Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

We spent a quiet day together starting with a big sausage and egg breakfast and the rest of the day talking with our children, grandchildren, parents and siblings on the sat phone with only a few dropped calls. It was wonderful to hear all of their voices again.

In the afternoon, I made an apple crisp dessert to take with us to Mac & Marie’s when we joined them along with Mac’s sister Clare and her two daughters, Christie & Janine, and their neighbors, Martin & Sara. Our group ranged from ages 18 - 80 and we discussed everything from pivotal points in our lives to the goals we hoped to achieve in our lifetimes. Mac & Marie prepared a standing rib roast dinner with all of the fixings and ended with bananas flambé ala mode. Impressive and they didn’t even know that it was my favorite!! I enjoyed the dynamic mix of people and all of the tasty dishes.

We said our goodbyes and took our time driving home admiring the holiday lights along the way. It wasn’t until we had turned into the entrance to the base that I realized that I had forgotten my purse which contained my military dependent ID card. It had the potential for being an awkward situation but the guard at the gate waved us by after checking Dale’s ID. Winding our way through the base to the marina we discussed calling and driving back in the morning. As we pulled into the marina parking lot, Dale reached into his pocket and we remembered something else I had dropped into my purse; the keys to the boat.

Being resourceful and smart enough to stay out of my husband’s way for the next few minutes, I hurried aboard the Palace and started checking the larger hatches to see if we may have left them unlocked to accommodate the Christmas lights we had strung. Sure enough, one was left unlocked and I climbed down through it and tried to locate the spare key. I stuffed a flashlight and every key I could find though a small hatch in the cockpit to Dale even though I knew none of them were the right one. Eventually, he gave up and climbed down through another hatch that I opened from inside. He finally located the spare key, crawled back out and we were able to unlock the companionway.

A quick call to the MacDonald’s confirmed that they had found the missing purse and would drop it off to us in the morning on their way to the airport. Boy do I feel ditsy! I’ve gotten out of the habit of carrying a purse resorting to a backpack to keep my hands free in the dinghy and now forget to bring it along when we’re traveling in a car. I guess I was having a senior moment since I don’t exactly qualify for having blonde moments. And that comment, my friends, will get me e-mails from both of my daughters in a heart beat!