The Voyage Of Minor Key

Beautiful Montana, lovely Idaho, gorgeous Oregon, & finally, our return to Portland!

2010-07-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well, we spent an awe-inspiring week in Montana! We went through Custer National Forest & headed west through the grasslands. Then north through the Swan valley, where we spent four days camped by the lovely Lake Inez, for free! :) We continued north up to White Fish, which was quite charming, & then headed south again past Flathead Lake, down to Missoula. Missoula is a darling town surrounded by stunning mountains, & we had planned on spending weeks there. Unfortunately, they had passed a city ordinance in 2007 that prohibited sleeping in vehicles overnight, so we split after only three days so we didn't get busted for being law-breakers! We went into Idaho through the Bitterroot mountains at Lolo pass, taking time to soak in the Weir hot springs. It's quite possibly the most beautiful hot springs known to man, with a rock tub perched on a mountain overlooking a little valley that has a little stream running through it. And no sulphur smell to assault the nostrils! We continued south through some amazing mountains in Idaho, past Hell's Canyon, & down to Payette for a long overdue visit with my niece (& brother & sister-in-law). We had a nice week there, doing chores and being showered with gifts for the bus, & actually getting showers, which we hadn't had since leaving Ohio! So now our bus has more carpet, a cute wood stove & some of the pipe required to hook it up, a toilet (oh god it's soooooo great!), a sink to eventually be installed, a real mattress for the bed, & more dishes! Tuesday we left Payette with my 13 & 1/2 year old niece & her friend & headed to Oregon. Took 26 through Eastern Oregon, went the slow scenic route through Sisters, stopped by Cougar Hot Springs, & out to the coast via Corvallis. It was a nostalgic trip up the coast for us, retracing our path, but on land. Now we are in Astoria, only hours from Portland, & comparing how different we are now from the last time we were here, on our little sailboat: Minor Key. So much has happened in 10 short months, & we never thought we would be coming back on a 40 ft school bus instead of a 29 ft sailboat! But life is full of surprises; best just to roll with it & keep your head above water...

Through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, & now Montana!

2010-06-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me how much can happen in a week! We left Ohio on the second day of June, & zipped across Indiana and Illinois, spending that night just over the border of Iowa in the world's largest truck stop. The next day we crossed Iowa and stayed in a Walmart parking lot in Norfolk, Nebraska. Friday we left Nebraska and crossed into South Dakota, and stayed at the Cedar Pass campground in the Badlands. As fate would have it, a couple we had met on South Padre Island, TX, Dean and Mary, were hosting there. AND, as fate would have it, Dean was MC-ing karaoke [=-)] that night at the bar in Interior, SD (pop. 57), located 2 miles away, & needed a ride in. So we got to be heroes, AND do karaoke! There were cowboys, some dogs wandering in and out, a longer lived fellow named Bob, from SF, CA, riding his motorcycle home from a wedding in Chicago, an old cowboy named Roland that asked me to dance numerous times, and ended up showing Michael how to dance(let me tell you, THAT was something to see in a small town cowboy bar!), a beautiful Native American lady that had a great talk with Michael because they both used to drive flatbed semi trucks, and the owner of the bar with the best handlebar mustache you ever saw! As the night progressed, we also met a guy named Wade (our age) and his friend Mike (a bit younger, & a bit buzzed). We did some more dancing and ended up going outside with Wade to show him the bus and geek out on rocks (things were getting crazy in the bar). Wade was super cool, and took us out rock-hounding the next day. He also drove us around the Badlands on a fantastic tour. Sunday we left, sadly, for Rapid City, & stayed in another Walmart, where we ran into another couple we met in Quartzsite, AZ, Andy & Dianne. Monday we left and entered into Wyoming for 20 miles, then finally made it to Montana! We stayed that night at a free campground in the Custard National Forest, surrounded by red shale, & green pines and green grass! It was a stunning introduction to this beautiful state, where we plan to spend weeks! After traveling through miles of Montana grasslands, we crossed the continental divide yesterday, back in the west! Now we are camped next to the gorgeous Lake Inez, in the Swan Valley in western Montana, & planning on staying at our free campsite for a bit!

Beautiful times in Ohio!

2010-06-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well, as we sit here in Nebraska, it is blatantly obvious that a really good blog update is definitely in order. Whether or not this one will fit the ticket is still up for debate, but I'll give it my best! We arrived in the Cincinnati area (Mason, to be exact) on May 22nd, the day after Michael's birthday. His parents were only too happy to play the most perfect hosts, especially after having a four year hiatus between visits! So, I believe it is safe to say, they absolutely spoiled us rotten in a wonderful rendition of the return of the prodigal son. You wouldn't believe the fantastic meals his mom made (she comes from an Italian family; I literally gained seven pounds in a week & a half!). And they were gracious enough to take us sight-seeing all over the place. The (live) butterfly exhibit at the Krohn Conservatory, Connersville for trains and Metamora for the grist mill, Jungle Jim's World Market (like WOW!) to name a few places, plus sampling local food (La Rosa's, Skyline, Graeters, & more)! Cincinnati & the surrounding areas offers much to see, do & eat...chili on spaghetti noodles! Crazy, but delicious! And we had our first radio interview, with the Brian & Joe show! (they are completely awesome, hilarious and fun, & we could have talked for many more hours!) The interview is available on-line for those not within the radio's waves at: www.brianjoeshow.com, if any of you get curious. The show airs Tuesday, so that's when it will be available on the web! Anyways, I could ramble for hours about how much fun we had in Ohio, but...well, you know, gotta go! We'll write more later!

The surprises continue & now we are in Ohio!

2010-05-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a long time since we've done an update of our adventures! We had confortably settled into a routine on the island: we got kayaks and started kayaking in the bay a couple of times a week, we were going to a drum circle every Tuesday night and the farmer's market every Sunday, we were making friends and making money...it was good! But the winds of change never really stop blowing, and we have been especially sensitive to them this year. Little signs started showing up: rust on the bus, mosquitoes, sand, & weird things adding up to? The need for change. The straw that broke the camel's back was having a friend in Portland tell me his cancer had come back and that we should come home. That tipped the scales, and suddenly we were springing into action and two weeks later on the road again! We left South Padre Island last Tuesday, the 18th, and arrived at Michael's parents' house north of Cincinatti on Saturday, the 22nd. It has been four years since they have seen each other and the reunion has been very sweet! Today we have a radio interveiw on a local radio show, called the Brian and Joe show! And in a week, we will get back on the road and start heading home to Portland!

Tropical Tip Of Texas and its Offerings

2010-04-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, It seems to be the perfect time for an update of our South Padre Island experience...its been awhile, so hello again out there. Cathy and I are doing well and still living on the beach, a very exciting and relaxing endeavor. We still have not left the island since we arrived. The tiny island of South Padre is so skinny in some spots that you can look from one end to the other, yet it is the center for so much celebration and life. Some of the celebration and "life" is very texas like and some of it is very nondescript, feeling as though you could be very far from texas. It is very tropical here and it does feel like we have somehow reached our tropical island...even if it was in a very unconventional manner. But either way we are here and enjoying our time here , the weather is warming up quite a bit mostly in the 70s and 80s...soon though it will be in the 90s and 100s...dred. It is just past Sea Turtle mating season the Kemps Ridley Sea Turtles and others are about to start laying their eggs on the beach soon. The Island hosts the largest population and the only nesting area for these endangered turtles. We visited Sea Turtles Inc. a rescue center here on the island. They had pocket sized baby sea turtles and huge elders. We will include photos in the future( forgot the camera!). All in all its very laid back island and people are good , the only crazy times so far were on texas spring break week and Semana Santa , the Mexican Holy week which just finished. Both were apparent reasons for huge parties on the beach ...our beach and huge amounts of trash on the beach...our beach, and complete lack of awareness of how ones actions influence everyone around you. But thankfully the beach is ours again and is almost completely empty aside from our lovely RV friends , Dean and Mary. They have been down on the beach for a bit longer than us and have been host to numerous movie nights and fires and Kareoke!!! Outside on the beach....Cathy is in love! They have been quite fun , we will hate to see them go at the end of the month ...off to the Grand Tetons. We have finally gotten a pretty good hang of our new jobs at Naturallys. It still is little odd having a steady job aside from New Seasons , but the skills learned working with New Seasons so long is fully helping things out at Naturallys. We Do Miss the Northwest and will be happy to return Portland. So much to say about what we are seeing and doing now ....words cannot do it justice , so I will let the pictures talk a little. Enjoy ...and Thank you all and remember its spring , so Plant Seeds and Sing Songs!!!!

