1. Washington, D.C. 
Washington D.C. is special to me because I met some amazing friends there.  I met Sarah (Take Two), Jeanette (Dream Catcher) and Lucia (Flipper).  D.C. also has some amazing places to go!!

2. Fort Pierce, FL
In Fort Pierce, we met back up with Sarah and the rest of Take Two.  We were right behind them on the dock for almost three weeks--including Christmas!

3. George Town, Exuma, Bahamas
George Town is special to me because I met and met up with some amazing friends.  I met up with Jeanette (Dream Catcher) and Coleen (Glass Slipper), whom I had met one night for about an hour in D.C.  I also met Lily (Water Lily)

4.Great Sand Cay, Turks & Caicos

Great Sand Cay is so beautiful!!   There is nobody living on the island and it is naturally beautiful.

5. St. John, USVI
St. John is special to me because it is so beautiful and we got to explore its beauty with some friends.  We were with Mark and Kathy (Nancy Lu), Glass Slipper and the Unos.

6. The Baths, BVI
The Baths are special because that was where I spent my birthday!  The Baths are a rock formation that looks like, you guessed it, baths!  It was an awesome place to spend my birthday!

7. Dominica. 
Dominica is so beautiful!! We took some amazing tours, where we learned about many of the things that grew there,  and went on an amazingly long (8 miles each way!) and beautiful hike!  The hike was so beautiful, though by the end you hardly noticed it because you were so tired!

8. Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Bequia is very special to me.  It is very special because we met some very amazing friends there.  On a total of four boats, there are 8 other kids!  They are: Emma, 16, Anna, 14, Sara, 12 (Day Dreamer); Cash, 15, and Nicole, 13 (Day Star); Cora, 12 (Proud Mary); and Kaci, 10, and Hayden, 8 (Traveller).  So 7 other girls (and Cash)!!

9. Mayreau, St. Vincent & the Grenadines 
While in Mayreau, we were with Day Dreamer, Day Star, Proud Mary and Traveller and I have some amazing memories hanging out with this group and filming our movie The Thief.

10 Grenada

Grenada is special because of all of the kids.  We are all in the same place now. In addition to some new kids, we have also been with Day Dreamer, Day Star, Proud Mary, Traveller and Glass Slipper.

When we packed up and left Ally Cat for 3 weeks to visit people on the home and Colorado front, it felt very strange.  To be sleeping on something that wasn’t moving.  To be living out of a duffle bag.  But the strangest thing of all was leaving all of my friends in Grenada for 3 weeks.  When you are on a boat you make friends really fast, and I’ve made some amazing ones!  It was strange leaving them because we would see each other every day, and then didn’t see each other for 3 weeks!  It wa0s hard leaving them, but it was also hard leaving family and friends at home and in Colorado. 

In Massachusetts, we were so busy:  Water Wizz, sleepovers, eating out with so many different people!  And that’s just to start the list!  It was very weird to be in our home town but not in our house!   My dad even got invited to dinner in our house!  After spending 2 weeks in Massachusetts, my mom and I flew out to Colorado and my dad joined us a few days later.

My uncle had a family reunion so that everyone could see us before we went out on Ally Cat for another year!  He got all of my cousins together, plus almost all of my second cousins, and that is not very easy to get everyone together!!

After spending 2 weeks doing stuff and visiting with people 24/7, it was nice to finally get a rest!  But we did our fair share of things in Colorado, too!   The day after we got in, my mom, my grandma, my aunt and one of my aunt’s friends and I went to church.  After church, my aunt took her friend, her friend’s cousin and me hiking in the Garden of the Gods, a red rock park right near her house.  After hiking, she had a barbecue with her friend, her friend’s cousin and my mom and grandma.  That was all in one day!  Then we relaxed for a few days.  Once we caught up on some sleep, we were finally ready to do some things and see people again!

We went horse-back riding in the Garden of the Gods with my aunt, which was a lot of fun!!  Then after that we went to my aunt’s house and had lunch and went back to my grandma’s house.  After resting for a few hours, and cleaning up, my mom and I went to my aunt’s house to help her prepare for a big cookout that she was having with a bunch of her friends.   It was kind of funny, everyone brought something to eat, but our contribution was chopping! 
All in all, it was awesome to see people in Massachusetts and Colorado, but it is awesome to be back in Grenada!

Grenada, an independent country including itself and six smaller islands at the southern end of St. Vincent and the Grenadines first named Concepcion by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage to the new world in 1498, is located in the southeastern Caribbean Sea.  Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.  The British tried to make settlement, but in the end it was the French that took over after fighting the Carib Indians off the island in 1651.  For many decades Grenada was a French colony, although after the Seven Years War the British took over from the French in 1763.  Military and political struggles continued for centuries, with Grenada finally becoming an independent country in 1794.  Then, in 1983, Grenada was seized by a military group, which caused an invasion by the United States military, rescuing Grenada from Cuban communism.

