gator fan:

"Why us?
Just when things were set for years.
Wonder if Bobby Bowden needs a job?
I'm on suicide watch!"

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Labels: Florida Gators, USA 2009

Today is the SEC Championship game, and our team, the #1 ranked Florida Gators, go against the #2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. We are, of course, rooting for the Gators. We are not sure we'll be able to watch the game, but we're going to try.

The owner of Puerto Amistad, the cruiser facility where we are, is from Alabama, so he's committed to trying to get a video feed off the internet. We're just not sure how we'll do. It might also be televised on the Ecuadorean cable, since it is such a big game.

Labels: Ecuador, Florida Gators, USA 2009

We couldn't be at the game, and we barely had good enough internet to keep up with the scoring with ESPN's GameCast (a data feed).

But here is Dave's cousin Bryan's account of watching the game. Bryan is a true Gator fan, with season tickets and all, and when he says he's never seen anything like it...

Assume y'all know by now that the mighty #1 Gators rolled over the unranked Criminoles 37-10 last Saturday at the Swamp.

It was packed with prox. There were an additional 20,000 Gator fans tailgating without tickets, outside the stadium.

You could feel the electricity in the stands especially during the first half.
The noise level was unbelievable until we were ahead by 30! I just got my voice back today.

It was senior day, and when they announced Tim Tebow they joint went nuts. I thought my ear drums would explode! It even brought tears to #15 as he waved to the Gator Nation.
He ran for 2 TD's and passed for 3. Good finish against an average team.

It was 30-0 when the Criminoles decided to try a field goal--a give up play only trying not to be shut out! Their starters scored late in the 4th quarter against our 3rd team players who hadn't got in a game this year along with some volunteers from the student section.

During Tebow's final drive early in the 4th quarter, all of a sudden 30,000 plus flash bulbs started going off all around the Swamp every time he went to the line of scrimmage. For about 10 plays it looked like a gigantic Christmas lights display. I even got my cell phone out and took some pixs too. I've never seen anything like it ever!

After the blow out, #15 went all around the stadium shaking hands with his fans who were leaning over the railing. The whole stadium stayed (except for the Injun crowd who headed back to their reservation) yelling Tebow-Tebow!!

Even I got emotional.

It was a game to remember.

Next week Alabama (12-0) for the SEC championship and the BCS title game.

Labels: Florida Gators, USA 2009

Well, the fun is over and it's time to get back to work.

We fly from Miami today for Quito, Ecuador, and then fly to Guayaquil tomorrow. We should be back on Soggy Paws by tomorrow night.

We will be lugging our usual 4 big suitcases full of 'boat parts' and 'specialty food items' back with us. Not just ours, but small critical parts for 2-3 other boaters in Ecuador. (Hopefully we won't have trouble going through Customs).

Then the fun starts... we need to put 8+ coats of epoxy and bottom paint on. Click on our 'Maintenance' link to see all the bottom products we have stored up waiting for us.

Labels: USA 2009

I woke up this morning wondering where I was.


We are in Brooks, Georgia, outside of Atlanta, at my sister's house for a family "Thanksgiving". We won't be in the U.S. for Thanksgiving this year, so we decided to have it a little early.

The Gray Family 'Nieces' Show Off Their Gifts

Tucker Heintz, the newest addition to the Gray Clan
Waiting for someone to come play with him
I lay in bed and counted up how many different beds we have slept in since we left Soggy Paws in early September... 23!!

3 Countries, 4 States, and 23 different places we have stayed. No wonder I am tired!! I would like to stay longer in the U.S. and relax (and socialize) a little more, but we are looking forward to getting back on board and getting ready to go into the Pacific.

As of yesterday, we are one week from leaving to go back to Ecuador. We rented a car yesterday in Daytona and dropped Dave's car off at my brother's house in Hawthorne, for storage until we come back next fall. We used the rental car to drive on up to Atlanta, and will use it for a week and drop it off with Budget in Miami.

