Saturday march 18/3:30 Houston Time
Just heard from trucker Edwin, he is 30 miles from San Antonio, we should see him tomorrow Sunday. The boatyard says that they will be able to spash us Monday. We then will try to remember where all the sticks and wire and rope go so that we can put the boat back togather again.

Sharon, did you ever think that perhaps the alligator and the racoon had incurred their own Karma aInd you were just the instrument of its being carried out. I am after a racoon or possum here so your dear departed will have company very soon. We had another massacre in the backyard involving a hiding hen, her last hatch which were nearly grown and staying with mom, undoubtedly to keep her/themselves warm! Babies gave their life so that mom could scootch eggs further under the hiding place and continue to set them in freezing snow. We only found out about mom by finding siblings. I'm on the warpath again. Tried to repair the trap enough to set it. Wired chicken (the store kind) to the top of the cage and left both doors open. Unfortunately, one door did not spring. There is a very fine line between being able to stay open and being able to close. So, the bait is gone and one large critter is developing a bit of confidence in the new feeding station. Woe be unto it tonight! I wonder what it must be like to try to trap alligator. Then there's the skinning part. But then there's the cool shoes! No such luck with 'possum. Hate to see shoes made out of possum tail! Are you seeing any armadillos? I just think those are some very trippy critters and they have such tiny mouths I don't think they'd go after my birds....maybe they'd keep Sundance company. She has managed quite an extensive tunnelling system. Hope the whole backyard doesn't just collapse and sink a foot or two! We are sooooo soggy here. Your home away from home is faring well by all appearances. Looks very dramatic with frosting a foot thick on the black cover. Took some pictures but they really don't do the overall effect justice. I will be forwarding your arrival instructions to your email later today. Sounds like you're in for some partying. Try to 'buck up' and enjoy Florida! At least you will miss spring break. Masses of nearly naked college co-eds frolicking along the beaches might cause the boat to sail awfully close to shore! Hope you got some photos of Ronz on the truck. Those of us watching from the sidelines love to see those pictures so keep 'em coming, please!

Yeeehaw!!!! Ronzinante is finally on her way. The crew left Blythe at 11:00 on Wednesday and drove straight through to Houston in 20 hours. I believe that is the best way to see Texas. We were thrilled to hear that the permits to take the big girl througArizona happened and she left at about 1:00 today.
Right now we are in a Best Western in La Porte Tx. We are only a few miles from the boat yard where we will put the boat back in the water. We will be so happy to see her back in Co2. I can only imagine how happy she will be to feel the salt water on her hull.
About 3:00 this morning I ran over a very large raccoon. Darn thing came half way into the road and then stopped, looked directly into the headlights of the big Impala bearing down at 75 miles an hour and made the unfortunate choice to go back to whence he came. (it all happens in slow motion, you know, and I swear I saw his whole life pass in front of his eyes) The right front tire hit him, then the right rear tire sent him on to a better place. I only mention this casually because I think it's the first time I ever ran over anything.
We slept for a few hours after we checked in and then cleaned up and went to get some dinner......in Houston. The desk clerk suggested that we try The Happy Cajun. The sign on the door reads, "no unlicensed fire arms allowed inside". The menu proudly presents fried alligator hiney and crawdads that will make yo Mamma cry. This is no joke. We decided on the combo plate of shrimp, alligator, crawdad tails and a varity of balls of fried things that God did not intend anyone to eat. Now I have taken the life of a raccoon and eaten alligator tail. There must be some kind of karma to pay for such things.
Each time we took a pit stop on the way here, Nick whimpered, "I thought you said we were going someplace warm". It's finally warm with about 98% humidity.
We saw the national weather and watched people shoveling snow in Navada City.
So sorry to hear about the frigid weather back at the ranch. I was hoping to hear that the roses were in bud. Talked to Adam today and heard about more freezing rain in Corte Madera. Did any of you run over a raccoon or eat alligator hiney lately???
Will write more as we get more progress reports on das boot.
Please keep up the dialog. We look forward to all of your messages.

It's nice to get news from afar....congrats to Steve and Lori on a milestone in Max's lifetime acheivements! We have finally dug out of the worst snow in a generation and are trying to repair all the damage. All automatice watering devices went south en masse so had to be replaced (not before Don had flooded the whole property due to not turning the water line off before disconnecting the fill valves!--all four.) Planted the garden tubs after covering them with new plastic. The old plastic had blown off in a bad wind and it took all of two hours for peacocks to decimate the lettuce, mustard greens, chard and anything else green that Sharon had planted! Trying to get the bits of plastic out of the garden area before it disintegrates any further. There is a rumor of more snow this weekend. Heading for Palm Springs next week! The gophers are coming out of hibernation and seem to have multiplied exponentially, the ground throughout the rose garden is polka dotted. We have thrown so many cobble stones down squirrel holes that we need to get another truck load to finish the parking area. (Refer to the chronicles of Nick 2005). Well my dears, it sounds as if you have your upper lips stiff and your humor intact so I'm sure you're having a good time in spite of it (or perhaps because of it). Good natured teasing aside, I'm sure you'll be back on 'tack' soon. Hugs from the Ranch House.