Official Language- English
Official Currency- - East Caribbean Dollar (EC$)
Capital- St. George’s
Population of Capital- 4,500
Population- 109,590

The flag of Grenada was officially adopted on February 7, 1974.  The red border is symbolic of courage, the yellow triangles of wisdom and warmth, and green of vegetation. The left green triangle features a small nutmeg, the most famous product of the island. The gold outer stars represent the six islands, and the centered star represents the capital city of St. George's.

On September 7, 2004, after being hurricane-free for forty-nine years, the island received a direct hit from Hurricane Ivan; the damage was catastrophic, with over 90 percent of Grenada's homes either damaged or destroyed.   The country's determined citizens, government actions and international financing brought the island back to life, and by the end of 2005, Grenada was back in business, including tourism facilities.   The modern country of Grenada includes the large island of Grenada, and a few smaller islands on the southern edge of the Grenadines, with Carriacou and Petit Martinique the most significant.   Volcanic in origin, Grenada is dominated by a central ridge of mountains, all covered with lush rainforests. The island is blessed with numerous bays and harbors, and some of the best beaches in the Caribbean.   Once famed only for its indigenous spices (namely mace and nutmeg), Grenada's modern focus is tourism, and the islands are deservedly garnering the attention of the travel industry once again.

Unlike a lot of the other Caribbean islands, St. Lucia is an independent country.  One of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, St. Lucia is located midway down the Eastern Caribbean chain, between Martinique and St. Vincent, and north of Barbados.  St. Lucia is only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide.  It became an independent country after changing hands from the British to the French 14 times!  The French originally landed in St. Lucia, but then the British came and took over, and eventually, St. Lucia became its own country.

Official Language- English  

Official Currency- East Caribbean Dollar (EC$)  

Capital- Castries  

Population of Capital- 61,341 people  

Population- 162,781

Unlike a lot of the other Caribbean islands, Dominica is an independent country.  It is located a few miles south of Guadeloupe and a few miles north of Martinique.  On November 3, 1493, Christopher Columbus spotted Dominica, a big black lump on the horizon.  He named it Dominica because he spotted it on a Sunday and the Spanish word for Sunday is Domingo, (that is the same reason the Dominican Republic is named Dominican Republic!).

Official Language- English

Official Currency- East Caribbean Dollar, (EC$)

Capital- Roseau

Population of Capital- 14,847 people (of 2013)

Population- 73,286 people (of 2013)

Flag- The flag of Dominica was officially adopted on November 3, 1978.  The yellow represents the original inhabitants, black the fertile soil, and white indicates the pure water. The centered stars symbolize the ten island parishes. The Sisserou Parrot is indigenous to the island, and is their national bird.

Coat of Arms- The Dominica Coat of Arms consists of a shield, with two Sisserou Parrots bracing the shield on top of which is a lion.  The quadrants of the shield show a canoe, a banana tree, a palm tree and a frog. Below the shield is the national motto "Après Bondie C'est La Ter" meaning "After God the Earth".

St. Martin was awesome!!!  We were there for 2 weeks!  Other than Washington D.C. and Hampton, that’s the longest that we’ve stayed in one place!  In the middle of those two weeks, we had our first guest in the Caribbean, Auntie Kim, come and stay with us for 5 nights!

For 3 of those nights, we were in Marigot Bay, and the other 2 nights we were at Grand Case.

For the week that Auntie Kim wasn’t here, we did a bunch of provisioning that included getting a new auto pilot, groceries, marine supplies and toiletries!  That’s a lot of stuff to fit in the time to get, what with all of the things that we did with our buddy boats, s/v UNO, s/v Glass Slipper, s/v SiBella, s/v Lequesteau, s/v Jump, s/v Mythago and s/v Bueller!  We had a lot of fun though, with and without buddy boats.  On the Wednesday that Auntie Kim was here, we went to the huge outdoor market! 

A couple of times, both with and without buddy boats we went over to the Dutch side of the island, Sint Maarten.  The town over there, Philipsburg was a really cool town!  It was nice, with a bit of the local stuff, and a little of what you might find in the United States.  One of the restaurants right on the waterfront of Philipsburg was a popular hangout for cruisers, with internet and inexpensive drinks that were downright cheap at happy hour, 5-7, had a music night and Steve, off of s/v UNO, Rod off of s/v SiBella and Travis off of s/v Bueller did a few numbers!  After Steve had taken the kids back to the boats, Coleen, off of s/v Glass Slipper came over and we had dinner and watched a movie.  It was nice to have it be just girls for once, since on s/v UNO there are 2 boys! 

St. Martin was awesome!!!