Friends

[Soñadora]

I need to out someone here who has gone above and beyond in my book when it comes to being generous.

We just returned from one of the most awesome road trips I've ever taken. Ok, it was not one of...it was THE road trip of road trips. We saw a lot and did a lot. But the icing on it all was the opportunity Rob McAlpine gave us to stay in one of his Pueblos in Taos, NM.

Thanks to that respite, we were refreshed enough to press on all the way home nonstop.

So, here's a huge thanks to Rob. I feel very blessed to have met you. You are a good ambassador for the rest of this lot. I look forward to crossing paths with as many as I can in the future.

Here's to Rob...here's to ya'll!

[cap10ed]

Here here for Rob .

[Lin]

Rick, it sounds like you and your family enjoyed a fantastic trip out west.
I am glad that you shared this post with us. I think we have a great group of diverse individuals, here in Scantlings.

Nobody will ever have to convince me about what a wonderful human being, Rob is. Generous, kind, sincere, wickedly funny and incredibly brilliant. I am sure he gets tired of me going on (& on) about how lucky I was to have met him and to have sailed with him to Bermuda and back, on his lovely boat. He invited me, sight unseen, to sail offshore with him and his long time friend, and his family coming back. A leap of faith, and incredible kindness from a total stranger. Not only that, he welcomed me to stay at the home of his mother (who is a gem of a woman).

He certainly restores one's faith in the inherent goodness of some people.

The only thing I can do is to try and pay it forward whenever possible. No, I don't have a boat that I can invite others to sail on, but little efforts and thoughtful gestures go a long way when someone least expects it.

Rick, thanks for sharing your story here. Now others will know that I am not alone in going on endlessly and blathering how special Rob and his family are. Now someone else can vouch for his incredible kindness, generosity & goodness!

Rob .... you rock, my friend.

Lin

[Orestes Munn]

I've got his sat phone.

[Rob McAlpine]

Rick,

You have it all backwards - the pleasure was mine. I played hooky from work Friday, drove to Taos and had pizza, red wine, talk and lots of laughs with Rick and his beautiful family. Rick's wife and daughters are simply luminous people, and it was my joy and privilege to meet and share a meal with them. FUN!!!!!!!!

Yesterday (Sunday) was the last day Taos was open and we finished it with a powder day - 5" Saturday and another 8" for Sunday, the gang was me and 7 ski instructors, they worked me like a Mexican donkey on hikes and tree skiing, but I survived and did final mountain sweep with the patrol - doing a frozen Al's Run top to bottom, a real sufferfest to finish the day.

I've been very fortunate to be able to sail with or meet a bunch of the folks from here - Tim O'C, Lin (pretty much part of the family now), Orestes, KDH, Tim Ford, and now Sonadora. Every single person has been a great joy, this is a pretty amazing, self-selecting gang. All are welcome back aboard my boat or into my home.

This web-o-nette is a funny place. While we may not have met in person, personalities certainly come out, and it really isn't possible to bullshit a crowd like this. I live 2000 miles from my boat, and while I'm a member of a Yacht Club, I'm more comfortable raising crew here, from people I may not have met, but feel I know better. Is that weird?

I mean really, who here wouldn't feel comfortable inviting Lin, Tim O'C, Beau V, Kim or Derek B, or Joli (not in any particular order, and not intentionally excluding any of the many other excellent sailors here) aboard for an offshore passage, sight unseen? Who wouldn't want to have a drink with anyone here?

Maybe it's the isolation of living in west Texas, 500 miles from real water, but I really value this place, and the friends I've never met who are inhabitants.

[Joli]

Never met you Rob but it comes through loud and clear you are a good and generous man with a heart of gold. And I feel comfortable saying that about everyone else here. Rick, you done good, you made a nice place for decent people to talk botes on the ole interweb. Thank you!