tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73663289137233186962024-03-12T22:11:13.826-04:00Roaming Magnum, G.I.The adventures of a G.I. Joe converted into Magnum, P.I., as he roams and asks to have his picture taken.golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-40003994621622838532011-02-05T19:22:00.005-05:002011-02-05T19:43:24.872-05:00Bonaire, Netherland Antilles -- February 5,2011AHA! Flamingo Airport just outside Kralendijk, Bonaire, Netherland Antilles<a><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570367455493200866" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TU3rsA0Rm-I/AAAAAAAACFg/xHFWP1tRHnE/s320/DSC02768.JPG" /></a> Below is the view from our second-story porch at Sand Dollar Condominiums:<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TU3rsS-ARbI/AAAAAAAACFo/Qzfcrw73BRo/s1600/DSC02778.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570367460365845938" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TU3rsS-ARbI/AAAAAAAACFo/Qzfcrw73BRo/s320/DSC02778.JPG" /></a><br /><div>And here I am sitting there: <div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TU3qxg7y0_I/AAAAAAAACFY/SAAyylXKwSw/s1600/DSC00037.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570366450502390770" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TU3qxg7y0_I/AAAAAAAACFY/SAAyylXKwSw/s320/DSC00037.JPG" /></a> More to come! Stay tuned!<br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-78654266386420613332010-08-13T20:20:00.012-04:002010-08-15T16:38:15.055-04:00August 11 -- Jamaica, mon!<div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXsL4tfIfI/AAAAAAAACEo/LK3Yw7fJ_Q8/s1600/mgionbalcony.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505065808476185074" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXsL4tfIfI/AAAAAAAACEo/LK3Yw7fJ_Q8/s320/mgionbalcony.jpg" /></a> <div>Here we are at Club Ambiance in Runaway Bay in Jamaica. The views along our "boardwalk":<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqLGuKudI/AAAAAAAACEA/fx5YDh1MGCc/s1600/bayleft.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505063596034013650" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqLGuKudI/AAAAAAAACEA/fx5YDh1MGCc/s320/bayleft.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqLc9Vr0I/AAAAAAAACEI/aboWpVQ6V6M/s1600/bayright.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505063602003226434" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqLc9Vr0I/AAAAAAAACEI/aboWpVQ6V6M/s320/bayright.jpg" /></a><br />Larry and golf tried snorkeling on both sides, but it was murky on the left (east) side, so they took most of their videos while snorkeling on the right (west) side.</div></div><div> </div><div>Takes forever to upload a video on this Blogger site, so golf put it on youtube. Cut and paste this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU7JwylF3RQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU7JwylF3RQ</a> to see their snorkeling video.<br /><div></div><br /><div>Below is the outside veranda where we ate almost every meal -- the spiral staircase is to one of the "honeymoon suites" above the restaurant.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqMQeHYmI/AAAAAAAACEg/8ONRGwQ9N_A/s1600/spiralstair.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505063615830909538" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqMQeHYmI/AAAAAAAACEg/8ONRGwQ9N_A/s320/spiralstair.jpg" /></a> One view off the balcony of our room, another honeymoon suite, but at the west end of the complex. The "hut" at the end of that pier in the distance is the Legend's Bar, which was never open while we were there, because there were only about 25 guests there during our two-day stay -- it was pretty quiet and certainly not crowded! But after dinner each evening, golf and Larry went out to that hut and sat there and enjoyed the fresh air -- all by themselves at a Caribbean resort. Rather nice, actually . . . .<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXsMJMbrjI/AAAAAAAACEw/SohsRhmHbsA/s1600/DSC02063.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505065812900949554" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXsMJMbrjI/AAAAAAAACEw/SohsRhmHbsA/s320/DSC02063.JPG" /></a> and the room itself:<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqMEYHZKI/AAAAAAAACEY/YrUopuotuW0/s1600/ourroom.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505063612584518818" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqMEYHZKI/AAAAAAAACEY/YrUopuotuW0/s320/ourroom.jpg" /></a> The "people-size" (??) chess board where golf and Larry had to walk around to move the pieces. Let me say that Larry won the first game and golf won the second one. At that point, they decided to call it a draw.<br /></div><div><div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqL8ZSlEI/AAAAAAAACEQ/-1K-aQFcq0w/s1600/chess.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505063610441962562" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TGXqL8ZSlEI/AAAAAAAACEQ/-1K-aQFcq0w/s320/chess.jpg" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-74613323895034093212010-07-29T15:20:00.004-04:002010-07-29T15:32:51.229-04:00Sunset July 28, 2010<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHW42z_F3I/AAAAAAAACD4/eAQ0i--4smE/s1600/DSC01400.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499412892270663538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHW42z_F3I/AAAAAAAACD4/eAQ0i--4smE/s320/DSC01400.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Just can't resist taking pictures of pretty sunsets. And these aren't from anywhere special, just outside out front door south of Atlanta.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHU9FvcaUI/AAAAAAAACDw/ugPtDoGsd1M/s1600/DSC01401.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499410765974366530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHU9FvcaUI/AAAAAAAACDw/ugPtDoGsd1M/s320/DSC01401.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHU83pL83I/AAAAAAAACDo/nKMgwZgKWws/s1600/DSC01402.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499410762190025586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHU83pL83I/AAAAAAAACDo/nKMgwZgKWws/s320/DSC01402.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHU8dPmlgI/AAAAAAAACDg/ZyWdU6E9KXo/s1600/DSC01395.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499410755103397378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHU8dPmlgI/AAAAAAAACDg/ZyWdU6E9KXo/s320/DSC01395.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHU8Ikp-KI/AAAAAAAACDY/X4FWamDyR6A/s1600/DSC01393.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499410749554555042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 245px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TFHU8Ikp-KI/AAAAAAAACDY/X4FWamDyR6A/s320/DSC01393.JPG" border="0" /></a>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-49334947747496614802010-05-24T19:04:00.034-04:002010-06-07T22:11:08.026-04:00Aruba! May 23, 2010Hot dang! Off to another (semi-)Caribbean location for beach time! We flew out on Sunday, May 23, arriving about 1:30 p.m., picking up our rental car at the airport, and golf drove (since she'd signed out the rental car and had done all the map research) southeast along the coast to Savaneta, where we stayed at the Aruba Reef. Here's the view from our porch/deck to the water.<br /><p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQycaFZXZI/AAAAAAAACCI/snsR2SayzpM/s1600/ourporch.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477558510409047442" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQycaFZXZI/AAAAAAAACCI/snsR2SayzpM/s320/ourporch.jpg" /></a> If you click on the above picture to enlarge it, you will see there is a reef way out, showing about at the horizon on the picture above. There was a reef out there, and the owner of the place where we were staying said we could use their kayaks to paddle out there and go on the outside of that reef and there was excellent snorkeling there. But it was probably about a thousand yards or more out, and golf just isn't strong enough to fight a current and the wind to paddle out that far, go snorkeling, and then paddle back. She tried kayaking, and she could do it.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BWHHBRnI/AAAAAAAACCQ/BV5kegWa4x4/s1600/kellykayakcu.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 236px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480178538445358706" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BWHHBRnI/AAAAAAAACCQ/BV5kegWa4x4/s320/kellykayakcu.jpg" /></a><br />But she told Larry that she just wasn't in shape enough to go all the way out and there and back, and she didn't want to wear herself out doing that when there were other places they could drive to and not have to work so hard to get to in order to do some good snorkeling. So they decided not to go out to the reef off in the distance from their "home base."<br />Looking back at our apartment from the dock down by the water:<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQybfzFvKI/AAAAAAAACB4/bwWKMZoUTAo/s1600/ouraptfromdock.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477558494763007138" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQybfzFvKI/AAAAAAAACB4/bwWKMZoUTAo/s320/ouraptfromdock.jpg" /></a> Here I am on the rail of our porch, our private "beach shack" in the background on the right (more on that below)<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BWtd1pVI/AAAAAAAACCY/A0A5L87PLB8/s1600/onrailofourdeckshacktoright.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480178548741612882" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BWtd1pVI/AAAAAAAACCY/A0A5L87PLB8/s320/onrailofourdeckshacktoright.jpg" /></a><br />But down on the deck/dock, there was a covered, three-sided shack open to the water, which was great for relaxing and where we spent every evening. And, by the way, all the Aruba tourism advertisements said Aruba has no mosquitoes -- but apparently they flew 25 miles across the water from Venezuela just to chow down on golf! Last time SHE goes to the Caribbean without bug spray . . . .<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQyah-dDyI/AAAAAAAACBo/Pi87bjPtnCo/s1600/beachshack.