Taco-Blenders, Less Than Awesome, Boating Adventure Thread

Haha... Time and money spent on the boat is a worthy cause.

One of my favorite boats is from your area, a Judge Chesapeake 27. Super cool boat.

Naked pics coming soon!!!!!

 

A dead rise! Yep, really good boats. Legend has it that the hull form was designed specifically for the Chesapeake Bay, mostly working boats.
Slow but solid. I've never owned one, but have fished on a few. Like having good suspension on crappy roads.

Please learn about the spoiler feature before you post nakies.

 

PART SEVEN:

Day 6: Lake Havasu

Ahhhhhhhhh, a nice, uneventful night's sleep and we wake up to a beautiful, glassy, but somewhat brisk morning. Today we're in absolutely no hurry to be, or go, anywhere. We have covered quite a bit of the lake by this time in the trip (115 water miles by the end) and really don't have a game plan. So, we just hang for a bit, sip our coffee and tea, and enjoy the tranquility of Copper Canyon.




Around 9am the Mrs decides it has warmed enough (Like I had mentioned earlier, she has ZERO concern for the water temp, because she just doesn't fall in, only the air temp) for her to get in some exercise by doing a bit of paddle-boarding. There was one of those lighthouses just outside the entrance to Copper Canyon that she wants to go take a look at. I get the board off the rack for her and send her on her way. While she's gone I'll go ahead and get some breakfast going and maybe do a little reading.

Oh! One thing I thought about while just hanging out this week is how much polishing/waxing I could have gotten done. I'll have to put together a kit to keep on board for just such an occasion. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE just sitting and doing nothing but, there where a few times where I thought it would be nice to get some of that work done.



The Mrs gets back and we have some eats, relax for a bit and she decides she wants to go for another paddle to check out another lighthouse see saw while she was out the first time. "Bye Hon! See you in a bit! .


This gets me thinking about something I've thought about a few times now. COMM's! It's time to pick up a fixed VHF for the Dory so the Mrs can take the handheld with her when she ventures off. Right now, I figure if she's not back in an hour or so, I go looking. With the handheld and a fixed radio we'll have COMM's good for a few miles. If something actually does go wrong she can hit the distress button on the handheld and I'll get an alert and her position/location will show up on the map on the chartplotter. In fact, every DCS equipped radio (most have had this feature for several years now) within range will get the distress call also (that is,a long as it's turned on.)

While she's gone this time around I've noticed a few boats have come motoring thru canyon and I can see them giving me the stink eye because we're occupying THE prime parking spot in the entire canyon. Tata losers....

Anyhow, she gets back awhile later and we get things ready to go. We're only about 14 miles from the ramp where we launched so we'll just kind of slow crawl, check out some more coves and lighthouses, potential overnight spots, etc, etc, before finding a spot close to where we launched to call it a night.








Heeeerrre's Johnnnnyy!!!




While we're just putting along I throttle us back to 900 rpm and sent a silver and black Rattle Trap off the back of the Dory and picked up this little striped bass. Actually caught 2 of them but the second one was even smaller than this little guy. Here you go @JMB!!!



We meander on down and, once again, find a another nice little spot to call home. This one happens to be right across the lake from the ramp we took off from 7 days ago and will be the spot where we'll spend what will be out last night on Havasu.

 

PART SEVEN:

Day 7: Lake Havasu

So, here we are, our last morning on the lake and it’s looking like it’s going to be another beautiful day. We go thru the usual morning routine in a leisurely fashion and, even though I can tell the Mrs is about ready to get home again, I’m somewhat melancholy realizing that it’s time to pack it in. I like doing this and really don’t want to go back home just yet.



