More Alicia and Alfredo

Cruising friends Alycia and Alfredo are still bicycling around the U.S., going from Tucson, AZ, to Florida, and now up to Montana.  Here they are taking a break from the bikes and hiding up into East Glacier Park before heading west to Washington and then back down to their boat in Guaymas, MX,  Typical of their many adventures is an email exerpt describing camping in Glacier:

Friday, August 20, 2010 7:53 AM   ..... at the last camp ground, Cosley Lake, there was a grizzly bear that came to visit just after we got in the tent and the neighbor was chased up a tree by a black bear about 6pm. How exciting! The weather was perfect the last 5 days and we arrived to the Chief mountain trailhead which was only 100 yards from the Canadian border. 

It was a great trip. We hitched back to our bikes and our hosts in East Glacier and we will probably leave today heading west.We are now on the northern tier bike route, heading to west Glacier, Columbia Falls, Eureka, Troy, MT. then Sandpoint, ID. and then into WA.

Alicia and Alfredo

Summer in San Francisco for Sea Story

 Before we got to California, we caught a nice tuna near Magdalenna Bay, off the Mexican coast of Baja. We estimated his weight between 15 and 20 pounds.  Good eating, but the hard part was having to clean him with a sharp knife on this pitching deck. (Photo by Connie LaBounty)

The trip up the California coast was tough this year.  Rough weather persisted longer than usual, and it took a long time to get from San Diego to San Francisco.  As usual, we had some great folks for crew members, so the boat was well manned.  But, a stubborn high pressure area off the north coast, kept sending us those short, steep waves that make progress difficult when you're sailing into them.  Net result was a trip that took 15 days instead of the usual 6, and featured layovers in Santa Barbara, Morro Bay and Santa Cruz. 
The up side of all this was the chance to spend time in these delightful ports that we usually leave too early or bypass entirely.  The down side is that I needed some time off after completing the trip and working on the things that typically need fixing after a month of bashing northward up the Pacific coastline.
So, right now, I'm cooling my heels in wonderful, summertime, Wisconsin, and Sea Story is resting easy in a berth at Richmond's Marina Bay.  At the end of September, I'll be back aboard and getting ready for a return trip down the coast to Mexico.  This time, it will be mostly downwind and riding the waves instead of bashing into them.  After nearly a month on dry land, I'm already starting to look forward to the trip.

Sea Otters are making a comback in the Monterey Bay, and here is one taking a snooze in the Santa Cruz harbor.  When they are off the coast, the wrap themselves in kelp to keep from drifting off while they're taking a nap.  Here in the harbor, they just pick a quiet fairway.