We are here....and what a mess it was. Seems that the electricity had been off for quite some time. Needless to say the chicken in the freezer was more than rank. We could smell the boat when we flew over!!! We managed to get that all straightened out and began working on our list of things to do. The biggie was getting the dinghy rigged, installed and mounted to the swim platform. That should be completed on Monday. As we near the end of all the other items on the list, we are planning a couple of shake down day cruises this weekend. One to Grafton and another to Alton. If all goes well, then we plan to pull out of Polestar Marina and head toward Kentucky on Tuesday, July 22. We've heard that the Cumberland River is pleasure boat friendly and at this point we are thinking that anything is better than where we are. There is a real reason they call the Mississippi the "big Muddy". It is!!!! and smells bad too. We are a month behind and heading in a totally different direction than we had originally planned. But what the heck...we are having fun on a Big Boat.

Water Water everywhere...can't get to the boat so we are staying put for another week...now plan to leave Wichita on July 14th. With projects and chores to complete on the boat before taking off, our trip is in the delay mode. We are re-thinking all those plans we had for the summer. Stay tuned for further developments.

Yes, all this flooding has caused us to re-think our journey. Reliable sources say we can not even get to the boat. Waters in the St Charles area are not expected to crest until Friday, June 27th. For now, we are planning to head to the boat on Monday, July 7th. Though issues with the air conditioner may cause a delay in that as well. No reason to be in a hurry. We are NOT planning to be going to go north along the Upper Mississippi but rather will head south past St Louis, turn left at Cairo, Ill. and make our way to the Nashville area. More details as they develop...if you are planning a trip that direction, we hope you'll plan to visit us. Til then computers and cell phones will be our connections. Keep in touch.

With new interior treatments, she is up to date and ready for adventures....

She's looking good and ready for water...

The new drapes are hung...the new furniture has been placed...she is back in the water, updated and ready to roll. What do you think?

Floyd is hard at work studying navigation and boat handling at Chapman's School of Seamanship in Stuart, Florida. The weather there is "just awful". So I had to go check it out. Oh, the suffering!!!!!