The whirling, twirling tour comes to rest on South Padre Island!

2010-02-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

The glorious month of February flashed by in a flurry of fun frolicking and travel! We departed from Quartzsite, AZ on Feb. 4th and spent the night in the wilds outside Bouse, AZ. The next day we headed into Pheonix to pick up a trailor, and three passengers, Patrick, Kieth, & David. Slept in a Walmart parking lot outside of Tucson that night. We had hoped to have a chance to explore Tucson a bit and pick up three more passengers, but we didn't anticipate how crazy the gem & mineral show would make driving (and parking, especially with at least a 10 ft trailor attached to an already 40 ft bus!). And after our first night, we realized there was no space for more riders to sleep on the bus. Finally found parking on the outskirts of town, only for Michael to notice that the trailor was so heavy it was cracking our trailor hitch. So THEN we had to call Hiedi and tell her she needed to come retrieve it, and wait for hours while she drove down from Pheonix to get it. So we ended up leaving Tucson & camping at some caverns east of town. Didn't get to see the caverns (too expensive), but we got to hang out with the very cool camp host, also named Michael, also from Portland. Next day we headed out to BLM land near the New Mexico border. Beautiful & remote. A passing RV told us about Hot Dunes recreational area, with hot springs, down the road, so the next day we headed out to see it. It was an amazing little oasis in the desert, and I soaked four times! Then we set off for New Mexico! Went over incredible mountains and entered the land of enchantment (honestly, that's what the sign said!). There was snow on the ground, and an abundance of mud, as well as the first pines we had seen in months. After an attempt to drive down a muddy road to a campground that almost got us stuck, we ended up sleeping in the hotel parking lot in the tiny, charming town of Reserve, New Mexico. The next morning, we met some of the locals; they were all delightful! Then off to Three Rivers and petrogliphs! We stayed there a couple of days to soak in the magic of ancient art, met a cool traveler named Josh, & then back to the road! Went to Roswell, saw no aliens, so we kept on going & found some more gorgeous dunes near the Texas border to camp for the night. Our first night in Texas found us staying in another Walmart parking lot. Then we finally made it to Austin! A city bursting with history and coolness, we made camp in a CVS parking lot (it was surrounded by two empty buildings, & the employees of CVS said it was fine to park out of the way), and proceeded to explore. We left for one night to go camp at the Emma Long Metropolitan Park; we found and ate many pecans. Woke up there on my birthday, Feb. 17th, to frost and the marvelous little lake. Went back to CVS parking lot. Got to hang out with Sarah from Portland; her husband, Tim, was in school. It was good to see a familar face in a strange town. Kieth had left Monday for Corpus Cristi, so the rest of us went out to celebrate Mom popping me out 32 years ago. The next day we headed for Corpus Cristi, and another Walmart parking lot for the night. Finally, the next day, we made it to our destination: South Padre Island. As fate would have it, Michael's photo job fell through due to the lack of students signing up for spring break. And, also as fate would have it, the health food store on the island, Naturally's, had just lost two employees. The manager, Laura, wanted both of us, but not just for a month, for the whole summer! So we're staying here through Labor Day! Spreading the word and making money on a beautiful tropical island in one fell swoop! Life is very good, and this nice universe seems to like us a lot, because it definitely showers the blessings on us! Thank you nice universe!

Into the Wild Unknown ...again

2010-01-31T10:29:00.000-08:00

Well we are getting ready to pull out of lovely Quartzsite, our sunny home for the past 2 months. We are heading eastbound as the plans goes . Into the unknown again ...a very exciting prospect indeed. We have stayed in this part of the desert longer than any other place on our journey. And yes it has been very magical and serendipity has been in the air since we arrived, but its time to move on. We have been introduced to our new home here and have came to know many kind folk down here.
We will be cruising east to Mesa to pick up a passenger bound for Houston and possibly other eastbounders in Tucson. We have time to see some things on the way now , we have 3 or 4 weeks until South Padre. We have settled into our new digs nicely and are really enjoying the room and privacy the bus offers. And while we are on the subject of the bus I would like to take care of some possible misconceptions about our new chosen method of travel. First and foremost I will adress the safety and structural integrity of busses in general . They are designed to transport people...children to be more specific, so they must pass stringent inspections to remain on the road. Your standard issue RV is designed to look good and be light ...
not to be strong , or safe. The bus came straight from the school district and has been maintained well , the perfect platforn to build a home with a motor. It is an International Amtrans bus with one of the cleanest and most efficient diesel engines made...the International DT466, well known as the workhorse of the fleet as well as one of the cleanest burning and fuel efficient engines ever produced for busses. And it has the direct capability to run off of recycled cooking oil. We have basically been driving it and parking it and Bicycling everywhere ..Major Key just sits at the campsite with the solar panel on the roof charging up the batteries while we do our stuff in town , we have driven our bus maybe 60 mile in the past 3 weeks , not too bad. Well anyway I am rambling , I just wanted to give some more background on Why we now have a 40 foot bus! Thanks again folks for all your support and for keeping in touch ....We shall see you down the great open road.

By boat, by bike, by...bus?

2010-01-04T15:23:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure you all know, every REALLY good story needs to have lots of interesting and unexpected plot twists and turns! So, not long after x-mas, Michael and I were happily tootling along on our trusty bikes in Quartzsite. Our heads were turned by a handsome, tan, 40 ft long school bus priced at a measly $3500. Michael, who is honestly the knowledgeable one when it comes to these matters, said, "Wow! That's a REALLY good price for that bus!" But we kept on pedaling. That night we talked about how funny it would be if we got the bus, then we started talking about all the things we could do with it, and all the room we would have for art projects. Maybe we should just look at it...it's probably in terrible condition to be so cheap, right? There can't be any harm in just looking...right? So...we looked. And it was in great condition! We asked Tom(the man selling the bus) what his story was(i.e. why is such a great vehicle so cheap? what's the catch?). Turns out he had 30,000 pounds of rock to transport from Wyoming to Arizona and to rent a truck would have cost him $2000. But he has friends that work for the school district and they gave him the heads-up when a great bus came up for sale. He said he would have kept it himself, but the wife said no. So even selling it so cheap, he's making $1000 instead of spending $2000. Which pretty much sealed the deal for us. We had to borrow money from the Bank de mi Padre, a long term, low interest loan, and voila! We, as of today, have a new home and a new leg of our adventure! "And we'll have so much room to do projects!" It does work out conveniently for the photo shoot job Michael has in South Padre starting March 6th. The guy who hired him said I couldn't stay in the condo with Michael; and I wasn't sure how thrilled I was about camping on the beach by myself when there are scores of drunk frat boys pumped up on their spring break festivities. Michael already had warned me not to leave my drink unattended or accept drinks from strangers, so I'm just as happy to have a nice, comfy, safe bus to sleep in. And it's a diesel engine that can be converted to run off vegetable oil. We are excited to meet people too, and go on Craigslist and see who needs cheap rides to help with the gas money($75 got us a half tank). We'll be able to see things we were going to have to skip because of the impracticality of biking there. And Tom said he has a stand he'll have going for the Pow Wow they have here with extra space that we can use to sell what we have: Michael's pictures, my sculptures, and the purses Jeni gave us to sell(THANK YOU JENI!). And we won't be sleeping on the hard ground freezing our behinds off at night! Happy happy joy joy!

Angels in the desert, double rainbows, coyotes and kit foxes, oh my!

