Saturday, December 28, 2013

Goodbye Colorado

Now that we have a boat, the next step is to get it ready to be our home.  While the boat is in pretty good condition, thers are items that need some attention as well as a couple refit upgrades that need to occur. But it is a bit difficult to do that from Colorado, so today I departed on a cross country road trip so I could work on the boat and/or oversee repairs and upgrades and learn.  I'm writing this from my hotel room in Boonville, MO. and it is very late so I will keep this fairly short.

I am driving from Colorado to Florida so I will have a car while I work on the boat. In addition to working on the boat, since I currently work from home I will be continuing with my current software engineering job while on the boat in Florida. One of the advantages to the software gig...you can do it from anywhere. Unfortunately, we still have things to deal with in Colorado, so my wife is staying behind to work on wrapping all of that up.

This means that today was a somewhat bittersweet day. I am making positive steps to realize our dream, but it is coming at the cost of being away from my family. This will be the first time my wife and I will be apart for more than a week since we got married over twenty years ago.  Even though I have visited a lot of places, I have also lived in Denver my whole life.  While I know I will be flying back to Denver to help out a few times, these things combined to make me feel a bit sad as I watched the Rocky mountains disappear in the rear view mirror.

Well, I had better get some sleep since I have another long drive ahead of me tomorrow.  Ought to be interesting since some of the states I will be driving through are ones I have not visited yet.  Wish I had a bit more time to explore...maybe next time when my wife and our dogs will be with me.

I will post some pictures of the trip when I have a bit more time and a real computer to post from.

9 comments:

  1. Welcome to St. Augustine Mike! We live in The Hammock, just about 20 miles south of St. Augustine and have our boat up on the hard going through a restoration that we figure will take about a year to complete. Like you, I also work from home in the computer industry...isn't it great to have that flexibility! Here's to hoping the time away from your wife will pass quickly and you will both begin to realize your dream soon!

    Look us up on www.divingintocruising.com if you ever want to grab a drink in St. Augustine sometime. That is our escape to civilization when we're yearning for a little social interaction:) Congrats on the boat purchase! We'll be following you...

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    1. Thanks. Will look you up...but warning...I am closer than I appear...I'm actually in Hammock beach.

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    2. Really? Small world! We love "The Hammock". Is the boat in Yacht Harbor Village?

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    3. Big ocean, small world indeed. So far I like the area, people seem nice. Sent you an e-mail a few minutes ago.

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  2. This is a hard stage for sure but it gets better soon. One of the things I like best so far is that after so many years of not having much together time we actually get to see each other. The time will pass quickly because you'll be so busy. Sorry we missed you in St. A!

    Deb
    S/V Kintala
    www.theretirementproject.blogspot com

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    1. Yes, the time together will definitely go from one extreme to the other in the next few months. I certainly have a LOT to keep myself busy. Sorry I missed you guys as well but I'm sure we will catch up sometime.

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  3. Happy New Year Mike and all the best for this exciting new phase in your cruising life! Not sure if you know, but your blog got a mention on the Sailing Podcast site in the "on the radar" section - http://thesailingpodcast.com/sailing-to-panama/

    Cheers - Ellen

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    1. Happy New Year to you and Scott as well. I hear you are "full time cruisers" now, congratulations (loved the certificate in that post).

      I had not heard about the on the radar mention...because ironically I feel I've been flying below the radar at the moment...trying to get a handle on a few of the major projects. Unfortunately, finding a few more that the surveyor didn't catch that I need to correct so I can make the boat live-able (running water, refrigeration, and propane are nice to have). Need to start posting about what is going on...hopefully will find a little time soon to do that.

      Take care and enjoy your cruising.
      -Mike

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  4. Gotta be tough leaving the family behind so you can ready the new home. Maybe just say it's "one small step for Mike; one giant leap for Mike's future."

    I'm sure it'll be no time at all until you're all aboard!

    Mike
    www.siochana.us

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