Travels with Susan day 2

It was wonderful to finally get to Durban and feel the warm air as I got off the plane. It was nine in the evening and about 70, warm by Port Townsend standards. The plane was parked out on the tarmac and as I walked towards the terminal, I looked up to the observation deck - and there Mick and Debbie!

Got my bags as quickly as possible and headed out of the baggage claim area - there they all were - Mick, Biff and Zoze and Debbie. I had hoped they would all come but wasn't sure if they would - or could! I really didn't give them much notice.

A quick cup of coffee and Zoze and Biff left - Zoze and Bryan are at Biff's until they move into a cottage next week, and Mick and Debbie and I headed home.

I thought I would sleep like a log, but I hardly slept at all. I think it must have been the coffee so late in the day. My mind was churning and I ended up getting up around 6:30 local time.
It's mid- afternoon now and I am trying to make it to bed time without napping.

Tomorrow we are going down to Biff's for lunch. Should be fun.

Free at last

Well, not really but I am free of Dockside. Despite my best intentions, it just did not work out. I thought at the beginning, things would be different, but they weren't - if anything, things were worse, maybe because I'm older and smarter than the last time I worked there. I've received wonderful emails from all my writers, so I know I am doing the right thing by leaving now and not being taken advantage of any more.
So our little trip up to Orcas Island was a nice segue into being a LOL - yeah, lots of laughs! I know I can't sit still for long and I have a list a mile long of things to do. But the trip was really fun - very relaxing. We stayed at Deer Harbor Inn, where we had stayed last year, only this time we didn't spring for the cottage, but a nice room which was easier on the wallet.
We had all of Friday to kick around the island, visited art galleries and went sight seeing. The rest of the 6-metre crews showed up Friday night and we met them out at Four Winds camp for dinner. Last year, we were supposed to stay at the camp, but one look at the thin - one-inch - mattresses made up our minds that we wanted to sleep well, so that's when we went to the Inn! But the others are OK with the minimalist accommodations. Dinner was a wonderful seafood chowder prepared by a chef the organizers had imported for the occasion - sure beat watery spaghetti sauce that was the fare last year!
Saturday saw them heading out into West Sound in light air - and saw me heading to the farmer's market and a little touring of my own. And a little snooze at the inn before they came back to the dock. Again, a nice dinner and bragging about the race - Finnegan, the boat Chris crews on - wins again. I keep telling them to lose a couple of races or no one will want to compete against them!
Sunday loomed gloomy - and rainy! I was glad to spend the day reading and resting while they were out in the cold. But the racing ended early and we took some of the crew to catch the early ferry back to the mainland. We stayed on, making a leisurely exit on Monday morning, catching the mid-day ferry. All in all, a very pleasant 5 day break. And coming back to no stress - no work (although I promised to help put this October issue to bed) and then it's all about what I want to do!
Whoo Hoo!
Oh, and you can see my pix here