Land and Air Travel - Anacortes, WA, USA to Muttenz, Switzerland

Location:  Seabiscuit - Anacortes, WA, USA; Dave and B - Muttenz, Switzerland

We left Anacortes on Sunday, 22-May, after the boat show.  We spent the morning on board Seabiscuit, reviewing start-up and shut-down procedures along with our weekly / monthly maintenance routines with James and Jason and we had brunch with Frank before hitting the road.  

The weather over the weekend in Anacortes was beautiful and we did some hiking and enjoyed the outdoors before heading south.

Rocks near Rosario Head, south of Anacortes

A lone tree on the trails at Rosario Head, south of Anacortes

The Maiden of Deception Pass near Rosario Beach south of Anacortes.
The carving and the story boards around it tell the story of Ko-kwal-alwoot, a Samish Maiden who married the king of all sea creatures.

Sunday, May 22, 2022 - Anacortes, WA to Salem, OR, (303 miles, 5 hours):  We left Anacortes early afternoon and headed east to Interstate 5 South.  We had picked up a rental car at the Bellingham airport when we first arrived in Anacortes and used it to run around town and to do some exploring.  We loaded it up with our personal stuff from the boat, the trunk and the back seat were both full, with plans to drop off and store our "stuff" at my mom's house in Colusa, CA. We encountered very litte traffic as we drove through Seattle.  We stopped in Fife (Tacoma) for fuel and to stretch our legs.  We crossed the state line between Washington and Oregon, drove through Portland and continued south until we got to Salem where we stopped for the night.  We had achieved our goal for the day which was to get south of Seattle and Portland so that we wouldn't have to deal with Monday morning commuter traffic.

A view of the Umpqua River as we crossed over it on I-5 South. 
It might not look like much, but Dave and Al have some great memories of the river from their travels together many years ago.

Monday, May 23, 2022 - Salem, OR to Colusa, CA (485 miles, 8 hours):  We had breakfast and coffee at the hotel then got on the road to continue our journey south on I-5.  We stopped at the Costco in Medford, OR to buy gas before crossing the stateline into California where gas was ~$1.00 more per gallon.  The drive was uneventful and we arrived in Colusa in time for happy hour.  We unloaded the car and put all of our stuff in the family room.  Mom (Louise) had cooked a roast for supper and we sat around the table, ate and caught up.

Mount Shasta.  

Lake Shasta.  You can imagine how low the water level is in the lake by looking at the banks.
Northern California is experiencing extreme drought conditions with 2021 being the second driest year on record.  January, February and March of 2022 had the least amount of rain and snow on record for any of these months in California. The water level at Lake Shasta when we took this photo was 123 feet below the full pool level.

May 24 - June 3, 2022 - Colusa, CA:  We spent ten days in Colusa visiting with family and friends, playing cards, doing chores and enjoying the area.  

Kevin, Dave, Gerri, Barbara and Louise at Farmers Brewing in Princeton, CA.  Cheri and Robbie are looking at the brewing equipment.  We picked up the pizza from Sour Robs in Maxwell.

My mom's cat, Squirt, playing with our boat "stuff".  We took our time, but eventually got everything sorted and stored.

Louise plays pinochle in  Willows every Thursday afternoon and I was invited to play the two Thursdays we were there. 
They usually have 3 - 4 tables with four people at each table.  You play four hands then write down your score for that round.  Except for the head table, the losers stay at their table and switch partners and the winners move up to the next table.  The high score after 5 rounds gets to bring dessert the next week.  I had the high score the first Thursday I played so brought a blueberry peach crumble for dessert the second Thursday. 
This photo is of some of the group having lunch prior to the start of the card party. Clockwise from bottom left:  Eva Mae, Barbara A., Barbara G., Ginger, Joan, Fran, Alene, Irene and Louise.   

June 3 - 6, 2022 - Austin, TX:  On Friday, June 3rd we drove from Colusa to the Sacramento airport, turned in our rental car and flew to Austin.  We spent the weekend visiting with the kids and grandkids.  Saturday we went swimming at the neighborhood pool then went out to eat barbeque.  Sunday we went canoeing / kayaking on Town Lake.  Dave kayaked with Archie, the youngest grandchild, Ben and Bubby kayaked together and Cat, Maggie and I canoed.  We stopped at a sandbar and did some swimming and paddled into the shallows to look for turtles and fish.  After our adventure, we all had snow cones to cool off.

Swimming at the neighborhood pool.  Cat and Archie are in the water.  Bubby (Ben) and Maggie are on the steps.

Maggie's summer job is feeding the deer, squirrels and birds in a nieghbor's yard while they are on vacation.

The deer feeding on the corn and vegetables that Maggie spread around.

Cat and I took out the golf cart to go to the Little Free Libraries nearby.  The cart broke down and Ben had to tow us back to the house.  Turned out to be an issue with the brakes.

June 6 - 16, 2022 - Houston, TX:  Monday morning we drove to Houston.  We stayed at our friend Suzanne's house and took care of her dog Ellie while she went to California to visit her aunt.  I (B) had cataract surgery on my right eye Tuesday, June 7 and on my left eye a week later.  I didn't realize how bad my vision was until the day after the right eye was done.  I could see clearly out of it while my left eye vision remained blurry, what a difference!