2009-12-20T12:25:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since our last post and a lot has happened! The day we arrived in Quartzsite, we celebrated by going out for breakfast. We came out of the little restaurant to discover we had three flat tires. It was a Sunday(three weeks ago today, actually), and nothing was open in this little town. So Michael patched all the tires, but by that time there was no way to make it out to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge 15 miles away. So we biked around looking for someplace to stay that night. Ended up on some BLM land slightly east of town, where we met a curious and friendly fellow bike tourist, Jim, age:61, energy level:very high, birthday: Jan 20th. This interesting character had biked down from Sisters, OR, doing his yearly migration south for the winter. He invited us to camp next to him, and the next morning proceeded to talk our ears off, ply us with useful information, and take us around town and introduce us to venders and show us the best deals in town. We got supplies, and headed out to Kofa, where we stayed for almost two weeks. Kofa is very lovely and remote, and Crystal Hill, where we stayed, has _beejillions_ of tiny crystals to be found in its dirt and rocks. When we first arrived there was a group of lively, longer lived couples(2 Canadian couples,Ramsees & Gloria, & Ed & Mary, & 1 Minnesota couple, Dale & Kathy) camped nearby, who we heard laughing and howling at the coyotes at night, and saw hiking around during the day. We arrived Monday, and on Wednesday Michael was noble & biked into town to get more water & food. While he was gone, our neighbors noticed I was by myself, and said if I got lonely, I should come hang out. Well, I'd been hearing them having a good time for days, so I thought I would go investigate! I'm glad I did, because they're a delightful group of people and I had a blast! They shared their lunch with me and then taught me how to play Wizard, a highly entertaining card game, at least when played with them! Michael returned and I reluctantly returned back to camp. Mary came over later and invited us to dinner. We went and had a wonderful time. Went back over the next morning; it was the day they were going to leave...sadness! But as parting gifts they gave us 10 gallons of H2O and a bunch of firewood, paper, matches, a lighter. They were super sweet, and I hope I have as much fun as they do when I've lived as long as they have, and that I still camp in a tent! We eventually returned to Quartzsite, saw the most amazing double rainbow ever, and got showers...oh the glories of indoor plumbing! My long lost best friend from childhood, Holly, had found me on facebook and it was awesome to catch up on things that have gone on in the years since we've talked! Then we headed back out into the desert to some BLM land a hair north of town. Jason, thank you for the suggestion to head to Tuscon, we are going to take you up on it after my mom comes out to visit in early January(and meow meow bok, and happy early birthday!:). What else? We've been howling at the coyotes a lot, and last night we saw a desert kit fox in our camp! It was pretty cute, but too fast for Michael to get a picture. I guess that's most of the excitement for now. Happy early x-mas everyone! Hope you are surviving the holiday season, and maybe even enjoying it a bit here and there! Miss and love you all very much!

Hello sunny Arizona!

2009-11-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

After days of biking through the Mojave desert, a couple of days at Joshua Tree National Park, biking through the Colorado desert for days (we did 67 miles on Thanksgiving day!), yesterday we finally reached the Colorado River, and crossed into Arizona! Now we are in the Sonora Desert, and a measly 36 miles from our home for the next couple of months: Quartzite. The desert's harsh beauty is hard not to admire. One begins to grasp the vastness of this earth while biking endless miles in a place that reminds one of one's insignificance and frailty. When there are huge, HUGE sweeps of a land with only small tokens of life that hardly block the view, surrounded in the far distance with rocky, jagged thrusts of mountains rising out of the flat sea of land like remote islands, and the only thing saving you from perishing in the endless dry earth is you pedaling your bike to water, you definitely develop an appreciation of humanity's ingenuity and will to survive. And a faucet with water pouring out of it on demand is a miracle...

Beautiful, sunny, FLAT desert riding!

2009-11-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

Much has happened since our last entry! We continued south from Half Moon Bay on the 1. Biking through Santa Cruz was exciting, but easy because a nice bike tourist from the Netherlands was heading north & gave us his map of Santa Cruz. After Santa Cruz, things got a bit trickier. Highway 1 turns into a freeway, i.e. unbikable territory. The Pacific Coast Bike Route weaves through back roads, and for some reason, people like to steal the signs for the route, i.e. the ones that tell you which way to go. So, there were numerous times when we would get to the end of a trail or road and say, "NOW where do we go?" But then, every time, someone would pop up out of nowhere and give us directions. It was pretty miraculous! So we made it through Monterrey and Carmel by the sea (ick!), and headed back down the 1. There was a night where we were in Garrapata State Park, and the sun was setting and the nearest campsite was 20 miles away. So we had to do some covert camping on the side of the road. Got discovered the next morning by a park ranger! At first we were pretty worried when we saw him coming towards us, but he ended up being the sweetest guy! We have the same birthday (feb 17), but he was born 30 years before me, exactly, and he has a twin brother that lives in Portland! Because we were bike tourists he didn't write us a ticket, we just hung out and chatted. We met other bike tourists heading south, we biked up and down a lot, we saw beautiful things along the ocean, and we were glad when we got to Cambria and could head inland. Highway 1 is very exhausting with all the mountains, so we were starting to fantasize about flat land. We biked over Highway 46 (the 10 mile uphill ride led to a lovely view of the coastal mountains meeting the sea), and stayed that night in the church of my childhood (St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Thank you Father Matt!) in Atascadero. The next morning we headed our to my parents house 5 miles east of Santa Margarita; I've always wanted to bike out there. Stayed there for a week and a half. Mom gave us a ride to Mojave in exchange for a couple more days of visiting, which was fine by us. Now we are biking through the Mojave Desert, and soon we will be in Joshua Tree, and then Quartzite, AZ for a couple of months. We are looking forward to staying in one place for a while...

An abundance of sun, wind, mountains, and beautiful peeps!

2009-10-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

We are currently sitting outside of Half Moon Bay, in a double decker bus, enjoying a beer at Cameron' English Pub. We couldn't resist this adorable and charming establishment after a seemingly misguided trek on the 1 coastal (dirt) trail. We weren't going anywhere quickly anyways, so we decided we might as well check it out. Turns out this is a WORLD FAMOUS only double decker smoking bus, so we HAD to check it out. And there happens to be an Internet connection, so might as well update the blog while we aren't going anywhere fast! Since our last entry (sniff sniff, miss you Myrtle!), we finished riding through Napa Valley, got back to the coast, biked down some very mountainous coastline, and got to the Golden Gate bridge at dusk, where we met an angel. Sure, he looked like a guy on a bike, commuting home from his job in Sausalito. But I certainly know an angel when I meet one, and Kent definitely exhibited the signs of being one for us that night! He guided us over the bridge. Then we got to talking. He asked us where we were going that night. We told him Pacifica. He stopped to make some phone calls and we continued on. He caught up to us and told us that Pacifica was still a couple of hours away. We could bike in the dark if we wanted, he would show us which way to go, OR, if we wanted, he had called his wife, and she (the lovely Farrow) had said it was okay if he brought home two complete strangers to stay in their guest bedroom. Guess which option we chose after a day of biking up and down ferociously large mountains (which we were blown up some of them by 40 mile an hour winds, but still!)? Yup! You guessed right! We stayed with them and actually got to sleep indoors in a lovely place! The next day we went to a wonderful little bakery where we met a friendly couple named Barb and Dave. We geeked out together on bike touring and Mason Jennings (awesome! Check him out if you've never heard him) and Neil Young. Then we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens where the lovely Barbara let us store our bikes in the employee back area so we could see the gardens without having our stuff stolen. Then we finally headed down to Pacifica and stayed with my godparents for days and got totally pampered and some much needed rest (Thank you so much, Mar and Ted!). Due to poor planning and the lack of good public transportation, we did not get to see any of my much beloved friends in SF (I'm so sorry guys! I miss you and will get to see you sooner than I would have if I was going to Australia...). We got a new FUNCTIONING laptop while we were in Pacifica, and yesterday we finally got on the road again! The break was nice, but it feels good to be back on the road again! As an aside, we're sorry if there is disappointment in our change from sailing to biking (most everyone is happy for us, but not everyone), but the point of our spirit quest was to travel, however we could. Sailing was not turning out to be viable or sustainable for us, given our circumstances, and it seemed to make more sense to be honest with ourselves and switch to biking rather than drown at sea due to the captian being seasick or the boat needing a repair we could not afford. We are simple humans doing the best we can. With that said, we should get going! Love you all, hope you are well, and we'll post more later! Cathy and Michael, over and out!

