Lighting of the Fleet

Maybe our last year for the snowman -

We have listed Eagle's Wings - see  http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2003/Catalina-350-2916223/Punta-Gorda/FL/United-States#.Vm2Bn-TSmUk

Celebrating Thanksgiving & Mom's 95th Birthday!

The birthday girl - 95 is the new 75!

This year we had quite a Thanksgiving week of celebrating with our family culminating with Mom's 95th Birthday Party at South Port Square!

We welcomed family members from all over the US:

The whole family surrounds Mom with LOVE

  - My sister, Mary and brother-in-law, Alan from Indiana
  - Their daughter, Holly, and her husband, Andrew  with the star of the show, little Francesca (Frankie), from NJ
  - My sister, 
    Claire, from California
  - Claire's son, Ben and wife, Addie, from California
  - My brother, Paul and sister-in-law, Diane, from SC
  - Their daughter, Laura, from Detroit
  - My brother, Kevin, from Los Angeles, California
  - Our daughter, Michele, flew the furthest from Kona, HI
  - Family friend, Bill, from New Mexico
  - Cousin Bill and wife, Carol, from Naples, Florida
  - Cousin Jake from Tampa, Florida

Verceil of Platter's fame sings for Mom and the crowd

What a gift of having them all to celebrate Mom's landmark birthday - not to mention all of Mom's friends from South Port, who joined us.  Mom moved there when she was just 90 years old.  In five years, she's made a whole new set of dear friends and is having a great time!

Francesca gives Mom a rose!  What a cutie!

After the intros were made, my sister, Mary, briefed us on the highlights of 1920, the year Mom was born.  Then, Al's unique picture show of events in Mom's life was shown.  We had lots of grins looking at some of those old pictures, clothing styles and hairdos!  

Francesca had time to meet Santa

After a yummy dinner of prime rib with all the trimmings and birthday cake, Verceil of Platter's fame, entertained us with wonderful songs.   This will be a party and week of fun that will be remembered for a long time.

Check out the picture show below!

Labor Day -Caspersen Beach

At Caspersen Beach

Joanne suggested that she get up early and get going to Caspersen Beach in Venice this labor day.



Joanne enjoying the water

Out of bed she came to find some serious rain moving in from the Gulf. So we delayed our departure for a few hours as we watched the storms move through on the radar.  We found the beach quite comfortable under partly cloudy sky overhead of us.  More people had the same idea than I expected but the beach still was not crowded. 

After some enjoyable time in the water and on the beach chairs, we decamped to split a grouper burger now $21 at Sharkey's.  

Building a Oyster Reef in the Peace River
 

Just a note - Richard has been maintaining Punta Gorda's loaner bikes and helping with the Oyster Reef project.

Building a Oyster Reef in the Peace River

Visiting Colorado Springs

Joanne booked us into the quaint Old Town Guest House B&B for four

Our B&B

nights in Colorado Springs.  At breakfast, the first morning, we met a couple who live in New York City. What a coincidence - Holly's hometown is Bergenfield, NJ just the same as Joanne. The next morning we met a couple from Austin. The coincidences continued because she is a chemical engineer whose UT adviser was Hugh Steinfink. Believe it or not, I took a course from him probably twenty years before her!  We really enjoyed talking to both couples.  We also give high marks to to Kim and Dave who run the B&B.

Siamese Twins

After a short rest at the B&B, we headed out to the Garden of the Gods only a few miles away.  After viewing a film about the geological formation of the gardens at the visitor center, we did a little walking around.  A short hike took us to the Siamese Twins for a framed view of Pikes Peak.


Pikes Peak in Distance

The next day, we continued checking out the Garden of the Gods before visiting the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel, one of the most visited sites in Colorado.  The modern architecture of the chapel was beautiful.

Seventh Bridge

In the afternoon, we hiked the trails in Colorado Springs' Red Rock Canyon Open Space.  We hiked Mesa trail with views of the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, the Quarry Pass trail and then followed the Canyon trail back to the parking lot. See interactive Trail Map.

The beautiful Air Force Chapel

Strawberry dessert at the Broadmoor
 

Colorado Springs turned a record cold Wednesday morning. Nevertheless, we donned our jackets for an enjoyable hike up the the Seven Bridges trail in Cheyenne Cannon.  Curiously, about 75% of the hikers were young women.  One young lady arrived at the seventh bridge with a two year old on her back and a six month old strapped to her chest.  All were smiling!  The Colorado people that we met are hardy and "in shape."

