My Captain~

My First Mate posted this on Facebook about our Captain...her awesome Husband...

I have thee most Awesome-ist Husband!!! He is a handsome, christian, gentle man, loving, kind, faithful, committed, dedicated, hard-working, silly, fun-loving, smart as a whip, a wonderful Dad & Opa, loves his family like there is no tomorrow, brings joy to those who take the time to spend with him, is a terrific best friend & has the patience of a Saint when it comes to his wife...and children...(or should I say patiently puts up with all of us)! 

I have spent almost 11 years with this man...He is a 'Gem' and I am grateful his previous wives gave him up and that he became a part of my life!! I am so blessed!! My children are so blessed...my family is so blessed!!

Honey, I will spend the rest of my life working with you to make your dreams come true! (We are so "ONE" that it's "OUR" dreams). We will accomplish the things we have set in motion...Our Way Too! and I WILL see to it!! You deserve it...more than anyone one I know! You have worked many years to get to the point where you want to be at & altho you hoped to be there long ago you unselfishly put other prior commitments before you! Bless you for that! You are a really good man.

What you give to others who make the effort to be close to you is beyond measure. If you have tried & it has not been reciprocated then it is their loss... And that's OK...we have each other...our dreams...& Our Way Too!!

You are my Captain & I your First Mate!!
We have God as our Co-Pilot & as Kimberly Sue prayed upon her, during the naming ceremony, Our Way Too! is blessed with the Gods & Angels of the Sea to be with us whenever & where ever we decide to go!!
We will sail aboard our beautiful home & sailing vessel Our Way Too!
We will meet new friends & learn new cultures.
We will be enjoying adventures beyond our imagination.
We will share with those who want to learn about and enjoy our lifestyle.
God sure blessed me when He brought you into my life!!
We sure do have alot to look forward too!!

I love you Dean Paul Calkins always & forever!!!

A Tribute...Barry Hammerberg

February 10, 2012

Today we Celebrate a life...

Barry Hammerberg

fellow Sailor...a man of many talents...wonderful Husband to Ruth...gracious friend to many.

May God welcome you Barry, into his loving arms & into the beautiful calm & safe seas of Heaven!

As you share "Another Adventure" (Barry & Ruth's beautiful sailboat) with those we all know 

& love up in heaven...we look forward to the honor

of sailing into the heavens & your life again!!

Love & Eskimo Kiss!!

A friend whom we haven't known long...but he made an impact on our life in his knowledge, advice, & just plain "Sailor Commaderie"! You know how you just know......well Barry and Ruth are those people!!

Barry loves to Sail!
 He's a man of many talents...Surveyor...Canvas Man...Rigging Tuner...the list goes on!
He spent many a day working with John doing projects on Our Way.
Up til Barry was too weak to speak he worried and whispered to Ruth about his beloved
 "Another Adventure"

www.rbhammer.com/2011

(Barry & Ruth's Website & Log)

He is truly a Sailor, totally in love with his Ruthie, Buddy, and a special friend to many.
Barry, we will cherish the brief moments we were able to spend with you. 

We are thinking of & praying for his family today while they celebrate Barry's life and say "Goodbye". 

Especially Ruthie...

Barry & Ruthie

Thank you God for the Grace, Patience, Love, and Strength

 you have instilled in this beautiful woman to endure the past 2 years...

Thank you for keeping her strong even as her heart was breaking.

She stood solid in faith & in love. 

I am so proud of her & pray that her strength remains, her faith remains strong, & that you guide her as she learns to continue her life without her Husband by her side. Amen.

She stood by Barry's side through everything~a dedicated Wife & Best Friend...

she drove herself unselfishly to care for & see to it that Barry

made his dreams come true...

She became the "Woman who could do Anything!!

She jumped in an RV...(Motorhome) and drove cross country to fulfill a dream...

The Grand Canyon!! Wow!! 

Barry was elated!!

She crossed off things on the "Bucket List" & made that man smile!! 

They were the "Love of each other's Lives!"

She was so unselfish...she did whatever made Barry happy & comfortable.

Barry...We will keep you in our hearts until we meet again...

Ruth...You will always have a spot for hanging out with us on Our Way Too!!

