Next stop Spain

In a little over 3 weeks I will be headed off on another adventure.

 I'll be flying to Spain to hook up with a friend and serve as crew, joining him and his son, & sailing his sailboat across the Atlantic.

 The trip will take us from Gibraltar to the Canary Islands where 2 more people will arrive and then the 5 of us will sail from the Canaries to the Island of Grenada in the southern Caribbean.

The trip to the Canaries should take 5-6 days and the trip to Grenada another 17 or so.

I've added a link to the blog (on the upper right side) "Track us Across the Atlantic"

If you click on the light blue link, it will bring up a map that will show our position and track us.

Try it out - it works now!

Once we are underway you can select a different timeframe (such as last 30 days) which will then just show the recent activity rather than several years worth. 

Those of you who receive the blog via email - if you did not know - there are several links in those emails that you can click on  that will take you to the blog itself so that you can try out the new function and follow us as we travel.

Below is a map of our approximate route.

Click on it to see it full size.

I'm not sure if I will make it home for Christmas or not just yet. 

I'll be missing Thanksgiving with my three girls this year.

When I get to Spain I hope to do a day or two of sightseeing before we shove off, but of course everything will be dependent on the weather.

I will be blogging as we cross the Atlantic.

While underway the blog will not have pictures due to bandwidth limitations until we get to land, but I will try to paint a verbal picture for you so that you can come along for the ride.

Here is a picture of the boat that I will be sailing on.

Rumor has it that there will be a 7-piece band performing nightly as well as Jamaican steel drums entertaining over by the rock climbing wall.

It should be a fun cruise.

So get your tropic wear,  some popcorn and grab a seat.  

Some interesting tales are just around the corner.

Up in the Blue Ridge Mountains

We all decided to take a long weekend and head up to the mountains for a little Fall "Leaf Peaping"

It's about 300 miles from the coast into the Blue Ridge Mountains where we currently are sitting enjoying the cool fall temps and crisp mountain air.

A few photos from our travels today:

My 3 girls at Cumberland Knob Overlook

This view is looking East out over the vast Piedmont of NC towards the Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles away.  We are up about 2,000 feet above the Piedmont, on the first ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

In the center off in the distance is Pilot Mountain.

  You Mayberry RFD fans might remember it as "Mt Pilot"

We visited "Mabry Mill" an old water powered grist mill along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was a beautiful day in some beautiful surroundings.

Tomorrow it's Back to Mayberry!