Has it been a month already?

I just realized that we have been in the U.S. for a month so far. We have been doing a lot of visiting and plan much more before we return to Ecuador. If you want to get together, please call or send us an email.

In between we have been working on 'The List', (cue Rich rolling his eyes). Even though we have had much more Internet access while in Central America, there are some tasks that are much easier to perform in the US and in person. This includes doctor appointments, checking the safety deposit box,  talking to the Force10 engineer directly, and shopping. 

Shopping is much easier here in the land of plenty. It is easy to take this for granted. One reason is we know where to go to get what we want. Sometimes this is part of the adventure in a new country like Costa Rica or Panama or Ecuador. It may also be frustrating as my Spanish skills are very rudimentary and some items are just not available. We understand that having boat parts shipped to us in Ecuador would be expensive, up to 100% duty and delivery is not guaranteed. We hope to get all of our boat parts here and take them back with us on the plane to avoid any duty. Rich and I have been shopping at various places, picking up the items on 'The List'. So far the pile is stuff is not as big as last year but we are not finished yet. We have at least two bottle of General Tsao's Stir Fry sauce from Trader Joes. This is definitely something that the local tienda does not carry. Other items include a replacement US ensign as our has been quite weather beaten,  business card holders that fit into a three ring binder to hold the boat cards we get from other cruisers, wet/dry bags from REI to transport laundry to/from shore in the dingy and ordering holding tank filters. 'The List' goes on but I think we are adding less to the list than we are crossing off, which is a good thing. 

We are also enjoying the summer weather here in the Pacific Northwest. It has been beautiful, sunny and not too hot. It seems funny to us to watch the weather reports on the local television stations warning about hot weather. Compared to the 90 plus temperatures and 90 plus humidity levels we experienced in Central America, this is weather is so much more comfortable. Even the few days of rain was nothing compared to the downpours of rainy season of Costa Rica and Panama. I have to admit I am not missing the winters of Seattle but I am sure we will experience cooler weather in Peru and Chile as well as inland Ecuador.

Cheers,

Elaine and Rich

Now what it the next item on the list?