Love & Hugs~~

~~~ /) ~~~

It's a Foulie's Kind of day!

Drip drying!

We definitely need the rain here in Texas! 

And I was woke up at 2:30 am with the aft cabin lit up like the sun blinding me.

I hopped out of bed & scurried around OWT! like a little mouse, 

checking for window leaks and any other leaks we may find. 

That has been a routine lately whenever it does rain. 

Dean is working hard to get this sweet ole Girl totally dry on her inside.

Everything seemed fine...so back to bed I went.

 I laid there for over an hour listening to the big Thunder Boomers,

watching my eyelids light up from the lightening &

 enjoyed the sashay of Our Way Too! dancing in her slip.

Slept like a bug in a rug cuddled into my warm flannel sheets til morning!

My short morning hike up to the shower house kept getting delayed as the rain

continued on & off like a faucet. Finally I decided...

"Girl, you have Rain Gear...what are you waiting for?"

(or West Marine's Foul Weather Jacket & Bibs)

Staying dry!

So out I went into the downpour! Ha...the only thing that didn't stay dry was my legs and feet!( I had on shorts & flip flops) :-)

Soon I will have to head out into the elements again to go to work.
 It looks as if it won't clear up for a bit yet so...

...my "Foulie's" will hang to drip dry until the next trip out!
 

Happy New Year from Our Way Too!

January 1, 2012

It's kinda funny... since our Family all lives in Michigan, Georgia, & Florida now, we sorta get to celebrate at 11:00pm & at Midnite!!

We are getting & receiving texts on our phones wishing us Happy New Year at 11:00pm!

 Then we are reciprocating at our "Midnite" saying Happy New Year at the south end of the USA!

It really is a "HI TECH" world now...& altho we don't know all about it...we do appreciate 

being able to reach, see, & be close to our family& friends via texts, skype, facetime, & facebook!

So after the BLURRED out fireworks we went up to the Clubhouse to relax & bring in the New year on the Big Screen with NYC!

This is MUCH better!!
Great Virginia wine to bring in 2012!!!
(Now that our children have moved back to Michigan, I guess we have to sail to the East Coast to get more!!)

We can do!!!  ;-)  BIG SMILES!!!

We enjoyed our early evening with Good food & our Great Marina Family,

Food in mouth picture! 

Todd will tell us if it's all good!!

Good food...Good Company...Good Times!!

Phil

3 Amigo's

Awwwwee...... Happy New Year Smootches!!

Deana keepin' Cory under control!

sharin' the bubbly

Troy, Dean, & Phil....let's have those new years snackins' Rhonda!!

happy new year smiles!

cheers!!

our happy girl!  :-)

the gang

We enjoyed a favorite movie of all of us Sailors..."Captain Ron"
 until several of our Crew were ready to nod off into LaLa Land. 

Cory & Tammy gave us an exciting ride home on their speedy golf cart

and the Kemah City Police even visited us looking for those darn "illegal firecracker folks" from the dark side of Seabrook... ;-)

I'm thinkin' twas Captain Jack...

Captain Jack Sparrow that is...

Aaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!

Aaaarrrrrggghhhhhh!!!!

an a Happy New Year to ya Matey's!!!

New Year's Eve...

December 31, 2011

It's awesome to be in Kemah, Texas...

 we have fireworks several times throughout the year...not just the 4th of July!!!

We can sail year around...except when the cold north wind flares & blows our water out of the bay!!!
(but ... thats only for some folks who don't have a deep draft )
And we may have some chilly winter days but...
the Sun Shines,
 we do not have 5' snow drifts, the Snow does not blow...
& we do NOT have to shovel Snow!!
We must always look at the glass WAY over half Full!!

Us "Michigander Transplants" are enjoying not having to wear a Heavy Winter Coat!!

Enjoying the Portofino Island Dock & waiting for the New Year to Ring in!!! 

A Toast to ring out the old 2011!!!

Out on the island in our Portofino Marina...waiting to watch the fireworks!!

The Bummer is....
the fireworks were blocked by the Fog!!
It was rolling in slowly... and it was rather SPOOKY!
 I deleted all of my pictures of the fireworks because they only showed a Pink Glow!
So...we just celebrated the upcoming New Year with our Portofino Marina Family...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

December 25, 2011

from the Crew of Our Way Too!

We enjoyed a wonderful relaxing Christmas Eve Day onboard Our Way Too!

For our afternoon festivities,

We were honored with an invite to attend the Candlelight Service at their church,

with our 

wonderful friend's & sailing family, 

~Rob & Janet Sherrill~

(also our marina neighbor & crew of S/V Wandering Star)

We enjoyed a beautiful heartwarming service, at Bay Area First Baptist Church

 that retold the story of Jesus' birthday!

  

Then we relaxed & enjoyed "dinner & a movie" at the 'Sherrill' home!

My first time ever to watch the classic...

"It's A Wonderful Life"