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477558478167674658" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQyah-dDyI/AAAAAAAACBo/Pi87bjPtnCo/s320/beachshack.jpg" /></a> However, it was quite hot and steamy when we arrived. That Sunday, the owners of our apartment were having a "family" birthday party on the docks and in the water, and since all the stores were closed so we couldn't go grocery shopping, we just settled in and enjoyed being by the water.<br /><br />Side view of our "beach shack" from our dock (where the later moved the lounges back and danced -- further explanation of that below):<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BXNvS0kI/AAAAAAAACCo/cbWx6HFY5sE/s1600/ourbeachshack.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480178557404762690" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BXNvS0kI/AAAAAAAACCo/cbWx6HFY5sE/s320/ourbeachshack.jpg" /></a><br />The next day, Monday, we started exploring. We had read that Baby Beach, down on the far southeast end of the island was good for snorkeling, so we drove down there. It was a very nice beach, but it didn't look a likely snorkeling spot.<br /></p><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvwMz-bKI/AAAAAAAACBg/2eErMwy2zFA/s1600/babybeach.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477555551908818082" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvwMz-bKI/AAAAAAAACBg/2eErMwy2zFA/s320/babybeach.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvvxz4uwI/AAAAAAAACBY/B_KVVbQctrQ/s1600/babybeachwest.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477555544660687618" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvvxz4uwI/AAAAAAAACBY/B_KVVbQctrQ/s320/babybeachwest.jpg" /></a> Oh, yeah, on the way there, we sort of got lost when we went too far, all the way to the southeast end of the island at Colorado Point, and on the way to finding Baby Beach, we found this rather "rustic" (that's giving it the benefit of the doubt) cemetery. Not exactly picturesque but so different from all the lovely little burial plots scattered around Grand Cayman (oh, yes, golf finally got that trip's pictures posted -- go down three or four posts after this one for the full Grand Cayman report of January 2010) that she felt she had to get a picture of it. Not a big budget for gravestones in Aruba, apparently.</div><div></div><div>Aruba's Potters' Field?<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvYwFxBZI/AAAAAAAACA4/BnCXisLFw2U/s1600/PaupersField1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477555149061817746" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvYwFxBZI/AAAAAAAACA4/BnCXisLFw2U/s320/PaupersField1.jpg" /></a>Right next to Baby Beach is Rodgers' Beach -- very lovely. More on it later.<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvYZby8II/AAAAAAAACAo/J4XCceSau38/s1600/rodgersbeach.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477555142980202626" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvYZby8II/AAAAAAAACAo/J4XCceSau38/s320/rodgersbeach.jpg" /></a> Then we went looking for Mangel Halto, another recommended snorkeling spot. Larry and golf went in, but there wasn't much to see. Mostly sea grass, a few grunts, and it was pretty shallow (only about hip-deep for about 200 yards out). There is a supposedly a big drop-off where scuba divers go (and we saw a group of about six of them coming in), but apparently this location is for scuba diving, just not that good for snorkeling (at least they found that to be the case). But here I am at one of the palapas at Mangel Halto:<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvveVbYII/AAAAAAAACBI/g28jbsl0DeI/s1600/mangelhalto1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477555539432661122" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvveVbYII/AAAAAAAACBI/g28jbsl0DeI/s320/mangelhalto1.jpg" /></a> The east side of Mangel Halto:<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvZChlR3I/AAAAAAAACBA/mpRbrEW9YG4/s1600/mangelhaltowest.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477555154010326898" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvZChlR3I/AAAAAAAACBA/mpRbrEW9YG4/s320/mangelhaltowest.jpg" /></a> A nice little sunset Monday night, but nothing like the dramatic red/orange/pink sunsets Aruba is famous for. We didn't have a single one of those while we were there.<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvYIBKnJI/AAAAAAAACAg/GvMwPDaj4y0/s1600/sunsetwed.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477555138305105042" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvYIBKnJI/AAAAAAAACAg/GvMwPDaj4y0/s320/sunsetwed.jpg" /></a> Back at the apartment, we went down to the beach shack, where Larry and golf had their preprandial margaritas before grilling a steak. Our deck/dock was right beside the Flying Fishbone Restaurant, and below you can see the folks eating out there, on the beach.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvvnjc-qI/AAAAAAAACBQ/VHyHjgx_bEY/s1600/flyingfishbonefrombeachshack.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477555541907405474" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQvvnjc-qI/AAAAAAAACBQ/VHyHjgx_bEY/s320/flyingfishbonefrombeachshack.jpg" /></a> Look who we found out on our porch the next morning, before we started exploring north toward Oranjestad, Palm Beach, high-rise hotel area, and north all the way to the north end of the island, where there is the California lighthouse, Arashi Beach, and Malmok Beach.<br /></div><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQuOUuWRPI/AAAAAAAACAQ/lAm7yY2gQzY/s1600/leezard2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 177px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477553870405518578" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQuOUuWRPI/AAAAAAAACAQ/lAm7yY2gQzY/s320/leezard2.jpg" /></a> Driving through town was entertaining -- here's a casino.<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQuOB3FpvI/AAAAAAAACAI/WQIWdloreNk/s1600/casino.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477553865341904626" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQuOB3FpvI/AAAAAAAACAI/WQIWdloreNk/s320/casino.jpg" /></a> And this is the Riu Resort along the high-rise hotel road.<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQscNCOXoI/AAAAAAAACAA/XgkE17HCfmM/s1600/RiuTowers.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 195px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477551909836316290" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQscNCOXoI/AAAAAAAACAA/XgkE17HCfmM/s320/RiuTowers.jpg" /></a><br />Actually, I think this picture of these pelicans was from Baby Beach. Sorry about its being out of sequence . . . .<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQscK8iZ5I/AAAAAAAAB_4/4mUC2LaPl8E/s1600/pelicans.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 286px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477551909275592594" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQscK8iZ5I/AAAAAAAAB_4/4mUC2LaPl8E/s320/pelicans.jpg" /></a><br />Here's Larry at the California lighthouse:<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQsbXNqgjI/AAAAAAAAB_o/k_DB2D2ZBZ8/s1600/larryatlighthousereduced.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477551895388783154" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQsbXNqgjI/AAAAAAAAB_o/k_DB2D2ZBZ8/s320/larryatlighthousereduced.jpg" /></a><br />At LAST, at Arashi Beach, they found the RIGHT place to snorkel! Here I am, awaiting their return from the water.<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQsb0YwlFI/AAAAAAAAB_w/uzJxBpKET5o/s1600/MGIatMalmok.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 221px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477551903219946578" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQsb0YwlFI/AAAAAAAAB_w/uzJxBpKET5o/s320/MGIatMalmok.jpg" /></a> A trunk fish:<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQsbKHZZ9I/AAAAAAAAB_g/AElFzqCXDlU/s1600/boxfish1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 171px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477551891872835538" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQsbKHZZ9I/AAAAAAAAB_g/AElFzqCXDlU/s320/boxfish1.jpg" /></a> A French Angel -- this fish was SO WONDERFUL! He was about the size of a turkey platter! And he kept following Larry and golf around in the water, seemingly wanting to be photographed or filmed.</div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrEWppowI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/U8oAQGkZLis/s1600/clous1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 319px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477550400589112066" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrEWppowI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/U8oAQGkZLis/s320/clous1.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrEAuU8yI/AAAAAAAAB_Q/0ySkKS438JA/s1600/clousapproach1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 179px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477550394703147810" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrEAuU8yI/AAAAAAAAB_Q/0ySkKS438JA/s320/clousapproach1.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrD5of1CI/AAAAAAAAB_I/CIChVM6XB0c/s1600/clousright1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 289px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477550392799646754" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrD5of1CI/AAAAAAAAB_I/CIChVM6XB0c/s320/clousright1.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrDlwlj7I/AAAAAAAAB_A/1BO6qjxf-I8/s1600/clousseau+turning.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 314px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477550387464867762" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrDlwlj7I/AAAAAAAAB_A/1BO6qjxf-I8/s320/clousseau+turning.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrDXzRb3I/AAAAAAAAB-4/DHP4qIycE9s/s1600/clousseauright.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 276px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477550383718035314" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQrDXzRb3I/AAAAAAAAB-4/DHP4qIycE9s/s320/clousseauright.jpg" /></a> A school of grunts hanging around a rock:<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQozHB5AMI/AAAAAAAAB-w/xvopx1xIrn8/s1600/gruntsatrock.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 284px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477547905314783426" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQozHB5AMI/AAAAAAAAB-w/xvopx1xIrn8/s320/gruntsatrock.jpg" /></a> And, see? Look who shows up again!