Phase 2

We are quickly coming to the end of Phase 1 of our trip, the Inside Passage. We didn't even come close to getting as far as we had thought we would. We thought that 3 ½ months would be plenty of time to get up to Alaska and see all that we needed to see on the way. Nope. We made it almost halfway to Alaska and only scratched the surface. There is just too much to see in the Inside Passage and 3 ½ months isn't near enough time to see it all.

We have now started working our way south where Phase 2 of our mighty adventure will begin...more on Phase 2 in a minute. It took us 10 weeks to get to our furthest point north. It only took us one week to get most of the way back south. We put in some long travel days and covered a ton of ground and are now back in the Southern Canadian Gulf Islands. We have a few weeks left in this summer sailing season and have a few more spots that we are tying to see before we begin Phase 2. So that's what we are doing here...checking out a few spots that we missed on the way north. We also have some good friends that are going to sail their mighty boat up and meet us in Victoria for a few days before we head back into the good 'ol USA. We are going to be in Anacortes around the 7^th or 8th-ish of September and will spend a few days putting the boat away and taking care of a few maintenance issues. Then we will be in Seattle for a handful of days catching up with family and friends before we head out on Phase 2.

So what is Phase 2 you ask? We'll it's more traveling...but not by boat. We are going to put the boat in a storage yard in Anacortes for 6 to 8 months while we travel around the States in our camper. We are going to try to hit as many National Parks as possible, visit some family and friends in various cities and states, and search out more adventure...wherever that leads us. Anything goes. Our first tentative stop is Glacier National Park, followed by Yellowstone, followed by who knows??? Phase 2 is sort of like Phase 1 in the fact that it is loose. No real plan other than to have fun, see some cool stuff, and move on. We have quite a few spots on our list that we definitely want to see but other than those specific places, we are going to figure it out as we go. I'm hoping that we'll see some things that are far from our list, like maybe the worlds largest frying pan, or the worlds largest rubber band ball, or maybe, just maybe, something so crazy that I can't even imagine it.

After Phase 2 is complete it will be time for you guessed it, Phase 3. The current rendition of Phase 3 is to be back on the boat next April-ish (depending on how Phase 2 is going, this really could be sooner or later than April-ish). We will blast all the way up to Alaska, skipping all of the stuff that we saw this summer, and then work our way south...all the way south to Mexico in the fall of 2015 where we will most likely spend a year or so exploring the country and eating tacos. We'll update you with Phase 4 when we get a little closer to it...just know that Phase 4 is going to be great...it involves crossing big oceans, deserted islands in the middle of the Pacific, and hopefully mermaids.

So that is the short version of the current plan. It is always in motion and never set in stone. We like it that way.

Phase 1 has so far been pretty incredible. We aren't really ready for it to end. We still have a few weeks left before the big road trip begins and we are starting to feel a sense of sadness to be off of the boat. We have now been gone for almost 12 weeks and in those 12 weeks we have seen some amazing things, met some incredible people, seen some rough weather, not seen as much wildlife as we hoped, and have caught more fish than we wanted to eat. It has truly been the best time that I can remember ever having...and there is still more to come. It hasn't always been a woo-hoo kind of fun and sometimes it has been pretty miserable and difficult, but the sense of freedom and adventure really makes the miserable times seem sort of enjoyable.