As we’re packing stuff away in preparation for the trip back to Tucson a boat across the lake catches my eye. “Is that another C-Dory?!?” I ask myself. I excitedly call to the Mrs, who’s stowing stuff in the cabin, “Hey Hon! I think there’s another C-Dory over there across the lake!! Check it out!!!”. She gives me a little eye roll but stops what she’s doing and joins me in the cockpit, “Where?”. I say “Right over there” and point to a little white speck in a cove a mile across the lake. She’s like “Oh, ok…” and goes back to what she was doing. I go in the cabin and grab the binoculars and check out the speck. Well, sure enough! How bout that! It’s another 22 cruiser and it even has the gray trim just like the Desert Dory.


Now, it’s not every day you see another C-Dory, much less one that’s pretty much the twin to the one you have.


We finish packing stuff away, start the engine, pull in the anchors, and set a course for the white speck across the lake. Now, I could have just pinned the throttle and got over there in about 4 minutes but I showed some restraint and did our usual 6.5 mph slow cruise across.



So, here’s Gary (we’ll call him Gary because that’s his real name) and his 1999 C-Dory 22’ Cruiser, the C-Rover. Gary and his wife are here from the San Diego area and, according to Gary, they spend a few weeks every spring and fall at Havasu in their 5th wheel.

Gary likes fishing, long walks on the beach, and a nice, vintage, Pinot Noir… (hahahaha….)



We talk about C-Dory’s with Gary for awhile, say goodbye, and head for the ramp. The truck’s still there (YAY!!!) and we load up the Dory, pull her up the ramp (out of the way of others, thank you) and get her ready for the road. As we’re getting the Dory ready a somewhat excited lady comes over to say hello. She’s Gary’s wife (sadly I can’t remember her name) and starts telling us they have a boat just like this, and how wonderful it is, etc, etc…. We tell her we ran into her husband Gary out on the lake and we chat for another 20 minutes. I ask her for an email address so I can send them a couple of photos. Nice folks!






Anyhow, as we wrap things up, it’s been a great week for us. The Mrs and I have been married for almost 35 years now, raised 2 great kids, and are at a point in our lives where we’re able to get away by ourselves a little more. While we have, and do, actually take “real vacations”, I think I prefer these low-key, get away from it all, trips.

I’m also finding as I reach that “Get off my lawn!!!” stage of life, trips like this are what really allow me to recharge. Whether it’s with a good friend like Ken (my Powell Buddy), my wonderful wife, or just out by myself, being out there, pretty much away from others, and enjoying the wonders of God’s creation is just what I need every once in a while. I'm also very blessed that my wife is not a high maintenance, queen bee type of lady, and is willing to join me in simple adventures like this.

We've only had the Dory for a little over a year now and, since we both love the water, we're finding it's just about a perfect get-away vehicle for us, even if it's just for a couple of days at our tiny local lake. Desert Dory is not a luxury cruiser by any means. But, she is simple, comfortable, and safe. I pray we can do this for a long time to come.

Cheers!

 

Bump for 90’s in the forecast. Spring boating season has arrived!

 

We won't even be able to get into our lake lot for at least another month.

 

Indeed it has.

The Mrs. and I were just talking about this the other day. I've been doing a bunch of little "make life more comfortable" mods/upgrades to the boat but haven't been able to try them out yet.

Just got a tilt/trim hydraulic cylinder rebuild kit (along with a impeller kit) in the mail. My tilt/trim cylinder decided to puke it's guts (ram seal) the other day.

Busy, everyday life, getting in the way of important things, AGAIN!! Hopefully soon.


How about you guys? You get out yet?

I'm sorry...

 

We've been up to Roosevelt a couple weekends but only launched the boat once. We enjoy some off-road trails while the water is still cold - just keeping the trailer tires from getting flat spots and making sure everything with the boat is good to go for the season. Also did some test flights with the drone -

You'll have the advantage in a couple months when when you have 18 hours of daylight and its 115 here.

 

Sooooooo, nice! Can't wait to get out on the boat! Also can't wait to see everybody's boating pics this summer.