<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQoy5UTF-I/AAAAAAAAB-o/CksKe4uI9xQ/s1600/lookwhoshowsup1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477547901633894370" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQoy5UTF-I/AAAAAAAAB-o/CksKe4uI9xQ/s320/lookwhoshowsup1.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQox1qdp-I/AAAAAAAAB-g/lXMjEkO_sko/s1600/lookwhoshowsupagain2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 315px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477547883473250274" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQox1qdp-I/AAAAAAAAB-g/lXMjEkO_sko/s320/lookwhoshowsupagain2.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQoxiBfLJI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/ufZEjCpcvB8/s1600/lookwhoshowsupagain3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 270px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477547878201109650" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQoxiBfLJI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/ufZEjCpcvB8/s320/lookwhoshowsupagain3.jpg" /></a> A couple of surgeon fish and a wrasse:<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQoxWjcaqI/AAAAAAAAB-Q/wamk12ucWYM/s1600/MGIatMalmok.jpg"></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmYiv1wiI/AAAAAAAAB-I/hqtJqLc1VfE/s1600/surgeons%26wrasse.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 121px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477545249875542562" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmYiv1wiI/AAAAAAAAB-I/hqtJqLc1VfE/s320/surgeons%26wrasse.jpg" /></a> Trunk fish and grunt:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmYYZy1kI/AAAAAAAAB-A/d-rUllopBvg/s1600/trunk%26grunt.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 257px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477545247098721858" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmYYZy1kI/AAAAAAAAB-A/d-rUllopBvg/s320/trunk%26grunt.jpg" /></a> A yellow tang juvenile:<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmYPhwGnI/AAAAAAAAB94/CU3JHsfbl9w/s1600/yellowtang1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 305px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477545244716178034" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmYPhwGnI/AAAAAAAAB94/CU3JHsfbl9w/s320/yellowtang1.jpg" /></a><br />Back at the apartment that evening, they checked all their pictures and were delighted at what they had gotten. They cooked out another steak, and then golf brought the laptop out to the beach shack and they played Jimmy Buffett and beach music. She was able to persuade Larry to trying shagging (that's a Carolina beach dance -- Google it!) with her on the dock -- and they earned rounds of applause from the diners at the Flying Fishbone! They had NO idea they had a audience!!! Aruba's "Dancing with the Stars"? -- NOT!<br /></div>Back to Arashi on Wednesday -- they had just enjoyed it SO much and golf wanted to try the video function on her camera this time, since they had determined that the waterproof housings they had gotten for their cameras DID actually work! Videos take too long to upload to Blogger (unfortunately) and golf hasn't gotten a good video editing program yet. But here's a sample. Just remember this is their first effort at filming underwater, so there's still somewhat of a learning curve, ya know?<br /><br />http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i42/golfmobile/?action=view¤t=Snorkel.flv<br /><br />Drat! That link won't work, so just block and copy this into your path in another window:<br />What IS it with Blogger that it won't take a link to somewhere else? Try this?<br />http://img200.imageshack.us/i/snorkel.mp4/<br /></div><div><br /> </div><div>Still, here are some more still pictures. A banded butterfly: </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmX0bUZOI/AAAAAAAAB9w/fY7wdEZmwpE/s1600/bandedbutterfly2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 272px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477545237441438946" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmX0bUZOI/AAAAAAAAB9w/fY7wdEZmwpE/s320/bandedbutterfly2.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmXi0vtMI/AAAAAAAAB9o/lpx7GOv3Cv4/s1600/bandedbutterfly3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 281px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477545232716248258" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQmXi0vtMI/AAAAAAAAB9o/lpx7GOv3Cv4/s320/bandedbutterfly3.jpg" /></a> More grunts at the stone block:<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl3Ds13iI/AAAAAAAAB9g/z42v0vb-lHQ/s1600/block1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 190px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544674605784610" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl3Ds13iI/AAAAAAAAB9g/z42v0vb-lHQ/s320/block1.jpg" /></a> with one red squirrel fish<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl2gWTIAI/AAAAAAAAB9Y/od6Ji0z4MZQ/s1600/block2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 247px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544665115992066" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl2gWTIAI/AAAAAAAAB9Y/od6Ji0z4MZQ/s320/block2.jpg" /></a><br />Bright blue tangs:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl2QhCMHI/AAAAAAAAB9Q/GBi3u9Gok3U/s1600/bluetangs.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 165px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544660866052210" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl2QhCMHI/AAAAAAAAB9Q/GBi3u9Gok3U/s320/bluetangs.jpg" /></a> A school of brown and blue tangs:<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl19P18KI/AAAAAAAAB9I/TwHytvvdEWM/s1600/bluetangschool.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544655693672610" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl19P18KI/AAAAAAAAB9I/TwHytvvdEWM/s320/bluetangschool.jpg" /></a> A HUGE sphere of brain coral, about the size of a fully stuffed beanbag chair:<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl1mpEURI/AAAAAAAAB9A/xChJb-nwdt8/s1600/braincoral.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544649625456914" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQl1mpEURI/AAAAAAAAB9A/xChJb-nwdt8/s320/braincoral.jpg" /></a><br />Look who shows up on Wednesday too!!<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlSvSUZ3I/AAAAAAAAB84/Bg75h0TJm10/s1600/clousseaucloseup.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544050650539890" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlSvSUZ3I/AAAAAAAAB84/Bg75h0TJm10/s320/clousseaucloseup.jpg" /></a> A damselfish:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlSXyGLTI/AAAAAAAAB8w/HGsl-LH1lvQ/s1600/damsel1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 295px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544044341374258" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlSXyGLTI/AAAAAAAAB8w/HGsl-LH1lvQ/s320/damsel1.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlSEomaYI/AAAAAAAAB8o/47D8g0BfcBk/s1600/damselleh1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544039201270146" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlSEomaYI/AAAAAAAAB8o/47D8g0BfcBk/s320/damselleh1.jpg" /></a><br />More juvenile grunts with an adult barging in:<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlR9Su__I/AAAAAAAAB8g/zVuppHQPky4/s1600/filefish.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 302px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544037230510066" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlR9Su__I/AAAAAAAAB8g/zVuppHQPky4/s320/filefish.jpg" /></a> Grunts with sponge coral in the background:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlRm-R5HI/AAAAAAAAB8Y/LbF-5ckLoj8/s1600/gruntssponge.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 236px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477544031239136370" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQlRm-R5HI/AAAAAAAAB8Y/LbF-5ckLoj8/s320/gruntssponge.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BWgRILwI/AAAAAAAACCg/YNgh0_Lez7I/s1600/bluestripedgruntscu.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 254px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480178545198640898" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BWgRILwI/AAAAAAAACCg/YNgh0_Lez7I/s320/bluestripedgruntscu.jpg" /></a><br />Palometas:<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkvUA0xgI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/_HsKR5GAonA/s1600/palometa1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 154px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477543442033985026" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkvUA0xgI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/_HsKR5GAonA/s320/palometa1.jpg" /></a><br />A parrotfish:<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQku0sNm_I/AAAAAAAAB8I/C6bbT3d4n0A/s1600/parrot2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 231px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477543433626033138" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQku0sNm_I/AAAAAAAAB8I/C6bbT3d4n0A/s320/parrot2.jpg" /></a> A school of thousands of little silver/blue fish -- I don't know what they are:<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkug7C_EI/AAAAAAAAB8A/KQt6KD85FPI/s1600/school.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477543428319542338" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkug7C_EI/AAAAAAAAB8A/KQt6KD85FPI/s320/school.jpg" /></a> Spotfin butterflies:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkuYwOZGI/AAAAAAAAB74/wqthyK1Meig/s1600/spotfinbut.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477543426126668898" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkuYwOZGI/AAAAAAAAB74/wqthyK1Meig/s320/spotfinbut.jpg" /></a> Yellowtail surgeonfish:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkuG4bjCI/AAAAAAAAB7w/3J1eFKiZjx0/s1600/surgeon1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 251px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477543421329247266" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkuG4bjCI/AAAAAAAAB7w/3J1eFKiZjx0/s320/surgeon1.jpg" /></a> joined by the banded butterfly:</div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkTPnWrXI/AAAAAAAAB7o/vWkbeUElzbc/s1600/surgeonbutterfly.