Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The "Lady Washington"

Truly youth is wasted on the young! Whoever said that must have had many opportunities to observe kids in action ~

Due to her illness (including salmonella) in Mexico, I had to make a quick round trip to San Diego to pick her up. I spent my birthday flying full fare and paying massive extra baggage fees and got her home in one piece! Five days later she's not only up and about, but off signing on to be a volunteer and get trained to sail a tall ship. So you can see why I have more gray hair at the end of the month than I had at the begining!!
But fortunately she kept them appraised of her past health issues; they had an emt on board and so off she went with our (hesitant) blessing. What an opportunity! She said it was fabulous being on deck looking at the giant sails snapping in the wind. She got to be steering the ship when they went by our old Lighthouse home away from home -- New Dungeness where we had stayed seven or eight times while the girls were growing up. She told her shipmates all about the lighthouse and the fun staying there for a week at a time. When visitors are on board, the crew all wear costumes. Sometimes they fight battles at sea with their sister ship the Hawaiian Chieftan. While no balls actually blast off the sides of the ships, there is great noise and smoke as the cannons are fired.
I can assure you that I had an emergency evacuation out of Mexico at the beginning of a week, I would not have been off to sail in the ocean five or six days later. If only I had her energy and my experience!! But we do applaud her sense of adventure and hope that she has other wonderful and amazing experiences throughout her life.
For more information on the Lady Washington, check out their website at:

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