Sad, sad news... :(

2009-10-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday we did our longest bike ride to date: 45 miles and a number of mountains. We finally made it to the town of Redwood Valley and stopped at a little market for some last minute supplies before heading out to Lake Mendicino to camp for the night. Before we left, we gave Myrtle what was to be our last pet and ear scratch for her, from us. We left the market and proceeded to take a very mountainous 'shortcut' called Road B to the lake. We finally made our weary way to the campground and talked to a very wonderful ranger named Paul, who let us stay in the section that was closed for the season because they didn't have hike/bike campsites (which are usually cheaper). Exhausted, we finally got to our campsite and went to the trailor to let Myrtle out. The rope that had been tied to her harness was there, but she was not. The only possible thing that could have happened was that she got out of the trailor when we were inching up one of the hills on Road B. It was a quiet road with nice houses and kitties running around and beautiful hills and squirrels and birds, and she must have decided that it seemed like a place she wanted to stay. We rode back along the road the next morning with unloaded bikes calling out her name. Paul got us the numbers to all the animal rescue places in town. We called them all, but no one had brought her in, and they still haven't called. Another ranger named Marie said she ran a kitty rescue place too and she got our number. The phone has been quiet; I'm sure it's because whoever found her fell in love. She was so cute, and sweet and friendly, and she liked to snuggle at night, and she had this cute little meow she would do when she saw some string moving on the floor...we miss her so much! But there's nothing more that we can do. She might never be turned in, she might not have liked the trailor, or she could one day escape someplace inhospitable, or get hit by a car...it probably better just to let her go where she wanted to go, not that she gave us a choice...Goodbye Myrtle Marie. We miss you and will always love you.

Great Galloping Glorious Garberville!

2009-10-14T17:27:00.001-07:00

Bikes, just for the record, are WAY better than sailboats. Just in case you were curious. Granted, we've only biked 70 something miles, but they have undoubtedly been the best miles of the trip thus far. For one thing, there has not been one smidgen of sea-sickness to be seen (or felt, much to Michael's relief). Second of all, there has been a hint of minty, herbally-something delicious in the air as we biked through the redwoods, accentuated by the substantial dousing of airborne water particles to said beautiful redwood forest. Thirdly, there is something quite satisfactory about looking down a rather impressive mountain, from the top, after one has just spent a goodly amount of time panting one's way up it, pedal-stroke by oh-so-slow-pedal-stroke! Yup. Life has definitely taken a turn for the better since we decided to be reasonable about this whole traveling deal. And, I must confess, in my excitement about the favorable turn of events and the decision to switch to biking, in the last blog posting I was quite remiss in extending a HUGE THANK YOU to my wonderful and noble parents! They drove a truck up to Eureka (which we are still fond of, but are also thinking that Garberville is equally cool and nice and small-town-ish, and would possibly be a great place to live for a short period of time someday, maybe. and IF one were to ever visit Garberville and want to stay in a motel, Lone Pine motel is run by a very nice man.) and my fabulous parents helped us load our stuff from the boat into said large vehicle in quite the timely manner. So we did not have to spent hours agonizing about what we would get rid of. Instead,(ah, my clever parents) we will spend those hours agonizing with them, when we get down to SLO town. So! The bike tour has started off wonderfully, though a bit damply. We are very much looking forward to this storm passing so we can continue our adventures south! Stay tuned as the adventures continue, and stay dry as winter advances!

Goodbye Minor Key, Hello Bike Tour!

2009-10-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday we gave Elliot the rundown of his new, fabulous boat, signed the title over to him and gave him the keys to his new baby! And he gave us our savings account...then we loaded MUCH gear on our bikes and rode off to do last minute errands before leaving Eureka (which we have definitely developed a fondness for). Myrtle Marie seemed to find the change of scenery both interesting and intimidating, so she alternated between sticking her head out of her trailer and ducking back in. But her kittenly nature is proving strong and flexible, and she spent the whole night last night frolicking around the hotel room we splurged on in Fortuna (we got SOME sleep...). So she seems to be enjoying her new environment more than not, as are Michael and myself. Adjusting to the weight of a touring bike took me a little bit, but by the end of the day the only thing hurting was my seat. And it felt so good to ride again! We didn't go terribly far, but we also didn't leave Eureka until after 3 p.m. We biked past the marina on our way out of town and had one last look at Minor Key. She was looking pretty beautiful in the afternoon sun. And her proud new daddy was still lovingly examining his new baby...
And our next stop...Humbolt Redwoods, where we will wait out the storm coming...

We would like to say thank you today...

2009-10-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

There are some people we would like to acknowledge for their awesomeness! Firstly, we would like to say an extremely loud and heartfelt thank you to Kim, at Columbia Marine Exchange (located at 33rd and Marine Dr.) for helping supply our trip with affordable gear. She cut us a lot of good deals, even though she had just bought a sailboat herself and wasn't feeling particularly wealthy at the time. Kim, you were very kind and generous to us and we really appreciate it! Thank you! Next, we would like to thank everyone that reads our blog, and especially everyone that has left us messages! It's really wonderful to read notes left for us by our loving friends when (it feels like) we are far from anything and everyone, busy being crazy spirit questers! And thirdly, we would like to say thank you to this wise and kind universe for the sale of our sailboat yesterday. We have had a lot of time to cool our heels and think here in Crescent City, and to meet some guys who were stuck here for a long time because their engine blew and they had to order parts from Norway. And then, after we started talking about maybe selling the boat and going on a bike tour of the states instead...there was a tsunami warning and we headed out to sea in small craft advisory, just in case...Well! the tsunami didn't really come, but, in the rough seas, Michael's sea-sickness sure did! That's when we decided that we should be flexible if we wanted to travel, and throw away ideas that were proving unrealistic for us, like sailing to Australia. The universe has a way of humbling you before it frees you; I suspect it's so you live longer. Sailing was proving expensive, not environmentally friendly, terrifying, and physically irratating for me(I HATE getting thrown across the cabin and hitting my head in rough seas, turns out) and physically debilitating for Michael(not safe for the skipper to be out of comission, although I got pretty good at navigating because I was the only one who could go inside the cabin). So we put the boat up for sail on craigslist. Next day we got a call from Elliot in Eureka, and yesterday he, and his friends Mark and Al, and his mom, came to see the boat. They were smart enough to realize what a good deal they were getting due to our odd circumstances, and they bought Minor Key for less than we asked but more than we hoped for! I, for one, have never sold a boat before, but Michael has sold a number of them, and he stated, definitely, that to sell a boat to the first people that look at her IS, in fact, a quantifiable miracle. So I guess the universe wants us to bike around the U.S. for a while...who would have guessed?

Surprise! Crescent City, CA is delightful!

2009-09-28T17:59:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Crescent City on the 23rd, and then got stuck (again) due to unfavorable weather. We have been _trying_ to get south as quickly as possible in order to avoid foul weather as winter moves in, with moderate to little luck in that regard. So at first we were less than thrilled to discover that more dangerous weather was going to force us to stay in another nothern port for an indeterminate amount of time. We splurged and tied up at the dock for a couple of days to get our bearings and supplies from town easily. While tied up we met four guys on a 34 foot steel sailboat who were also there. Their engine had sucked a valve into itself and they had to order Saab parts from Norway. Made us grateful that we have actually been taken care of quite well thus far by said nice universe. Thank you nice universe; our engine lives yet, as does our boat, kitten and ourselves. Then we met what felt like a bunch of Jehovah Witnesses. First Steve and Loretta, and then the next day Ray and Karen Seamore. It just seemed a little odd, and maybe this town might be odd. But truely, perception is everything. Feeling (and being) poor, we went to anchor out. Turns out there are some positively delightful Canadians (although I have yet to met a Canadian that wasn't delightful, but I suppose they must exist. Law of probability and all) also anchored out that we have gotten to talk with and walk around a bit with. They told us about the free internet they were picking up in the harbor. Lo and behold! Saving more money from the comfort of the boat! Then on Saturday we went for a hike in the Redwoods with Steve and Loretta and their 18 year old daughter, Stephanie. It was AWESOME! Not only just because the Redwoods in and of themselves are a religious experience, but also because going out with complete strangers is a bit of a leap of faith too. And to be shown by this incredible universe that ideas are just that-ideas, and please don't get attached to them, be open and flexible and really see what is there when it is there, instead of just seeing those ideas that you've picked up over your life, well! I guess that is what a spirit quest is all about, a walk-about, sail-about, bike-about? We have had some time to think about things this week that we've been here. We have discovered, in our short experience doing this, that our traveling has not been as inexpensive nor as environmentally-friendly as we thought it would be (our diesel engine is _old_ and is showning its age by its output). So we are being being flexible now with what we want to do. We are considering getting down to Morro Bay and storing our boat for a bit while we do a bike tour. Or working for a while in Morro Bay and then sailing out to Hawaii for a year to work and save up money. Things aren't set in stone the way they used to be. We are definitely doing SOMETHING, but what we are doing is now moving into: what do we feel like we really WANT to do? Now that the commotion of life has died down, it's a little easier to listen to the quiet voice of the heart. Now...what is it saying?

