Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Family Events and Family Visits

We made it back from our road trip in time for Pam and her sister Barb to put the finishing touches on their parents 60th anniversary party to be held a few days after our return. It was decided some time before the date to hold the party at Manny's Pizza in Savanna, Il., one of the families favorite places.
The highlight of the gathering came when Pam & Barb accompanied by Barb's husband Bill on guitar sang "Remember When" by Alan Jackson. Rumor had it that it even brought a tear to their Dad's eye while they sang.
Of course Manny's did a great job. The pizza and tacos were great as usual and I was even able to hide 3 tacos to take home for breakfast the next morning!

The Waites Family

The singers.

The whole family

The Event.

Of course while we were home we were able to visit with friends and family and even sneak out for a night on the town by ourselves one evening.

We returned to Kentucky only to find that Tourist wasn't in her slip! How do you lose a 48' boat? Actually we were warned that she might be moved since they are adding floatation to the docks here at Green Turtle Bay.
It didn't take long for Pam to walk the docks (while I sat in the air-conditioned car) and find our boat tucked in between 2 taller boats all safe and sound. Actually we are now in a slip which offers better protection from the afternoon sun which will help in keeping things cool during the next few weeks of mid-90 degree heat.

In no time after our return it was Pam's birthday. She has never told me how old she is but I'm guessing that she must be right around 39. We spent a quiet day followed by dinner at the Commonwealth Yacht Club where it turned out to be the bartenders birthday also. Lets just say our glasses were never empty. We had a great time and got to share some of the bartenders birthday cake as well before letting the car drive us back to Tourist.
We had the waiter take a nice romantic picture of us sitting at a corner table with the marina in the background that I had planned on using in this post but somehow in this world of digital it disappeared by the next morning. Hmmm. I wonder if Pam is telling me something?

Happy Birthday Pamster!

Shortly after Pam's birthday we were expecting a visit from my daughter Angela and family. However before they arrived we were visited by this prehistoric looking praying mantis.

What's for lunch?

Soon enough the visitor moved on and our guests arrived.

Angela, Doug, & Drew. (Unfortunately Luke had to stay home for his job.)

Over the next couple of days we were able to show them a little of our Kentucky lifestyle.

Doug & Drew trying to sink Angela.

The boys let go and Ange fell into total relaxation. (I think she was asleep!)

Drew imitating his mother doing her morning workout.

Grandpa & Grandson having cigars & a cola.

My baby girl driving the dinghy.

Enjoying a couple of Pam's dips while underway.

We had a fun time visiting but time passes quickly and all too soon we were saying good-bye as they continued their road trip to Nashville & Memphis.

The next few days were hot so we stayed in port plugged in to the shore power. Time to take care of an inside project that I just recently found a suitable solution to.

Approximately two years ago the lower track on our curved shower door started to come apart. At that time I went to the Sea Ray dealer and inquired about a replacement for it. They looked it up and gave me a price of nearly $500.00. Keep in mind this is only a 48" piece of curved plastic! The reason for the high cost was because they only sold this piece as a set with the corresponding piece for the top track. Needless to say I walked out without ordering the part.

Over time I kept looking for something to use as a replacement and just recently I stumbled upon the company that makes the track for Sea Ray. Their price for the lower track only was $148.00. Still somewhat high for a piece of plastic but a lot better than the previously quoted price.
Of course I ordered it and when I received it I had twice as much length as I needed so now I have a spare track. The installation went as planned and one more item got crossed off the "to do" list.

10 years of scum tells where the old track was positioned.

New track in place after Pam cleaned the scum away.

After a few days at the dock the temps dropped back into the low 80's for daytime highs and that gave us the impetus to head out on the hook for a couple of nights. Since we had just been to Duncan Bay we decided to go back to Carmack Bay. Once again we had the whole place to ourselves. And once again we saw deer along the shoreline.

One afternoon we took a dinghy ride back across the Cumberland and checked out a couple of coves that had housing and condo developments along the shore. Before we came back we puttered into Buzzard Rock Marina to check out a possible anchorage in the cove behind the marina. We stayed at Buzzard Rock back in 2011 and found it to be a very friendly place with good dockage and music on the week-ends.

Buzzard Rock Marina.

By now it was approaching cocktail hour so we pointed the bow back across the river and took off. On our way across I remembered that I had downloaded a speedometer app on my phone and since I had never known the actual top end speed of the dinghy it seemed like a good time to find out. Turns out with the two of us onboard we could cruise along at 25 mph. Surprisingly we were still getting a stable ride at that speed in the 11' dinghy. Cocktails just got a little closer!

Nights were comfortable sleeping and the days warm enough to launch the princess chairs and spend time lounging in the cooling waters of Carmack Bay.

Tourist all alone in Carmack Bay.

Another Carmack sunset.

With the week-end coming and the zoo that arrives with it we floated back into GTB in time for their marina days celebration which was topped off with a nice fireworks display.

Sitting in our slip watching the fireworks.

Since we've been back they have been replacing the Styrofoam floatation under the docks by using a modified lift. With 400 slips they have a way to go before being done.

Noticed the guy in the water who pushes the Styrofoam under the dock.

The forecast calls for temps to remain in the mid to upper 90's for the remainder of the month so our outings may be scaled back to day trips since I'm too cheap to run the generator for the a/c at night! Looks like more projects will get checked off the list.





















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