Tree Hugger, Joanne



Richard at the 4th Bridge out of 7, a 5 mile hike

We got back just in time for a BBQ lunch before riding the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. On our last day, we walked about the old town of Colorado Springs touring art galleries before a delicious lunch the Broadmoor.  We finished up our touring at the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.   We had a great visit and highly recommend Colorado Springs!

Photos 

Gideon's First Birthday

Gideon looking out; Dackel looking in.

Following his retirement, my brother, Bart, and his wife, Nita, recently built a new home in Yukon, Oklahoma, a rural area that is quickly becoming a suburb of Oklahoma City. So off we went for a visit that included their grandson's first birthday party. Gideon is Bart and Nita's daughter's son. Daughter, Ashley, and her husband, Matt along with little Gideon live nearby. Matt's parents drove up from San Antonio and niece Jessica, daughter number two, flew in from Houston.

The little one-year old birthday boy, Gideon

Bart picked us up at the airport. First stop - lunch at Tucker's for their famous Onion Burgers.  Yum!

In a way, out in Yukon, it was a step back in time for me.  The wind blows over rolling prairie spread out under a deep blue sky just like my home town, Abilene where my Mom raised dachshunds of which the longhairs were the best of the bunch. Bart has Dackel and Ashley has Min, both sweet black and tan dachshunds.  Having the dogs is such a nice tribute to Mom/Grandma Jo.

Industrial sized smoker Z6

Bart smoked brisket and sausage on his industrial strength Z6 smoker for the Friday evening welcoming dinner and grilled burgers and hot dogs for the Saturday afternoon birthday party. About fifty people, many of them with babies, showed up for the party. Although we had plenty to eat, we all went out for pizza in the evening.  Sunday evening we all enjoyed good Mexican food. We sure had plenty to eat!

Early Monday morning Bart & Nita drove us to the airport for our flight to Colorado. Bart, Nita and everyone else couldn't have been nicer.  It was a great family time!

Photos

Aboard National Geographic Islander - Galapagos, June 2015

Hi Folks in Internet Land and Water,

Joanne & Richard explore Galapagos

Perhaps you have googled your way here in hopes of locating useful information about  the NationalGeographic Islander expeditions in the Galapagos.  My wife Joanne and I booked a ten-day trip on the Islander in June 2015.  A free airfare from Miami to the Galapagos for the June 21st expedition enticed us to sign-up for this time slot.   Almost everything was included in expedition price:

1. Free airfare on American Airlines from Miami to Guayaquil, Ecuador and back
2. Overnight accommodation at the Hotel Hilton Colon in Guayaquil coming and going
3. free airfare on Avianca Airlines  from Guayaquil to the Galapagos 
4. $200 gift certificate to B&H photography store,  
5. All transfers between airport, hotel and ship
6. "Escort service" starting in Miami to make sure you don't get lost
7. All meals, soft drinks, snacks on board including breakfasts at the hotel and
8. Tour of the Charles Darwin Research Center and a highlands tour of Santa Cruz  including  wild tortoises, a coffee and sugarcane farm with still and an excellent lunch at a rain forest restaurant.

The Hotel Hilton Colon is nothing but first class. The Avianca plane looked to be brand new with lots of leg room in economy.

Extras are:

1. A DVD documenting the expedition plus a behind the scenes tour.  $50
2. Alcoholic beverages - only $4 for a bottle of beer
3. Tee shirts or other souvenirs -about $24/tee in Santa Cruz,
4. Suggested tip of $180 pp for 30 crew members and
5. Wireless Internet connection - slow and expensive

We purchased the DVD. The video is astonishingly well done.  The trip price is fair considering the number of crew and the quality of service.





National Geographic Islander

You may have noticed that I refer to our trip as an expedition, not a cruise.  Well, the expedition part is all taken care of by the folks at Lindblad and the Islander crew.  You will just be a tourist. That's all you can be unless you find some kind of volunteer position as all trips into the park area which covers most of the land and sea in the Galapagos require permits and a licensed naturalist.   The Islander is not a cruise ship. You will not find a casino, swimming pool or 24 hour buffet. What you do find is amazing wildlife, up close snorkeling and kayaking along shorelines and hiking island trails.

The National Geographic Islander is registered as an expedition ship.  To me it is a luxurious ship. The least expensive cabin on the boat, the one we booked, featured a bed wide enough for four, a small desk that served for our notebook computer, ample storage space, head, shower and sink.  The lounge, dinning room and upper decks are beautifully appointed.