@Prostar 190

 

I got my hoses all hooked back up after winter we'll be hitting the water again soon. The early skiing can be some of the best because no one else wants to get in that cold water. Lol

 

@Taco-Bender Thank you for this highly enjoyable thread! I'm not much of a boat guy, but that little C-Dory is pretty badass. Wonderful stories, and very entertaining. I wish you and the Mrs. many more years of happy boating!



PS. Thank your son for being a Billy Badass on all our behalves!

 

Thank you for the kind words and well wishes Adam. Hopefully we can get back on the water sometime soon and add to the story.

We ARE planning to drag the Dory up to the PNW around the end of June though. Will visit friends at Coeur d'Alene lake for a few days, head to the San Juan Islands for a week, hit Yellowstone and Jackson lakes on the way back south. LOTS of driving/towing on this one but it should be a lot of fun.

 

@Taco-Bender I have commented about your boat before. Like you I will have a c-dory one day. My main problem is lack of large bodies of water other than the Atlantic ocean lol. I'm more of a lake guy. For now we have a pontoon boat that my wife and my 3 year old son love. Keep the stories coming!

 

Nothing wrong with a pontoon and lakes, that's for sure. At least you're getting out on the water, probably more than we are.

Having said that, Google maps says you're only 100 or so miles from the Chesapeake Bay. I think you could spend a lifetime puttering around there in a C-Dory and never see the whole area.

 

@Taco-Blender Incredible visuals and boy could I hear Ken belting his golden pipes that last night. I've been known to howl at the moon on occasion. And I didn't even know I wanted a C-Dory until yesterday when I started down this adventure thread. Forget the travel trailer, I want one of these bad boys! I mentioned it to the Mrs. last night to gauge interest and was shot down immediately by her side who doesn't know how to swim. We are young-ish yet and I have many years to teach her how to swim and chisel down her will to say no to such great ideas like this. Holy crap man that thing is so sweet. A little fishing, a little eating, little feet up and lots of beverages down. What more could a man ask for!? Thanks for the inspiration and the chuckles. Keep on keepin' on

 

Lol... Thanks Ben.

Get that woman swimming lessons, or strap a life jacket on her and GO!! We had a pop-up camper for 18 years when our kids were growing up. Thousands of miles and A LOT of camping with that little thing. This beats the crap out of that! Away from the crowds and quite, quite, quite. I love it.

Stay tuned. We'll soon be heading to Jackson Lake WY, Cour d'Alene ID, and the San Juan Islands WA. About 3 weeks of Desert Dory travels. Can't wait!

 

And I LOVE to swim. I'm a damn fish and I woulda pulled a Ken plopping off the side not 5 minutes from the dock! Getting away from the crowds of campgrounds is what I'm looking to do. And heck if the vibe didn't feel right in that spot, you can move for the next night. Campgrounds you might get stuck next to some unhappy couple who doesn't care about who hears their grievance's with each other, or their delight, sky rockets in flight.. Need I say more??

I am very much looking forward to your future trips, almost but not quite as much as I'm sure you are. HAHA I can totally see myself having some cold ones on deck while the dory is in the driveway. You sir, have it made in the shade, with a sundowner

 

PART Eight:

Day 0: Jackson Lake WY, Coeur d'Alene ID, and the San Juan Islands WA.


Hey everybody! Let's go boating! Or, try too at least.


Not long after our Havasu trip last year the Mrs. and I decided we're going to drag the Desert Dory north for a month this summer, and get out of the AZ heat fest. This will coincide with our B-days/anniversary week, which all happens in a 6 day period (I like this! Since my B-Day is first in the lineup it makes it EASY to remember the 2 other, more important, dates).

We’re going to hit Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park WY, Coeur d’Alene Lake in Idaho to visit some friends, and then head to the Crown Jewel, the San Juan Islands in WA, which, BTW, will be our first saltwater trip with the Dory.

