New Mexico, Illinois, Michigan, California, Arizona
07/03/2003 - 09/08/2003
"Make new friends, but keep the old...". During the past year of sailing, many new friendships were created. Our road trip allowed us to visit several old friends as well as family. And, we managed to see a few new friends as well. We did not get to see anywhere near all the people we hoped to see.
In the Midwest, we stayed with Robin's sister and family in Chicago as well as Duncan's parents in Traverse City, Michigan. New friends, Chris & Chris from Spirit Wind, met us in Santa Fe. Up and down the coast of California, we tried to see as many friends as possible, but we underestimated how much time we needed to do this. Stops in San Francisco, Mountain View, Santa Barbara, Long Beach and San Diego allowed us to catch up with a number of folks. Finally, Robin's mom and husband flew out to Tucson for a visit.
Kari and Bruce (Robin's sister and brother-in-law) and Bruce's parents Marge and Bob treated us to a great dinner at their golf club.
Do Duncan and his mom look alike or what?
Duncan's parents - Bob & Judy
Robin's brother-in-law, Bruce, took us for a drive in his car full of way cool gadgets. Duncan wants one of these.
Kate, our niece -- and her ride.
Duncan's folks drove us to Bay Harbor to check out the beautiful area and to eat lunch. Too bad the waitress/photographer didn't move just one step more to the right...
Robin's mom, Kathy, and her husband Dave flew to from Florida to Tucson to visit us.
Our nephew, Reid, gave us the scoop on MP3s and iPods. We now own an iPod thanks to Reid's convincing marketing.
Budweiser, the lab, stresses out about our visit.
Friends
Dos Chreeses (aka 2 Chrises, aka the Spirit Winds) drove to Santa Fe to visit us...okay, so Chris's mom lives there and they wanted to visit her, too.
While sitting on MR Destiny in San Diego, Marianne and Robin reminisce about the good times traveling together in Mexico.
Beth and Larry - Duncan's longtime friend from high school and her wonderful husband. Beth is in the process of fighting a nasty cancer. A major cancerous brain tumor was removed in June-- but she is in great spirits. She's now finished with radiation treatments and continuing chemo with a decent prognosis.
Fellow Hallberg-Rassy owners and great friends, Jim and Catherine, treated us to scrumptious wines and cheeses at their apartment.
We celebrated our anniversary with friends Mike and Tracy and Jim & Catherine.
Mike and Tracy hope to go cruising this year on their new boat, Morning Star
Russ, Leslie and Gabe met us for Thai food in Palo Alto. Our fingers are crossed that they won the bid on the house.
Richard, Marianne's husband and Mr. MR Destiny, informs us that MR Destiny, a beautiful Tayana 37, is for sale. Check her out on MR Destiny's website
Chris and Duncan do the macho guy thing with the Chris's newest toy, Rover - the Sportsmobile.
Good friends and realtors, Rose & Bill, let us stay at their house and hosted a great BBQ.
We met up with Susan from Tavana for lunch in Long Beach. Too bad Greg had to work.
A quick visit on the dock allowed us to see Cindy from Sobre El Mar.
We enjoyed at great dinner with Scott & Julie at a Greek restaurant in Mountain View.
Not only did friends Scott & Julie invite us to stay with them, but also they threw a BBQ with a bunch of Robin's friends from her job at Kintana (now a subsidiary of Mercury Interactive). As a result, we got to catch up with lots of folks.
Furthermore, Scott gave Robin the scoop on the Kintana acquisition by Mercury Interactive. Julie, manager of a floral shop, shared some very funny stories about life in the retail business. If you ever need someone to prepare the flowers for an event, Julie is extremely talented.
Scott prepares the guacamole for the BBQ.
The hostess with the mostess, Julie, chats with Michelle
Greg sports a new haircut while telling some funny story.
Hey Dave, look at the camera.
Scott and Fred discuss the vineyard business
Meara, Nate and Jenny smile for the camera.
Mandy recently married...
Mark recently married...(connect the dots)