Cruise Update

We had a very nice day in Grand Cayman yesterday. Mary and I took an
excursion to a turtle farm and got to hold small (8 month old) and
larger (18 month old) turtles. Those little guys were strong! If
they got some leverage on your hand with their flipper, you really had
to hold on tights. One started squawking and the guide showed me how
to rub it's neck just like you would a kitten to calm it down. Very
neat.
We shopped in town afterwards, then caught a tender back to the ship.
For all the cruise ships that visit, they have no docks so all ships
have to tender their passengers to shore and back. There were 4 ships
when we were there and our guide said he's seen as many as 16 ship
there on a single day. The town was crowded enough with just our
ships so I cannot imagine how it would be with 10 or more!
We arrived at Cozumel this morning. We are at a new dock since the
hurricane destroyed all they docks in 2004 (8 months before our April
2005 cruise). The port facilities were nice as well. Mary, Katie, Andy
and I went ashore this morning for a shopping excursion. Bill and I
are doing an ATV adventure in an hour or so.
So that's the latest update. Tomorrow is another day at sea. The big
highlight will be seeing the Mamma Mia! movie on the big Movies Under
the Stars screen at 7:30 p.m. - and quite likely again at 10:30.

Fun in Jamaica

Today we visited Ocho Rios in Jamaica. For shore excursions, Mary, Andy and Melissa went to Dunn's Falls while Katie and I did the Chukka
Zip Line. Wow! Was it fun! I could not resist uploading this picture.
We did a total of 9 lines, with two surprises. The first surprise was a line that went down at a 60 degree angle. That was pretty cool, but the second surprise was a 90 degree angle - a straight drop of about 30 feet. The grand finale was a 1000' line and that was very cool.  Both Katie and I were all set to go again.
After we got back we had lunch and Mary and I headed into town where I bought her a little Valentine's Day present, even tho it is a bit
late. It was a 10-15 minutes walk into town (and back) in the heat and
humidity so we cooled off with some ice cream and ice water, then hit
the pool.
We're meeting for dinner at 5:30. The Dark Knight is playing on
Movies Under the Stars at 7:00 so that might be nice to watch.
The on to Grand Caymen tomorrow!

Peaceful Day At Sea

Today we are spending a quiet day at sea, getting use to the rhythm of
the ship. When we got up this morning Mary spotted some land off the
starboard (right) side of the ship that our balcony faces. It turn
out we are skirting the northern edge of Cuba! Right now we are just
off Cape Lucrecia and are approaching the city of Moa. Amazing.
Everyone seems to be having a good time. We took a walk around the
deck this morning and I played a travel trivia game while Mary and
Katie went to the shopping talk. After lunch, Katie is doing some
studying this afternoon, Mary is reading in the sun, and I went to
Cards and Games with Andy and Melissa. We tried to play Clue, but
some of the cards were missing so we then played Trivial Pursuit along
with another couple.
Tonight is a formal night so we are dressing up fancy for dinner and
eating in the main dining room. Mary and I are planning to go to one
of the big production shows in the Princess Theater at 8:30 after
dinner.
As with other cruises, I put down a future cruise deposit today so we
can reserve and hold a future cruise for this very small deposit.
That's what's happening today. Ocho Rios, Jamaica, is tomorrow - our
first port of call when Katie and I have signed up for a zip line
excursion! Should be fun!

Day One on the Ruby Princess

Our cruise is off to a great start. We got to the ship just before
they were starting boarding so we got on very early and did our usual
tour of the ship before heading to the buffet for lunch with Andy and
Melissa. Shortly after we finished, Katie and Bill arrived - starved
- so I showed them the way to the buffet and we had a nice visit as
they got some food after their long trip.

After that we relaxed until the emergency drill, then watch the ship
pull out of Port Everglades together before having supper. This
evening Mary and I went to the opening night show which was very good.

So tomorrow is a day at sea with a number of presentations about the
upcoming ports and another relaxing day as we head to Ocho Rios
(Jamaca). More to come!

Gotta Warm up!

This c-c-c-c-c-old is getting bad.  This looks to be the coldest January in the last 30 years and it's back into single digits for this week once again.   BRRRRRRRR!!

