Our last port was Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. It definitely had a “U.S.” feel to it. There were more American establishments and American surfer-looking teenagers working at the beach. There were a lot more big, fancy houses. Yet it also had an international, Caribbean feel to it. The best of both worlds?
This day was the only one where we experienced rain. The impending storm teased us right up to the point of dragging our lounge chairs on the beach to a desirable spot. The heavens then let loose for about 15 minutes, getting everything wet. The trees were not the kind to protect you (or your stuff) from weather. But we certainly weren’t cold. The rain was as warm as the ocean water. We figured that we may as well get in the water while it rained. We were already drenched. It felt great.
The Ultimate Island Experience was very touristy. We learned that Blackbeard’s castle is actually not a castle that he lived in. The United States built it to attract tourists. It is also housed within hotel grounds. So that was a bit disappointing. However, the period houses were interesting and were, I believe, authentic. And the 99 steps were certainly not as long as the steps we climbed in London. But they were charming. All in all, a very charming island.
After a second day of cruising, our ship docked at the port of Philipsburg, St. Maarten. The island is actually split into two. One side is controlled by the Dutch and is spelled Sint Maarten. The other side is controlled by the French and is spelled Saint Martin. The ship port is on the Dutch side.
We took a bus ride over to the French side to a 300-year-old former sugar plantation, Loterie Tree Farm, and enjoyed their treetop adventure tour which consists of a series of zip-lines, rope swings and bridges suspended from platforms mounted in the trees. It was fun. No picture taking, however. There were guides down below who would get after you if they saw you pull out a camera. They certainly got after you if you slowed things down.
Upon returning to “St. Maarten,” we took a water taxi to the shopping area and started to stroll along the boardwalk. It wasn’t long before I had to stop. The heat, beating sun and humidity took their toll. I needed shade. So we relaxed on the beach and in the water for an hour or so before heading into the shopping district to visit stores similar (or the same) to those of the previous two islands.
I did learn one thing however. If you see something you like, buy it. Don’t assume that it will be on the next island. It may not be and you will therefore have to settle for something less.
I truly enjoyed meeting the team at Bluehouse skis. Shane snagged a picture of me that isn’t all that bad–compared to many others I’ve posed for . It’s fun to assist in “marketing” a cool product produced by cool guys. Best of luck to the team at Bluehouse. Very cool use of bamboo in skis. Let’s hook up at the ski resort this winter!
My sister sent these pictures of her son over this morning. It was his crazy hair day at school. Too good not to post.
Loved it!
Today is “CRAZY” hair day at school. He wanted to do his hair like his Dad’s or like his friend Chase. Who by the way, had a real MOHAWK compliments of his mom. We made a comprimise that ended up looking like a cross between a mohawk and Ace Ventura. He seemed pleased and happy!
Our next port was Curacao. It is just 15 miles North of Venezuela, we were told, although I have read that it is actually 35 miles North. Maybe it’s Aruba that is 15 miles North. One of them is! This is also a Dutch island, as seen from the architecture throughout the island.
The people claim descent from over 50 different ethnic backgrounds, and the native language, Papiamentu, is a creole mixture of Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, African, and some Arawak Indian. Our taxi driver told us that. It is also a very affluent island from it’s oil industry.
Our shore excursion took us on an early boat ride to van der Valk Beach where we lounged and explored. We did not have our complimentary beverage, however, because it was only punch. Who wants punch? A diet coke would have worked for me.
Three hours later we were transported back to the ship, had a shower and lunch, and shopped in Curacao…after wandering about wondering where the shops were and hiring a taxi that took us the long way around in order to make more money, only to realize when we got there that we had been across the bay from the shops but didn’t know it because the bridge was up…Aargh. I guess it helps to read the ship’s instructions about the port… .
Our first port, Aruba. Beautiful turquoise waters, white sandy beaches. A hurricane had touched down the Saturday before we arrived, which was Tuesday, so the waters were a bit murky. But the weather was lovely and hot, the water was warm, and the snorkeling was memorable at Arashi Reef and by the sunken WWII ghost ship, the Antilla. We had lunch at Pelican Pier on Palm Beach and explored the beach before the Catamaran took us back to our ship for an afternoon of shopping at the “Duty Free” shops on shore. Of all the islands we visited, Aruba (independent nation of the Netherlands) had the fanciest cars.
Dad and I took an early anniversary trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico where we boarded a Royal Caribbean ship and sailed for seven glorious days stopping at the ports of Oranjestad, Aruba, Willemstad, Curacao, Philipsburg, St. Maarten, and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Our adventures are captured in a series of videos. Above is the first installment: Cruising. Look for the island adventures in the near future. Enjoy.
Viewer Discretion Advised: Some content may be unsuitable for children.
Junior qualified for the High School Golf Team as a Freshman. Man was I a proud Daddy.
Excited for all the experience he’ll get in tournament settings. Glad he will find others to play with that he can learn from and compete against. Golf is a great builder of character. Fun to see him get excited about being part of a team.
Results: 09/05/07 :: FH Golf Club = 103 [DQed for scoring error]
09/11/07 :: HC Golf Club = 99
Last night we attended a Rush Concert, their Snakes and Arrows Tour. It was held at a local ampitheater. We took Junior and Bud, and Junior invited his golfing buddy, Nathan. All of Bud’s friends were at Scout Camp, where we had picked him up earlier, so we invited the ultimate Rush fan along, Shawn. Shawn had already attended the concert in Concord, CA just last weekend. He gave us the lowdown on what to expect.