Schweeeet! I’m SUPER excited because we haven’t had the Dory in saltwater before, much less a real ocean with tides and currents, winds blowing against currents, maybe some real waves, crab pot buoys, logs floating around, and all the other things that come with boating in a saltwater. I can’t wait! This is going to be sooooo fun, and a great learning experience. I dig in and start the planning. Do a few additional mods on the boat since we’re going to be living on it for a month, buy some extra safety gear, and put together a ditch bag, just in case.

I think I had mentioned before the Mrs. has a business teaching babies how to survive if they fall into a pool, or other body of water, so, for her to disappear for a month during her busy season takes a bit of effort as far as planning/clearing her schedule. No problemo! She blocks out the time so we can leave 21 June and be up north for our B-days and anniversary. She just needs to be back on 19 July to start back up. Great! Can do!

PERFECT! Right! Well, we’ve seen this before. Best laid plans SHATTERED in the blink of an eye! Yep, should have known, it seems to happen every friggen time “I” have some epic adventure planned.

So here’s the skinny. One of our son’s childhood, best friend’s, decides to send us a wedding invitation mere days after we solidified our escape plans. “Hey Mr. and Mrs Taco-Blender, come to our wedding! It’s going to be awesome! It’s going to be Saturday, the 26th, at 5pm. And, IT”S GOING TO BE OUTDOORS!

WHAAAATTT! Have you lost your mind man!?!! Do you know how friggen hot it is in Tucson in late June!! It’s usually 150,000 friggen degrees! Are you MAD!

The Mrs is like: “Oh, look Hon! Jason and Sarah (we’ll call them that because that’s their real names) finally set a date for their wedding! They’re soooooo cute! And, I think you already know this, but Matthew (our boy) is one of the groomsmen and Jason is buying gray suits for all the groomsmen as their gifts. He’s going to be soooooo handsome. I better go see if I have something to wear.”

Me is like: “Ummmmm, you know we’re supposed to leave on our PNW trip on the 21st, right? You realize this will shave almost a week off our trip, right? It’s not like you can add that week to the back end without jacking up your schedule, right? Maybe we can just buy them a house or something to make up for us not being there. Jason will understand, right?”

The Mrs: “Don’t be silly. You know we can’t miss this wedding. How does this dress look?”

Me: “Looks great. Do you know where my unopened bottle of FourSquare Sagacity Rum went to? I’m feeling a bit thirsty. Oh, and a couple boxes of tissues please. I’ll be in my recliner, drinking, if you need me (insert buckets of tears emoji here).”

So, there you go, we’re leaving a bit later than planned (like always) and will shorten our time in the San Juan’s because of the delay. And, YES, it was a balmy 106 degrees at 5pm on the wedding day. Say no more.

 

PART Eight:

Day 1: Jackson Lake WY, Coeur d'Alene ID, and the San Juan Islands WA.


June 27th arrives and we're finally going to get out of here. There may have been a delay, or two (imagine that!), but we did eventually get on the road and head North. The plan is to try and do 8 hours a day, max, so tonight's stop will be Page AZ, right on the Arizona/Utah border.

When towing, I'm a firm believer that slow and steady wins the towing race so, I'm usually chugging along at 65 mph in the right lane. The Tundra seems very happy at this speed with the boat behind it. Over 35+ years and 1,000's upon 1,000's of miles towing boats, jet skis, or our old pop-up camper, we've never had a trailer bearing seize and have had only one tire come apart, which was on the pop-up trailer on our way back from Yellowstone. Keep the tires at the proper pressure, maintain your bearings, and don't drive like a maniac and your GTG.

We get to Page around 5:30 and the Mrs. is beyond starving. Myself? As long as there’s some beer somewhere I can go days without eating. Empty calories is where it’s at baby! We ask Google about some places to eat and settle on the “World Famous” Bird House. To be honest, we’re not big fried chicken eaters but, hey, it’s the “Bird House”, right!?!! All they do is chicken so it has to be GREAT, right!? Well, almost right. It wasn’t the worst but it wasn’t the best either. I’ll take a Popeye’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich any day.




It’s all good though. The Mrs. is fed and she’s much happier now, and I’m sure everyone already knows the ol “Happy Wife” line.