2009-09-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

Still alive and getting warmer!

2009-09-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

Well after our first gale at sea and the many other things that have been very new and wonderful , we are on the south oregon coast. We are in the smallest port we have encountered thus far. We left Newport with much more sea confidence than before and it helped our next passage out dramatically even when the thick and heavy clouds rolled in that night. We didn't get a gale or even much wind or rain at all to speak of, but it did make our entrance the next morning into Coos Bay a little more of a challenge. We were both very happy that we had navigated properly and the GPS had done such a good job because it was sooo cloudy that land was not even visible. But finally we found our entrance buoy and headed in across the Bar. By the time we had tied the boat to the very salty dock the clouds started to break up and its been sunny and warm since. This is probably our favorite port yet. Its a real fishing town and not at all touristy, and its a bit cheaper. Its the first place we have seen sea anenomes and sweet tide pools with so much life everywhere. Just today we had four super cute sea lions posing for photos next to our boat. Its also the first time we have seen a sea lion sleeping on the dock...and dreaming quite a dream! Everyone has been really nice and laid back, more like a small town . The weather is looking like it should be sunny and warm for a while at least...not much for wind though . But we leave for California in the morning and get to say goodbye and farewell to the moody Oregon coast. We love you though Oregon and we will miss you !

First gale at sea and still alive!

2009-09-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Newport, but it wasn't easy! We were finally able to leave Tillamook Bay Monday morning; the bar was open after being closed for days. It was a beautiful sunny day. We went offshore a ways and south a ways. The wind was good and we were finally able to raise our sails and turn off our sturdy, but loud, diesel engine. Boy, this was the life! The quiet, calm beauty and majesty of the wide open sea, a gentle, steady breeze, sunshine, and the kitten pouncing on flies. Yup. It was great. Then about 1600 hours the winds started to pick up. We lowered the main. They picked up more and we lowered the headsail and started the engine. Then we proceeded to experience 14 hours of hell. Well, that's what it seemed like for our second day of being on the ocean! The winds built up to 20 knots with gusts of 30, but it was really about the SWELLS! They were HUGE! 10 foot swells coming from the southeast rocked our little boat back and forth, about 25-30 degrees over! Try and imagine your house tilting 30 degrees over and then back the other way, non-stop for 14 hours! It was quite terrifying! We knew we would be bound to experience some storms while on our journey, but we didn't expect it on our second day, with no warning! There was nothing in the weather forecasts; we were completely surprised and less than a little happy about the whole experience! Michael was a champ at the tiller, while I would venture inside for supplies(food and water) and mental break-downs. Our kitten, Myrtle Marie was quite zen about the whole experience, and calmly waited it out(although she _was_ more affectionate than usual). Michael steadfastly steered until about 2300 hours when exhaustion caught up him and we decided to see if our other crewmember, Tom(our autopilot), was up for the challenge. He handled the situation masterfully, so we proceeded to take 2 hour watches until dawn. It was the most beautiful dawn we ever saw! The winds finally died down, and the sea calmed down, and we calmed down. We made it into Newport around 1530 hours, and land had never looked so beautiful! But on the bright side, we now know that we have the most wonderful boat ever made by human hands! Minor Key handled the crazy seas with far more grace than we did! Even though she was subjected to some tremendous forces, she stood fast and never faltered!

Two Rough Ocean Bar Crossings in One Day!

2009-09-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to check in with everyone, and let you all know we have made it across the Columbia River Bar! We crossed thursday morning , and boy was it exciting! Lots of swell, yet such an amazing morning. We crossed with our new friend Bruce , who is also sailing a Cascade 29 down the coast for his first time. We arrived at the Tillamook Bar at around 5PM and proceded to cross one of the roughest bars on the pacific coat on an ebb tide ( not advisable for future reference). Yet we made it unscathed and tired. We have been anchored in Tillamook Bay and in Garibaldi since Thursday waiting good weather for crossing. The swell has been huge but is supposed to retreat a bit tommorow so we can hopefully make it back out into the ocean , and head south fast! Love you all, and thanks for the sweet messages!!

Hello Astoria !! We made it !!

2009-09-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Astoria on Thursday afternoon after an epic journey down the Columbia river. After the sweetest send off we spent our first night in St.Helens. We awoke the next morning relativly early and ventured onward to Cathlamet, Washington. This was the furthest we had gone thus far ,we covered nearly 50 river miles and arrived in Cathlamet at around 6PM. Cathlamet is a tiny little rustic river town with a lively maritime history. We had a good amount of time to rest for our last push into Astoria. We had to wait until about noon to leave Cathlamet to try to flow out with the tide, this kinda worked as we got closer to Astoria. We came around the Cape Horn of the Columbia river which totally lived up to its name. The chop turned from nonexistent to about 4-5 ft. A very exciting ride , and Minor Key took it like champ!
The chop stayed with us all the way to Astoria until we passed under the Astoria bridge and into the Port of Astoria. We are waiting out some interesting weather in Astoria right now. Two sizable but fast moving fronts have been making their way through and giving us 25 to 40 knot winds! Howlingly exciting! So we have just been enjoying the nice energy and people of Astoria. Luckily this weather is forecast to pass next week which should give us a nice window to cross the bar and head south!!

Goodbye Portland!! Thanks for the sweet send off!!

2009-09-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we really did it: we left Portland behind and started a new leg of our lives' journeys, together! Many good friends joined us on the docks(both in person and in spirit) to say goodbye. It was very touching and sweet, and rather a bit hard to say goodbye, but we did. Fortunately, the tears were kept at bay until we got out on the river. Waving goodbye until the docks were a spot on the horizon...then turning and looking forward to see what lay ahead of us. Bridges. BIG cargo ships and barges. beautiful river lined with trees and odd spots of heavy industrial developement. birds. life. So the journey began... We spent our first night at St. Helens, a comforting first leg because we had been there before. We celebrated with a beer(or two! thank you Jeni and Cloressa!), took some cool pictures of the almost full moon, and slept like babies. It's quiet on the boat without her being near the airport...

Tomorrow's the Day!!!!!!!

2009-08-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has flown by, and we leave tomorrow to start our journey! (*NOTE* _SO_ FLIPPIN' EXCITED!!!) We had our last day of work last Monday, and a fabulous kareoke party to celebrate. We have never seen so much enthusism for Styx's "Come Sail Away" as we saw that night! And then a week of madly dashing around provisioning Minor Key and tieing up loose ends. We did take a day off Friday to go pay homage to Mt. Hood; I had never been up in the almost 8 years I've lived here. So we HAD to take the time to see Zig Zag Falls, Timberline Lodge, and Little Crater Lake. Basically, the days have been filled with errands, and the nights filled with visiting our amazing friends and saying goodbye (we have had some DELICIOUS meals prepared for us this week! thank you Jeni and Mish!). No time for crying yet, but that will come. It's actually _very_ hard to leave your life and everything you've known for 8-10 years and your friends, your security, and your whole reality and PLAN to turn your world upside down! Gee! Who would have guessed? My much beloved big brother Chris came up yesterday and has been graced to witness the insanity (it's his birthday today-HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!) So yeah! We leave tomorrow, at 2 pm. Lovely people are coming down tomorrow at 1 pm to say goodbye, and we set sail at 2 pm! Well, we are running out of time, so we'll wrap this up! Wish us well and send us your prayers, because they certainly can't hurt!
Good energy is good energy! LOVE YOU ALL! THANKS FOR READING, and the next blog shouldn't be quite as crazy...
cathy and michael, over and out!

Thank you, friends, for a beautiful benefit!

2009-08-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well! We had our benefit last Tuesday, and as far as we are concerned, it was a smashing success! Many friends came to show us their support and love! Even though we are all fairly poor by American standards(working class), we were still gifted $555.03! It's funny how the less money people have, the more they share, because they understand how it feels, and there is a greater awareness of how we depend on each other, at least in Portland, and other countries(from my understanding, which is about to be expanded!). Adam and Kris played a beautiful set, Mikey Coleman(MC) spun awesome music for hours, and Justin(Oxygen Elmo) played a song that he had written especially for us! The whole night was very sweet, and loving, and it was great to see how many people care and are excited for us! We're going heavy on the pictures this entry, so we will go short on the words...2&1/2 weeks to go! wowzers and eegad! more to come! cathy and michael, over and out!
P.S. did we say THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that came? well, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE THAT CAME TO OUR BENEFIT AND SHOWED US SO MUCH LOVE AND SUPPORT! WE ARE SO LUCKY TO KNOW AND CARE ABOUT SO MANY AWESOME AND SWEET PEOPLE!!!! OUR FRIENDS ROCK!!!! =] love you!

