I HATE SHOES

We rode into the state of Florida on Saturday, after a long, winding road trip through the west. Out of San Diego, we made our way north to Hollister to visit Alaina's grandmother, then moved on to San Francisco to see a friend. We headed east next, to Lake Tahoe, where we camped and hiked for a few days (and tried to swim, but damn was that cold) before going to Reno to see another Florida face. He took us down the Truckee River that flows right through downtown, a highlight of the trip. We drove south next, through Nevada, past Las Vegas and spent the night at a hotel/casino near the Hoover Dam ($20 per night with a "players club" discount, no gambling required!). We would have camped, but I had a wicked case of food poisoning due to consuming Hollandaise sauce that had been left out all day (oops). We then made our way into Arizona. People sometimes ask me, as an environmental engineer, if I think we will ever run out of space to landfill our waste in this country. I c

I'm back in San Diego with another delivery notch in my belt. It feels pretty great to be actually making a (albeit very modest) living out of deliveries. But, steadier work is why I'm moving to Key West for the winter. I've got just enough cash to get myself back to the east coast, which should take place later this month. Alaina and I plan to stop in San Francisco to see friends and family as well as camp in the Tahoe area and in Yosemite National Park before heading directly back east. Again, the west coast has been a fun experience for the season, but the beautiful weather isn't quite worth the struggle of inconsistent work and distance from friends and family. It doesn't look like I'll be heading to Newport for the end of this season. However, a friend of mine just bought a Tartan 27 in Annapolis and he needs a hand bringing it back to New England. If the timing works out, we might do that, but I think he wants it there sooner than later this month. As fo