The Boat is Safe & Sound...

Last week Shelley and I went to Rochester to check on the boat and found everything just as we left it...  It is such good news to know that the folks that are storing it are keeping a good eye on things...  Even the cover which we weren't too sure of is still in place.  The most interesting thing is that we have left a DLink camera set up and running off the 12 volt house battery and the house batteries connected to the solar panels.  When we checked the voltage was a steady 13 volts!

The solar panels are doing a great job even with the camera drawing a little current 24 hours a day....

On our way down we passed this guy who was having a REALLY BAD DAY!

We are busy at home getting the house ready to sell in the new year...  We are also still busy selling and giving away SO MUCH!   I have to say that as difficult as it is, there is something very liberating about divesting ourselves of STUFF that we have been accumulating over our lifetime... I am becoming aware of just how much we have and how little we really need to be happy...  I am sure that will be some painful moments, but for now we are doing really well....

This month we bit the bullet and bought ourselves a Christmas present.  With the hopes of doing some writing as we travel, (after some pretty extensive research) we have purchased a NIKON D3200 digital SLR camera and 2 zoom lenses that will give us everything form 18mm to 300mm.  What an awesome piece of gear! When we submit a story for publication, we understand that photos need to be of the best possible quality, something you just can't get with a point & shoot camera...  In a previous life, I did some professional photography and am really happy using this great new technology...  I am pleasantly surprised that the cost of a decent SLR is roughly what it was 30 years ago when I was in the business...  I guess that really means the cost of this equipment is much less than it used to be.... Given the value of the dollar today vs 30 years ago...

More soon,

Kyle