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 212px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542959817076082" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkTPnWrXI/AAAAAAAAB7o/vWkbeUElzbc/s320/surgeonbutterfly.jpg" /></a><br />Surgeonfishes, damsel fishes, sergeant majors, and blue tang:<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkSshPrrI/AAAAAAAAB7g/6z6_SMKs0aY/s1600/surgeontang.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 230px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542950396210866" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkSshPrrI/AAAAAAAAB7g/6z6_SMKs0aY/s320/surgeontang.jpg" /></a> </div>Bluefin surgeonfish:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkSbPmVzI/AAAAAAAAB7Y/B7-h8r5oaAE/s1600/tangblueanal.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 273px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542945758795570" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkSbPmVzI/AAAAAAAAB7Y/B7-h8r5oaAE/s320/tangblueanal.jpg" /></a><br />Close-up of the trunk fish:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkSDAbtNI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/iKipkQrP5TI/s1600/trunk1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 247px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542939252733138" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkSDAbtNI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/iKipkQrP5TI/s320/trunk1.jpg" /></a><br />Grunts and a wrasse (you'd think it was all mostly grunts, and there were a lot of them, but there were as many sergeant majors, also called convict tangs, I think, but there were so many of those, they didn't take many pictures of them):<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkR5YityI/AAAAAAAAB7I/D-DXnoNrVjo/s1600/trunkwrassegrunts.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542936669501218" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQkR5YityI/AAAAAAAAB7I/D-DXnoNrVjo/s320/trunkwrassegrunts.jpg" /></a><br />Wrasse and damsel:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjzPlP1yI/AAAAAAAAB7A/NS-amKG-U3Y/s1600/wrasse1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 262px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542410052425506" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjzPlP1yI/AAAAAAAAB7A/NS-amKG-U3Y/s320/wrasse1.jpg" /></a>Some brain coral and a variety of fish:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjyr0VsFI/AAAAAAAAB64/dtNMk-eo984/s1600/yellowtangplus.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 272px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542400452046930" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjyr0VsFI/AAAAAAAAB64/dtNMk-eo984/s320/yellowtangplus.jpg" /></a> A parrot fish Larry couldn't quite get a sideways view of, but at least these two pictures stitched together show his color (click on the picture for a larger view of it):</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BXkDBI0I/AAAAAAAACCw/Tis88LI69Js/s1600/parrotStitch.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 145px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480178563393069890" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TA2BXkDBI0I/AAAAAAAACCw/Tis88LI69Js/s320/parrotStitch.jpg" /></a></div><div></div><div>After snorkeling at Arashi Beach, they went down to Malmok Beach to try there. But all the "guided snorkel trip" boats were there, and the water was crowded with boats, not with people in the water. They went in but didn't see as many nice fish there as had been at Arashi, so they didn't stay in long and took very few pictures at Malmok. It was mostly sergeants majors there.</div><div></div><div>Thursday, they wanted to try to go snorkeling before they had to leave on a 3 p.m. flight (meaning being at the airport by 1 p.m.). They went down to Baby Beach but again, it still didn't look like a good place to snorkel. They went over to Rodgers' Beach, and it seemed to have a little more potential. So golf told Larry to go in and if it was good, she'd come in too. But Larry gave it a shot and came back very quickly, advising her that the water was very murky because the sand was so fine, it was almost like mud. A nice, calm beach for kiddies but not the place to snorkel. <div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjypI4TxI/AAAAAAAAB6w/ipVYcCH97Ts/s1600/rodgersbeach.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542399732895506" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjypI4TxI/AAAAAAAAB6w/ipVYcCH97Ts/s320/rodgersbeach.jpg" /></a><br />golf remembered how the beach at Colorado Point had looked really nice -- and deserted. So they drove back down there. But when they got there, they realized the surf was too strong -- not the place for snorkeling either. The picture below doesn't show it well, but there were large breakers coming in, and at this point, they'd been driving around trying to find a place for so long that they were out of time to do anything and still get back to the apartment and pack up and get to the airport. They realized they'd lost so much time trying to find some place to snorkel that they would have had time to go all the way back up to Arashi Beach and snorkel for a half-hour or 45 minutes and have seen more of the good stuff there -- but too late now.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjyeW9BnI/AAAAAAAAB6o/M1d3T3j8QvY/s1600/coloradopointwest.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542396839134834" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjyeW9BnI/AAAAAAAAB6o/M1d3T3j8QvY/s320/coloradopointwest.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjyPWzAeI/AAAAAAAAB6g/ojfEYhGsX4E/s1600/coloradopointeast.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477542392811946466" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAQjyPWzAeI/AAAAAAAAB6g/ojfEYhGsX4E/s320/coloradopointeast.jpg" /></a> </div><div>However, back at the apartment to load up, they were suddenly hit with a tremendous rain storm. Now, Aruba isn't known for being rainy - I mean, it gets something like 16 inches a year. They must have gotten five inches of that allotment in about 10 minutes! It was REALLY blowing and pouring, and the video looks really mild to the way it looked "in person."</div><br /><a href="http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i42/golfmobile/Aruba/?action=view¤t=StormAruba.flv">Storm video </a><br /><br />Link won't work again (what is WRONG with Blogger that it won't allow a link??)<br /><br />Block and copy this:<br /><br />http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i42/golfmobile/Aruba/?action=view¤t=StormAruba.flv<br /><br />That didn't work for me either. Try this:<br /><br />http://img412.imageshack.us/i/stormaruba.mp4/<br /><div><br /><div></div><div>They were worried (1) about getting from the rental car drop-off to the airport terminal for departure and (2) would the plane be allowed to take off in such a storm. It WAS that strong. But then after about a half hour it stopped, and the weather was still overcast, but no rain. So they made it to the airport without getting drenched just getting to the car, and no rain after dropping off the rental car. And then we were flying home.</div><div></div><div>I think we're going to Bonaire next. Stay tuned</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-13328420819185074272010-04-05T19:36:00.006-04:002010-04-05T20:15:45.469-04:00Larry Has His Own Version of MGII don't know if I have ever talked about Sundance and his propensity to retrieve . . . cat toys. We started noticing this as he would bat various toys to the bottom of the stairs and then pick them up in his mouth and bring them up to us, to show us his great "hunting" skills (really easy when they're already "dead"!). We then started giving him different toys to see just what he would retrieve. From the little rabbit-fur-covered one-inch mice, we advanced to larger toys and eventually even covered an empty toilet paper cardboard tube with rabbit fur -- oh! his new favorite to retrieve! Then a little toy teddy bear that golf had amputated the arms and legs off of for some project or other -- ta-da! new, NEW favorite (Larry pointed out how easy it was to "kill" and tote a quadruple amputee!). Okay, a little more weight: a beanie Furby Baby. No problem for this Great Colorpoint Hunter. The rabbit fur toilet paper tube was such a favorite, golf decided Sundance needed more of a challenge, so she covered a paper towel cardboard tube with rabbit fur. No problemo!<br /><br />When searching for something else on eBay, golf found that Ty made beanie babies in the form of little cats, so if Sundance is retrieving a Furby Baby beanie, he could retrieve a Ty beanie, right? Unfortunately, golf knew nothing about Beanies Babies, so when she bought a supposedly Himalayan beanie, it was 14" long and a little large for Sundance to retrieve -- at least to this point in time, he has shown no interest in doing such. In the meantime, Larry started moving the Himmie beanie around to different places around the house where the cats hang out. AHA! Larry has his own prop to move around. golf can't WAIT to take me AND the beanie Himmie on vacation for pictures! Hey, it WAS Larry's idea to move the little critter around . . . .<br /><br />First, however, here I am with Himmie Beanie (HB):<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p15VVpBzI/AAAAAAAAB2w/9Y9Nt-9UxCE/s1600/wMGI2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 258px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456803526353684274" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p15VVpBzI/AAAAAAAAB2w/9Y9Nt-9UxCE/s320/wMGI2.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p148wzNbI/AAAAAAAAB2o/Il_ymH86yKI/s1600/wMGI1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 309px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456803519756711346" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p148wzNbI/AAAAAAAAB2o/Il_ymH86yKI/s320/wMGI1.jpg" /></a> I think you can see that his size might make it a bit intimidating for Sundance to tote him around in his mouth.</div><div> </div><div>Sundance's first exposure to HB -- obviously not very pleased that HB is encroaching on HIS space on the back of the loveseat!