Hey there you are, good to hear the progress. Didya know you can seal a meal wine? Helps with the weight. Think of them as modern boda bags. We are just sitting around watching the snow and cuddling the new kids that finally arrived. These are bad bad habits. I bawled like an idiot when I had to give them their shots. Pretty sure I am going to have to call the vet to do the horns. Last year at this time we had mowed the lawn twice and had sun tans. Lots and lots of water this year and late. Guess you already know that. Well, hope you get in some deep water real quick. Drive safe. M&N

As strange as it may seem, boat and crew are writing to you from the Flying J Motel in sunny Blythe Az. Driver Edmond is awaiting his permits to sail Ronzinanti across the desert. On Monday morning the truck and driver Mat showed up early and everyone flew into action. The travel lift rolled out to the dock and after several attempts to get the slings into the right position, Ronzinante began to rise. In the boat yard the discovery was made that she had gained a few pounds. About 1100 more than though. Time to offload the wine. Finally the sad news came that no matter what we took off the boat, the trucker could not take her. I seems that we needed a triple axle trailer. The big truck and the pilot car pulled out of the yard leaving Ronz hanging in the lift and our spirits just hanging. Soon there was good news. Another truck could be at the boat yard by the next day. The boat yard crew went to work puttiing Ronz on jacks and we took up residence inside with a really really really tall ladder up to the deck. Sure enough, Tuesday morning Edmond showed up with a triple axle trailer. Unfortunately, he had no permits to travel yet. Most of the day was spent bubble wrapping and loading and by 3:30 we were ready to hit the road, but the truck could not leave until all paperwork was in order. So the plan was to meet at the border of Arizona. Large loads cannot travel through Az at night so that's is why we are all here now and again waiting for permission to continue. We went to say good morning to Ronzinante and Nick says, "she's taken on some shubbery on the starboard side". Somewhere between here and Ventura there's a tree missing a few small limbs. Other than that she looks fine.
Note to the applicant for the housekeeping position on the boat. It's a pity, but although there are hundreds of malls and shopping centers on this course, they fly by at break neck speeds and the chances of stopping long eough to get the smell of shopping in your nose, there is not a snowbaalls chance. Cappy and first mate see only gas stations and cafes. Sailing the desert is far from glamorous. As I always say....."travel is not for the faint of heart."
Delle, sorry to hear about Luna. Give Mancho a kiss goodbye for me. Sniff.
Catch ya at the next sand harbor.

It must have been the extra wine. Our big news is that Max( almost 3 years old) took his first dump in his toilet.

Dear Mr. Goldman.
I am writing you this letter in response to your ad in "Sailing" magazine for an on board housekeeper during your world wide sailing adventure. I apologize for taking so long to respond but to be honest I was put off from responding due to my dislike of the ocean and all things scary within it. However it has come to my attentiom recently that there really has not been all that much sailing on the ocean involved which is why I now realize I may have missed the boat on fulfilling my life long dream to sail around the world without actually being on the ocean.
I have many letters of recommendation on file as well as many years of experience in taking care of big old bears in close quarters. I have a few addictions however that I must maintain but I believe given the method with which you have chosen to sail in this should not be a problem. There are probably alot of outlet malls along the way so I can still get in some monster shopping but I do wonder if you can get that boat on a truck thru a drive thru?
I realize it may be too late to join you however if you will just send me $20,000 I believe I can catch up with you. Barrimg this perhaps we can meet somewhere along the road. A rest stop, perhaps? It will be much easier to hitch hike to catch up with you on the highways than it would be on that yucky, big & scary, ocean.
Sincerely,
Marie Prickett / Shrum
P.S.
Have they begun buiolding the road to the South Seas area yet? Can they do that? If so, I'll bet it gonna cost alot more than$20,000.

Well, it's snowing here at the Ranch House...AGAIN!!! Looked in on the photos and thought about you. Kudo's to sharon on the food tray, looks like you're doing a fabulous job with 'presentation'! Glad the trays are coming in handy. Ronz looks so forlorn and 'skinny' without the shrouds and rigging. I am thinking you guys are following close behind in your rent-a-car, watching to make sure she gets back in the water in one piece. Time is stretching for all of us, I think. A touch of cabin fever here, won't bore you with the 'homey' details. Sorting out the Oak Room (Nick's new den), I brought up a basket of clothes to wash and plunked them on the laundry palace floor only to be covered in what remained of Nick's last haircut. Funny how little things come back to tickle you. Papa G (the huge white gander) has fallen passionately in LUST with Atua (6' tall emu) and is honking his unrequieted love constantly from his new headquarters in the rose garden. The peacocks have decided it's spring, snow or no snow, so we are being screamed at from the treetops all night which, of course wakes the guineas and Tony can tell you, that's no treat! Forlorn feathered phonics! My birthday consisted of being snowed in with a Harry Potter marathon and a lovely bouquet of roses, lilies and lilacs sent 'From Nick' (I swear, that's how he signed the card!) Such a romantic! It's a good thing I have learned to 'read between the lines'. Thank you, Nicko. Keep us posted on what's happening in the wild world of sailing (nudge nudge, wink wink) adventures! Hopefully you guys will actually get to sail a bit before the crossing. I'm looking forward to hearing from you at your next landfall....or rather waterfall. Galveston or BUST! (Never thought of it as a major sea port somehow....) Love and hugs to you, we're with you in heart, mind and spirit. Three outta four ain't bad!

Hey guys I just wanted to say thanks for coming to visit. We love you guys and hope your trip is the trip of a lifetime. Love you tons. Tammy

Hello Land-lubbers, last night I drove Li through the "castro" after the concert. Did'nt even get lost. Today is rainy again, kickin it w/ Li watching T.V. More rain predicted for this week. I;m ready for summer. We'll write again soon when we actually have something interesting to say.