Road Tripping (SaSea Sally left behind)

John cutting his carrot, "pirate" birthday cake

John hugging his grandmother, Mary Alice

Wednesday, November 6 and we're off to celebrate John's 30th birthday in St Louis! Periodic telephone calls, texts and emails between John's girlfriend Kristen and Sally have firmed up Kristen's surprise party plans to celebrate on Thursday evening at the Flying Saucer, a "beer bar" offering nearly 200 different brews in downtown St. Louis with a large group of John's co-workers, fraternity friends, St. Louis friends and relatives. Clay planned a leisurely, slow-paced trip to St. Louis with a stop in Southaven, MS overnight Wednesday, to arrive in time for Thursday's party.

John and Kristen arrived to a room full of friends who made turning 30 fun for John! The Flying Saucer was a fun place to celebrate, providing a private room large enough to accommodate 50. Susan, Alan and Bob drove from Columbia for the evening's festivities; Cindy, Walter and Mary Alice arrived from Louisiana. And, we surprised John, arriving from Mobile where we'd left the boat for anticipated repairs.

Hostess Kristen and John cutting the cake

After spending our first night at John's new home post-party, Clay and I had a whirlwind weekend with a Friday morning business meeting in St. Louis, followed by a St. Louis Bread Company stop on our way home for hair appointments for both of us and an evening get-together with Clay's mom. Saturday and Sunday passed far too quickly as we fell into our Saturday morning routine of Circuit Training at the Y followed by a stop at Daybreak Donuts for Clay's caramel cake donut (oops, donuts, plural) and to meet and greet and to see the new addition, finished since our departure in August.

Cindy had a family outdoor photo shoot planned for Saturday afternoon which gave all of us some Logan family time on a beautiful fall day. John arrived for the shoot and decided to spend the night, so I stoked up the coals on our grill and fabricated a traditional family dinner out of the meager offerings in the frig/freezer/pantry at 417. Too, facing a season change, I was intent on setting thermostats and fans to accommodate the upcoming cold temperatures while Clay drained the appropriate outdoor water pipes and checked on the Mary A II at the marina. This early-November trip home was not in our original game plan but turned out to be timely and a nice break from the boat routine.

Clay, Sally, John, and Kristen

Up for our Sunday morning run, John and I (Clay opted out, citing 'too cold') followed my usual route, arriving home to a full breakfast cooked by Chef Clay. Gotcha! Nope, no breakfast awaited us. But we three nonetheless gathered in the kitchen over a Sally-cooked breakfast to replay the party and the weekend's memories.

John and Megan

Packed, loaded and heading south by noon, we three drove tandem to Wentzville for lunch then went separate ways. Clay had designed our day with again Southaven, MS our Sunday night destination which was a push with dark hitting early! We continued our trek south toward Mobile, arriving at the boat at Turner Marina Monday eve (by now, November 11).

The entire LOCKTON crowd

Clay, John and Rennne

The squeaky wheel does get the oil! We'd left the Turner Marina staff with a list of items needing repair, and our absence put the SaSea Sally at the end of the list of boats. Mobile, of course, was the destination of all of the Loopers leaving the Rendezvous mid-October heading south toward Florida. With many needing oil changes, bottoms painted and electronics and mechanical issues resolved, there was a hub of activity in all of the marinas surrounding Mobile Bay in Dog River. So, finding nothing had been done on our boat, we were stuck at Turner for another few days before our departure to Fairhope.

Clay decided keeping the rental car another couple of days was wise, and, although we used it little, we found Sally with a much happier attitude having wheels to go if she wished....somewhere....anywhere! And, Clay was elated to send Sally on a mission to the big, new West Marine store on Airport Road after the local West Marine outlet couldn't fill his order. Sally was happy, finding a Panera right across from the West Marine store! And, we made use of the car evenings to explore some of the local eateries which offered seafood. We'd eaten at Bonefish Grill (a chain) on our way into Mobile Monday night; Tuesday night found us at the Original Oyster House; and Wednesday found us back at the Mariner Restaurant where we'd been with Faye and Eddie only the week before. Carless on Thursday evening and still stuck at Turner, we walked over to the Mobile Yacht Club which served transients (us), even though a private club. My meal was less than satisfactory, but Clay yumm'ed on fried seafood of some sort.

Clay and Mary Alice (Grandmother)

Temps earlier in this week of November 11 had plumetted from 71 to 33 during the day Tuesday. We dealt with howling winds and low temps off the Bay for the next few days, culminating in rain on Friday. Thank goodness the workmen had shifted into gear by Wednesday after presumably spending much of Tuesday searching for and ordering parts. Wed, Thurs, and Friday work racked up a sizable (but reasonable which I even admitted) bill for us to pay Saturday before our departure. I was thrilled to have the aft stateroom ac/heat unit and front head's joker valve (check that one out!) fixed, with such nice repairmen tolerating educating me as they worked!

I had found the bridge over Dog River to be a good jogging/walking path even with minimal traffic and occasional semis, dump trucks and whatnot. It wasn't Chattanooga or Ditto Landing (Huntsville) by a long shot, but it worked, and I knew I'd miss the routine once gone.

John and some LOCKTON friends

Mike, Tim, and John

It's now Saturday morning, (Nov 16), and we're soon to depart Turner Marina at Dog River, Mobile Bay. More to come; look for my next installment. Again, I hope you enjoy reading about our travels. 

The LOCKTON office crew