Homeward Bound with our RV and car taking a few detours!!!! February 21st Rudy and I flew to Seattle, Washington. The next day we drove to Vancouver, British Colombia to visit our friends Rich and Sylvia Swenson whom we met on our Alaskan trip. We had a quiet night and Sylvia cooked a fantastic dinner. It was definitely the quiet before the storm!!! February 23rd We went snowmobiling on an “Out of This World Snowmobile Ride!!!” Rich has an unusual hobby. He takes perfectly good snow machines, rips them apart and makes “hot rod snow machines.” These are radically altered machines that include new tubular light weight composite frames, a whole new skin on the front end and an engine that approaches 300 hp! He rides these for fun through the mountains and glaciers north and east of Vancouver. These machines literally fly up the mountains. I have been on a snowmobile once about 15 years ago and we traveled on a flat surface. This trail was a mogul nightmare. The trail was so rough you could not sit on the snowmobile. You had to stand most of the time and while going cross slope, we had to stand with both feet on one side to stay upright because of the steepness of the slopes. We started our climb at just under 1000 ft. above sea level and stopped about 6500 ft. because we couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of us. We were in a cloud and it was snowing which is a typical whiteout conditions in the mountains. It was really amazing to watch Rich ride his machine off of the trail in the very deep powder, probably over 3 ft deep. He actually seemed to be floating while maneuvering his “hot rod” all over the mountain. Rudy fell off once and I dug myself into the side of the mountain once…so we didn’t embarrass ourselves too much!!! After five hours, we were tired and happy to stand on the earth again. February 24th Rudy and I couldn’t walk…literally!! Thank God we weren’t going to do anything strenuous today. Rudy helped Rich in his huge workshop get his machines ready for their next trip while I watched Sylvia as she gave me a pottery demonstration in her beautiful workshop. Sylvia cooked us another wonderfully delicious meal after which it was time for a round of dominoes!!! February 25th We were able to walk down the stairs without groaning too much or too loudly!!! After another delicious breakfast, Rudy and I left for Whistler. February 26th I was extremely happy that there was a whiteout conditions and we decided not to ski. I really needed one more day to rest my legs and arms. February 27th It was a sunny, bright day with no wind. Perfect for skiing!!! We skied at Blackcomb and it was one of my favorite days of skiing, ever. We were tired at the end of the day so we used the outdoor hot tub and felt a great deal better!! February 28th It was raining and we couldn’t see two feet in front of us. At my age, I am learning to choose and pick my days to ski. I chose not to ski!!! (Rudy didn’t either) We walked around the village and rested. March 1st was another FANTASTIC day and we skied at Whistler. We had a great time skiing and ended the day with another trip to the hot tub!! March 2nd We left Whistler and drove to Seattle and got a hotel next to the airport. The next day we flew to San Jose and then drove to the campgrounds where our RV and car was being stored. The RV and the car started and we moved the RV into a site at the campground. That afternoon, we traveled to Palo Alto to meet Jackie and Jason where they were filming a Yoga DVD. Jaclyn wrote the songs, played the guitar, sang the songs, wrote the script and directed the filming of the DVD. We took a dinner break while Jaclyn was doing her thing. We met Shawn and Jon (friends from cruising who crewed for us when we came back across the ocean) for dinner and caught up with each others happenings!!! March 3rd to March 15th During this time we helped Jaclyn by taking pictures of her on the beach three different days for her DVD, visited friends and family and Rudy worked on the RV and I in Jaclyn’s garden. Shawn came to Half Moon Bay for the day and she and I had lunch at the Ritz Carlton. It was beautiful inside and out and expensive, but the company was great!!! Rudy and I went to see Shawn at her home in Palo Alto where she and I went shopping. We also went to see my Aunt Fay and Uncle John in Salinas for a day. She made a fantastic meal for us and we enjoyed talking about old times. She told Rudy many stories about me as a child which she should know since she was my big sister for the first 10 years of my life!!! And now she is not only my sister, but my friend!! I really treasure her love and her friendship and visiting her is always a highlight to my time in California. Dave and Bonnie Law, more cruising friends, also came to see us in Half Moon Bay. We went to a great restaurant and talked about our sailing days in Italy, Greece, Croatia and Turkey. March 16th We took Jaclyn and Jason to the airport. They are on their way to Bali where Jaclyn is leading a Yoga and Surfing Retreat for two weeks. We got there early and had dinner in the airport. Our stay in California was great but it seemed too short because Jackie and Jason were so busy with all their projects. March 17th Rudy and I traveled to Yosemite. (We had delays because of a landslide that covered one of the roads.) The next day we toured the park from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and had a fantastic time. We visited Bridalveil Falls (620 foot drop), El Capitan ( a massive, granite monolith standing 3,593 feet), Half Dome (another granite feature that is estimated to be 87 million years old and rises to 8,842 feet), Yosemite Falls (2,425 feet drop which is the tallest waterfall in North America!!) and Yosemite Valley were we ate lunch. We saw an interesting movie on the history of Yosemite in the Visitor’s center. March 18th We traveled to a campsite about an hour from Sequoia. We decided to travel to the park by car (30 miles to the gallon) rather than the RV (8 miles per gallon). March 19th We experienced Sequoia National Park. It must have been a hard winter in California because Sequoia also had a landslide and we had delays again. Sequoia is the second oldest National Park with the largest living tree on earth. The General Sherman is estimated to be about 2,200 to 2700 years old (it can live up to 3,200 years) and its largest branch is almost seven feet in diameter. March 20th We drove most of the day and arrived at a campsite in the town of Twenty-nine Palms next to Joshua Tree National Park. It was a windy night with winds up to 40 knots. (I am sure this makes the hundreds of wind generates happy!!) The winds shook the RV and it felt like we were on the boat again, but we weren’t worried about dragging our anchor or hitting anything!!! March 21st We visited Joshua Tree and experienced many different geological formations. About 100 million years ago, molten liquid oozed upward and cooled while still below the surface. This process formed granitic rock called monzogranite. After millions of years, pressure pushed the rock above the surface of the earth. (It actually looks like a bunch of giants took millions of pebbles and made peeble castles every where!!) There were many different plants and of course, the Joshua Tree!!! The Joshua Tree and the Fan Palm are not destroyed by fire and in fact, fire helps them germinate. Some of the other floras are the ocotillo plant, the Bigelow cholla cactus (teddy bear or jumping cactus), the fan palm and many other plants I cannot name. (Visit our website for pictures www.streamteam.com/Boundless)