Leaving San Diego

Kellie's Comments-- Well Pete seems to be keeping everyone up to date on the projects and the "guy" stuff. So I'll try to add a few things about what the kids and I are doing. We had a really nice time in Mission Bay. My mom came to visit and we stayed in an incredible hotel for the weekend. On Saturday, we visited Sea World for a wonderful sunny day of fun. Our favorite was the interactive dolphin tank. All of us touched a dolphin and the kids got soaked from head to toe by a dolphin belly flop. They were a bit shocked, but I assured them that it is a privilege to be the recipient of such a gift. Lesson learned--always bring extra clothes to Sea world. We then moved on (after a very tearful goodbye with Mom) to Shelter Island in San Diego. This last week, as Pete said, was filled with chores, errands and socializing with other southbound cruisers. I bought four cart loads full of groceries. We anticipate about 3 weeks with only minimal access to stores. The West side of Baja is very rural, so every locker, fridge compartment etc is crammed to the brim with provisions. Pray that the refrigeration doesn't give out or else 3 weeks worth of meat will become fish food. On Tuesday, two other cruising gals and I went to downtown to get our tourist visas, customs paperwork and exchanged money for pesos. Then we got a ride from Pete's friend Mary Kelly to the grocery store. It was an exhausting day, but we ended it nicely with pizza and friends. We plan to leave for Mexico on Thursday the 18th. Our new friends on "Icarian" will be buddy boating down with us. With the new link on our website you can track our progress on a map. Hopefully we'll remember to update it daily. We have been averaging 4.5 knots speed so far down the coast, we hope to improve that on this leg and make more than 5. The wind has been fluky so far, but is forecasted to be 15-20 the next few days. That will give us 120 miles per day if we sail 24 hours. I find the prospect both nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. I've readjusted my attitude and decided that so far we haven't really started cruising, just working our way towards it. So far it hasn't been all that we've imagined, but we're getting closer. We plan to get to La Paz within the next 3 weeks (900 miles) and then spend the rest of the year there. We'll stop as often as necessary to rest and let the kids run around, but will probably do it in chunks of 300 miles or 3 days at a time. I'm looking forward to stopping in La Paz for a while and relaxing. We're still waiting to go swimming in warm water, spend the day on a beach and buy our vegetables from a nice local farmer. I've been reading "The Message" which my brother gave me right before we left. I find it gives me the strength to keep going. I've been reminded that focusing on others is of more value than focusing on myself. Ellie will be memorizing the Beatitudes this month for school, and I have made it into a poster for us all to be reminded of the promises found there. Thank you for all your prayers and encouraging e-mails. Keep writing and checking in here for updates. -Kellie