 Thoroughly enjoyed our evening with great friends, great worship, great food, & a great movie!

Thank you Rob & Janet for your friendship and for including us in your 

family Christmas celebration.

It was also nice to meet their son, Jim, whom is visiting from FL for Christmas!

Christmas Day...

 found us sleeping in a bit,

 then enjoying our coffee and quiet

 Christmas Morning

 aboard Our Way Too!

in our warm & cozy saloon.

Dean decided since he has not had the time to practice his culinary skills in the galley,

that he would be the Chef today! 

He spoiled me...

Breakfast first...then he decided we needed Christmas Cookies..

then he cooked the Turkey for our Christmas dinner up at the clubhouse!

Carving Turkey!

We were blessed with the company of our new friends,

~Cory, Tammy, & Abby~

(marina neighbors & crew of S/V Menestheus)

We enjoyed Christmas "dinner & 2 movies"!! :-)

Abby picked out The Santa Clause 1 & 2 movies to watch. Love Tim Allen!

Thank you for sharing Christmas with us! Again...great food, great company, and great movies!

We have truly been blessed this year!! We have so much to be thankful for!

(More to share on that later!)

Merry Christmas & much Love to all!!

We hope that all our Family & Friends

are Blessed with the Awesome Wonder & Love 

of our Lord & Savior

this Christmas and always!

An Official Full-Time & a Part-time LiveAboard

November 23, 2011

Happy 1st Birthday Locklan Tacktor! Lots of Loves Lil' Man!

What a short night & long busy day! We both are exhausted, but elated...

This is a step toward our plan of becoming full-time live-aboard cruisers.

We still have a ways to go...but it is a step!

Last night, right after Dean got home from work we hooked up our 5th wheel & said goodbye to our home of the past 2 1/2 years...Trader Village RV Park. As my Daddy (& original Crewmember) says...

"Off to the next chapter of the Calkins Saga!!"

Dean drove the truck towing the 5th wheel & I followed in the loaded 'zip-zip' car. We stopped at a truck stop to give it a good bath in the hopes it looks appealing for it's next loving owner. Then we began the long slow trek of almost 300 miles to Kemah, Texas. We arrived wee hours of the morning...what usually is a 4 1/2 hour drive from Arlington...turned into a gas guzzling but uneventful 6 1/2 hours! We parked the rig in the Walmart Moble Hotel Parking Lot for the night so that we could arrive at the Park N Sell lot during daylight hours. Dean squeezed into the packed 'zip-zip' car & we went to open up the boat. He takes such good care of me!! After we unloaded cooler bags & necessities onto Our Way Too! I then drove him back & dropped him off to sleep in the 5th wheel for the night. We didn't feel comfortable leaving it there without one of us, so he stayed & sent me back to the boat.

After a very short night of sleep, I woke up to Dean calling me before the alarm went off. He was woke up by all the early morning shoppers and was in need of a bathroom! ;-) Well I hopped out of bed & made coffee to fill the mugs, then off I went to join up with Honey! We had a busy day ahead of us.

We grabbed a really unnourishing breakfast of MickyD's then headed to park the rig with 4-sale signs. A very emotional moment for both of us as it has been a beautiful home for us for the past 10 years, something we picked out & specifically had built...our first "Home" together. It breaks our hearts to have to sell it, but it is for the best. When we are cruising...it won't be good for it to sit in storage. It's best that someone is using and loving it as we have. It is beautiful!

We pulled into our storage & began unloading all our worldly goods into the storage unit. Then we took it to the Park N Sell lot just across the road. We put up the 4-sale signs on it and finally after a couple hours, headed to the boat. Now it is official...I am a full-time liveaboard on Our Way Too! Sadly tho, Dean is still only a part-time liveaboard. This is going to be the hardest part of our decision to move forward toward our "dream". Dean will be commuting to Kemah on the weekends until further notice. I am hoping to find work in this area and it will save us alot of $$ toward our cruising kitty in the long run, especially once we sell the 5th wheel. (If you know anyone interested...send em our way!)
Say lots of prayers for us...this isn't going to be easy. Just thinking about him leaving Sunday evening back to Arlington for his work week...I already miss my Honey & Best Friend!! :-(

We grocery shopped for our Thanksgiving dinner, unloaded vehicles, organized, put things away & settled in to a quiet evening relaxing...

Time for a Shiner!

Happy!!

OK Honey...

 & watching a movie onboard Our Way Too!

ps...just an after-thought...
We call our 5th wheel our "rig" or "it" or "coach" in the RV- ing world.
We call our boats/ships/yachts/power or sailing vessels..."her" or "she".
Interesting!