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p14UgnlkI/AAAAAAAAB2g/ZI3UoFIEyfI/s1600/bond1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456803508951422530" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p14UgnlkI/AAAAAAAAB2g/ZI3UoFIEyfI/s320/bond1.jpg" /></a><br />Still a little testy on the kitty condo. Though Sundance is not overly aggressive to this, in effect, stuffed animal, he still needs to check out just WHO this is in his territory.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p135rwOMI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/ZlrpoB0Xshg/s1600/condo2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456803501750368450" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p135rwOMI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/ZlrpoB0Xshg/s320/condo2.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p13MHvH9I/AAAAAAAAB2Q/mFe9VjoglqI/s1600/condo1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 304px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456803489519706066" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p13MHvH9I/AAAAAAAAB2Q/mFe9VjoglqI/s320/condo1.jpg" /></a> "Okay, I can tolerate him here for now."<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p096QQ28I/AAAAAAAAB2I/EyLzLIDoAb0/s1600/condo3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 299px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456802505471089602" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p096QQ28I/AAAAAAAAB2I/EyLzLIDoAb0/s320/condo3.jpg" /></a><br />"Uhhhhh, golf, . . . . what is this and what am I supposed to do about it?"<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p09sMp4uI/AAAAAAAAB2A/LR43zeVHd0s/s1600/bond4.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456802501697856226" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p09sMp4uI/AAAAAAAAB2A/LR43zeVHd0s/s320/bond4.jpg" /></a> "Okay, if he'll just sit there, I may accept a limited co-existence."<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p09IkFb3I/AAAAAAAAB14/C9gCOAKYxy8/s1600/bond8.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456802492132454258" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p09IkFb3I/AAAAAAAAB14/C9gCOAKYxy8/s320/bond8.jpg" /></a><br />"As long as it doesn't interfere with or interrupt my naps . . . . . "<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p08ZJdkfI/AAAAAAAAB1w/jC5YCfpPJng/s1600/bond11.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456802479404323314" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p08ZJdkfI/AAAAAAAAB1w/jC5YCfpPJng/s320/bond11.jpg" /></a><br />(big, resigned sigh . . . .)<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p076N8gkI/AAAAAAAAB1o/MEbHlX915Ro/s1600/bond10.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456802471101628994" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S7p076N8gkI/AAAAAAAAB1o/MEbHlX915Ro/s320/bond10.jpg" /></a> So, now, if Larry is enjoying moving HB around the house to tickle golf's funny bone as to where he places him where the cats are usually seen. Okay, this is the first step toward "posing" addiction. Once you start putting something . . . somewhere and thinking the placement is really cute and clever, you're a sick puppe and THEN you start taking it on vacation -- you're either a slight eccentric who doesn't care what anyone thinks -- or a total nutcase . . . . </div><div> </div><div>Now I have to live with TWO nutcases???? :-o!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-65914828412679452792010-03-19T19:39:00.002-04:002010-03-19T20:05:15.621-04:00Friday, March 19 -- New TapestryYes, it's been a long time since I posted anything, but I haven't done anything much or gone anywhere (Helloooooooo, GOLF! It's time to plan the next vacation!!!!!), so I haven't had a lot to say. The potential explanation for same is below.<br /><br />Remember the bargello needlepoint risers golf posted pictures of last July? Well, she enjoyed doing that needlepoint so much that she decided to embark on another bargello needlepoint project (at the suggestion of her older sister). She was going to make a large "tapestry" wall hanging for the 20-foot entry/foyer of our house. She ordered the needlepoint canvas and figured it would probably be a year-long project -- or more. Ha! Notice the date: She finished it seven months later! It's 3' x 6' -- ye gads, that's really big! She spent the past couple of weekends figuring out how to get it up on the wall -- it's about 15' up the wall. Getting it in place was not easy. I won't even GO into the details of how she had to bungee-cord herself to the top of the ladder when it was nearly vertical, just so she could use both hands to mark the wall while holding a level tool . . . . . However, here is the tapestry in place! The pineapple quilt beside it was made by golf's 88-year-old mother (because she loves making quilts and Larry loves pineapples, in memory of all their Hawaii vacations. He wanted golf to make a pineapple needlepoint piece, but she couldn't figure out a pattern for that -- yet!).<br /><br />First, a picture of the two pieces in place -- this picture may show some proportion to the height of the entryhall.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S6QLrKp4kQI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/oQJBc0Y3TIg/s1600-h/entry2fixed.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450494285247451394" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S6QLrKp4kQI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/oQJBc0Y3TIg/s320/entry2fixed.jpg" /></a> Here is a picture "straight on" to show a little more detail and a better view without distortion. If you like examining for detail, you will notice that the pattern is rather "checkerboard," with "four-way" bargello squares every other square ("four-way" means the pattern goes out in four triangles to the edges from a center point -- look for it).<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S6QLrUG5JoI/AAAAAAAAB1g/QmuGcOGcCE4/s1600-h/togetherstraighton.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 318px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450494287785043586" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S6QLrUG5JoI/AAAAAAAAB1g/QmuGcOGcCE4/s320/togetherstraighton.jpg" /></a><br />So this is all for now. And speaking of "now," golf is currently working on a new needlepoint chair seat for her paternal grandfather's rocking chair (he was a sheriff in Arkansas in the late 1800s) -- she already made the needlepoint seat and back for her maternal grandmother's rocking chair. She is a needlepointing fool!<br /><br />Hopefully the next time I post something, it will be from somewhere . . . . not here! But the only thing golf has planned in the near future is a trip to the Tennessee Mountains for a "sibling retreat" in April. Well, maybe there'll be some kind of photo op . . . . .<br /><div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-81975982751579777892010-01-10T20:35:00.032-05:002010-05-30T15:14:36.844-04:00Cayman Islands -- January 9-11, 2010Map of Grand Cayman:<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKaRk2IA0I/AAAAAAAAB24/tY635KcZLOc/s1600/map.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 138px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477109723575092034" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKaRk2IA0I/AAAAAAAAB24/tY635KcZLOc/s320/map.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qDa-HayaI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/wV2Go09L6Us/s1600-h/welcome.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425293200495135138" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qDa-HayaI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/wV2Go09L6Us/s320/welcome.jpg" /></a><br />Here we are on Grand Cayman. It's sprinkling when we arrive, not a good sign. And as it turns out, rather prophetic.<br /><br />We get out lefthand drive rental car and drive from the airport to The Reef, our condo complex on the East End, more along the northeast corner of the island (see map above, where it has the label from a Panoramio photo "Reef Resort Sunrise").<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qFTazKl7I/AAAAAAAAB1A/bTKvzxVIz8Y/s1600-h/reefpier1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425295269779118002" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qFTazKl7I/AAAAAAAAB1A/bTKvzxVIz8Y/s320/reefpier1.jpg" /></a> When we get to the resort, we are delighted with our condo, but the wind is fierce and very chilly. We find out this is the coldest Cayman has been for years. And it stays this way for our entire visit, and Larry and golf are very disappointed that it is never warm enough for them to try snorkeling, even if the water were calm enough, which it isn't.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe59U1mVI/AAAAAAAAB3g/byhdEe2HWno/s1600/roughsurf1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477114815387638098" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe59U1mVI/AAAAAAAAB3g/byhdEe2HWno/s320/roughsurf1.jpg" /></a> The rough surf at our beach is shown above:<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe5SzHR6I/AAAAAAAAB3Y/N21I_Xh9scE/s1600/reefsouth.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477114803971901346" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe5SzHR6I/AAAAAAAAB3Y/N21I_Xh9scE/s320/reefsouth.jpg" /></a> The view to the right outside our condo above:<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe45_LiWI/AAAAAAAAB3Q/-Vz1DSukUQc/s1600/reefpier1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477114797311625570" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe45_LiWI/AAAAAAAAB3Q/-Vz1DSukUQc/s320/reefpier1.jpg" /></a> The Reef''s pier above:<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe4kXpT6I/AAAAAAAAB3I/CmjuS9bVZXI/s1600/morrittspiers.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477114791508660130" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe4kXpT6I/AAAAAAAAB3I/CmjuS9bVZXI/s320/morrittspiers.jpg" /></a> Morritt's Tortuga Resort is to our right; above is its pier.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe4EpPT_I/AAAAAAAAB3A/lWcmauRA6uo/s1600/reefnorth.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477114782992519154" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKe4EpPT_I/AAAAAAAAB3A/lWcmauRA6uo/s320/reefnorth.jpg" /></a> The view to the left outside our door above (the grill Larry will use to cook the steaks).