We’re back!!!  After a 7 week hiatus to the States, we are finally back on Alegria.  We had a great time but boy did we miss the warm weather.  Our trip back was surprisingly great!  We must have had our guardian angels working overtime.  First, we flew Air Jamaica which allows you to have 2 checked bags A PIECE.  You do the math; that’s 8 checked bags!  We maxed out the weight too, 50 lbs per bags; a total of 400 pounds.  That’s just the checked bags.  Dan carried on a backpack, Tessa a rolling piece of luggage, Tristan had big backpack inside a large shopping back holding other stuff, and I carried a small duffel bag.  Our flight left ONTIME from Chicago and EARLY from our connection in Jamaica.  Dan was worried as we stood in line at customs in Curacao.  The customs officers were going through the bags with a fine tooth comb.  They went through every CD this one lady had.  Dan was afraid they would charge us duty on all the stuff we brought, but not to worry.   They asked us if we were on vacation and we said yes.   They X rayed our bags and waved us right through. What a relief!

Back at the boat, there were a few problems.  Before we left the refrigerator had stopped working.  When we got back. the freezer died as well.  We had left it running because we needed something to drain the energy the solar panels were producing, ans because we wanted some cold beers when we got back.  I’m not sure when it quit but it left quite the mess for me!!  Other than that, and dirt in the cockpit, we had no mold issues.  (Thanks Kathleen on Ulliad who gave me some great tips!!).  It will be awhile before we get unpacked.  The refrigeration guy comes tomorrow.  We are anxious to get back in the water and try out the watermaker, the engine and everything else we can’t check being on the hard. 

We learned a lot on our trip back to the States.  It was quite  eye opening and I will talk about that later.  Right now. I will finish my rum and coke, look at the much missed moon, and count my blessings!