On the Road (Sea) Again!!....

Hola Amigos... We arrived back in Panama and Serena Ray on December 13th after an unexpected hiatus back to the States to repair John's torn rotator-cuff and also tend to our Blaine, Wa home.  We are glad to say that the surgery was successful and John is on the mend (he just has to take it a bit easy for awhile and do his exercises!!!). 

The trip home did have considerable "upside" however, as we were able to spend Thanksgiving with our oldest daughter and family in Spokane, join in the celebration of our grandson's, Jayden,11th birthday, spend time with our younger daughter Lindsay and 4-year old grandson Shamus...and were also able celebrate Lindsay's 32nd birthday with her and Ryan (probably shouldn't post her age...but..oh well .....)    

Blaine, Wa

Rosie has traditionally made Krumkake each Christmas season...this year she passed her recipe and the krumkake iron along to our daughter Lindsay....Can you say.."Ya Sure Ya Betcha"??

Lindsay learning the art of Krumkake making

Off to Spokane following John's surgery to spend time with the Williamson's.  It's always fun to hang with "the boys"... lots of activity!!!  We located a couple of air swimmers for them......"cool grandpa!!" 

Ethan and Jayden with their Air Swimmers

Jayden turned the "BIG 11" on November 21st....guess who his favorite basketball player is??

Jayden's 11th Birthday Cake...decorated by his dad

After Thanksgiving..back to Blaine for John's 3-week post-surgery visit to the doctor. Though the doctor would have preferred that he start physical therapy (for 3-months!)...We (he actually) decided that he could handle self-physical therapy aboard Serena Ray...so we scheduled our return to Panama.

Blaine Sunset

Before heading south, back to Panama, we hosted Lindsay and her significant other, Ryan, at our Blaine home for her 32nd birthday....smoked salmon,mussels,oysters, Kobe beef ...... a great feast.  Lindsay is quite the chef (actually went to culinary school and worked at The Palisades (Seattle) and Anthony's before moving to the dental field) so John had to pull all the stops out for this dinner!!

Lindsay's 32nd Birthday

 

Shamus Getting a bit of Weight Training at Blaine

We flew out of Seattle on December 12th...to Houston and then on to Panama City.  A local taxi driver (and friend), Joseph, met us the following morning for the 3hr drive across the isthmus back to Shelter Bay.  It's always an adventure riding in taxis in Central America or Mexico.  Half way back to Shelter Bay, his radiator sprung a leak.  In this part of the world, you just can't pull into the corner gas station. As luck would have it though, he found a small parts store that had epoxy....the radiator was plastic so he gooped it up, we waited 15 minutes, filled the radiator back up (he carries a gallon jug of water in the trunk) and we were off again. 

Seattle Skyline

 Now back aboard Serena Ray, it didn't take long for Rosie to get the Christmas decorations out.  (...there is Christmas music playing in the background...can you hear it??)

Deck the Halls!!

Add a few strings of lights around the boat...and "it looks just like Christmas".   We'll spend Christmas Eve with fellow cruisers at the marina restaurant and hope to see our kids and grand-kids via Skype or FaceBook Christmas morning. 

A little Christmas Spirit

Our plan is stay here at Shelter Bay until after the 1st of the year.  If all is good with John's shoulder, we will move to the Bocas Islands (150 miles up the Panama coast) for a little time on "the hook".  If all systems are 'GO" we will resume our trek in mid to late January north to Providencia (Colombian Island), Roatan, Isla Mujeres (Mexico) and then on to the Florida Keys in April. 

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year!!!