On the rental car... I was amazed at the price difference in renting from different airports. I have always been aware of a minor price difference between different rental offices--where an airport might be charging an airport tax and a local office won't. But after checking rentals from Melbourne, Orlando, Daytona, and Gainesville airports, we found that renting from Daytona airport was MUCH cheaper. We got a nice brand new Pontiac that only had 92 miles on it! Nice for driving.

Labels: USA 2009

We had an enjoyable weekend in Eustis, going to Dave's 45th high school reunion. It is the first he has attended, so we saw some classmates that he hasn't seen for 45 years. Carole Kelsey Bozeman, who was the main organizer, did a great job of pulling it off. I enjoyed meeting some of the people that Dave has been talking about, and reading the Eustis High newspaper for his graduating class.

Saturday night, we got to watch the #1 Gators beat the #4 LSU Tigers. We've been holding our breath over QB Tim Tebow's health. But in the end, everything turned out OK. Go Gators! It was nice to actually WATCH the game.. instead of 'watching' it on a virtual football field via and ESPN data feed.

And on Sunday, we actually played a full 18 holes of golf in the 94 degree heat, with a couple of Dave's Naval Acadamy buddies. We just about died out there in the heat.

Labels: USA 2009

I am way behind on my blog. I do plan to add some blog posts on our French Canal Boat trip. But if I wait til I have time for that before I post anything else, I'll be even further behind.

We flew back from Ramstein Air Force Base on Tuesday night on a C-17 cargo plane. It has a big cargo hold with bench seats along each side. We were the only cargo, though. So we were able to lay a blanket on the floor of the cargo hold and get some sleep. But it was cold and noisy--not as nice as the C-5 we flew over on, but still got us there.


While we were waiting in Ramstein, we saw a whole planeload of troops heading for Kuwait, presumably to be deployed in Iraq or Afganistan. Our hearts are with all those fine young people.

On Weds night we stopped off in Jacksonville to visit cruising friend Tom Service, who's anchored out off Julington Creek Marina.

Yesterday, we thankfully pulled into Satellite Beach.

This afternoon we set off again for Eustis, FL, where we will be attending Dave's high school reunion. He is excited about seeing old friends after so long.

On Sunday we have a golf game scheduled with a couple of Dave's Naval Academy friends.

Next week Dave has Jury Duty in Clearwater, but he's going to drop me off in Satellite Beach before he returns to Clearwater to do his civic duty. We are hoping his commitment is short!

Labels: Europe 2009, USA 2009

We've been too busy with friends, doctors, and shopping to make updates on Facebook or our blog. But we're setting out today on the first leg of our journey to the canals of France.

We drive from Satellite Beach to Charleston today. Hopefully we will get on the military flight leaving Charleston AFB this afternoon for Ramstein AFB in Germany. Then we have a couple of days to get to Paris, where we have a timeshare for a week (thanks to friends Sam and Nancy). We hope to see a little of Paris and some WWII sites as well.

Then on Sep 26, we pick up our 'canal boat' from Le Boat, for a week on the Gray to Branges segment of the canals in Burgundy (Gray is SW of Dijon about 50 miles). We are sharing a 6-person boat with 2 other couples, so the expense is reasonable. We have rented 4 bikes for the week, and only have about 10-15 miles to go per day. So there's plenty of time for sightseeing and wineries.

I'll do my best to keep up with the posts on my blog (which also post on Facebook).

We'll be back in the U.S. around Oct 8.

Labels: Europe 2009, USA 2009

Well, after 2 months in Chile and Argentina, and another month in the U.S., we are headed back to Soggy Paws today.

In our travels in the U.S., we flew 4500 miles and drove another 3000 miles, and visited people in 4 states. Dave managed to fit in 4 days of golf, and Sherry managed one race on her old racing boat, Fast Lane. We made at least 6 trips to Walmat, a few to West Marine, and several to Lowes, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware. We're carrying about 150 lbs of 'stuff' back to the boat with us.

The trip back sounds like a nightmare, but it really was a pretty easy flight. We flew Spirit Airlines from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale and then to Bogota, Colombia. From there we took an Avianca flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador. All our luggage arrived intact.