<br />The parking lot side of the complex:<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qDaJVFhII/AAAAAAAAB0I/2uWwJEnDkZM/s1600-h/reefbalconies.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425293186325382274" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qDaJVFhII/AAAAAAAAB0I/2uWwJEnDkZM/s320/reefbalconies.jpg" /></a> The view out our condo sliding glass doors:<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qDarcVjoI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/ElppNCjxaVg/s1600-h/outpatio1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425293195482599042" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qDarcVjoI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/ElppNCjxaVg/s320/outpatio1.jpg" /></a>The view from the sidewalk toward our condo:<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qDZ-HIslI/AAAAAAAAB0A/Uxzh9bLmzZk/s1600-h/DSC00081.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425293183314080338" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qDZ-HIslI/AAAAAAAAB0A/Uxzh9bLmzZk/s320/DSC00081.JPG" /></a> We ended up opening the window in the bathroom for a cross-breeze and left the condo doors wide open all night and having the strong window and rough surf lull us to sleep every night. </div><br /><div>Saturday afternoon golf and Larry just got their bearings, grocery shopped (things are EXPENSIVE on Grand Cayman), and cooked one of the big steaks they'd brought (in their checked bag, frozen to thaw during flight and eat for dinner -- that worked!) and tried to enjoy the view and stay warm.</div><br /><div>Come Sunday morning, it's still cold and windy; so Larry and golf just went exploring. They drove up to Rum Point and looked around there. There are some REALLY big houses on Grand Cayman (even more pictures of them around the island later down the blog), but here's one at the Rum Point Harbor.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qFSXy7M7I/AAAAAAAAB0o/YkgjjxsvQmg/s1600-h/rumptharborhouse.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425295251792933810" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qFSXy7M7I/AAAAAAAAB0o/YkgjjxsvQmg/s320/rumptharborhouse.jpg" /></a> And those along the way there:<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKmDkSFNlI/AAAAAAAAB4Q/MibJzSjXPM0/s1600/blueroofhouse.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477122677045278290" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKmDkSFNlI/AAAAAAAAB4Q/MibJzSjXPM0/s320/blueroofhouse.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKmDN07odI/AAAAAAAAB4I/KAWjaOzCREo/s1600/whitegatehouse.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477122671017435602" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKmDN07odI/AAAAAAAAB4I/KAWjaOzCREo/s320/whitegatehouse.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKmC7VhpCI/AAAAAAAAB4A/17SUUoSyh78/s1600/estate1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477122666053870626" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKmC7VhpCI/AAAAAAAAB4A/17SUUoSyh78/s320/estate1.jpg" /></a> Signs at Rum Point: list of hurricanes:<br /><div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qFR__I0lI/AAAAAAAAB0g/uk-iys0aJKI/s1600-h/hurricanesign.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425295245401707090" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qFR__I0lI/AAAAAAAAB0g/uk-iys0aJKI/s320/hurricanesign.jpg" /></a> Destination distances:</div></div></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKnZg756rI/AAAAAAAAB4Y/oFID0nYdya4/s1600/rumpointsign.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477124153615706802" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKnZg756rI/AAAAAAAAB4Y/oFID0nYdya4/s320/rumpointsign.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Looking west from Rum Point toward Sting Ray City area:<br /><br /></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKhY4E85pI/AAAAAAAAB34/oQrteTN9D1U/s1600/rumptspitdist.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477117545578030738" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKhY4E85pI/AAAAAAAAB34/oQrteTN9D1U/s320/rumptspitdist.jpg" /></a> Rum Point Pier (where golf's visor blew off on Tuesday, and we walked about a half mile down the beach till it floated in close enough to shore so golf could wade in hip-deep and retrieve it):<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKhYTu0teI/AAAAAAAAB3w/qmByarIMvR4/s1600/rumptpier.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477117535821542882" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKhYTu0teI/AAAAAAAAB3w/qmByarIMvR4/s320/rumptpier.jpg" /></a> Can you spot Larry in the middle of the picture below, wearing khaki slacks and a long-sleeved black sweatshirt? That's how chilly it was -- golf and Larry never had a chance to wear shorts! (Thank goodness there were laundry facilities on-site at the condo, because they wore the same winter clothes every day till the last day!)<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKhXz1cdaI/AAAAAAAAB3o/uLfz3uN5RIQ/s1600/rumptlehdist.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477117527259379106" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKhXz1cdaI/AAAAAAAAB3o/uLfz3uN5RIQ/s320/rumptlehdist.jpg" /></a> Monday, they headed south and east toward Bodden Town, passing the blow hole:<br /></div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qB-xsJHxI/AAAAAAAABzY/mpDwx6S1e10/s1600-h/bh1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425291616611540754" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qB-xsJHxI/AAAAAAAABzY/mpDwx6S1e10/s320/bh1.jpg" /></a><br />Brain coral fossil near the blow hole:<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK3D-dA_7I/AAAAAAAAB6Y/7j3vy3ABFlQ/s1600/braincoralfossil.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477141375768133554" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK3D-dA_7I/AAAAAAAAB6Y/7j3vy3ABFlQ/s320/braincoralfossil.jpg" /></a> In Bodden Town, they visited the historic Pedro Castle, one of the oldest houses on Grand Cayman. It was really impressive, with wonderful porches all around, stairs, shutters -- what you WANT to see as a 19th-century tropical house.</div></div></div><div><div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKr1lcJdnI/AAAAAAAAB4w/yBnwkTXY-SY/s1600/seasidewporch.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477129033907533426" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKr1lcJdnI/AAAAAAAAB4w/yBnwkTXY-SY/s320/seasidewporch.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKr1euK9lI/AAAAAAAAB4o/jEgt3gP0G2Q/s1600/pedroback.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 248px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477129032104080978" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKr1euK9lI/AAAAAAAAB4o/jEgt3gP0G2Q/s320/pedroback.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKr1HghqEI/AAAAAAAAB4g/0zWop9B8jLM/s1600/bedroom.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477129025872832578" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKr1HghqEI/AAAAAAAAB4g/0zWop9B8jLM/s320/bedroom.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxK_PkCFI/AAAAAAAAB5w/TOseJZxH288/s1600/porch.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477134899169462354" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxK_PkCFI/AAAAAAAAB5w/TOseJZxH288/s320/porch.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxKUXRDrI/AAAAAAAAB5o/kTt7ZkhkQEc/s1600/parlor.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477134887659048626" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxKUXRDrI/AAAAAAAAB5o/kTt7ZkhkQEc/s320/parlor.jpg" /></a> Note Larry is STILL in long pants and a long-sleeved sweatshirt -- odd to see in such a tropical environment. But that's how it was STILL so chilly.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxJ_x0zWI/AAAAAAAAB5g/RBCpsLq9N8g/s1600/larry.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477134882133298530" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxJ_x0zWI/AAAAAAAAB5g/RBCpsLq9N8g/s320/larry.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxJiqMMbI/AAAAAAAAB5Y/e2maJwVFbRk/s1600/dining.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477134874316648882" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxJiqMMbI/AAAAAAAAB5Y/e2maJwVFbRk/s320/dining.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxJDEjEJI/AAAAAAAAB5Q/gwq4sWrbNtQ/s1600/chaise.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477134865837265042" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKxJDEjEJI/AAAAAAAAB5Q/gwq4sWrbNtQ/s320/chaise.jpg" /></a><br />Then Larry and golf continue east, looking for Smith's Cove, supposedly a good place to snorkel (they still have hope the weather will warm up -- it doesn't). On the way there, they see still more huge houses:<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKsluEkBQI/AAAAAAAAB5I/VFe-PoANo-c/s1600/thompsonsfront.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477129860858250498" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKsluEkBQI/AAAAAAAAB5I/VFe-PoANo-c/s320/thompsonsfront.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKr2JyHsWI/AAAAAAAAB5A/gTD3BO6-zNY/s1600/castelwestfirfs.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477129043663368546" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAKr2JyHsWI/AAAAAAAAB5A/gTD3BO6-zNY/s320/castelwestfirfs.jpg" /></a><br /><div>In heading back toward the condo, they stop and view a rather silly little tourist trap called the "Pirates' Caves" (but what else did they have to do since they couldn't snorkel?!?!?), where there was sort of small petting zoo and photo ops with some tropical birds (okay, okay, they were desperate for entertainment). golf with Brutus, the cockatoo:<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qB-h0I9tI/AAAAAAAABzQ/JNl2SH0InyY/s1600-h/brutus&kel.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 309px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425291612350117586" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0qB-h0I9tI/AAAAAAAABzQ/JNl2SH0InyY/s320/brutus%26kel.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK17qd6n2I/AAAAAAAAB6A/RGa1A8RKdgo/s1600/pircavintro.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477140133452619618" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK17qd6n2I/AAAAAAAAB6A/RGa1A8RKdgo/s320/pircavintro.