Starting the 11 month vacation…

It was soooo great to be home finally after 2 years!!! We had the best time and so glad we got to see everyone….well almost everyone…and all the new little ones!!! We certainly are grateful to everyone who opened their homes to us and also those who made a little bit of time for us in the chaos of the holidays. Sad that we did not get to see everyone but there is always this Christmas! We will be back in about 11 months if all goes according to plan with our job.

We are back in Palau and the flight was ok….United Airlines is NOT the way to go in case you were planning a trip….the flight there was stressful since they couldn’t seem to be on time with their own schedules and we missed our connecting flight which almost made us miss Christmas….but on the way back we got this crappy cramped plane that didn’t even have screens with movie options and they didn’t have a plug in for you laptop or whatever device to charge it. They just recommended that if you have a device you download the United app just before boarding so you can connect to their in flight wifi and watch their outdated movies. The only enjoyment we got out of our 40ish hours of flying was the last 7 hour leg from Hawaii to Guam where we got the most awesome stew…she hooked it up! She served us like we were #1 priority (and she may or may not have hooked us up with chex mix and an extra baileys) woohoo! ...anyway she was the only pleasant person we really encountered and she deserves better than United….but we arrived safely so I guess I can stop crying about miniscule stuff.

So we had someone look after the boat while we were gone… nothing major just check the batteries and make sure the bilges were emptied…he also scrubbed the bottom of the boat which he said wasn’t actually too terrible. He did say there was a lot of water under the kitchen sink so he cleaned it up but what he didn’t know was that it leaks down to our cabin where our closet is…so we came home to a fuzzy forest of all sorts of mould on the boat. There was mould I have never even seen before growing in places where I didn’t even know it could grow! He was kind enough to wipe down our cabin and the saloon (our living room/kitchen area) for us before we arrived. I didn’t know mould could grow in the oven let alone the cabinet where our pots are….my cutting board!! cutting board!! is fuzzy!!! groooosssss. anyway we cleaned a lot of it yesterday. We used lots of exit mould and pledge and knocked out a lot of it…just a bit more to do today but I need running water before I can wash all the pots and pans and stuff. oh yeah since the pipe broke we don’t have running water. That’s fun to come home to. We went to the hardware store and got the part to fix it but its not working for some reason. The store is closed for the weekend now so we are going to try to rig it or wait til monday to go back and ask what we should do. I’m sure we will figure it out.

It’s nice to be back. We made some friends before we left and they are happy to see us so it takes the sting away from leaving everyone back home…We are planning some diving for this weekend or early next week and we are getting to know the town and where we can find everything we need. Its hard not having transportation but we are thinking of renting a couple of bikes for 2 months if they can give us a decent price.

They JUST got 3G in Palau!!! lol its funny to listen to people talk because they are all excited about being able to get emails while driving!!! hahahaha …….oooohh I guess that means we would need to be extra careful on our bikes…now that I think about it….

The owner of Sams Tours where we are staying is from Seattle so we will be able to see the Seahawks play…at 5am on Monday morning….gotta love this time difference geez…

We are excited to get out there and actually explore Palau for the next month before the boss gets here. Lots of diving and places to see so we know where to take him. The only thing is that it is pretty expensive at the good places and you can only stay for 10 days at a time. Like this one place where we are taking the boss..we have to pay at least $150 and we can only stay for 10 days…but the boss wont stay in one place for 10 days since he is only in town for 10 days at a time so we will only be there for a couple days max….so I wonder how much they would charge for that… But its beautiful here and fishing and diving galore!

The grocery store has a small produce section so I must find out where all these locals get their produce. The meat is all frozen and flown in which is nothing new to us by now…there are a lot of American products which is good and bad at the same time considering some of the ingredients we try to stay away from but for the most part awesome!! Lots of hot sauces and salsas and bbq marinades and and and ok I need to stop and breath…..

Our view from the RBYC….Sams Tours…Our boat is moored in the back but will soon be moved up closer for more exposure to wind! Its pretty stifling back there….

So here’s where we are in case you were wondering where the hell is Palau?!?!