Friday, 9/19/2008
– All our bags are packed and we’re ready to go. Well, not just bags, more like truck loads.
It took us too large moving trucks to get all of the Adams’ belongings to the 15 X 30 storage unit in Wolcottville
but it is all there. Thanks to the Lynch’s, Doug, Chuck, Philippe, and Grandpa Dave for all of the
help. It went pretty smooth and I think that it will work great to have everything so close to Dad.
I have never really considered myself materialistic but leaving that storage unit with all of the furniture that I
have loved over the years and of course some of my favorite clothes and shoes was not easy. I know that
it is just “stuff” but it does represent a time in our life that is now behind us. But it also
makes you realize that the stuff isn’t that important and that wherever we are together is our home.
Anyway, there is not much time to think.
We have to get ready to go back to Imagine. This will be the second big test. Three
weeks on the boat will be the longest that we have spent. I am very excited but a little nervous on how
the kids will do in their new home. Only time will tell.
Wednesday, 9/24/08
Left Chicago in our rental minivan loaded to the hilt with carrier on top loaded down as well. Jane
picked me up at the office at 5:30 and we were on the road….for 13 ½ hours! Solid driving
between Jane, Dave (Jane’s Dad) & Marc through the night we arrived the next morning to find Imagine sitting pretty
with her mast up on the Catskill Creek. Chicago to Catskill was 860 miles to Hop O Nose Marina.
We spent the rest of the day dropping off the rental car in Albany, loading up with groceries, finding a home for everything
on the boat & finishing up rigging the sails, hydraulics, bimini, and grill.
Friday,
9/26/08
The trip down the Hudson
begins. We left Catskill on Friday morning and started down the river. It was a cold
and rainy day but the view was beautiful. The huge homes over looking the river were fantastic and we started
learning about the history on the Hudson. Jane and Grandpa Dave were the teachers today and the nasty weather
gave us a great opportunity to catch up on school. We made it to Highland Falls, NY and tied up to the
marina by late afternoon. This was a beautiful little marina right by West Point. The
manager of the marina, Skeeter, was great and even drove us up to town for a little walk and our favorite treat – ice
cream. There is a very busy, but very noisy train that goes right by the marina. Although,
placing pennies on the tracks and seeing how flat that they could get was a hit for the kids, the noise became a little annoying.
It will definitely be an Ambien night for Marc. We had a nice dinner on Imagine and followed with
the movie, Oklahoma.
Saturday, 9/27/08
We started the day with Skeeter loading all
of us into his PT cruiser and cruising up to West Point for a tour. The day was a little nicer and we had
a great time. It is a beautiful place and full of historical significance. Grant is
studying US History for third grade and this was the perfect field trip. We were able to put a lot of his
new knowledge to use – Did you know that both Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant were grads at West Point? Grant did!
We had a great time and it was definitely worth the trip. If you are making the trip down the Hudson
I would definitely recommend spending a day at West Point and staying at Highland Falls marina. The hospitality
was great and West Point was a wealth of info for the kids and adults too.
After the tour we headed down the Hudson and into NYC! We sailed under the GW Bridge and reached
the 79th St Boat Basin at sundown. Due to the coming storm there were no mooring balls open
so we had to anchor – what a treat. With the tides, currents, and big boats going down the Hudson,
it was a pretty restless night. I’m not sure what’s worse Skeeter’s train or the Hudson.
Sunday – Tuesday, 9/28
through 9/30:
The Adams’ family does
NYC. Grandpa Dave joined us for three activity packed days. The hits of the trip were
seeing Mary Poppins – it was fabulous: Climbing the boulders in Central Park: Times
Square – 20 ft high Jonas Brothers: The view from the Empire State Building: I
think that we all agree that the best of all was the front row sail by the Statue of Liberty! It
was absolutely breath taking. Finally the rain left us, and we had a partly cloudy but beautiful day.
We picked up some good friends for the tour of NY Harbor and then started to motor the 6 ½ miles south on the
Hudson with great views of Manhattan along the way while dodging logs and tour boats. We got down to the
Statue of Liberty and spent about ½ hour getting great photos of everyone with Lady Liberty in the background.
It was awesome to get so close, and the weather couldn’t have been better. From Liberty Island,
we headed for the East River and made way for the Brooklyn Bridge. We’ve passed under a lot of bridges
on this trip so far, but taking the slight detour to go under the Brooklyn Bridge was well worth it! It
really is a magnificent bridge & I hope the pictures do it justice. As we dodged more boat traffic
& helicopters, we headed back to the 79th Street boat basin (our NYC home) and dropped our friends off, but
not before getting a mooring line caught in the bow prop – which I had to jump in the dingy and cut free and clear out
of the prop. Fortunately no damage, and yet another lesson learned. Marc & Dave
loaded the dingy and Jane took us to shore to catch a cab for our flight home. It was a great week and
was wonderful to spend it with Jane’s Dad – not sure who is going will be on dish clean up duty now??
Jane will spend the next couple of days exploring NYC with the kids and catching up on school work, as we prepare for
the next leg of the journey. We plan to head out on the open ocean and make our way to the Chesapeake via
the Delaware Bay and the C&D Canal.