So, done with our chicken, and feeling much better, we decide to backtrack up highway a bit to visit the “World Famous” Colorado River, Horseshoe Bend. Horseshoe bend itself is part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area but the parking lot and trail to the bend is all Navajo Nation land so we pay our $11 to park and get ready go check it out.

The Mrs. decides, since it’s a 1.5 mile “hike”, she’s gonna put her tennies on. “You should probably put shoes on too” she says. “I’ll just go with the flip-flops, thank you.” is my reply. The trail ends up being about as difficult as walking from your front door to your car and the Mrs. sulks a bit as her feet begin to sweat. I, of course, puff my chest a bit.






There were some kayakers waaaaaaaaaay down there too.




Having visited “The Bend” we head back into town to park for the night. We had decided to not drop the boat into Powell as 1: it costs $35 for a pass (good for up to 7 days) and 2: we wanted to get on the road at a reasonable time the next morning. So, Walmart parking lot, here we come.

This was our first ever Walmart parking lot adventure and, for those who have never stayed in a Walmart parking lot, well, let’s just say, it was interesting. It was quite a mix of what appeared to be "my vehicle is my home” folks, some big $$$ rigs, and everything in between. Even a boat!

We made a quick dinner and get ready to settle for the night after the Mrs does a little last minute shopping. It was a bit hot but with the windows, hatch, and door open, and 9mm handy (which BTW, would eventually be lost in a tragic boating accident) it wasn’t too bad. Besides, after several cold ones, WHO CARES! I’ve slept in worse places and worse conditions.




Bye bye Day 1.

 

Day 2?

 

Sorry man , Haven't had time to get drunk enough to write this drivel but I'll bust out the notes and get on it ASAP.

 

Read this thread over the weekend and started boat shopping, great write up. Thank you.

 

PART Eight:

Day 2: Jackson Lake WY, Coeur d'Alene ID, and the San Juan Islands WA.

After an uneventful, but pretty darn hot, nights sleep we're up and at it, 7am. Coffee and tea made, stuff put away we start rolling out of the Walmart and I happen to notice in my mirror that one of the rollers supporting the Desert Dory on the trailer is missing. Well, CRAP! I'm not quite sure where along the way we lost it bit it needs to be replaced before we go any further.

I guess this would be a good time to talk about the crappy, 32 year old trailer, the Dory rides on. Actually, I guess it's not all that bad but I am NOT a fan of the roller setup and would MUCH prefer to have the Dory riding on wooden, carpeted bunks. The rollers are just kind of scary. You never, ever, EVER, want to detach you winch strap from the bow eye on the boat until that baby is floating, otherwise there's a very good chance you're going to be looking for help picking your boat up off the ramp. Happens all the time and I really don't want to end up in someones "Stupid Boater" YouTube video, so I'm super careful. All the other boats I have owned have had bunk trailers under them so I guess that's what I like just because that's what I'm used to. The trailer itself is actually pretty solid so a roller to bunk conversion is on my "list of things to do". Stupid Rollers!!

Anyhow, we consider ourselves lucky that we're at Powell and figure it should be pretty easy to find a replacement roller. Well, so we thought. We check Google for some local marine repair/trailer supply shops and, while there are quite a few, none of them open till 9am. We drop the Dory/trailer in the Walmart parking lot and head over to the shop that has the most potential with the idea that we'll get a couple of extras in case we lose another. The nice lady at the shop, when they finally opened, managed to fine THE ONLY ONE they had. Bummer! Also, they didn't have any of the retainer clips that keep them in place. Double Bummer! We decide to call a few of the other shops listed on Google and managed to find 2 extra rollers but ZERO clips. Arrrgggg! So, we head back to the Walmart parking lot where we left the Dory and proceed to get busy (Not that kind of busy! The "fix things to get going" kinda busy).

