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Published: September 20th 2023
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SUPER, FULL, BLUE MOON OVER SAUSALITO
By Ryland Hormel...super photographer and neighbor. After a long hiatus from hosting due to the pandemic of the past several years, we are back on the high seas again and loving it. A lot of water has passed under the bridge in those intervening years. Zoom calls became a way of life for keeping in touch with friends and relatives. It was the longest stretch of time since we have been married that we have not traveled somewhere in the world. During the quarantine we got to know our new home in Florida and were grateful for the comforts it offered like a swimming pool, hot tub, ping pong table and a lovely lanai overlooking our lake and 160 acre nature preserve. But travel is definitely in our blood and by 2023 it was time for us to hit the road. In April, we took a short cruise from Miami to Dover, England on the Seabourn
Ovation. It was a lovely ocean crossing and a great four day stay with my sister Annette in London. The City was all abloom with spring flowers and high excitement for the upcoming coronation of Charles.
On August 1 we flew to San Francisco to spend time on our boat
SILVERSEA MUSE
Vancouver to Yokohama on a 17 day cruise. Mana and to take care of our property in Pacific Grove
. It was great to catch up with our dockmates and other longtime friends in the Bay Area and the Monterey Peninsula. We spent the first week in Pacific Grove consolidating our personal property which has been stored in the attic of our rental house for the past 35 years. It took so long to go through all of our "stuff" because every box we opened was filled with pictures and other memorabilia of our younger years. I found an afghan my mother knitted which I thought was long lost in all our moves. We came across Kevin's US Naval Academy diploma and my college thesis and many years worth of correspondence and some personal journals. We visited with our niece, Catherine and family, where they put us up in their luxurious RV. Then on to Pebble Beach where we stayed with Jean and John. Jean was my roommate and flymate during our Braniff years and John is a USNA graduate. Now they are cruise hosts like us. On our way back to Sausalito we attended an impromptu USNA reunion with three of Kevin's classmates. It was so fun to
MANA AT THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
Love being on our boat in Sausalito hear their tales of life at the Academy.
The night we arrived on our boat we watched a super, full moon rise over Alcatraz. And right before we left we celebrated another super, blue, full moon rise on the Bay. On our last weekend we had a progressive dinner on the dock, starting with appetizers on
Mana and then on to the next three boats for the remaining courses. There is a wonderful group of friends living on their boats all of whom we have known for many years.
All too soon, it was time to pack up and secure our boat for winter and fly to Vancouver. We haven't been to Canada in a number of years, so we were excited to check out this bustling city. Gastown is a very vibrant area where folks were enjoying the sidewalk cafes and outdoor venues before the arrival of autumn. We took a ride along the waterfront of this beautiful city and caught sight of the Regent Explorer sailing away to Alaska. She is the last ship we were on prior to the Covid lockdown. We had an early dinner in Chinatown, which was excellent. Like many large cities,
HYDE PARK WITH ANNETTE
Annette showed us London from top to bottom. this area is struggling with their homeless problem. But the Chinese food markets are booming and fully stocked with exotic spices, herbs and teas.
The next day we headed to the pier to board the Silversea Muse. The boarding procedure was quite efficient and we were in our lovely suite in no time. We set sail before sunset and passed under the Lions Gate Bridge. It felt like we were sailing out of San Francisco as the topography is somewhat similar...although there is no Alcatraz in the middle of the bay. The Muse is a luxury ship built in 2017 and carries 596 fortunate passengers and a crew for 411. Right now there are about the same number of passengers as crew on board. This 17 day cruise will take us up the Inside Passage to Alaska stopping in five ports with the last being Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. From there we cross the Bering Sea and the north Pacific Ocean and sail to Japan with several stops on the northern island of Hokkaido and ending in Yokohama. We are renting a seaside house in nearby Hayama where we'll meet up with my niece Lisa and husband
OUR FLORIDA HOME
Photo taken this spring after all the repairs were done from Hurricane Ian. Jacques and their daughter Isabel, Navy son-in-law Frank and new granddaughter Nora. Since this is our 50th wedding anniversary we are returning to Japan where we met and courted. We plan to revisit some of our favorite places and relive the wonderful adventures we shared so long ago in Japan.
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Jean Peterson
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Gorgeous!
We’re so happy that you are back at sea and having a great time. Enjoy reliving those wonderful times in Japan from 50+ years ago. Love, J&J