Pura Vida beckons. We heed her call.

12th anniversary at the fountain
where we had our reception

As summer wound quickly to a close and fall weather is upon us, we find ourselves ready and eager for another winter of adventure and plan to head south, hopefully tomorrow. We’ll wind our way south visiting family and friends along the way. Word back from Gabriel at Marina Seca Guaymas says Pura Vida is looking good and awaits our arrival. We’ll bring gifts for our yard crew guys who take good care of her while we are gone. Along with a heavy car load of boat supplies and parts for projects that await.

The Mueller family

Mural in my home town

A very rainy Badger football game

We just returned from a week visiting my family in Wisconsin, always very thankful to have that time to visit and reconnect. We attended a Badger football game with my sister Joanne, a fellow UW Madison graduate, and her husband.  My alma mater - plus we won! No trip to Wisco is complete without a visit to a cheese factory, this time Kraemer's where they have vintages of aged cheddar by year. So we stocked up.

Pre-game Bloody Mary

My sister Jan has been very busy researching our heritage through Ancestry.com and shared some of her findings. What a treat to explore our past on both mom and dad's sides. Here is our Mueller coat of arms from around 1816 in Prussia.

Hard working delivery guys - 4 boxes at 225# each, down the
steep ramp, along the dock, up our steps and over to the float.
Needless to say, it was a hot day and I tipped them well!

We enjoyed our summer filled with friends, work, substantial home projects and importantly, fun.

On the work front, we worked as a team on the BrewBarge during the week, with Captain Mike at the helm and me serving as the trusty deckhand, reminding beer-drinking bike riders that there is no bathroom on the pontoon boat and the ride is an hour and a half. And, that tips are always appreciated.

Coaxing the float upriver, Tony in the
dingy, Mike in the Boston Whaler
maneuvering behind the trees.
Next, tight space
90 degree turn twixt us &
our neighbors' dock & boat

Prepping the trusses

Installing the steel supports

Mike worked extensively for Passion Yachts instructing various levels of sailing classes from the moment we arrived in Portland. Lots of interesting students and their stories filled his weekends and more.

Thankfully, my long-time marketing clients continue to rely on my creative energies as well as another short-term project promoting renewable energy for the largest Michigan utility company.  

West Marine filled out our work schedules. Funny though, our list is always bigger than our paychecks. But hey, it can be fun working there and we had a great team this summer.

One of our big home projects was replacing the entire back deck with hem-fir that are not warped, don’t have huge holes, protruding nail heads and might actually last for a few years. Yea! We own the quarter lot next to our home and have been wanting storage since we moved in. Fortune fell upon us and we purchased a newly constructed 8x30 float with nice logs and stringers that wasn’t approved by the neighboring moorage’s HOAs. We scored on that.

Our new 8x20 mansion adds 25% more square footage to our lives

Current "storage area" over our 1 closet

Mike and his friend Tony did the Tom Sawyer move and brought the unwieldy dock up river to fit into the tight space next to our home. Next came installation of the supports, approval of a shed by our HOA and delivery to our dock of 4 huge boxes containing zillions of parts and a 110-page installation manual. Very thankful for Doyle and Gary who signed up for the 2-day construction project.

I enjoyed some biking

The shopping starts!

We are in heaven – storage for our stuff and room for guests in an 8x20 deluxe mansion. 

So, consider yourself invited for a B’n’B experience on the Columbia River!

Our last dinghy ride of the season.
Mt Hood has snow, so time to go!