The only hitch was that when we presented our paid e-Ticket at the Avianca counter for the flight into Ecuador, they wanted to see our return ticket. No amount of discussing would change the agent's mind. But she personally took us to the Avianca reservations counter, and made us a reservation for a return ticket... but it was only a reservation... not a paid ticket. (Note: never asked for when we arrived in Ecuador).

We spent 2 nights here in Guayaquil at the Manso Boutique Hotel, right on the Malecon. Though we had a list of recommended cheap hotels from other cruisers, we got this one off Trip Advisor and booked it via HostelWorld.com. Carrying so much luggage, we didn't want to arrive with no reservation. It is $40/night and in a GREAT location.

We take a bus this morning to Bahia de Caraquez, so we should be back on Soggy Paws by 5pm. We are so looking forward to getting 'home'!

Labels: Ecuador, USA 2009

One of the other events that we came back to the States for was the birth of my neice Sally's baby, Tucker. We spent a couple of nights in Brooks, Georgia with them, visiting.

Tucker and Grandma Joanie
Tucker seems to be over his 'colic' (now termed 'acid reflux'), and sleeping well.


We are looking forward to watching Tucker grow, now that our own 'babies' are 30 and 23 years old!

Labels: USA 2009

We spent a weekend with some of Dave's Naval Academy friends.

The last one of these Dave went to was called 'Fish Kill 2007'. So when Dave urged them to organize a get together in the Spring, around a whitewater rafting trip, it was termed 'Raft Drown'.

Since the 'interested parties' all were in Florida, we ended up bagging the idea of a raft trip in North Carolina, and instead went canoeing down the Peace River, near Arkadia, FL. We used the Peace River Canoe Outpost as our outfitters.


The highlight of the trip was digging for sharks teeth in the river. We found mostly Dugong bone fragments instead, but we did get one decent shark's tooth.

We took lunch along and had a nice picnic on the sandbar.

And we found a 'rope swing' and had a ball swinging into the water. (Just goes to show that you're never too old for silly stuff!).



Dave, however, is more interested in looking for more sharks teeth. However, all he finds are more Dugong bones.

Our Loot from the Day's Trip

More on Florida Fossil Hunting

Labels: USA 2009

Well, the happy couple had a very nice wedding. The weather mostly cooperated, no last-minute disasters, no cold feet.

Chris chose to dress in traditional McCampbell tartan, and his entourage followed suit, too. They looked very nice. Here's a picture of all the wedding party, showing off their legs.



We are now on our way back to Florida, with a busy week planned (we will be staying in 6 different places in 7 days!) :P

Labels: USA 2009

Though I do have some legitimate excuses (lots of travel, jet lag, a cold), one of the main reasons I haven't caught up on our travel posts on the blog is because we got a new computer when we stopped in Satellite Beach.

Just before we left Ecuador, we helped a fellow cruiser out who was in desperate straits... no charts and his navigation PC had crashed. He was in a hurry to make the trip from Ecuador to Panama, and couldn't get a computer in Ecuador for a reasonable price. So we sold him our old Dell 1000, stuffed with all our navigation software, for $250. And then we turned around and bought this new Eee PC for only $379. So I have spent all my spare time in the last few days trying to get all my stuff moved over to the new computer. (I am only about halfway there!)

The model I got is the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Netbook. It is small, great for traveling, but not too small to be usable as a laptop. It has built-in microphone and speakers, AND a webcam. So great/easy for doing Skype on the road. AND it has an 8 hour battery, for those long bus/airplane rides, and a really solid case, necessary for the abuse that my laptops take.

It doesn't come with a CD/DVD, so you have to buy that extra. I bought a Samsung from Amazon for about $$65 that will run totally off the USB, without having to plug it into external power.

I also bought a copy of Microsoft Streets and Trips 2009 and a cute little USB GPS. Though Streets and Trips has a version that comes with a GPS, I chose to get an alternative GPS because the reviews on its receiver were much better than the MSoft one.

We've been having fun playing with it. I was amazed that the GPS actually receives a good signal inside our hotel room (my Garmin eTrex would never do that).

We will move the used Dell D400 that I bought last year to be our 'primary navigation computer'. It uses much less power than the older Dell with the Pentium 4 processor that we sold (that was part of our motivation for selling it). And this new Eee PC will be configured as a full backup for our navigation computer, in case we need it, as well as be our primary 'road trip' computer.

