Oct 9

My how time flies! Poof, here we are back aboard the TUMBLEWEED. Somehow we managed to spend two years at Ditto Landing...two new engines and a new polish job....we are getting ready to head out to Joe Wheeler for the fall Looper  Rendezvous...Oct 14-17. They will probably all head south but we have other plans. My mom and Floyd's sister are going to join us for some fun at the Biltmore....Dakota, the wonder dog, is going to enjoy a stay at Bark Avenue. We probably won't head south til after  the 25th. Plans are for us to be in Mobile on Nov 6. We'll leave the boat at Dog River Marina over the holidays for bottom paint, new crew air conditioner, and a few other repairs. 2014 plans include boating to Key West and Bahamas....new canvas and salon carpet....and who knows what else. He has convinced me to do the loop again....though I've encouraged him to include some guys to go through the ugly parts....I'll stay home....or maybe not?? Stay tuned to see how this works out! For now, we are re-organizing , training and playing with the dog! He's pretty cute and well behaved! Floyd, too!!

Best of plans....change. We went the other direction. Took a seven hour ride back to Jones Creek to anchor out for the night. Testing the dog and our house batteries. In spite of hourly attempts to get him to use "turf" and potty pads...Dakota, the wonder dog, went over 22 hours without any action! We took a dinghy ride to shore bright and early Sunday morning for relief. We knew he had to go...and oh, boy, did he! House batteries didn't fair much better. We ended up running the generator in the middle of the night. Captain says new batteries before fall rendezvous time! All in all, it was a very pleasant night on the hook. Temps in the 60s...Rain clouds moved in mid-morning...so when there was a break in the action, we anchored up and headed to Guntersville Marina. It was a very windy and somewhat rainy four hour ride....but we liked it! Dakota loves it here....dog walk area and pet friendly. We are a little disappointed....stopped here to try the restaurant ....which is closed on Sundays.....such is life! Monday we will head back to Ditto Landing.

Life is good...running water has returned! New kitchen faucet righted that situation. Chores keeo getting checked off the list. Dakota is adjusting quite nicely! He experienced his first dinghy ride today....hopped right in and didn't seem to mind the whole life jacket experience. His first TUMBLEWEED ride also happened this afternoon...after a moment or two of  anxiousness, he settled in and tried to find a spot....but with Norm, our mechanic, and his nephew Mason aboard...spots were few and far between. Cuddled up to mommy seemed the best option....that is until she needed to work the lines and fenders....but again, we have no complaints. He has traveled well and adjusted just fine ....we are learning lots. Like travel with ALL his papers...spent a major part of my day tracking down a trifexcus pill (seems we forgot to bring them...and without paperwork would have been a major expense). He is learning a few things as well...like...don't dig up ant hills! What an experience that was...for all of us! We are planning a little trip down to Joe Wheeler on Wednesday or Thursday ...anchoring out will force us to use the indoor potty routine...we'll see how that works. And no one has been in the water yet...heat keeps up and we'll all be swimming soon! Oh, I really need some photos...I'll work on that! Stay tuned!

WOW! To say it has been a busy year would be quite the understatement! So much has happened it is hard to know where to begin! I suppose I should start by saying I've spent too much time on Facebook and obviously neglected the blog! I'll give you the short version...and then promise to do better!

November gave us a new four legged roommate....Dakota, the wonder dog.....December holidays and the birth of my first grandson, Ryne Maxmillion.....January arrived with a vengeance and took Floyd's best friend Gene away from us forever....February took my dad to finally be at rest (Alzheimer's is an awful awful disease)... We got married the second of March and left on our 25 day honeymoon April 5....spent a delightful, interesting and relaxing time cruising the Atlantic and then touring Italy. We were home almost four weeks before heading back to Huntsville, Alabama, and our lovely TUMBLEWEED.

Our purpose here this time is to acclimate the almost 9 month old puppy to boating life....and break in the new starboard engine. Dakota is doing great! He traveled well and settled right in to wearing a life jacket. He seems more than hesitant to do the wooden steps inside the boat so has managed to take over the salon area. He loves the freedom of running the big hill outside our dock which could prove interesting once we return to the condo. We continue to do something new each day...still on the list at this point is actual cruising and, the all important, swim lesson!

We've been here since Wednesday afternoon....takes a bunch of work to get this open and ready to live aboard. Our cabinets were empty...water system winterized....so major grocery shopping and clean up required, made more interesting with a puppy on board. We still have no running water ...kitchen faucet is to be replaced this morning which should solve that issue. But, as you well know, that could NOT be the case...I'm sure other  issues will arrive to keep us on the alert.

At this point, we have plenty to do through the weekend...Monday we cruise a while with Norm, our favorite mechanic, aboard. From there we'll do a couple of day trips, etc...got to put 20+ hours on this engine. Plans now are to be headed home June 19. Stay tuned to see how that works for us. Like I said, I'll try to do better at blogging....that Facebook is addictive!

Dakota does like Floyd...which is a good thing!

Seems to be a neat and tidy one...putting all his toys in one place...and then collapsing.

Under the chair in the living room seems to be his favorite spot...he can catch almost all the action from there...and believe me, he doesn't want to miss anything. 

He is an adorable ball of fur!!!

What a great Looper convention!!! Floyd and I volunteered to help with set up for the registration...our effort to get to know some of the in crowd. Can't say that worked but we sure did. That first afternoon Jim and Elaine (who drove down from London, On, Canada) came by our boat and Floyd invited them aboard. We became fast friends and they adopted us for the rest of the week. We had such fun hanging out with them. It was so good to catch up with Larry and Cindy aboard BUCKET LIST...they started their Loop Sept 1st...and re-connect with Nanse and Rik aboard NANSEANN who also just started the Loop...(we adopted them last year!!!) We also spent time with a very nice "boat less" couple from Joplin, Dale and Peg Janssen and their dog, Pete. We fell head over heels in love with Pete....and the more we knew the better we liked him. He met all of Floyd's rather extensive list of DOG MUST HAVES...and before you could say let's get a dog...we were on the phone negotiating for Pete's half brother...Dakota.  So back to Ditto Landing...close up TUMBLEWEED...drive to Wichita...arrive home on Saturday evening. We spent the first part of the week catching up on laundry and making doggie purchases. Thursday we drove to Harrisonville MO and picked up our new male child...a 7 pound ball of fur. Dakota is an Australian Labradoodle...who will mature at about 25 pounds and 18 inches...in the meantime he is very much puppy...quickly becoming spoiled and not so quickly potty trained..but, hey, it has only been 24 hours. He is already enrolled in Puppy Training 101...so stay tuned...photos will follow....

How life changes on a phone call. Norm Lindsey, the local mechanic who replaced our port engine this spring, has voiced serious concerns about the starboard engine. So we are taking a short cruise tomorrow to attend the Looper convention...and then returning to Ditto Landing next week to have him replace that engine next summer...with a new grand baby boy, wedding and honeymoon on the horizon, we can wait this out. Saved us a day of driving and musical cars...no need to boat travel those miles to Grand Rivers/ Green Turtle Bay and store TUMBLEWEED on the hard... we should be back in Wichita early...all things we can handle.  Sad news for those of you counting on having TUMBLEWEED ADVENTURES to look at for the next couple of weeks...its a day trip to Joe Wheeler and then back. The funny (or is it ironic???) part is that we have been saying for the last year that we are getting a new boat...Johnny Cash style...one part at a time...I think this will just about do that!!!!