Ready to fly the coup again...

Wow, it has been almost a month since our last blog posting.  We've spent almost that entire month preparing our Oakland home to be rented to others, while we depart on our longest journey so far.  I'm still scrubbing the errant paint off my hands from repairing and painting all the bedrooms and connecting hallway.  For a house built in the 20's with plaster walls on a hillside, you can imagine the number of cracks that needed attention with multiple layers and treatments of patching and sanding.  Along with packing all of our belongings into boxes (except for the furniture) and the replacement of 11 windows we managed some heavy duty "spring" cleaning.  The garage sale was a good impetuous to gather stuff up and organize it, and we had fun talking with all the neighbors but I'd hardly call it a money maker.  I was however pleased to sell many of my photographs and at least that part of the activity was rewarding.  We are heading up to Donner summit this long weekend to move our "kit" into storage there for the remainder of the summer, and for me to squeeze in one unbelievable ski patrol day on July 4th at Sugarbowl.

After that, stay tuned as we hit the road for a multiple stop trip including some fun kayak destinations between here and the St. Lawrence River where we hope to explore the watery border region between the US and Canada.

Have a great July 4th holiday!!