Saturday was a rainy day, so we just motored our way to Chester River, where we joined up with Gunter and his friends. Chester River is beautiful! Gunter came out in a small speedboat to meet us, and Susie Willock was waiting at the dock. The Willocks have a beautiful property by the river, and we stayed at their doc next to Gunters boat. Gunters son and his friend came to say hello, and after “happy hour”, Gunter and Andreas went to pick up pizza for dinner.

Later on Susan and Todd Vigland joined us, and we had a great evening. Susie and Susan are teachers at the same school, and they offered to take Andreas to school to play the next day, and he was thrilled about the idea.  

We stayed in Chester River for five days. Gunter took us sightseeing in town easter Sunday, while Andreas was out playing with the girls, and on the way back to the boat we stopped by at Donna and Tonys Gibbons-Neff´s house. Susie, Susan and Andreas also came by, and by the time we left we had a dinner invitation to Susan and Todd together with Gunter, and Andreas and Susan would eat at Donna and Tonys together with their daughter and Donnas sister with their families. We had a wonderful time!

Susie had offered Andreas to come to school on Monday, and he sat two alarm clocks for 06.30 to make sure he would be by the car in time! He joined Susie for one class, he was in 6^th grade telling about our trip for one full hour, and he had gymnastics with many of Susans classes. He had a wonderful time!

Arnie and I enjoyed the day walking on the beautiful property.

Donna and Tony had invited us out for dinner in the evening, and stopped by to see the boat and pick us up. Gunter, Susie, Susan and Todd was also there, and the whole party drove to Rock Hall and had dinner at a great little restaurant.    Tony invited Andreas to join him the next day, and he could hardly wait!

Andreas loved being with Tony!, and from then on he only came home to sleep!

Judy and John Willock had been on vacation and came back Tuesday afternoon, and Susie and Gunter had made chili for dinner. We had a great evening at Judy and Johns house, and were so glad we got to meet them before leaving Chester River the next day.

Tony had told Andreas that he could stay behind, and when Judy said the same thing, when she stopped by for a cup of coffee the next morning, and offered to take him to the boat five days later, there was no way that we could stop him. He was “flying”, and was packed and out of the boat in no time. He took his bike and ran off to find Tony, and came back on the four-wheeler to give us the last hug!

Andreas had some wonderful days with Tony at the farm, and in Annapolis with Donna and Tonys daughter Amy, her husband David and their two year old son Davis. He definitely had the time of his life, and cannot wait to go back to visit again. He had been driving the four-wheeler and the truck, he had raced with one of Tony’s remote controlled sailing-boats, he had learned so much about farming, and he had been with some wonderful people.

On Wednesday morning they all came by to say goodbye, and we had coffee with Tony´s dad, lunch with Gunter and a last beer with Greg and Charlie, who came out with the spare generator. The weather was beautiful, and we did not leave the dock until 3 o’clock in the afternoon. We had had some wonderful days with some wonderful people, and hope (and expect) to see them again some day!

Arnie and I sailed the boat to Cape May while Andreas was at the farm, and after five days we took the ferry across Delaware Bay to meet Susie, Judy and Andreas at the terminal. Susie and Judy brought us a beautiful picture book; “Four seasons of the Chesapeake Bay” as a present from them and from Donna and Tony. We thanked them the best we could for everything they had done for us and for Andreas.

Ester and George by the lighthouse in Cape May

As we came to Cape May we went ashore to call Ester and George Schwarts. Esters mom was Norwegian, and Arnies parents had met them at an earlier occasion. We were on our way to the phone-booth when a women came out and asked where we came from. Ann had seen the Norwegian flag on the boat, and since her husband, Eirik Kirkeberg, is Norwegian we were invited in for coffee.

Ester and George came by Saturday morning, and we had a wonderful day together. We started out with coffee and cake at the boat, then it was sightseeing around Cape May, great lunch at the Lobster House, and delicious dinner at their house in the evening. On Sunday they came for coffee and cake and to take us to the ferry. Ester and George are wonderful people, and made our stay in Cape May very special.

Ann and Eirik

As we came back with Andreas on the ferry, Ann and Eirik came to pick us up. We invited them onboard the boat, but Eirik insisted on taking us out to dinner instead. Eirik is 91 years “young” and fit as a fiddle. He had so much to tell from a long life, and we loved their company. They visit Norway every summer, and last year they drove all the way up to Norkapp and the Russian border. This year they will travel north again, but on train, boat and bus this time. You definitely do not find many 91 year olds that could keep up with that guy!

Ann and Eirik came onboard for coffee on Monday morning before we left. They came down and had breakfast with us at 07.00, and since the weather forecast for the day was just perfect Ann could not wait to see us out the bay. Cape May is known to be the windiest place in the whole US, so go when the weather is good! We filled diesel and they filmed us as we were leaving.

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