July 5-8, 2022 Days 39-42 Juneau
On Tuesdays there is story time at the library, so we wanted to try to make that. I have fond memories taking my other two kids to story time when they were little. We got off a hair late, but made it as they were singing the opening song. Ellen had fun listening to the stories and Lillian had fun playing with Ellen. Ryan wasn’t thrilled about it, but he was a good sport.
After story time we got a temporary library card. It’s available to people who will be in the area for at least a month, but there is a limit of only two checkouts at a time. I didn’t really think I would be able to get one, so something was better than nothing. Ellen read a few books and Lillilan found a book she wanted to check out. We also found a game that we wanted to check out called Lotus. After we checked things out we went to the pool for our swim! This week we were able to go swimming Tuesday-Friday.
Since we had the rental car for part of this week, we needed to run some errands. A Costco run, a Home Depot run, and boat maintenance. We also drove by Mendenhall Glacier. It was a little late and colder than we were planning, so we didn’t do any of the hikes, and the visitor center was closed, but we did walk around a little bit, and got a better idea of what there was to do there.
Also on Tuesday we got everything all ready for an early Wednesday appointment to put the boat on the grids. I haven’t seen grids in Seattle, or anywhere else for that matter. The grids are perpendicular to a dock like thing. The dock is always high up and doesn’t change with the tide, like a normal dock where a boat would be tied up. The grids are always at low tide and they don’t float. They are wooden and spaced about 7 or 8 feet apart. When the tide is high they are covered and the grids aren’t seen. When it is low tide they are exposed. They are positioned so they are exposed at a few different tide levels. The boat goes on the grid when the tide is going out, but when there is still water over the grids. The boat is tied up and when the tide goes out and exposes the grid, the boat is left sitting on the grid. When the boat is out of the water, maintenance for the lower unit can be done (or the hull, or any part of the boat that is normally in the water). The boat is stuck there until the tide comes back in and is high enough for the boat to float and get off the grid.
Chris woke up early Wednesday morning (around 5:30 AM) to go put the boat on the grid. He stayed with the boat while the tide went out and did the boat work, then he came back to work for a bit around noon. The kids and I went swimming in the afternoon on Wednesday. Chris picked us up from the pool and we all went to look at the boat on the grid around 3:00PM. The tide was still going to be a while before it was high enough for the boat to be able to get off the grid. Chris took his work stuff and worked from the boat and the kids and I went back to the house to wait for him. Around 6:00 PM Chris told me that he made a small rookie mistake when he was putting the lower unit back together and the boat wasn’t working. He wouldn’t be able to take the boat off the grid when the water came in, but he’d have to stay with the boat while the water went back out and at low tide he could fix the boat. The kids and I brought him dinner, and he drove us back to the house and he went back to the boat. He was finally able to quickly fix the boat. There wouldn’t be enough water to drive off the boat until around 6:00 AM Thursday morning, so around midnight he came home to sleep for a few hours and then he’d go back to the boat in the morning.
Chris got up early on Thursday and went back to the boat. Since the grids don’t rise and fall with the tide, if high tide comes in and the boat is tied off at low tide, the boat could potentially sink, and we really didn’t want that. Chris was early for the tide, but he was able to sit with the boat and make sure it was OK. The tide came in, the boat worked, Chris docked it and came home for work.
All in all it was an easyish job to do, with a a minor mistake that wasn’t hard to fix, but due to the tides it took forever and ended up being a huge hassle. But the maintenance is done and Chris can say he used the grid!
Thursday the kids and I finally played the game we got from the library, Lotus. It was a lot of fun and Lillian won! We went to the pool, and during Ellen’s Nap I left the kids with Chris and I took the rental car back to the airport.
Friday, and we still don’t know what we are doing this weekend. I’m sure whatever we do we will have a good time. Thursday the weather turned somewhat rainy and cooler, and Friday was even more rainy and cold. The girls and I went on a walk in the neighborhood for a bit. Ellen loved it, but she came home with soaking wet feet.
Friday night we all went to the pool. The kids really wanted to swim with Chris. Ellen and I came home earlier than everyone else. I got her in bed and then I made dinner. When everyone was home we ate together and then tried to play Lotus. I think after swimming everyone was tired and grouchy and it just wasn’t working out.
Ryan’s Thoughts: We went swimming and we went to the library.
Lillian’s Thoughts: This week we went to the pool a lot with Ellen. We went to the library and got Lotus and “Maya and the Rising Dark”. And we finally watched the trailer for Zombies 3, epic! 3 more days until it comes out! Then Dad took us to the pool!