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK18V4m5pI/AAAAAAAAB6Q/4RnYdebr6Kk/s1600/pircav3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477140145107297938" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK18V4m5pI/AAAAAAAAB6Q/4RnYdebr6Kk/s320/pircav3.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK18KKPLiI/AAAAAAAAB6I/3nTiyNgRnRY/s1600/pircavstory.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477140141960015394" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK18KKPLiI/AAAAAAAAB6I/3nTiyNgRnRY/s320/pircavstory.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK17N_Rq6I/AAAAAAAAB54/XBzgO11zOYI/s1600/parrot1small.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477140125807913890" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/TAK17N_Rq6I/AAAAAAAAB54/XBzgO11zOYI/s320/parrot1small.jpg" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-43393904890711416122010-01-06T16:29:00.003-05:002010-01-10T20:24:06.619-05:00January 6, 2010 -- "Lonely" BettasTo understand this post, you need to understand that golf has a phobia about keeping the house "over-heated" (over 66 degrees F) in the winter. Atlanta has had an exceptionally cold winter this year (if you haven't seen all the news reports!). Her bettas are just in bowls normally kept on the kitchen bar/counter. However, that area is pretty chilly in the house, and, ideally, bettas are supposed to be in water that is 82 degrees F. Not golf's poor bettas! They have to learn to adapt to cold water or perish. Well, the bedroom where the goldfish tank is stays a lot warmer (due to the architecture of the house), so golf moved the bettas (in their vases) into the bedroom beside the goldfish tank. When Larry saw them in their new location after he got home from work that night around midnight, he then sent golf an email at work the next day, asking if she had moved the bettas to be beside the goldfish tank because she thought they were "lonely" and needed company! Cracked her up! She guessed he wasn't aware how cold the little buggers were! Here they are in their "warmer" climes (with a couple of the goldfish showing behind them, as distorted by the curvature of the betta vases):<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0UBCOoLIFI/AAAAAAAABzI/QtBq166_SNA/s1600-h/bettasst.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423742464035594322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0UBCOoLIFI/AAAAAAAABzI/QtBq166_SNA/s320/bettasst.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-34882916281265634352010-01-05T13:09:00.003-05:002010-01-10T20:15:49.202-05:00January 5, 2010 -- FotoSketcher -- Cool app!golf got an email today with an app that changes your pictures to watercolors or oil paintings. I wasn't that impressed with the "oil paintings" but the pictures converted to watercolors are pretty cool. Can you spot me in the picture below, sitting on the wall at the tidal pool at "Robin's Nest" -- from our Oahu trip in September '08?<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAuo3rAkI/AAAAAAAABzA/EK2MedYCQUw/s1600-h/FotoSketcher+-+tidalpool.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423319915017470530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 277px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAuo3rAkI/AAAAAAAABzA/EK2MedYCQUw/s320/FotoSketcher+-+tidalpool.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Here's golf walking along Nurses' Beach on Kauai:<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAuefZpeI/AAAAAAAABy4/zC6F-ENMsvo/s1600-h/FotoSketcher+-+kelbeach2.JPG.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423319912231314914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 294px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAuefZpeI/AAAAAAAABy4/zC6F-ENMsvo/s320/FotoSketcher+-+kelbeach2.JPG.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is the eucalyptus tunnel on Kauai:<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAtzmsu7I/AAAAAAAAByw/3-m9PzaGRjg/s1600-h/FotoSketcher+-+euctun1.JPG.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423319900719201202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 201px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAtzmsu7I/AAAAAAAAByw/3-m9PzaGRjg/s320/FotoSketcher+-+euctun1.JPG.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Ta-da! Obviously the boathouse (Magnum's residence) at the Anderson Estate/Robin's Nest:<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAtoIt01I/AAAAAAAAByo/qqLhC_aRNHc/s1600-h/FotoSketcher+-+boathouseporchright1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423319897640653650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 277px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAtoIt01I/AAAAAAAAByo/qqLhC_aRNHc/s320/FotoSketcher+-+boathouseporchright1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />And an old deserted/abandoned building near the Kualoa Ranch on Oahu -- a former hospital? We never could find out what it is/was. If anyone knows, please advise.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAtGIVjXI/AAAAAAAAByg/xan8hMYUB4I/s1600-h/FotoSketcher+-+asylum.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423319888512257394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 277px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/S0OAtGIVjXI/AAAAAAAAByg/xan8hMYUB4I/s320/FotoSketcher+-+asylum.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>If you would like this free app, just go to www.fotosketcher.com.</div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-10474832701257229352010-01-01T18:16:00.004-05:002010-01-01T19:11:56.941-05:00An Old Video golf Just Found from this Summer<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyuzKKqIfrNKSyigH0cksWNP8YjUJjSp1BcCScz_XfL2SpEiA7TtRGrS54kSO1tOr7HFBFqqiU51Z4BX79svw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />Here's a short video golf just found tonight that she forgot she had made right after she got the new Sony W220 that takes videos and still shots. Mildly entertaining . . . .golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-59547344027392500022009-12-27T18:50:00.008-05:002009-12-27T19:28:27.823-05:00Dec. 28 -- Semi-decent Kitty Cam ResultsHere is Wyatt, the Ramar of the Jungle of our house in terms of adventuring out and about. He is not wearing the camera here but is wearing a golf bag medallion that shows how the camera would rest against his chest when put on a collar around his neck, so it is from this angle that the Kitty Cam will take pictures as he explores.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Szf3yspTa6I/AAAAAAAAByY/1neaPxUuIys/s1600-h/badgecu3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420073126913600418" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Szf3yspTa6I/AAAAAAAAByY/1neaPxUuIys/s320/badgecu3.jpg" /></a> <div>This was such a fun experience for us today, as we have not known just where Wyatt goes when he disappears. We had assumed he was heading toward the front of our house, where we have frequently found him under the bushes up against the foundation of the house, after going out the back door onto the deck and then down to the patio. But here is evidence that he goes to the neighbor's front porch (east of our house). This picture below is on our patio heading east.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Szf0JEYGPYI/AAAAAAAAByQ/FGGICH0O43g/s1600-h/dec26b.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420069113194495362" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Szf0JEYGPYI/AAAAAAAAByQ/FGGICH0O43g/s320/dec26b.JPG" /></a> He then cut to his left (north -- our backyard faces south), heading up to the neighbor's back yard.<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Szf0ARpr-MI/AAAAAAAAByI/cqih8_nWFSE/s1600-h/patio.jpg"></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzleS7p0I/AAAAAAAAByA/au4J7n1ziUw/s1600-h/headingtoneighbors.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420068501676861250" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzleS7p0I/AAAAAAAAByA/au4J7n1ziUw/s320/headingtoneighbors.jpg" /></a> Then he went even farther to the left (north) over the dirt on the neighbor's hill.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzlLGSTVI/AAAAAAAABx4/tN0zZ7ol0qQ/s1600-h/headingtoneighborsfrontporch.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420068496523545938" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzlLGSTVI/AAAAAAAABx4/tN0zZ7ol0qQ/s320/headingtoneighborsfrontporch.jpg" /></a> Below, he seemed to pause and turn around and look back at our house (that's the front northeast corner of our house, showing the holly bushes where we usually find him hiding, WHEN we can find him at all!) to see if we were watching where he went (of course, we weren't -- we had the camera on him!).<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzkxCNFrI/AAAAAAAABxw/S92GtbIwghc/s1600-h/lookingbackhome.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420068489527105202" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzkxCNFrI/AAAAAAAABxw/S92GtbIwghc/s320/lookingbackhome.jpg" /></a> Then he zipped on up onto the neighbor's front porch.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzJpZ-JhI/AAAAAAAABxo/SJ4CF4DodN8/s1600-h/onneighborsfrontporch.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420068023622837778" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzJpZ-JhI/AAAAAAAABxo/SJ4CF4DodN8/s320/onneighborsfrontporch.jpg" /></a> It seems he paused and checked out his view from here, looking to his right (northeast).<br /></div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzJa3oi0I/AAAAAAAABxg/pRuGjSr7w3g/s1600-h/nporchlookingeast3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420068019720719170" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzJa3oi0I/AAAAAAAABxg/pRuGjSr7w3g/s320/nporchlookingeast3.jpg" /></a> Then he looked directly at the house across the street from the neighbor's house.<br /><div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzIj0BH5I/AAAAAAAABxQ/L_8MTsqqgkA/s1600-h/nporchlookingnorth2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420068004941602706" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzIj0BH5I/AAAAAAAABxQ/L_8MTsqqgkA/s320/nporchlookingnorth2.jpg" /></a> He then apparently looked for a minute or so to his left (northwest) and a picture was snapped of the house across the street from his (our) house.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzIdTHAwI/AAAAAAAABxI/gGHvYefPcJU/s1600-h/nporchlookingnorthwest.