Back from the good ol' USA

I am back from a two week visit to Anacortes, Washington. Cindy came out from Denver for a short long weekend visit. We had not been back to our home port for just over two years and really wanted to see the old place, and more importantly, to see old friends. Terry and Diane were our very gracious hosts and even let me use their pickup to run around in. Thanks Terry and Diane!! It was way kewl to see everyone else too.

I was not ready for the reception from people as many seem to think what we are doing is borderline heroic. It does not seem so heroic to us. We have never been in imminent danger of dying or getting maimed or losing our boat, etc. The kids over in Iraq are heroic but not us. We do appreciate all the kind words, but anyone can do what we are doing if they really want to. It does take a huge commitment and many would not or can not turn their lives upsidedown to do it, which is very understandable. It works for us though and we feel fortunate to be out here.

It was good to see the US again although my thoughts on traffic and the hustle bustle were very predictable. Being able to just go to a store and buy what you need was nice. I really like microbrew beers and Washington is great for that. I picked up and shipped a new SSB marine radio to Tonga and am still waiting for it to arrive with fingers crossed. The flight back was full of dramas but worked out OK in the end. Took me two days to get back into the local time zone but that seems right now too.

Maggie Drum was looked after by a couple of other boats here and she was fine. The solar panels kept the reefer/freezer going (-3 degrees F). It is sunny today after very cloudy and cool weather yesterday. We still have lots of friend boats around with some leaving or arriving every week. Fiji and New Zealand are the destinations for most but a few are going straight to Australia via Fiji. BTW - I had to go to 10 different airline terminals to get from Seattle to Neiafu. A solid day and a half of travel.

I will try and post more about Vava'U and Tonga in the next few days. It is definitely third world and still one of the few true monarchies in the world. That may change in the next few years as there is a big push for democracy and to relegate the king to a social entity only. Time will tell. The new King does not want to be a true King like his dad who just passed away.