Between pre-surgery and follow-up visits to the eye doctor, we took care of other Houston chores like going to our financial advisor, collecting mail from our box, getting hair cuts and doing truck maintenance.  Dave replaced a bearing in the steering column to stop it from rattling and took the truck to the dealer to fix a leak in the seal of the rack and pinion steering system.  They replaced the whole rack and pinion assembly and the hoses, the pitman arm and the idler arm plus the intermediate shaft in the steering column.  After all the steering work was done, they did a front end alignment.

Ellie prancing around the pool.

Ellie looking cute

A heat wave moved through the area and it was hot and sultry while we were in Houston.  We walked a few mornings but mostly stayed inside in the air conditioning. Suzanne lives in the Houston Heights, a historical neighborhood northeast of downtown.  There are a lot of interesting restaurants and unique shops within walking distance of her house.  We met friends for supper one night at La Lucha, a nearby restaurant with fresh oysters at a good price during happy hour and a lot of interesting small plates to share, then stopped at Jeni's for an ice cream on our way back to the house.    

The "Cataillic" an art car parked in the Heights.   

June 16 - 20, 2022 - Austin, TX:  Suzanne made it home Wednesday night and, after one last post-surgery check at the eye doctor, we drove to Austin for the weekend.  We picked up a last minute pet sit near Heather's apartment and in addition to family time, we got to spend the weekend with two sweet cats.

Dave doing a temporary truck repair on the way to Austin.  The mechanics who fixed the steering forgot to secure the wheel well protector and we could hear it rubbing on the tire.  We didn't have the right bolt so we tied it back in place with a piece of string.

Mercedes (Mer Mer) greeting us at the door of our pet sit.

Moonbeam looking for a cuddle.

We met Heather for happy hour and a light supper on Thursday night, settled in to the cat sit on Friday and had charcuterie and wine at Heather's apartment on Friday night.  Maggie and Bubby had a swim meet on Saturday morning so we met them at the pool then went to Ben and Cat's for lunch and some game playing.  Saturday night we ate supper at a Cajun restaurant near the cat sit apartment.

Sunday we went to Ben and Cat's for Father's Day.  Ben smoked a chicken and grilled hamburgers and Cat cooked fresh vegetables from her garden and baked a tomato pie.  We said our goodbyes Sunday night and headed back to the cat sit apartment.

Archie in the backyard "pool" working on holding his breath.  He improved from one elephant (one second) to four elephants.

Monday / Tuesday, June 20 - 21, 2022 - Austin, TX to Frankfurt, Germany:  Monday morning it was time to pack our bags and get ready for our summer vacation.  We said goodbye to Mercedes and Moonbeam, dropped off the truck at a repair shop to get the transmission checked and Ubered to the airport.  We were there plenty early, and our flight was delayed, so we had lots of time to people watch, read our books and wander around.  We flew from Austin to Chicago, then overnight from Chicago to Frankfurt.  We stayed the night Tuesday in a hotel near the Frankfurt airport.

Dave enjoying a beer at the brewery at our hotel.

After our beer and supper, we strolled along the biking / walking path on the banks of the Main River.  We stopped to watch a tour boat come through the lock (Eddersheimer Schleuse) and pass a barge.

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 - Frankfurt, Germany to Muttenz, Switzerland:  This morning we rode the train from the Frankfurt airport to Basel, Switzerland, a 3 hour journey.  Basel is in northwest Switzerland, on the Rhein River near the borders of Germany and France.  Muttenz is a small village southeast of Basel.  From the Basel train station, we took the tram and a bus to Muttenz.  Leena, our host in Muttenz, met us near the bus stop and walked with us the last 500 meters to the house.  We were greeted by Kofi, the big black dog, and met Mr. Richard Parker, the cat (Richard Parker is the name of the bengal tiger in Life of Pi).

Mr. Parker waiting for his morning yogurt.

Leena showed us around the house and Mike took us on our first walk with Kofi, up into the hills, past the vineyards, farm fields and horse stables.  Leena cooked a delicious supper and we chatted until it was time for bed.

Horses at the stables.

Dave, Kofi and Mike on our first walk in Muttenz.

Thursday, June 23 - Monday, July 4, 2022 - Muttenz, Switzerland:  On Thursday, we went on a morning walk with Leena and Kofi up and around the three castles, Ruine Wartenberg, in the hills overlooking the village.  Leena and Mike finished packing their suitcases for their vacation in Finland while Dave and I went into town for coffee and pastries and to get a few groceries.

The middle castle.

The view of Muttenz and Basel from one of the castle towers.

Feeding time for a small herd of milk cows.

We have been walking Kofi every morning and afternoon and exploring the many hiking trails around Muttenz.  The village is a 10 minute walk from the house and we have been enjoying the local restaurants, bakeries, farm stand and the 24-hour milk machine where you can get 1 liter of fresh milk for 1 Swiss Franc.

Dave filling our milk bottle at the milk machine.

The milk cows at the milk machine - that's fresh milk.

Kofi and Dave checking out a shooting house.

Mr. Parker sunning himself the back garden.

Kofi after a hot afternoon walk - "Hot Dog"

Grapes growing in the vineyard on the hills above the house.

Dave and Kofi on a morning walk around the middle castle.

Last week, we rode the tram into Basel and went to the Kunstmuseum (Fine Arts Museum).  We will be here for another 11 days and have plans to do more exploring in Basel, to go wine tasting and to swim in the Rhine River.

Although we are having a great time, we are missing our summer cruising on Seabiscuit, especially the fresh fish, shrimp and crabs.  She is for sale, the details are here:  Seabiscuit is for Sale

Happy 4th of July!  

Until next time...