June 20, 2019 - July 7, 2019
I left Fairfield Bay, AR on Friday, June 21 late in the afternoon. My flight was delayed by an hour which caused me to arrive in Albuquerque at 11:00 pm. After getting my luggage and rental car I had a three and a half hour drive to Portales which is Southwest of of Albuquerque. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I arrived at my daughter Grace's house at 3:30 am. She showed me to a comfortable bedroom where I went to sleep ASAP. The next morning we decided to go to the escarpment which is a beautiful geological feature near Portales.
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| The high desert colors are more vibrant than I expected. |
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| Grace standing at the edge of the escarpment. You can see the winding road we traveled to get there. |
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| I'm always surprised to see such beautiful wildflowers growing in such rocky terrain. |
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| More hearty plants, this one is a thistle. |
On Sunday we decided to stay close to the house, but went out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Clovis, NM (a nearby town).
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| This antique stove in the entrance added to the decor of the restaurant. |
On Monday, June 24 I returned to the Albuquerque airport only to find out that my flight would be delayed since my plane was coming from Denver and Denver had 12 inches of snow fall the night before. I made it back to Baltimore exhausted, but happy to be home.
While I was away Bob had created a fold down sewing table for me in the quarter berth area. In the first few days I was home he attached it to the wall and created the leg to support the table.
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| Here I am using the sewing table for the first time. Perfect! |
I had agreed to create two sets of custom fitted sheets and mattress covers for another sailor in the marina. Sailboats traditionally have uniquely shaped mattresses in the berths.
I had taken the measurements and purchased the materials before I left on my trip so I was able to complete this project soon after returning to Baltimore.
Two sewing projects on my list were adding a zipper to the binnacle cover to make it easier to take on and off and creating insulated hatch covers to keep the cabin cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. I completed these projects in one day of sewing.
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| I created this forward hatch cover by following the instructions on a video by Sailrite. |
My daughter, Jessica, is moving to Johnstown, PA at the end of July. We have been getting together every Saturday to relax by the pool and lately I have gone over to her apartment to help her pack afterwards. She's lived in her apartment for ten years and has lots of packing to do!
On July 4th we relaxed most of the hot humid day, had hamburgers and potato salad for dinner, and watched the spectacular fire works from our boat's cockpit. Perfect day!
My next post will be about our sailing trip to Annapolis and our haul out in Galesville.
Thanks for reading my blog.
