Upcoming crew change

If you've been following our crew's story you know that our daughter has been working to study abroad in France next year. What is normally a fairly involved application process both with a school and an embassy was certainly complicated by a global pandemic, but we can finally report that she has met all the requirements to leave in August! She has been accepted, matched to a family, her visa was approved, and she has a plane ticket!

APPROVED in only a week!

Celebrating with her cousin (and French pastries!)

How did we get here? After researching a bunch of programs and reading reviews and sending inquiries, we decided to use Nacel to coordinate her program. This was a gamble as we didn't have any friends with first-hand experience with them, but we went for it. We were assigned a coordinator, Céline, who guided us through the entire application process, kept us informed as Katreina was matched to a school and family, and who guided us through the visa application process. She also answered literally any question we had along the way and really kept us informed as the COVID situation changed in France. Nacel is who works to match the student to a family, enrolls them in school, provides in-country orientation and transportation, and helps should any issues arise during the program. They also offer some intense French language training before the program. So far we are happy with the program we chose.

Katreina will spend the entire school year (her "Lycée Seconde") in Tours, France with a family that has two daughters and a dog--she is wildly excited! Her program starts in a month and we are enjoying our final weeks with her.  

Western PA lake life and Niagara Falls!

When we tied up for an extended period in Maryland it was with the intent to get out and travel. We recently made good on that with a trip to western Pennsylvania!

Our military life blessed us with many colleagues who became friends who became family, and last week we visited our friend, "Aunt" Patti, at her family's lake house in PA! We had traveled to D.C. to apply for Katreina's student visa, then stayed in the northwest suburbs with family so it was an easy hop up to the lake! While the weather was a mixed bag with summer storms (we even lost power for a bit the first night!), we had a fabulous time enjoying lake life! We boated (on a pontoon), swam, the kids used a pedal boat, but most of all we enjoyed games, meals, and good times with friends old and new. It was a perfect escape and we really enjoyed our first trip to this part of the country.

Absolutely LOVING lake life with Patti and Judy! Pontoons, peddle boats, rafts, drinks, and friends. <3

Lake house life also included rotary phones, mini golf, card games, ice cream, a little indoor skateboarding, and this damn bottle of King Cake vodka.

While we were there, Patti talked us into taking a day trip to Niagara Falls which was only a few hours away. I had been when I was a kid, but Frank and the kids had never been so we went for it! It. Was. AWESOME! We hit Cave of the Winds before the crowds filled in and had a blast! Then we basically spent the day walking along the American side until the heat got to everyone. It was a quick trip, but well worth it and we all have plans to return (to the Canadian side!).

Cave of the Winds was a hit!

We walked all over Goat Island, Three Sisters Islands, and the trails around the falls on the U.S. side.
The surprise? Schoellkopf Power Station No. 3...loved getting down on the river's edge there.
So much more to explore on a return trip!

After helping with a few projects at the house, we said our goodbyes and headed back towards Maryland. But there was one last important stop on this journey--Primanti Bros. in the Strip District in Pittsburgh! This is another experience that I felt Frank really needed so we braved the baseball-day line and had a mid-afternoon feast before finishing the journey back. While the crowd kept us from being able to sit in my favorite seats at the grill counter, the experience was just as delicious as I remember from the Steelers/Patriots games! And yes, vegetarians (especially lacto-ovo veggies) CAN eat here!

There are many Primanti's, but this is the "real" one! DO NOT "edit" the sandwich! It comes with potatoes, slaw, and tomatoes and should definitely be eaten like that!

Summer on the Bay?

We are STILL at a dock! Greetings from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland (still!). I hardly feel like a cruiser right now...water, power, wifi, a car...but it's all good. We are deliberately staying put to make sure we have everything in order for our daughter's foreign exchange program--so far, so good, with a critical appointment at the French embassy coming up next week! After that we may take the boat north or we may not. We have our car so we are looking at some land trips and even some international travel.

How have we been keeping busy? I'll let the pictures tell the story!

Field trip to the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum.

Shopping trip to Mako Spearguns in Fredericksburg, VA. Trent and I got some new pole spears to try out, we all got new gloves, and I got free diving fins! 

Lots of sewing projects...my Sailrite Ultrafeed LS-1 is getting a workout! Made some protective wraps out of boat blanket to protect the dinghy, made fuel can covers and put flaps on the old ones, and am now working on some new bags for the paddle boards for when they are stored on deck.

K is getting in lots of time at the local skatepark.

Berries! I have picked so many blackberries and raspberries near the marina!

We've also been hitting the bowling alley and movie theater on base, celebrated the 4th with our friends on S/V Waypoints, installed a new toilet base and macerator in the aft head, and Katreina is working on a major art piece on the door of the aft head (Amphitrite!). So we are marching along in a mostly land-based existence for the time being. 

But let's not forget the REAL fun! We sucked up not one, but TWO jellyfish in our a/c system in the span of an hour! It was only like 95F out, so it was great. And of course I was in the middle of cooking dinner which only added to the the swampy heat. We needed to clean the strainer anyway, but my love of these creatures was tested a bit!

Jellyfish extraction is no fun!

We at least have an "end" to our summer laid out--both adults will be working the fall boat shows in Annapolis with Fawcett Boat Supplies. This will put us on the same migration path/timeline as many other cruisers, but it is a great way to make some cash, hang out with boaters, and check out new products in the industry. It's a lot of hard work, but also a ton of fun!

~Jo, 1st Mate