My very nice (but heavy, and also rusting) 17" HP laptop that I bought in 2006 is still working, but the LCD screen is dead. The cost to get a replacement screen was a whopping $400, so we opted to buy a new computer instead! It is now in deep storage aboard as a last ditch backup, usable only with an external monitor.

Labels: Electronics, USA 2009

Here are a few things that we really missed during our last 6 months in Latin America:

- Soft toilet paper (the average TP in S.A. is like using the pages of a phone book!)
- English language... everything is SO much easier when you are fluent in the language!
- Clean bathrooms, with seats on the toilets, paper in the stalls, soap and towels at the wash basins
- Triscuits (very hard to find outside the U.S.)
- Salad dressings (Chile has decent salads but only oil and vinegar)
- Veggies with dinner (though Chile has lots of veggies, they never seem to serve them with meals!)
- Cheeses (they are just not cheese people in Latin America... what cheese you can find is bland and unappetizing)
- Friends and family (hard to find 3,000 miles from home!)
- English language TV
- Walmart

We are enjoying San Diego.

Labels: USA 2009

Yes, we are in San Diego! Between traveling and having fun, I've gotten behind on the blog. We do plan a few updates to cover our train ride to Santiago, the fun we had in Santiago, and our short stay in Lima Peru. But I thought I'd at least update where we were.

After landing in Ft. Lauderdale, we rented a car and drove down to the French Consulate in Miami, where we had an appointment to submit our paperwork for a French Long Stay Visa for French Polynesia next year. (it went smoothly... I knew more about the process than the girl I submitted the paper work to did).

We spent a little time in Ft. Lauderdale, stopping at Bluewater Books, West Marine, and Sailorman (and only bought one thing--a 50 amp circuit breaker!) Then drove up to Satellite Beach for the night.

On Tuesday, we drove to Orlando and caught a Southwest Airlines flight to San Diego, arriving late in the evening in San Diego. We were pleasantly surprised at the nice experience with Southwest. Southwest is a budget airline like Spirit, but just way more laid back. The flights were half empty, so there was plenty of space and the attendants were having a good time. Southwest has installed seat banks in their waiting areas that are cushy seats, with 110v and USB power plugs, and wifi. Nice!

Anyway, we are in San Diego for a week to go to Dave's son Chris's wedding, and visit some other friends and family.

We got a recent update from the guy that's visiting Soggy Paws weekly and checking things out. Everything is good on Soggy Paws, in Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador.

Labels: USA 2009

Daughter Nicki has been opening our mail, and told me that I have been called up for Jury Duty AGAIN (I just served in December). I wasn't too worried about it, because now that I'm an 'old hand' at Jury Duty, I know I can go to the website and request an excusal. The reasons are limited to very specific reasons, but 'Served within the Last 12 Months' is an option. However, we just heard that my request to be excused was denied. I also put in the text of the request for excusal that we were in South America. So I was just amazed that they denied my request.

There were so many lame excuses given by others when I served in December, I can't believe that 'I just served 6 months ago' and 'I am semi-permanently out of the country' didn't work!!! And that they really expect me to fly back from South America for jury duty!!??

I have showed up to serve every other time that I've been asked, and have never actually served on a jury... after a day or two of screwing around, I have always been dismissed. I can't believe they wouldn't let me off ahead of time with a fairly legitimate excuse.

It was a big inconveniece for me to show up to serve in December, but the main reason I did it was to them be less likely to be called up later.

There is not an easy way to argue our point--the form letter we got back said that any additional requests have to be taken up with the judge on the day we report. I can't find a fax number. So we are going to mail a paper letter with a Chilean stamp and basically just not show. Let them send the court officers to get me.

Labels: USA 2009

Cruisers Watching the Ceremonies
We, like the rest of the world, watched the inauguration of our new president with a lot of hope that he can turn things around. Not just the economic situation, but also the 'America as the bad guys' situation.

Good luck, Barack Obama! Let's all pull together and get things going again!!

Labels: USA 2009