The Islander is a catamaran which means that it has two hulls making it more stable than a monohull, but not as stable as a big cruise ship with stabilizers.  The boat moves around a little in a seaway but not much. Mostly, the ship motors from anchorage to anchorage in the early morning hours when folks are asleep. I was surprised when one morning our expedition leader complained and apologized for the ship's motion during the night as I had found the muted motion to be comforting.  I didn't hear anyone else complaining about the ship's motion but the staff offers free sea sickness medication for landlubbers just in case.

Each hull holds a big Detroit diesel to propel the ship.  Also, a big Detroit generator provides all the electricity that the guests and crew can possibly use including A/C. The ship was way too cold for me but probably just right for others.  A water maker makes more water by reverse osmosis that anyone could want. The water is purer than your water at home. A big water heater makes hot water for showers. As my old boss was fond of saying, "Just like downtown!"

How's the food?  We found the breakfasts and lunches to be very tasty, the dinners less so although some people raved about all the meals.

What's best about the National Geographic Islander besides its location in the Galapagos and its luxurious accommodations?   The crew, of course.  Lynn Fowler, the expedition leader, has many years experience including six months of camping alone with tortoises in one of the island's calderas for her Ph.D. research.  Park rules require that a certified naturalist accompany us tourists on every hike, kayak paddle and snorkel.  Our naturalists were exceptional.  I have the impression that Ben could talk about the different birds we spotted for months on end if given the chance; his knowledge of the Galapagos is`extensive.  Juan Carlos also served as photo instructor; he received training from National Geographic. Enrique, only 25 years old, was also pressed into service as the ship's sea lion pup by the many kids on board.  He held up well.  

We were among the oldest of the tourists who ranged from five to eighty-two. All of us were able to hike across rough terrain and snorkel.  I brought my hiking stick but it went unused as hiking sticks are available on board but only a few of us needed them.

What to bring?  After you sign-up , Lindblad will send you travel information including a list of stuff to bring with you.  Although all snorkeling equipment is available on the ship, we brought our own masks, snorkels and wet suits. It's up to you, but if you bring your own mask that you know for sure it fits; that is one less worry. And you know your own wet suit will keep you reasonably warm. 

There were lots of high quality cameras in use on our trip.  Before the trip, I received a link to a web seminar presented by a National Geographic photographer. He provided tips and reviewed some of the cameras then available. One tip that I did not follow was to store the camera outside the state room; I didn't see anywhere to store the camera and didn't bother to ask.  Every day, the  maid turned the A/C down to absolutely freezing and then we turned the A/C off. When the freezing cold camera hit the outside air, condensation formed on the lens until the camera warmed up which took awhile.   

Our posts below chronicle our trip. You can also see some of my better photographs.  Some of the other tourists got much better ones and David, the video chronicler, just amazing. 

I wish I could do it all over again.   My advice - go while you can.

Galapagos Islands  Marine Reserve

In Darwin's Footsteps

Books I read before the trip:

The Galapagos: A Natural History by Henry Nicholis

Galapagos: In Darwin's Footsteps by Mark Newman

Our Last Full Day on Board - Genovesa Island

Our last full day was pent on the spectacular northern island of Genovesa and it is one of the most pristine islands in the archipelago.  We began with an early morning kayak along the shore where we spotted Nazca and red-footed boobies and tropicbirds along with some small fur sea lions (a different species than what we've seen previously).  Later we went on a naturalist led walk.  It is amazing that the birds just sit there in their nests or in the mangroves and are not at all afraid of people.  Richard and the rest of the photographers were ecstatic because its easy to get some great shots.

Photos - On Darwin Beach

Later we went on our last GREAT snorkel - and we loved swimming along the sides of a caldera.  The rocks drop off and you can see lovely large fish and we even had a furry sea lion in water near us.  This spot is called Darwin Bay and there are some crude steps called Prince Phillip's Steps that Richard went up with some of the others in the late afternoon.  (I was too pooped after kayaking, snorkeling and beach walking!)

Photos - Up Prince Phillip's Steps for nice walk for photos of Red Footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies, Frigate Birds and more.





The last night was memorable - we had a Champagne Toast and a wonderful meal culminating in flaming Baked Alaska.  We also shared our photos and had a great slide show with the other passengers.

We'd highly recommend going on a National Geographic Excursion!

Expedition Report

We have now flown back to Guayaquil and are staying in the Hilton.  We are taking a short tour of the town and tomorrow, we have a 3 a.m. wake up call for our flight  back to Miami.  

Here is what the guides told us:

If you are ever frustrated or hurried
or things are not going your way,
please close your eyes for a moment and remember;
the swirling sea lions, and the soaring birds,
and perhaps life will feel a little kinder and more light-hearted.
You may be leaving Galapagos,
but the Galapagos will never leave you!