I jack the front of the boat up off the trailer (Pro Tip: Always carry a floor jack and some wood blocks when towing) and slip one of the new rollers in place. YAY! But now I have to find something to keep it in place. Hey Hon! Can I have that nice wooden coat hanger you have in the truck? Please? I snip the metal hook part off the hanger and fashion a suitable replacement clip. Sweet!! Hopefully we don't lose any more rollers because we have no clips and that's the only hanger we had.

Finally! It's a bit after 10 and we're ready to hit the road again. Todays goal is to get to Provo Utah and drop the Dory in Utah Lake for the night.





We're on the road again and the Mrs. takes advantage of the time spent driving to get caught up on her business accounting/bookkeeping. I just cruise along at 65mph and listen to old guy tunes. We do stop every once in awhile for gas, pee breaks, and to check the trailer bearings and rollers. All is well and it turns out to be a nice relaxing drive all the way up to Utah Lake.

So, Utah Lake. If you've never been there, don't bother. It's a huge lake but it's all dingy gray/green water and the deepest water we saw was 6ft. Mostly it seemed the average we saw on the depthfinder was 2-3ft. I didn't really pay attention to the specs when I was planning our route up north and pretty much thought "Oh! That looks like a nice big lake. AND! It's not the Great Salt Lake, so that should work." Work it did but, after the fact, I'm thankful it didn't get very windy that night. When we got back home I did a little searching for info about Utah Lake and found it can be QUITE dangerous when the wind picks up. I have to admit, piss poor planning, again, on my part, and we got lucky since it's thunderstorm season. We did find a spot, in 2 feet of water, to drop the hook and ended up having a pretty good night out there. Having said that, I don't see any reason to ever go back there. I'd rather just Boaterhome it in a campground somewhere.

I'll explain the doofus hats a little later. Our kids got them for us before we left.

 

My dad prefers the rollers on his 35 year old boat trailer because he says they make it easier to load. His boat and motor only weigh 1200 lbs, though.

 

Yeah, roller vs bunks is one of those endless debates with each having it's own pros and cons. I do prefer a bunk trailer though. Just seems more secure. Converting to bunks will also allow the Dory to sit about 4 inches lower on the trailer too. Lower center of gravity and will float off the trailer sooner on shallow ramps. Win win.

 

Had to re-read day 1 it’s been so long
Can’t wait to see about the rest of the trip.

You going to be able to make it to the races this weekend? We just got done loading the boat into the trailer. I’ll be driving up Thursday evening/night to help with test/tune and qualifying Friday if you want to ride along.

 

Going to try. Maybe Friday, maybe Saturday. I think we have our rental grandchildren Friday evening. I'll have to double check with the Mrs.

 

PART Eight:


Day 3: Jackson Lake WY, Coeur d'Alene ID, and the San Juan Islands WA.


After an uneventful night on Utah Lake we are up and go through the usual morning routine of coffee/tea prep, a bit of something to eat for the Mrs, pull the anchor, head back to the truck and load the boat. With everything loaded and secured, I’m looking forward to what appears to be a somewhat shorter drive to Jackson Lake WY today. As we’re headed out the Mrs., who spent most of the drive up getting her accounting done, says “Hey, I have about a gazillion dollars cash here. Can we find a bank so I can do a deposit?”. “Sure Hon, no problem”. I find a suitable bank not far off our route and we make a stop.


Now, the plan for Jackson Lake was to just launch the boat and go hang on the hook for a couple of nights in a nice protected cove I found while studying the chart plotter map. Since I had a bit of time waiting for the Mrs to return from her banking biz I decide to go ahead and call the Colter Bay Marina, Grand Teton National Park, to see if they might have a slip available for a couple of nights. I’m figuring the chance of getting anything is pretty much nil since it is peak season, right before 4th of July weekend. Anyhow, with nothing to lose, I make the call and get a super nice lady on the other end.


Me: “Hi Ms. super nice lady. We’re heading your way and will be there sometime this evening. would you happen to have a slip available for a night or two?”.