The crowd was actually quite tame. There definitely wasn’t any slam dancing (although Junior spied a young man in a kilt doing interpretive dance during the songs). There were youngsters there, mostly children of fans, but the average age was probably above 25. I even saw some grandpas and grandmas shuffling along after the concert. The weather was great, the music was great, and the show was great. I haven’t been to a Rush concert since 1992 when I was pregnant with Junior. That must be why he is such a huge fan himself.
The funniest thing I noticed was that, along with raising lighters in the air during the encore, people raised their lighted cell phones. My has our society changed. What a bunch of geeks! Also, even though there were signs banning cameras and video cameras, it couldn’t stop everyone from taking pics and videos with their cell phones. I took pics with my iPhone, and Dad took video with our little Panasonic Lumex camera.
I also noticed that I am, once again, definitely getting older. The bass beat was opposite my body rhythm. At times the insides of my body actually hurt from the bass, or the amps, or whatever it was that was coming at me like a freight train. Plus, my earplugs didn’t work so well. The music was still quite loud. I am now in the mom category. I’m actually a mom of a teenage boy. Am I really that old?
Phil Windley’s been giving updates from The Gateway in Salt Lake City. Scoble and son have been in Palo Alto since yesterday morning. I’m a bit bummed that I’m not at an Apple store.
Mom wants an iPhone. I’m sure she’ll get one. This is a rare time when I’ll let Mom be the guinea pig. Mom’s a faithful iCal and Address Book and iPhoto user on her Mac. She’s been syncing and using her iPod for contacts and calendar and photo items for some time now. She’s got an old, old Nokia. She has told me for 6 months she’s gonna get an iPhone.
Just went to Apple’s online store. Here’s what’s shown. Guess I better have my finger on the trigger at 6:00 PM PST.
Also got the update notice for iTunes 7.3 which includes a preference for an iPhone.
Last night I went to a gig by one of my favorite bands, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Great time hanging with friends and neighbors and enjoying the new Baby 81 songs. Here’s a movie from: a) pictures I took with my BlackBerry, and b) music sent to myself as a MMS voicenote. All mastered together in iPhoto . Enjoy.
Junior and I went to a concert together. Crazy time. Junior took a ride on top of hands to the front of the gig where he was pitched out. Glad he came and found us.
I didn’t really find the show as good as I expected. But luckily I have my BlackBerry everywhere with me so I was able to get some good email time in about halfway through the set.
I liked the opening band Mute Math. The Cinematics were good too. Wolfmother was a letdown.
The weather has been really warm this past week (high 40′s – mid 50′s). Enough snow was melted that Junior and I were able to sneak out at the end of the day and hit the links. Dad stunk it up at 6 over for nine holes. Junior had flashes of good with about 10 over for nine holes.
Snowbird opened a cool tunnel this year that takes you from the north side Peruvian Gultch to the Mineral Basin area. It’s really cool. Like a moving walkway. When Mom was taking a breather, I visited the tunnel and got some footage of the experience. 600 ft through the mountain on a moving skiway. Enjoy.
Mom and I were able to get a neighbor to watch Little Sis for a few hours so we could visit a local ski resort. What a day. Blue sky. Sunny. Above the valley haze.
We checked in and rented skis for Mom at the Creekside Lodge. Hardly anyone in the parking lot. We ventured up Mid-Gad lift to Big Emma and let Mom find her ski legs. After a couple of those, I convinced her she was skilled enough for the GadZoom lift. Skied down Bassackwards and The Lunch Run to Big Emma a few times. Then we cut across the mountain to the Resort Center for lunch. It was very relaxing just hanging out.
After lunch it was off to the Peruvian lift. Not a single time did we have to wait in a line. Chip’s Run was our way down. After a mistaken turn and a black-diamond, very bumpy, narrow-canyon decent, Mom was feeling pretty tired and wanted to rest. I sent her back to the Resort Center, and I headed up to the new tunnel. That was cool. You take the Peruvian lift to the tunnel. Go 600 feet through a mountain on a moving skiway — just ski on and ride the conveyor belt to the other side. You pop out in Mineral Basin. Cool times.
Picked up this Canon XH A1 HD camera (or as I call it, the work horse) for the filming projects at mCast Productions / Rocky Mountain Voices.Took her up to the University Mall and tormented the kids, especially Junior — who was totally embarrassed by the old man following him around with a jumbo-sized video camera. “Dad, turn that off!” Enjoy.
We had a great time at a local ski resort on 12/26/2006 and again on 12/30/2006.
Sis is a bomber. She likes to go down the hill at full speed. She bi-passed lessons, and went straight up to the big lifts — the bunny hill just didn’t give her the speed she needed.
Bud is Mr. Snowboarder now. He’s getting the hang of it much better and doesn’t have as many major wipeouts — although, he’s still good for a couple per trip.
Junior, well lets just say that this makes 8 trips to the slopes this season.
Dad met up with Paul, who took me down a double-black run off Great Western Lift. Wow. Burning thigh city.
All the kids got together this holiday season to have a little dinner. The only missing kids were Scott and his wife Jeana — they’re off in Texas. Brian was also out to a travel soccer team event with one of his kids. We all enjoyed the socializing and eating a big pile of pasta at Macaroni Grill.
. It’s fun to assist in “marketing” a cool product produced by cool guys. Best of luck to the team at Bluehouse. Very cool use of bamboo in skis. Let’s hook up at the ski resort this winter!
Picked up this Canon XH A1 HD camera (or as I call it, the work horse) for the filming projects at mCast Productions / 
