Day 359, Year 7: High Tailin’ It Out of Dodge
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2012
Weather: Partly Sunny
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The Falmouth city officials have agreed that there will be one bridge
opening tomorrow between 1 and 3 pm. Hallelujah!!! Our friend from the
Coast Guard called today and said to tell anyone who asks that he is our
uncle as I think he used the ‘family connection’ to persuade his superiors
to make a plea for us. Thanks to Dick Wiklund once again for making
connections for us that helped to get the job done. When we talked to the
bridge tender this morning, he told us that there was no chance of any
opening today, but that there had been so many phone calls to the city that
he thought there was a chance of an opening on Friday. We put our name and
phone number on his list and asked that he notify us as soon as he knew
anything. Since there was no chance of any opening today, Mark decided to
go with me to take Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco to Boston. So that was nice.
Then mid-day we got a call from the bridge tender announcing the Friday
opening. We were ecstatic. Our friend from the Coast Guard also called to
let us know that he was pretty sure it was going to happen. It was a bit
tense there for a bit thinking that we might not get out of here for two
weeks or more, but all is well that ends well. Now we just have to decide
WHEN to leave. Sunday night looks like it might be the first frost of the
season and with the wind chill the predicted temp is 23F. Very chilly. So
getting out before then sounds good. And by mid-week there is now a
prediction of 30 to 40 knot winds here. So this weekend sounds like the
time to high tail out of New England, aka Dodge. Unfortunately, the night
time temperatures are in the 30’s next week from here to Annapolis in
Chesapeake Bay. Things don’t warm up a bit until you get as far south as
Norfolk. So our decision now is whether to leave on Saturday morning when
we are not quite ready and head straight for Norfolk. Or whether to spend
more time getting ready and leave on Sunday knowing we will have to duck in
at Cape May, New Jersey, and make our way through the C&D Canal to the
Chesapeake Bay. High winds are expected on Wednesday so we have either have
to be in Norfolk on Tuesday or have ducked into the Delaware Bay and be on
our to the Chesapeake. Right this minute, our thought is that we need to go
sooner rather than later. So unless something changes, we will probably be
sailing south on Saturday morning. Tomorrow could be a very busy day.
We took Justin, Jo, and little ones to Boston this afternoon and left them
at a Comfort Inn near the airport. Saying goodbye to my children and
grandchildren is not one of my strengths. I’m always on the verge of tears
and can therefore say very little. But Ziggy was happy as a clam to be in a
hotel and Coco was smiling, so that made things a little easier. We won’t
rest easy until we hear from Justin or Jo in the morning letting us know
that they are actually on the plane headed home. But both Justin and Jo
were saying this afternoon that the delay in getting home was really good
for Ziggy. It gave him a chance to really get to know Sam and Jonah. Ziggy
is an exuberant, beautiful child and he has decided that he is going to be
diver. He loved visiting the aquarium here in Woods Hole and in Boston and
yesterday Jo brought him to Woods Hole in the afternoon to go to the WHOI
Exhibit Center to learn all about Alvin and other research vessels and then
Jed took them out on the WHOI dock to see Atlantis, one of the large
research vessels. Ziggy loved it. Then this morning, Ziggy and Jonah were
playing ‘diver’ and Jonah decided to make this realistic. Heather heard
water running upstairs, so I went up to see what was going on. Jonah was
filling his water bottle repeatedly and pouring the water onto the floor so
he and Ziggy could swim and dive. It was just too precious, but we couldn’t
let Jonah know that. Jonah was stark naked ‘swimming’ in the water. When
Ziggy realized that Jonah was in a bit of trouble for pouring all that water
on the floor, he reacted by trying to lick the water up from floor! He
would have had to do a lot of licking, but a washer load of towels did the
job.
I’ll end with a note to Justin and Jo-Thank you so much for flying out to
see us. You have two beautiful children and you have carved out a wonderful
life for yourselves in New Mexico. We wish we were closer and could see you
more often, but we have beautiful memories from your visit here to carry us
through until we are together again. Here’s hoping you have an uneventful
and safe trip home. We love you so much.
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| 121101 Cape Cod 163 – Saying Goodbye to JJZ&C |
