Our apartment by all accounts is a disaster. There is clothes and just stuff, stuff, STUFF everywhere! It really is unbelievable and a bit maddening to look at everything. I’m pulling out boxes that I haven’t opened up in years and I’ve completely forgotten the contents of what is inside. Is that a sign it should be tossed out?

We did take a small respite from everything this weekend before the last great charge to sell, donate, recycle and repurpose every scrap that we own. Our dear friends Chris and Susan, who have been real inspirations for us to travel, took us sailing out to Catalina.

Both Laura and I are firmly land people, so it was a bit scary and stomach turning at first, but once we got our heads wrapped around floating over 3000 feet of water in the middle of nowhere….we were ok — mostly : )

Sea sickness aside, it was a lovely time spending with friends who we will miss. Chris has been our bicycle touring mentor over the last few years. He gave us our first routes, lead us through the Carrizo Plain and has given us infinite bits of useful information for our journey. Both of them love to travel and are gone for what seems like three-quarters of the year off on some adventure. They took early retirement and aren’t letting a second go to waste.

For Laura and I, they are a positive and life-affirming example that when you get older, you don’t have to just rot away into obscurity (to put it bluntly). Life is still ripe with adventure and it’s up to you to reach out and grab it!

We took the sail boat out to Avalon for a few hours then anchored at a more secluded point. That evening we made chili with oysters and chicken sausage and a salad. The next day we sailed to the isthmus of Catalina and hiked around. It was a lovely two days and was a nice break to give us some sanity for the craziness of the next two weeks.