Three weeks until we set sail! =]

2009-08-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been one heck of a crazy month! Michael and I have been a tad bit busy preparing for the trip(you know...just a tad! ;). We made our final boat payment last month and now have the title for Minor Key; a very important step! Michael went out with our neighbor on the docks, Jack, for his first REAL offshore sailing adventure. They planned on sailing to Seattle, but with 20-25 knot winds from the north, lots of chop and small craft advisory...the trip would have taken over 40 hours of straight motoring under horrid conditions. So they turned back and Michael got to practice crossing the bar again, this time on an ebb tide! Not so much fun, but an excellent learning experience! We decided to make one last trip up to Government Island last week to have a smidgen of rest before these three weeks insanity, and it was wonderful. We were able to bring friends with us(Cloressa, Justin, Matthew, and Jake), and we gave thanks to the beautiful full moon in Aquarius and this awesome universe in general! It was just the perfect recharge and reminder, at this time when our time here in Portland is slipping away so fast and it seems like there is still so much to do, and still so many people to see and connect with before we are seperated for so many years! Speaking of seeing people, we have also been crazy busy working on organizing our benefit party, which is tomorrow! We've been calling and talking to everyone we know here in town, and we are super excited to see everyone, possibly for the last time for many years. Eric and Shelly own Rumpspankers on 7th and Dekum and they have graciously allowed us to host our benefit at their charming restaurant/bar from 5pm to 2am. We have some friends that are playing(Adam and Kris and Oxygen Elmo), and our friend MC might spin for part of the night. Some possible open jam action might occur as well. It should be an entertaining and touching night. It's really starting to hit me that we are going away for a number of years, and that there are so many really amazing and beautiful people in this town that I will miss dearly. I'm excited to experience other societies and meet people from other cultures and other cruisers, but I can't help but think of how much I am going to miss all the people here that are so dear to my heart. That is the beautiful thing about love: it doesn't disappear, it just gets put on pause. Perfect example was that my Uncle Rob was driving through Portland last Saturday and dropped by my work to see me. We realized that we hadn't actually manage to connect since I graduated high school in 1996! But seeing him, all my love for him welled up and I remembered how much I care; the pause button was taken off for a few minutes. Somehow, it makes it easier to leave all these wonderful people that I have cared about for all these years...I will still love you when I come back! And Michael and I will have so much to share over the years, and also when we get back into town. It isn't easy to go, but it will be worth it, and it will be better for everyone in the long run...you'll see, Mom...
Cathy, over and out
P.S. our kitten, Myrtle Marie is still adorable! And she has gotten much faster, with sharp teeth and claws, and an eye for anything that moves...but she DOES come and snuggle with us every night...

Tribute to Wade and Our Universe!

2009-07-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! We are dedicating this entry to Wade Cornwell. Wade is the only surviving founder of Cascade Yachts and the man we bought Minor Key from. Wade just turned 95 on july 5, an amazing accomplishment in itself! We both have been blessed with the honor to know Wade and to visit him on a regular basis since 2007. And everytime we venture over to visit him and make boat payment he always has an amazing story to share with us . He is still very young at heart and also has the sweetest heart. I just wanted to thank you Wade for putting the energy into building such an amazing line of sailboats, and offering so much support and advice for our journey and our new life with our Cascade 29. The love and energy put into these boats comes out everytime we sail ours ...always forgiving and always enjoyable. The building technique and strength shines through even after almost 40 years. So thank you so very much Wade for being you and for being in our lives and for making a dream come true, you are truly an amazing soul and it is an honor to know you. The latest amazing thing this man has done was to allow us to make one more boat payment, bringing our balance down to 1000.00 and calling it even!! Thats right one more 100.00 payment and Minor Key is officially ours!!! Thank you all for your support on this amazing odyysey we our about to embark on.

Also keep a sharp lookout for our upcoming going away sailing benefit ...coming up in August , the theme will be Pirates!
See ya Over and Out!

Welcome aboard Myrtle Marie!

2009-07-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone! Michael and I have had a very exciting month! Preparations for the trip have been occupying much of our time, but we have managed to squeeze some fun in. We went on my longest trip on the boat to date when we motor-sailed down to St. Helen's for a stay on Sand Island. We happened to come into town mere moments before two giant square riggers (Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chiefton) did, much to our delight! We were lucky enough to have the chance to go aboard and investigate these two beautiful boats, gawk at the amount of rigging, and talk to some of the sailors. They definitely made sailing our little boat look like a cakewalk! Last week we drove down to San Francisco for the wedding of a friend of mine from elementary school. We camped in the Redwoods, saw many friends, and I got to be a bridesmaid in the most beautifully charming wedding I've ever seen! FYI- Stern Grove in SF is an amazing place to have a wedding. Then, on Sunday, June 28th, we met our third and final crewmember for our adventure...Myrtle Marie! She is the cutest being with four paws I've ever met and she's seven weeks old! She loves the boat, and she didn't mind sailing with us yesterday, despite 20-25 knot winds! By the end of our sail she was curled up in the aft berth, sound asleep.

Sunshine and Adventure Begins

2009-05-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone , Many exciting things to report.
We have been having some very interesting and enjoyable sailing lately ...with a few more learning curves thrown in here and there. The weather has finally been perfect, it almost seems as summer has arrived already....a very odd thing for oregon! I turned 32 on the 21st of May in the most fabulous way. Cathy and I sailed up to Government Island ....well motored most of the way thanks to lack of wind. We explored the new docks just completed on the island, frolicked in the tall grass and enjoyed the sunshine . And after having the most perfect picnic we decided to head up to the old dock (Bartlett Landing). Here it felt as though we had the entire island to ourselves. It was amazing to notice the lack of beach! The river has risen so much since our last visit ...Lots of snowmelt coming down out of the mountains. The next morning we took the dingy for a spin up to the east end of the island and spotted tons of Great Blue Herons and Osprey and several Bald eagles. All in All it was the best birthday that I have ever had thanks to Cathy , the River and Minor Key . Thank You Nice Universe for Blessing us and all of our journeys. Enjoy all of the photos and Keep a Keen eye out for upcoming posts and for our benefit concert coming up in July. We are looking for some lovely people to play some lovely music at our sailing benefit. Feel free to contact us through email or phone , and of course we are accepting any type of contribution to help this epic expedition become reality . Be Well All and thanks for being you! Michael Signing off ...over and out.

Cat Fangus Merangus says, "Hello World!"

