January 14 & 15, 2009
I heard a short-eared owl call from our neighbor’s ridgepole. The furnace quit ten days ago in subzero temperatures, and the truck broke down. Grammy was in the hospital. Jesse arrived, and we went to Charlie’s Bakery to meet Garrett, Sarah, Edison, and Jasper for Chinese chow. When we began to drive home, we noticed rain; then, as we climbed the mountain, wind and blowing snow. Rounding Kamakazi Curve, we faced a full-blown blizzard. We knew that by morning, the road would be plugged, and we would miss our flight. Fortunately we were all packed, so we put on our traveling clothes and called Margo. Could we sleep there? Margo and Howard to the rescue! The owl, the blizzard, dear friends all remind us that we are leaving our wonderful home in Alaska.
We made it to Miami. The moon is lying on its back like a smile. We speak the wrong language. Coconuts are ripening on the trees. We think we spotted the M/V Explorer across the water from our Continental Bayshore Hotel on Biscayne Avenue.
That was it, pier J. We met up with Matthew, Wendy, and Barrett and began orientation. At exactly 11 pm, the crew untied the ship from the dock. A tug Dade tied off on the port stern and began to pull us from the pier. We are on our way to the Bahamas! Time for the lifeboat drill.
Jesse says Alaska is mad at us for leaving: the weather has been wild, wild, wild!