december 3 2004 : st. paul, minnesota, usa
Obviously we made it home okay. The trip coming home was a lot quicker though not nearly as fun as it was getting away. Our flight from New Zealand to Los Angeles was a brutal one. With me on the aisle, Ali in the middle, and a big fat guy next to the window you can imagine how comfortable it was for Ali. She’s too nice to tell the guy to move his giant arm and leg out of her seat area, so instead she designed elaborate walls out of magazines and pillows in order to force him to. It was kind of comical watching the guy try to sit with his arms folded the entire trip. Not to sound like I am trashing on overweight people, but why should she have to endure somebody taking up half of her $1600 seat?

We did enjoy the perks you get on those long flights though, like personal televisions with new movies, a ton of food, and free alcohol. Anyway, we made it, and it felt great to see everybody at the airport.

Today was a trip out to the Mall of America (the second biggest mall in the world for those of you who don’t know). It’s basically one of our least favorite places in the world, but our niece and nephew, Lea and Curt, love it there because there is Camp Snoopy, which is a big amusement park right inside the mall. There is also a big aquarium there as well. Lea and I got to feel some sharks and stingrays. So that was cool.

december 8 2004 : chicago, illinois, usa
Wow are we having a busy trip home. A couple days ago we flew down to Chicago to visit friends and stop in at the Board of Trade to see all the guys at work. But the real reason for the trip was so we could eat at Lou Malnati’s, our favorite pizza place in the world…so far. Ali and I showed up and sat down at the bar, and within a couple minutes half of the staff had stopped by to ask us where we had been. Apparently profits had dropped off significantly since we left. We met some of our website friends for the first time and had fun answering questions over pizza and beer.

The other night we were at a friends high rise condo having drinks. The building is L-shaped, so at night you can see right into other condominiums. I was sitting there looking out the window when I saw a big lady who had to be 65 years old suddenly walk in front of her window wearing just underwear and a bra. After bending over and touching her toes she suddenly reached behind her back and undid her bra. So now I suddenly found myself staring at an old topless grandma. Ahhh Chicago. You gotta love it.

december 13 2004 : portland, oregon, usa
After leaving Chicago we flew straight to Portland, Oregon. We’ve spent the last few days visiting with family and meeting some more new friends we met through the website, not to mention eating more pizza than any normal person should. Ali declared that she is officially burnt out on pizza. Weirdo.

Yesterday we drove up to Silverdale, Washington to visit our newest addition to the family, Sarah. She is about two weeks old now and is still in the hospital, but is doing great and with any luck will be home for Christmas. It was nice to be able to get out here and see everybody. Tomorrow we leave the rainy weather here in the Pacific Northwest and head back to Minnesota for more cold and snow.

december 20 2004 : st. paul, minnesota, usa
A few days ago we had a party at Neumann’s in North St. Paul and had a lot of fun finally meeting a lot of you. We were really surprised at how many people came to see us and tell us how long they have been following the website yet they had never emailed us. Anyway, thanks for coming out. Other than that we have just been doing a lot of visiting with friends and family.

We have also been in contact with Charter Cats and it seems they have decided to do nothing for us. They are going to take the stand that all of the damage to the boat is due to some freak lightning strike, not through any fault of their own. It’s all pretty outrageous. We will be filling you all in on every detail of this entire process next month after we get back to the boat. For now we are trying to concentrate on having a nice visit home and not worry about the boat too much.

december 22 2004 : st. paul
Quick little story about a recent trip to Burger King with Ali’s sister Toni and her two kids. We were all seated in the back room where the big playground for the kids is, when a pimply faced teenage employee opened the door and asked, “Is there a Molly Anderson here?” Toni, who was tying her shoe at the moment, suddenly looked up and said, “Did you say Molly Anderson?” The kid looks over and excitedly says, “Ya!” Fully expecting her to say, “That’s me.” Instead Toni just kind of looks at him with this blank look on her face and goes back to tying her shoe. The kid sort of stared at her for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders and slinking out of the room. Meanwhile Ali and I are sitting there wondering why the heck she asked him that. Did she know a Holly Anderson or something? Toni’s last name is Sierakowski, so she definitely didn’t confuse it for her own name.

“Toni, what was that all about?”
“What?”
“Why did you ask him if he said Molly?”
“I don’t know, I just wasn’t sure what he said?”
“But what did it matter?”
“I don’t know, I just wanted to know.”

But WHY?! It was just one of those stupid funny moments in life. But Ali and I couldn’t just leave it at that. So a couple nights later the whole family went out to eat. I snuck away during dinner and pulled the waiter aside. A few minutes later, as we were all sitting there eating, the waiter came rushing up to the table and asked, “Is there a Molly Anderson here?!” There was about a two second delay before Toni spit out her drink laughing. Anyway, we love you Toni, but sometimes we just have to wonder about you.

december 23 2004 : st. paul
Okay now we’re ready to get back to the boat, since it’s negative ten degrees fahrenheit here in Minnesota. Nothing else really new to report.