PICTURES FROM MONAHAN SAND HILLS STATE PARK, WEST TEXAS

Just some pictures of one of the coolest state parks in Texas.

This is why I hate dates on pictures.....half the time they are wrong and you don't notice.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Greg / Clear, warm.... high 69
01/15/2012, Seminole, TX

OUR HOME ON THE ROAD

Just who in the world are we?

Greg: retired military helicopter pilot, former residential general contractor, currently a HEMS (helicopter emergency medical service) pilot.

Dahleen: former military service member (10 years), retired real estate agent, wonderful wife and help-mate to Greg. :-)

Combined we have:

a daughter-Lindsay with husband Geoff, and our two grand-daughters, Reece and Addie;

a son-Angel and our grandson, Tristan.

I know, I know...we are too young to have grandkids :-) They are a delight to be around, and we wish we could spend more time with them. We hope that the future will include lots of time with family and friends as the visit us on the boat in the Caribbean.

We both love the ocean....sailing, scuba diving, snorkeling, beachcombing, etc. We also enjoy reading; spending time with each other, friends, family; we are also interested in Bible study and teaching Bible studies, and we are looking for opportunities to combine our love of cruising and mission work while in the Caribbean.

We are currently traveling across the country in a motor home as I work as a float pilot, wherever needed by my company. Having done it now for 6 months, we are enjoying being together working, traveling, and saving for the boat.

                                                                                                                                  NEWER POSTS >

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

Greg / Clear, chilly....28/50
01/10/2012, Seminole, TX

        NO,  NOT A SOUTH CAROLINA BEACH

Though it looks like the sand dunes bordering a South Carolina or Florida panhandle beach, the above photo was taken in Monahan Sandhills State Park, TX.  A really quiet, neat place, you would think you were in the Sahara Desert if not for a windmill and an oil well nearby. 

As we touched on in an earlier post, one of the reasons we are blogging about our journey is so that our experiences might give others who want to go cruising some insight into the things that you must do to transition from land dweller to water.  During the next year or so, we will be doing just that....transitioning. 

We will try to pass along tips, base on our experiences, and our opinions about various cruising related topics.  We do not pretend to be authorities on the subject; to the contrary, we have very little experience.  A lot of what we know we have learned from reading books, other peoples blogs, and cruising logs.  Our own 6-month sabbatical/cruising validated a lot of what we read, and gave us an opinion on what works and what doesn't.  You know what they say about opinions....  :-)

Oh, and ROLL TIDE.....National Champs again!!!!

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG

Greg / Clear, warm...high 68
01/03/2012, Seminole, TX

                                                         sv INTO THE LIGHT in the Bahamas


Welcome! Just a little background before the actual chronological blog....We are not yet cruising again; the above picture is us a few years ago when we were crusing in the Exumas, Bahamas.  Our goal is to get back out there cruising again. 

We decided to do this blog for several reasons; the first: it will serve as a diary/ship's log for us once we get underway; secondly, it will allow our friends and loved ones a way to follow us as we are away from them, and somewhat out of contact; thirdly, as information and enjoyment to those out there who are either going to follow the same dream of a sailing/cruising lifestyle, or are doing so vicariously through us.

Having followed cruising logs for years, we understand how much info we gained by reading other sailing blogs, and how much we enjoyed reading them while we were "dirt dwellers".

We have done this before...this cruising thing, that is. We bought a Beneteau 411 in 2004, refit it with a genset and a watermaker; replaced the bimini, and mainsail; added a dodger, a rocna, a new dinghy and motor, and then left in Jan '06 right after our first grand-daughter, Reece, was born. Leaving Charleston, SC, we traveled down the ICW (the ditch) to Port Royal Sound then jumped offshore to St. Augustine; stayed on the ICW from there to Lake Worth, then offshore again to Biscayne Bay and Coconut Grove. We stayed in Coconut Grove, at anchor, for a month finishing watermaker installation, and waiting on weather to cross the Gulfstream.

We crossed over to Gun Key, then crossed the Bahama Bank to Nassau, where we stayed several days. When weather allowed, we then began our Exuma, Bahama cruising adventure sailing to Allen's Cay, and then moving as far south as Georgetown before having to head back to Charleston at the end of June '06.

It was an invigorating, eye-opening, and totally enjoyable 6 months...it was just an 'appetizer' compared to the 'feast' we hope to enjoy in a couple of years. We absolutely loved the lifestyle of cruising.....it rocked! The Good Lord willing, we plan to do it again for an indefinite period of time in a few years. Our plan, written in the sand, is to cruise for as long as we enjoy it and our health allows it.

We have just recently begun working toward that goal by starting to liquidate and consolidate our 'stuff" in preparation to rent our home out and purchase another boat. The boat search has begun, but we are in no rush at this point....too many other things to accomplish first. 

                                                                                                                                  NEWER POSTS >