2009-05-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Life is crazy (and perfect); you never know where it will take you. Last October when I went to the Seven Corners New Seasons to buy tea and lemons, I had no idea that it would lead to sailing on an epic journey less than a year later! In fact, at the time, I was sick as a dog and bleeding like a stuck pig, and was just hoping I would feel better the next day. But as fate would have it, as I entered the store, I ran into Michael, who had just gotten off work. We had met six or so years earlier when he threw freight at night at the Concordia New Seasons (where I still work). We'd run into each other again and again over the years, and have always been friendly and exchanged casual chitchat, but we'd never been anything but acquaintances. But as I was leaving the store with my purchases, that night I heard a quiet voice behind me ask,"Mind if I walk with you?" There was Michael, with his trusty bike. I didn't mind at all, and we had a lovely walk and talk. He told me of his plans to sail on a photo documentary of Baja and beyond. As it turned out, he needed a partner and I needed a quest. It has just kept going from there. The universe has consistently conspired to arrange this voyage through unexpected help and 'lucky' breaks. Like finding an inflatable dingy on craigslist for $100 in Brookings, OR, which led to a lovely albeit short road trip along the gorgeous Oregon coast. That night, we stayed in Gold Beach, where I bought a golden goose lottery ticket on a whim to satisfy a little goose obsession I'd been having, and ended up winning $50. And most recently, Michael heard about a little single boat haul out joint from our neighbor Jack. He called Phil at the Tomahawk Island Marina, and as it turned out Phil was booked until July except for this past Tuesday through Thursday. We decided to go for it; the weather was _supposed_ to be nice. Of course, this is Oregon, so it wasn't until Thursday, right after we got the boat back in the water. But we learned that you can paint a boat in the rain (you make duck tape gutters above where you are painting and the water drips off them instead of running down the side of the boat), and Michael found a can of $180 bottom paint on consignment for $80 at Colombia Marine Exchange. All in all, we did it for $420 and we had the opportunity to invest a lot of love and time into Minor Key's happiness. It was an enlightening and empowering experience, and it gave me a chance to witness her in her full glory, fully exposed and perfectly balanced(which I feel is a noble thing in any being). Tomorrow will be seven months exactly since that fateful Monday night, and both of our lives are astoundingly different now. I gave up my cute little apartment in South East Portland in February and moved on the boat with Michael. It feels a little like being out in the country, and I find I don't miss the buzz of traffic and people. The river is a beautiful and calming influence, and the best back yard I've had since I left the home I grew up in, which was in the countryside of San Luis Obispo county, CA and five miles from the nearest bus stop. I gave away the majority of my belongings (boats are small, and there's no room for useless nicknacks, a queen size futon, dressers, bookcases and 75 pounds of clothes). Michael cleared out unnecessaries as well to make room for the books, fabrics, and art supplies I felt would be useful for our free time on the trip (and was unwilling to part with). I am currently enrolled in a sailing class at the Portland Sailing Center and enjoying it immensely. As I learn more about sailing, boats, and cruising, I am discovering a whole new world and a new society. I geek out pretty hard core over sociology, anthropology, psychology and philosophy, and I find the cruisers' mind state and outlook fascinating and encouraging. I am also excited to have a chance to use all that Spanish and French and possibly the Japanese I learned in school but haven't practiced enough. I'm finding that the T'ai ji chuan I've been studying for the past four and a half years is incredibly useful for balancing on a rocking boat. And the fact that I've blown bubbles almost every day for the past 14 years has taught me how to feel and know the wind. I've discovered that the years of customer service has done wonders for my patience, understanding, and helping me get over my shyness with strangers. And after being at my current job for seven and a half years, change feels due. I find myself grateful for the lessons I have learned from the experience, but now we are both very much chomping at the bit to leave. We still have four months until we plan to leave, so the patience will come in handy. I do feel incredibly grateful to the universe and to Michael and Minor Key for the chance to steer my life on a new course with the sweetest man and most beautiful boat I have ever met! All thanks to a perfect and loving universe! Thank you for reading; may you have a blessed day! Cathy: over and out.

A New Horizon

2009-02-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

Ahoy! It has been quite a while since the last posting , many new events transpiring . And all of it thanks to the amazing almighty universe! My dreams and prayers have been answered....a new and powerful soul has entered the picture , Her name is Cathy and she is the most amazing human being that I have ever met. A traveller at heart, she will be voyaging on Minor Key with me and adding the the exact spice this trip needed, I am Blessed. We are quite a perfect team already with the exact balance needed for a journey of this magnitude. She is the strongest woman I have ever met and the most willing to adventure in this way, eager for knowledge as I am. So a new chapter of this vision quest begins. We are about to embark on the biggest quest of our lifes, a quest for the universe and all we can offer to the world and humanity. We will be bringing part of Portland with us and sharing our experience with Portland . We will sharing all that we encounter through an online photodocumentary and journal. A way for our friends and family throughout the world to connect with us and track our progress. We will be spending the summer preparing Minor Key and ourselves for the voyage, and will be setting sail in September. Our first stop will be the San Francisco Bay area to visit more family and friends and to restock Minor Key for the leg south into Mexico. We plan to sail down to Cabo San Lucas with the Baja Ha Ha , a group sail of about 150 -200 other sailboats, A good way to meet other cruisers on the same type of journey as us. As more exciting info comes I will post as much as possible , enjoy the photos and thanks for taking the time to experience our journey. Be well and Blessed Be Universe for making all this possible and for taking such good care of us.

Clarity

2008-10-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Hello , I felt like it was time for an update. All is well with Minor Key and the sailing has

really been nice. The temperature has really been dropping but the sun is still showing its face.

The Wind has been on our side. There are quite a few Cascade 29s on this river , and we have ben seeing more every time we venture out. This past week we headed up to Bartlett Landing on Government Island...a common overnight cruising destination for the river, It was just Minor Key and Drummer , both Cascade 29s sailing right next to one another. We ghosted along with

our fellow boat , stealing the little bits of wind , slowly making progress. Overall a really peaceful

cruise. The moon was full and the sky clear and crisp . The wind cooperated very nicely for our

journey back , giving us nice puffs too get us home in a hurry , and then about an hour later it completly shut down , like switch was thrown on a giant fan . It seems that all I dream of doing

is sailing , I can't wait for the weekend to get out there again , and really cannot wait for this project and journey south to fully get cruising.

It is my passion and this seems like my lifes work. The environment and the water that surrounds us are the main forces that sustain us. And I feel honored to be able to incorporate

the passions in my life and share them with those around me,to be a positive influence on those around me and envoke change. I must send the biggest thank you out to my Aunt Barbara and

Uncle Barry for taking the time to get involved , they are the first . Thank You !!! I am in no hurry to rush this project , it is evolving and getting better with time . I do however want to make this happen before its gone. By this I mean the coastal ecosytem and communities I am trying to study and bring awareness to. But I want to take the time to do it right and safely.

Well thank you all who have read this and I hope that I can somehow bring something new out in you. And as always please leave comments or suggestions , they help . And enjoy the photos of the latest cruise!!

Invigorated

2008-10-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hello All, Its been quite a week , The weather has really been changing . It is always these

seasonal changes that bring on a bit of self reflection on what I m doing in my life. It has been a

assuring fall and one that has reminded me that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. The feeling really bubbled back to the surface during a very lively sail two days ago . The sky had cleared of its clouds a bit and the wind really piped up , putting us on a real nice run up river . It was then that I noticed up ahead another Cascade 29 , same vintage as mine , they were running as well . We followed behind as I had reefed the mainsail already.Soon they came about and started to go to weather , heeling about 15 to 20 degrees. It is a rare experience for me to actually see my own boat sailing from a distance , and this was as close as I had ever come . A

calming and reassurance came over me as I admired her lines and noticed her stoutness. I felt safe and secure and quite happy that I have chosen such an epic craft to sail the wild and untamed blue lifeblood of this planet!

Aside from sailing I have been doing well and keeping busy working at my 'real' job and

riding quite a bit ....actually everyday 20 miles , keeping me as healthy as possible. I have been

trying to source a new or used mainsail ...mine is getting pretty worn , its almost 37 years old,

but it still moves her . I would fully appreciate any feedback anyone has and of course and contribution to the campaign is welcome ...still have long way to go . So thank you all for our time in reading this and for any support . And please send as much good energy to the people on the Baja coast they are being hit really hard right now by a mighty hurricane ....pray for them.

Be Well Sea of Cortez and all living in Baja california.

Simplify

2008-09-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Just a quick update of the campaign . Here in Portland we are lucky enough to be getting our possibly last nice shot of weather. October is almost here and we are having near 90 degree days! And the wind has been kind and out of the east , not a usual occurence. Things are going well with the project , everyday I see another aspect of the project that excites me even more. I have been working on networking and getting the word out about the project and how people around me may able to help. One goal is to keep this voyage as simple as possible and to promote simple low impact ways of life. It seems as with all of my travelling, that the simpler you keep it the more enjoyable and enriching it becomes. And that is a goal of this project. I have been working on several simple list of items that are needed to make the project a sucess. And since Minor Key will be our base and platform to work from as well as our means of getting to these destinations most of the list involves her. For instance about $600 will pay for the new mainsail, which is a necessary safety item and our main source of power. Another $600 will cover the cost of the new standing rigging , another integral part of the boat , for it holds the mast upright! Those are the major things required the rest are much smaller items such as bottom paint , jacklines, spare parts , ect. Like I said the goal is to be as simple and self sufficent as possible , and to break down any walls between our boat and the local people, this way we will learn more and be able to share more with them. Regular submissions of photos and stories will come via mail or ssb sailmail. We would like to gain as much knowledge of the local changes going on and to be able to document the local species of plant and animal and any invasive species that are possibly affecting the area , And document how this is affecting the region both locally and as a whole. Thanks again for your time and please any input is very much welcome .

