New Land Yacht "ESPRIT"

So how do committed boat people end up owning an RV?
Easy?
Well…not so....When we headed off in Adagio..we kissed our peeps goodby..telling them we were off to sail the seven seas...after a time we returned triumphant..but after all the work and time and effort we put into Adagio last year, Pierre confessed to me that he was tired of working on a boat all the time and he wanted to see more of the U.S.A.
He has worked on ships for 30+years and has been around the world 6 times, seen lots and lots of the world by sea.
So we are starting a new adventure, I for one have never seen the Stature of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, The Redwoods, Yellowstone National Park, the list just goes on and on…I do want to see all these things, I want to fish in for salmon in Alaska, dig for clams and eat lobster in Maine, go to Canada, the more I think about it and the more I read, the list just keeps getting longer and longer!!
We figured we should catch up on the land bucket list for awhile before we buy another boat.
 Planes, trains and automobiles, not to mention hotels, motels, and restaurants would bankrupt us in a very short time before we even began to see some of this great land of ours, so what happened??
an RV…. thats what! We can take our time, hit the hot spots and we have our bed, head and galley with us everyday!!
A land Yacht!
It was not our original plan to buy and RV, but how many of you know how original plans don't always work out? Can I get some hands?? (I see that hand)
Now I did a bit of research, and those of you that know me know how much I love to make plans and research things and we needed a lot of research because we know nothing about buying and RV or the RV lifestyle. I started out by casually "browsing" our local online classified sources, Craigslist, RV trader and local papers…and sure enough, in time, I found the perfect one for us…it was hiding in Seale Alabama…of all places….Who Knew???
We are now the proud owners of a Holiday Rambler Imperial, she is 38ft long and powered by a Cummins 350 Diesel engine with a Allison 6 speed transmission.
We are only the second owners. She's a beauty!
I named her Esprit, in French that means "Free Spirit"
after all.. that is what we are!
I am going to share all the fun we have and all the surprises, mistakes, the whole sha-bang!

Espirit

Drum roll please

Our new adventure started out with bang...but with a bit more research..went out with a fizzz
I had planned a trip to New Zealand, then on to Australia via a container ship or break bulk, that would have knocked two things off my bucket list..cross the Pacific on a boat and go to Australia, after contacting a few shipping company's I found out just how expensive that mode of travel is, they charge you three times more than it cost to fly and twice as much as a cruise ship! on top of all that I found out we are going to be grandparents again and that took the wind out of my sails..quite literally...
So we are going to hang here for awhile....but my feet are already itching!
We have been looking at RVs
A land Yacht!
There is quite alot to see here in the US!
The possibility's are endless!!

Saying Goodby

We have sold our boat Adagio
With the sale comes all the doubts and questions, did we do the right thing, will we be sorry?
I have to say yes to both of them.
We did do the right thing, she is going to a very young couple whom will love her, take care of her and sail her like we did...
and...
yes I am sorry.....I am going to miss sailing so much......but we are not done with sailing yet.....rest assured of that.
She is now ready for her new dreams and so are we. I haven’t detailed much about what we are going to do yet, but I have some wonderful ideas!
so stay tuned.....

Pictures of the work we have done...inside...

New floor in galley

This is just some the work we have done in the boat!

new shelfs in library

new custom carpet

new carpet and led lighting

new chairs

more of the custom carpet 

new hatch and new lighting

new curtains and lamb on bed…Lol

check out my poof i made under the chair!

Meditation anyone?

I decided to try to learn to meditate.....
I thought it will help me become one with the universe, a wiser, calmer and generally a better person!
So I sat on the back of the boat one evening and gazed out over the calm waters of the bayou.
A few seagulls flew by, carried by the wind, then a pelican swooped down and settled on the water. This is just what I need....I thought!
After just a few minutes, things, words and images started to float up into my mind..
I thought of the universe as a vast, impersonal, life creating thing, that is ever changing and moving.
This touched me deeply and it seemed that time stopped, suddenly a wave a peace came over me or from within me.....still not sure.
Then another thought popped up,
"I am so alive in this impersonal universe....so glad, or am I?"
Then another thought...
"Life on earth is sustained by things feeding on one another...Ewww....Whats up with that.....?"
Then another thought flew in.
"Shit happens."
Realizing I had strayed from my mediation and my thoughts should be good, soothing and calming, I took a deep cleansing breath and looked back out on to the bayou.
New thought!
"Pew.....it stinks over here near the paper mill, and that thing is so noisy!"
Then another thought....
"I feel the need to urinate"
Bummer....

 Here's some pictures to help you meditate!

These were taken off the back of the boat...

Finally🌞Back on board

Finally after a year and a half, living with friends and house sitting, we are almost ready to head back out on Adagio, we have worked so hard on her, she is almost a new boat!
We replace almost one side  of her with new metal, engine rebuilt, generator repaired,  new pro furl on stay sail, house repainted, sails redone and repaired, house enclosure canvas redone and cleaned, deck repainted, hatches repaired, it has been a whirl wind of boat, boat, boat.
I have new carpet in the hall, in the state room, and a new floor in the galley.
We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!
We are leaving after hurricanes season and we are off to see more of the world! I for one am so ready!

Hacked!

My blog was hacked and someone tried to post some very strange posts, thank goodness they only got to the draft stage, and I was alerted by Google that something was going on and I was able to delete them.

My blog is a mess right now, so bear with me while I try to clean it up!