Ms. super nice lady: “Well Mr. Blender, you do realize this is our peak season, much less right before the 4th of July weekend. Let me take a look.”

Ms. super nice lady: “How big is your boat?”

Me: “22 feet.”

Ms. super nice lady: “Ooooookay… And you’re planning on staying on the boat?”

Me: “Yes ma’am”

Ms. super nice lady: “Hmmmm… Do you need electric?”

Me: “No ma’am.”

Ms. super nice lady: ”How about water?”

Me: “Just to put the boat in ma’am.”

Ms. super nice lady: “Hmmmm… Weeellll, it doesn’t look like I have any slips, buuuuuttt, hmmmmm, it looks like I could put you on an end tie for, hmmmmmmm… it looks like I could end tie you for 3 nights, if you want that.”

Me: “Well, that sounds doable. How much per night?”

Ms. super nice lady: “Hmmmmmm… It looks like it’ll be $23 a night. Is that okay?”

Me: “Yes ma’am! That’ll work just fine. We’ll take it.”

Ms. super nice lady: “Okey Dokey. The marina office closes at 5. If you arrive after 5 just pick a spot at the end of dock C, or dock D, and come see me sometime after we open in the morning and we’ll get you checked in.

Me: “Sounds great Ms. super nice lady. We’re currently down in Salt Lake so we’ll most likely get there after you close. I’ll be sure to come see you in the morning. Thank you so much!”

Ms. super nice lady: “You’re welcome Mr. Blender. Have a safe drive.”


YES!!!! SCORE!!! Now, we certainly don’t mind hanging on the hook for a couple of nights but it’s also nice to have the conveniences of a real bathroom and real shower somewhat near by. Besides, we'll be spending enough nights on the hook when we get to the San Juans.

PLUS!! There’s a nice restaurant/bar right there by the marina, and, with it being our B-Day/Anniversary/B-Day week, it might be nice to spend an evening at the restaurant/bar. Also, I can’t imagine rolling up to any National Park campground without a reservation, during peak, much less right before 4th of July, in your RV and having any hope of getting a spot. Especially right now with the influx of new camping folks trying to escape the lockdown crap. Boaterhomes RULE!!!

Anyhow, the Mrs. returns from her banking chore and I tell her about the “new” plan. She’s excited that we’ll get a real night out to celebrate our B-Day/Anniversary/B-Day week and is enjoying the thought of a real shower. We hop back in the truck and set course for Teton National Park.

The drive to Jackson Lake is thankfully, pretty much uneventful. The Mrs is all caught up on her biz stuff, a stop or two along the way for gas, lunch, etc… and it’s starting to feel much more relaxing, like we’re “actually” getting away for awhile.


We roll thru Jackson Hole.


Stop to check out some bison that were have a little skirmish along the road.





And finally we make it to Colter Bay Marina, Jackson Lake. As we’re getting the boat for the water I’m thinking “Man! this is just beautiful!”. We had driven thru here years ago when we took our kids camping for a week at Yellowstone, and had even stopped at Jenny Lake for an afternoon, but I didn’t quite remember how spectacular the Tetons really are. Fantastic! I’m really starting to get into the “vacation mode” now.

Plop!! Desert Dory has landed!


How about a little look at the lake before we find our end tie.



Our end tie at the end of dock C. This'll be our spot, and view, for the next 3 nights. Sweeeeet!!!

 

PART Eight:
Day 4: Jackson Lake WY, Coeur d'Alene ID, and the San Juan Islands WA.

After a GREAT night at the end of C-dock the morning arrives and we start the routine. Of course the Mrs was up long before me and had already gone on her walk and attended to whatever she attends to. Me? Worthless until I've had my coffee.