But in just 17 days, we'll be warming up in southern Florida, getting ready to depart on a 7 day cruise on the Ruby Princess!  What will be especially nice about this cruise is that we're taking our kids and their spouses along!  This will be a different experience for Mary and I as we have only cruised alone to date.

I may not be posting many pictures while on the cruise due to fairly high internet costs, but I plan to make a few post as we visit Jamaica, Grand Caymen, and Cozumel, before heading back to the Bahamas and  Florida. 

So stay tuned, this blog will be getting active again after a 4 month pause.  

And we are talking about several options for this coming summer.  Haven't decided on which but there are quire a few travel deals out there now.  Stay tuned!

Maroon Bells Pictures

When we first went to the Maroon Bells on Friday they looked like this - grey sky and with a snowstorm across the mountains.  It was pleasant out and we took a walk to the far side of the lake, but definitely not very pretty.

Every now and then the snowstorm would clear and we could see the entire mountain.  But much of the time they were covered by a snowstorm.

When we went back on Sunday, we had a clear, blue sky and the mountains were much, much prettier!  Much nicer, altho it was also quite a bit colder.

Here's a closeup of the mountain.  You can clearly see the distinctive diagonal lines.  There was a sign stating how dangerous it was to climb these mountains.  It mentioned how the rock was "rotten"!  I never heard of rotten rock, but apparently it is quite unstable.  The sign went on to state that several experienced climbers had died on the Maroon Bells.  

Sure is pretty!  Enjoy!

Heading Home from Aspen

Yes I missed a day, but not much internet time yesterday...

SAturday was two John Denver events - the Cookhouse at lunchtime and a second Wheeler concert in the evening.

The Cookhouse event was at a ranch and featured the Friends With You band, the same group we heard Thursday night. Judy Therion saved us two seats at a close table which was a good thing since the hall was rather long and the speakers were not carrying well to the back. We had a rather international table. Next to me was a lady from Germany and next to her, one from Japan! After the very enjoyable concert we had a nice buffet lunch, then they introduced a new John Denver DVD. The guy who own this ranch was a producer for ABC Sports in the 70's and 80's and since John was featured at the 1984 Sarievo winter olympics, he had all the footage (on 3/4" tape!) of John doing human interest stories about the people. Some of this had been aired and some not. He showed a few scenes from the DVD.

That evening was the second Wheeler concert. It was mostly a repeat of the Friday event. I enjoyed the music, but the jokes by the comic were not nearly as funny when you already know the punch line. Mack Bailey sang at this concert which was very cool. He's Mary's favorite current singer.

Sunday we had 4 things planned. The day started off rough since we missed the first event. The lack of road signs caused us to miss the road we were supposed to take and things went downhill from there. But since it as a clear and beautiful day we did head back to the Maroon Bells and got some great pictures of this range with a bright blue sky background.

Next was a Windstar event. Windstar is an organization John founded dedicated to the proper stewardship of the planet. As with any cause, differenced exist and some JD fans have started a new organization, Blue Planet, which was the beneficiary of a few of our events. We saw the Peace Cloth there along with a great sculpture of a eagle landing on John's arm, then hiked up over 100 feet to a Medication platform. At this altitude that took a few breaks...

After that we headed back to town for a quick lunch and a great concert by Mack Bailey, Pete Huttlinger, and Chris Nole. WOW! What great musicians! They played a lot of their own material with a few JD songs mixed in. They had a great mix of jazz, blues, and folk songs surrounded by fabulous musical talent.

Next we had to hustle to the campfire. Since the forecast was for rather cold weather we put on a few layers and headed out. We got there in plenty of time for the moment of silence at 6:27, then enjoyed the bonfire. The entire Friends with You band showed up and the 3 guitar players played JD songs and lead the sing along. I helped roast marshmallows (in part as an excuse to get close to the fire) and tried to make some Jiffy Pop (utter failure). We stayed until about 9:00 then helped load the bales of hay back on a wagon and headed back to Aspen.

Today we're planning to stop at Red Rocks amphitheater on our way back to Denver and our flight back to Detroit.

It's been a great trip and I'd be glad to be Mary's driver at any future events. LOL