Unplanned pleasures
After completing a 1290 mile drive (one way) from California, Rebecca and I arrived safely back in Colorado at our friend Michael’s house yesterday afternoon. The trip, although lightning quick, was spectacular. Not only did we get to spend some well-needed quality time with our family in CA, we were treated to a sampling of some of the most amazing scenery that the United States has to offer.
For example, yesterday we crossed the continental divide not once but twice, and got to enjoy all the amazing views that go along with that. In addition to yesterday’s incredible vistas, we were also able to coordinate an unplanned breakfast date with a few fellow sailors (and future cruisers) in Breckenridge. After posting the photo below on Facebook, we were contacted by Bethany who said that she recognized the map behind Rebecca’s head. That’s quite a feat because as you can see, I blurred the map a bit in the photo!
Only a few minutes after that we received that message, we heard from Cookie, one of our longtime Facebook friends. Cookie, Bethany and her husband Chris were all keen to meet us, even after we told them it would have to be for breakfast at 7:30 AM because we still had a long drive ahead of us. It was a cool get-together and we were really happy to be able to swap stories, and finally put some faces to names that we see on our computer screen. In fact, we’re really looking forward to having the chance to meet even more ZTC readers this Saturday at the open house here in Loveland.
Thanks for treating us to breakfast, Cookie! We hope you have fun sailing this weekend.
What’s on our agenda now? Believe it or not, we have a full schedule and to-do list. Contrary to popular perception, we are no longer carefree vagabonds. As the closing day of our new boat approaches, our to-do list grows longer and longer. That’s all good though as Rebecca and I both work well when we’re busy. I will say though that I find it frustrating having to chase down so-called professionals who fail to follow through on the tasks which they are responsible for. Why can’t people just do what they say they’re going to do, when they say they will do it?
Lake Dillon, Breckenridge, CO.
We really wanted to have a snowball fight but couldn’t make it happen.
On top of the world! Yes, the air was thin up there.
It is very frustrating when you know you have an agenda and cannot get anyone to commit. We are having that problem on our 42′ Sportfish. We want to add some kind of a sunshade before heading South next fall, we had one person come and look at the job, but never got back to us. The other two canvas guys called back, but never showed up. My feeling is that if you are not in Florida, where there is alot of competition and there only means of making money, that no one takes it seriously.
I guess people aren’t all that “hungry.”
We know what you mean, (been there, had that happen to us) but we have found a very good canvas worker in Oriental NC, Luann at Inner Banks Sails and Canvas. We contacted her about doing a replacement dodger. She was about a month and a half out in work at the time we contacted her. She not only started the job on time, but was timely in the work and it was absolutely GORGEOUS. We can send photos if you like.
D & Don
SV SOUTHERN CROSS
Isn’t it nice when people do what they say they will do? We have some canvas work to have done in Grenada. Hopefully we’ll have a positive experience like that too.
It’s not just boats… We called several local companies to get quotes on new windows. One never got back to us. One never showed up after promising to and us watching them drive right by our neighbourhood. One showed up promptly. Gave us some good advice and options. Send us detailed quotes that night by email and followed up with a call to ensure we got the quote…. Take a wild guess who is getting our business. 🙂
It was the same experience last fall when we wanted to redo the roof. After chasing companies several times for quotes we went with the one guy who showed up promptly and acted professional. He was a bit more money but I trusted him to actually get the job done quickly, which he did.
Running a business isn’t rocket science.. But it sure helps to be professional. 🙂
I was definitely not implying that unprofessional behavior was limited to the marine businesses. Some people go to school for years to get a professional license but then fall down with the simplest of things.
If you really want to understand “thin air”, you need to ski up there…
bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle
I’d love to try! 🙂
Looks like ya’ll had a great time! Ken and I spent our one year wedding anniversary (late honeymoon) in Vail, CO during the summer. It was beautiful! We tried hiking, and after living in Louisiana (below sea level) we had a hard time with those high elevations.
Sounds fun to be able to meet up with others from the web. Glad you enjoyed our country! You’ve seen a lot more of the West than we have. We’re still longing to see California.
When we hiked up to the top of trail ridge road we really pushed it, passing many people. It kicked our (MY) butts though!