Contributions can be made to Michael Hudson at the Voyage of Coastal Preservation
3307 N.E. Marine Dr. Portland Oregon 97211 or online By clicking the link at the top of the page.
Thanks and fair winds and calm seas to all out there voyaging .

Awareness

2008-09-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all,

I would like to briefly share more about me with you.

I was born and raised in Southern Ohio, and was lucky enough to have quite

an adventurous childhood . Since I was five My parents and I would go on a trip once a year,

usually to a beach in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Coast. We would stay for a week in

a beachhouse as close to the beach as possible , usually within sight. These were great bonding times with my folks and it really invigorated my passion to travel later in life. It made me

curious about what else what out there and how to experience as much as possible while I am here. This was also my first introduction to the amazing life in the oceans. I can remember several occasions of Dolphins surfacing and playing while I was playing in the sand. And the

tickling feeling of schools of fish nipping at your feet as they pass by. But most of all these times

instilled in me the desire to see more and travel more. When I was ready to make my own travel

a reality , I would take trips down to Gulf Shores, Alabama and explore the region on my own , this area is rich in plant and and animal life . The Bon Secour wildlife refuge was a favorite place of mine in this area. Eventually I made my way out west and began travelling to every nook in the desert southwest and the pacific coast , and spent several years in smaller towns in western montana. This is where I began bicycle touring. My first tour was a pacific northwest loop , leaving from Missoula , Montana travelling on the smallest roads possible through Idaho , Oregon , Washington , and back into Idaho , finishing in Whitefish , Montana. The point of the trip was to experience every mile under my own power, And to document the smaller forgotten

roads and towns . Quite an experience , I met some of the kindest people while cycling through

some of the most rugged and remote countryside . I began only travelling by bicycle at this time and completed two more self contained tours of the entire west coast and back into the desert southwest. It was during this time that I fell in love with photography. I found it was a perfect medium for sharing these stories and adventures with people around me. Almost four years ago

I truly discovered sailing on the Columbia River in Portland , Oregon and realized very quickly that this was the ideal way voyage and do so without a huge impact on the environment. It is the

truest and closest I have been to the power of our Mother Earth . Sailing has taught me that if you can respect her great power that she can take you anywhere you want to go . So I have worked on this for the last 3 years , finding a balance with the wind and sail, and ultimatly with myself. I feel this is the medium that can take us to these coastal regions in Mexico and and Photos and ours words can be the medium for documenting the changes taking place . Sailing is a passion of mine , the survival of our planet is another and I feel with your help we can bring more awareness and make a change. Any contribution made will bring us one step closer to reaching this goal , a lifetime achievement and a dream . Thanks for taking the time .

Feel free to email me at cascadesnowzone@yahoo.com . Any any contribution can be made by clicking the contribute tab, or to The Voyage Coastal Awareness 3307 N.E. Marine Dr. Portland ,Oregon 97212

Thanks again , and fair winds to all at sea Be Well

The Cause for the Coast

2008-09-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings, In this chapter I would like to briefly share with you the proposed Voyage.

We have named it the Voyage of Coastal Preservation . The is the simplest way to describe what

we would like to accomplish on this Journey. It is to be a photodocumentary to bring awareness

to the vanishing ecosystems on our coasts and coastal waters, and the relationship the coast has with the people living near them . The project is to focus on the Pacific Coast of Mexico and in to the fishing communities in the Sea of Cortez. There is a rich culture in the people of this area and a strong bond to the ocean in these communities. We would like to share one year at least with

the local people and families in these coastal regions and document the changes they are going through and changes observed in the coasts and ocean of these delicate regions. We will be documenting through photos and written and recorded words. The goal is simply to bring awareness and offer options for change and preservation, and to preserve these traditional lifestyles for the future.

The other aspect of this project is to promote clean and responsible boating practices, and energy independence. The entire project will be done from the sailboat and in the local villages, so it seems only wise to promote simple low impact boating to other voyaging sailors and to the local

boats and fishermen. Our boat is completly solar powered and will rely primarily on the wind to move us. Simple Living Through Sail Power. So we have the proper boat and skills to be sucessful along with partners here in Portland, The one thing we lack is proper funding.

We are doing this all for no profit aside from the findings and shared adventure of this journey.

I have set up an online fundraising center to attempt drum up support for this project. Also feel free to email me with questions or ideas or to donate. Everyone who decides to take part in this

project in anyway is more than welcome to join for any leg of the journey from Portland Oregon

or any port we stop into. I want to share this experience with as nany as possible . Thanks for your time . Contact in info to follow...In the next chapter I will go into more detail about me and my partners and of course the boat that will take us there. Fair Winds to you all!!

Cascadesnowzone@yahoo.com

Fundraising site is Complete Campaigns.com The Voyage of Coastal Preservation Portland , Oregon

Funds needed to be raised $20,000

Possible departure date , fall 2009 or spring 2010

Chapter Two

2008-09-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hello All, Its been a few days since my last post. The wind has been very kind and

We have been fully enjoying it. There is the feeling in the air that Fall is arriving and these

ideal sailing days are nearing an end for the season . At least up here in the great Northwest.

Yet even as Winter settles in again I still intend on doing some sailing throughout the cold and wet winter, With the proper foul weather gear some of the best cruising can happen in the winter. And it always a good idea to learn to handle your boat in a variety of conditions. But enough about that though, I would like to share with you more about me and this boat and our plan.

I have been living in the Northwest for around ten years , and I discovered sailing up here about

4 years ago . Right away I fell in love with it , and saw how much potential this form of travel carries. And began to also realize what responsibility it requires too. I spent much of my time

reading and studying to learn as much as possible. This is how I have self taught myself in the past and also by just doing it. I purchased my first sailboat , a 21 foot aquarius sloop and spent

weeks building up courage to take her out for the first time. After quite a few bumps and stressful moments I began to get a feel for how the wind a water work with the sails . My next boat was a 28 foot Columbia Sloop, this was my first ' real boat ' and also when I started truly

living aboard. A truly fine vessel she taught me even more about boat handling on the Mighty Columbia. A very good sailing boat indeed , yet still not the boat I wanted to take across the bar into the Pacific. I was the first winter on the boat that met Matt , the owner of a bristol Cascade 36. We soon became good friends and he enlighted me more about the Cascade line of sailboats

and the distant landfalls these little boats have made. And I soon was sold after doing my own research on the loved Cascades around the world. It wasn't long before my day came to own a Cascade. Minor Key was lying at Rose City Yacht Club ,a Marinas up river from mine. I reached

Wade on the phone and he happily allowed Matt and I to go aboard her to check everything out.

We both were fully impressed , she was fully intact and boasted a dry and clean bilge and a shining teak and holly cabin sole. She had every reciept and was maintained very well. I was in love.

Soon after I met Wade on the boat discuss her. I was so amazed at how much energy this man at 93 had and how much enthusiasm he showed for this boat and my plans for her. After sitting in the cabin on this hot summer day for a couple of hours I find out that he is one of the founders for Cascade Yachts! So he knew exactly how she was built and what they are capable of because

he helped build them. We soon came to an agreement and Minor Key became my future.

I feel like I am rambling on here so I think I will contuinue this chapter later and get more to the point.

Thanks for reading and May The Winds Be Fair to You.

The First Chapter

2008-09-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all . I am a simple sailor, with a simple Boat, with a simple mission . One that will

constantly be evolving , and I welcome anyone to follow along on this adventure for as long as

its fun for you. That is advice that has been given to me in the past and it still holds true today.

To get into the basics of my journey and my goal , I will begin by describing my boat . Her name is Minor Key , a name given to her by her first owner . He being a musician bestowed

many musical details to the boat. She is a Cascade 29 HULL# 206 layed up here in Portland,

Oregon in 1971. She was finished in 1973, and sailed regularly in the San Juans and the Seattle

area. Eventually she arrived here in Portland , her birthplace. After passing through a few hands

she was placed in the care of Wade Cornwell, one of the founders of Cascade Yachts, or Yacht Constructors Inc. her in Portland. I purchased her from Wade ( now 94 years young ) about 2

years ago. Since then I have been refitting her and enoying her seakindly sailing here on the Mighty Columbia River. The plan for Her and for Me in to prepare her for more voyaging into

Mexico and possibly further. This will be the greatest undertaking of my life thus far. It has proven to be the most rewarding also. One mission of our voyage is to simplify and to promote

ecological travel and exploration through SailPower.

In the next posting I will share more of my Self Story and Plans and reason to travel so.