One thing we realized last night while we were getting settled into our C-dock digs is we're definitely going to have to adjust our body clocks to the difference in sunset times at these northern latitudes. Back home it's completely dark outside, this time of year, by a little after 8pm. We're usually having dinner by 7pm and the Mrs is calling it a day by 8:30-9pm. Last night we're sitting on the dock after dinner, having a couple of couple of cocktails and watching the sun disappear behind the Tetons, when the Mrs states she is suddenly very, very, tired. I look at my watch and it's about 9:30 and there's still plenty of light left to do whatever. I tell her, "Dang Hon, it's WAY past your bedtime! It's after 9:30!" It's probably around 10:30 before it's really dark.

Anyhow, after getting things squared away we decide our day will consist of taking care of our marina business, a run to the General Store to get some steaks, bacon, and a few other things (we forgot to grab the steaks, chicken, etc. that we had packed and put in the freezer. Grrrrrr....), and to grab a shower, which was up by the General Store, and a little cruise around the lake.

One thing we immediately notice as we're getting ready to walk down the dock to start our day are the throngs of people hanging by the marina office. The marina has a couple of tour boats docked at the end of B-dock and apparently a few thousand of these folks have booked a tour. Others are there to rent kayaks and little tin fishing boats.

Some of the Kayaks:


And the tour boats heading out. They are end tied to the end of B-Dock:



We're in no hurry to do anything so, while the Mrs is doing whatever it is she was doing, I headed on up to the marina office, and the throngs of people, to meet up with the super nice marina lady (I think her name was actually Margret) to take care of our mooring bill. She was just as nice in person as she was on the phone yesterday. Once that was done we headed off to the General Store and showers.

Man! We get up there around the "village" where the store and showers are and there are just SOOOO many people scurrying about. I keep forgetting this is the end of June and people are on vacation, wanting to get out and away from all the Covid nonsense. No worries though, we're able to get our showers without having to wait and managed to find what we needed at the General Store.

Parked at the General Store:


After loading our stuff in the truck we took a little drive thru the campgrounds just to see how the other half were living. It ended up being pretty much as we expected, spaces were full, lots of people, lots of kids, lots of loud music, some generators running, etc... (Typing this up I realize I'm sounding a lot like the Grinch in the cartoon, "The one thing I hate, all the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise!"). Lol... Been there, done that!, as they say.

After our little excursion we head back to the Dory and head out onto the lake for the day.






There's a big ol island in the middle of the lake called Elk Island. One of the tours you can book thru the marina is a "Dinner Cruise" out to Elk Island. They'll load you on one of the tour boats and take you out to the island where they off load you to have a buffet dinner, campfire, etc.

As we were cruising by the Elk Island dock we noticed a diver on the dock and another one in the water so we decided to beach the Dory and go check out what was going on. Talking with the diver on the dock, he told us a huge storm had come thru the lake a couple of weeks back and had blown the dock up onto the beach. He was quite amazed that this had happened because the dock is held in place by several buried 100lb+ Danforth style anchors. "Not quite sure how the hell that happen. Must have been one hell of a storm!" he tells us. Anyhow, him and his partner are in the water (friggen 62 degrees no less! Brrrrrr...) resetting the anchors so they can start up the Dinner Cruises again.

You can see one of the guys in the water to the right side of this pic:


And some pics from our time tromping around the island being busy bodies:







We spent the rest of the afternoon puttering around the lake, having a late lunch, a little snooze maybe, doing pretty much nothing but relaxing.









On our way back to the marina we decide to just hang at the boat tonight and save our "B-Day/Anniversary/B-Day night out" for tomorrow night.

I'll have to say, once the marina office closes the throngs scatter like roaches when a light is turned on. Total peace and quiet.

And, to throw in a little snobbery/exclusivity, we REALLY liked the chain across the dock entrance with a sign saying "Boat Owners Only". As we're stepping over the chain to go to the Dory I'd take the Mrs hand and say in my best Thurston Howell III voice "Your hand please, Lovie." Lol... We were feeling pretty boujee.

Back at our C-dock retreat:

 

Thanks for the write-up! Amazing pics especially this one…


10 weeks ‘til Tundras to Sedona… just saying!