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420068003192963842" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SzfzIdTHAwI/AAAAAAAABxI/gGHvYefPcJU/s320/nporchlookingnorthwest.jpg" /></a> This was quite enlightening to us, as we had no idea that he was going over to the neighbor's front porch. We have seen him looking in the koi pond in the house behind this neighbor's house (which is catty-cornered to our back yard due to the corner on our street). Hopefully the next time he goes out with the camera, we can get pictures of him watching the koi pond. </div><div></div><br /><div>The camera was set to take a picture every 60 seconds, and he was out and about for only about 26 minutes (we got 26 pictures, most of which were either duplicative of the above shots or too blurry during movement to be useful). But in this one trip, the camera has served its purpose and has tattle-tailed on where the little bugger went. Larry and golf agree that this episode was DEE-lightful to follow via pictures, and they look forward to further Kitty Cam Adventures. golf was LOL as she tracked his journey by the pictures and calling to Larry to "come look at this one." ;-) She is going to SO enjoy spring when the weather is nicer and Wyatt can be outside longer.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-3173857526913181462009-12-20T18:41:00.002-05:002009-12-20T19:06:27.371-05:00Dec. 20 -- Yet Again a Few More Christmas PicturesHere is the tree late this afternoon, after golf finished wrapping all the presents -- for a Christmas when it has been agreed we (family) aren't going to exchange presents. Oh, well, golf just can't do that. But she just has little stuff for her family -- putting little bags of chocolate candy or pistachio nuts in a box and then giving it as a gift, just so everyone will have something to open -- really no big deal. But since she wrapped all the gifts for herself and Larry (new camera, memory stick, spare battery, etc., plus other little stuff she doesn't even remember! Check the end of this post for the Saga of the Missing Marine Pack.), Larry gets to open all the presents Christmas Eve (he has to work Christmas, so they'll "do Christmas" on Christmas Eve.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sy63jEqnU_I/AAAAAAAABxA/VWaNeiyL89Y/s1600-h/tree%26presents1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417469214949069810" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sy63jEqnU_I/AAAAAAAABxA/VWaNeiyL89Y/s320/tree%26presents1.jpg" /></a> Close-up of the presents -- note the Breyer palomino Western horse at the center just left of Quigley Down Under "action figure" and 8" Madame Alexander Scarlett doll (Christmas present for golf in 1955).<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sy6257NltDI/AAAAAAAABw4/hzza0EGG2GM/s1600-h/presentsscarlett.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 243px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417468508036772914" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sy6257NltDI/AAAAAAAABw4/hzza0EGG2GM/s320/presentsscarlett.jpg" /></a> Another picture of the lights outside since golf added the six little candy cane lights by the sidewalk -- already on sale at Wal-Mart at 50% off.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sy625uyNNqI/AAAAAAAABww/ZYv_lf3iPO8/s1600-h/frontdec20cu.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417468504700696226" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sy625uyNNqI/AAAAAAAABww/ZYv_lf3iPO8/s320/frontdec20cu.jpg" /></a> And last night golf moved all the knick-knacks off the mantle and put all her little china Victorian houses with batting for snow there.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sy625Pxn-vI/AAAAAAAABwo/Gjl79DTcN4k/s1600-h/mantle1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417468496376756978" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sy625Pxn-vI/AAAAAAAABwo/Gjl79DTcN4k/s320/mantle1.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Saga of the Missing Marine Pack: golf initially asked "Santa" for the Sony MPK-WE marine pack for her camera. Then Larry's camera broke and golf found out her Sony W220 has no option for any manual settings, but the W290 does ("semi-manual") so Larry agreed he would "get" her new W220 as his new camera for a present (because his MAIN Santa present was his new HDTV) and golf can get the W290 -- because she had already ordered the marine pack. THEN, first vendor she ordered it from canceled the order because the pack is no longer manufactured by Sony --"discontinued." So the Great White Whale Hunt (no pun intended!) began to find a vendor with leftover inventory of the marine pack. She went through three more orders that got canceled -- and every time after waiting a week to so inform her!! DON'T tell her you have something and then A WEEK LATER send an email canceling the order because you DON'T have it! golf was getting really p.o.'ed. She has SUPPOSEDLY now found it at Ace Photo Digital who promised her "100%" they have it in stock because their inventory control shows 36 in inventory. Obviously, it is now far too late to get it by Christmas, but right now she can live with that -- she's not going snorkeling on Christmas or the weekend after -- she just wants to GET the danged thing. However, she will not be surprised -- though greatly disappointed again -- if she hears from Ace that they don't have it after all. If it's discontinued, why does Sony still have this item on ITS website for $229?? She was hoping to pay less than that (she saw it from a seller on eBay for $135 this summer, and that's when she got the idea to get it -- and apparently WHEN she should have bought the bloody thing if she actually expected to receive it). If Ace cancels, Sony might be the only option. Right now she and Larry are probably willing to pay the $229, just to get it. They're getting stubborn and determined to get it now. Will keep you posted. Big sigh . . . . . (from golf) . . . . .</div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-6771997398520496702009-12-13T16:41:00.007-05:002009-12-13T17:26:15.342-05:00December 13, 2009 -- I Am Not Amused . . . .<div>But Larry is. This was his big idea. As a Christmas gift last year, golf was given a bottle of wine placed in this gorgeous wooden box. The wine has long since disappeared, but golf always puts the box under the tree because it's so pretty.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVoF0lKQ7I/AAAAAAAABwg/3Q-QOlOVRw8/s1600-h/boxalone.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414848576206029746" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVoF0lKQ7I/AAAAAAAABwg/3Q-QOlOVRw8/s320/boxalone.jpg" /></a> THIS year, Larry asked if I would fit in the box! WHY would he want to know that??<br /><div><div>.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVgeQeRPpI/AAAAAAAABv4/tO-gZiJnu6k/s1600-h/topview1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414840199917158034" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVgeQeRPpI/AAAAAAAABv4/tO-gZiJnu6k/s320/topview1.jpg" /></a> Is he trying to get rid of me??<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVgeIsq6-I/AAAAAAAABvw/yID184655k8/s1600-h/side1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414840197830077410" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVgeIsq6-I/AAAAAAAABvw/yID184655k8/s320/side1.jpg" /></a> Not very subtle, is he?<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVgdgrKZnI/AAAAAAAABvo/08T91OQoa7g/s1600-h/topcu.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414840187086333554" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVgdgrKZnI/AAAAAAAABvo/08T91OQoa7g/s320/topcu.jpg" /></a> In the meantime, here are a couple of other ornaments golf has put on the tree -- a needlepoint version of our house here (visited by the 308 Ferrari and TC's heli, along with Santa in a 1995 Chevy Blazer [our previous Golfmobile -- now it's a red Rodeo]).<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVmwp7IAnI/AAAAAAAABwY/VuHEfkGMdb8/s1600-h/628a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414847113056486002" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVmwp7IAnI/AAAAAAAABwY/VuHEfkGMdb8/s320/628a.jpg" /></a> And here's the house at 383 Park Avenue, as it looked when golf and Larry lived there. golf still loves her time spent at that house. The Ferrari put in an appearance here too.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVmwfJmRaI/AAAAAAAABwQ/AmfXJ9AXXBo/s1600-h/383a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414847110164399522" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVmwfJmRaI/AAAAAAAABwQ/AmfXJ9AXXBo/s320/383a.jpg" /></a><br />And so that Santa doesn't think the "coffin" pictures above are a Christmas request:<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVmv1t5nWI/AAAAAAAABwI/xYBbtvJBZ5g/s1600-h/explain.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414847099042372962" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SyVmv1t5nWI/AAAAAAAABwI/xYBbtvJBZ5g/s320/explain.jpg" /></a><br />Happy Holidays!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-1731563253344257662009-12-09T14:18:00.003-05:002009-12-09T14:43:16.869-05:00Wednesday, December 9 -- Kitty Cam!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_9tFZLaXI/AAAAAAAABvg/VLYDKoy7iHk/s1600-h/badgecu1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413324228106348914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_9tFZLaXI/AAAAAAAABvg/VLYDKoy7iHk/s320/badgecu1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Well, not yet. Just practicing. golf has asked Santa for the pet's eye view camera:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ltdcommodities.com/Pets-Eye-View-Camera/cat_item_pg.asp?G=718&P=54&Rec=1&N=37+4294964885+208&Nao=0&R=463106-5PC9---1">Kitty Cam</a><br /><br />The purpose of same is to find out where the HECK Wyatt goes when he disappears for a couple of hours when golf and Larry let Sundance and Wyatt go outside for a while. Sundance sticks fairly close and will readily come flying up the deck stairs when called or whistled for. Wyatt will do that SOMETIMES. Other times he just disappears and we have NO idea where he is. He always comes back within an hour or two. Still and all, golf found that camera and thought it would be enlightening and entertaining to have Wyatt wear a "kitty cam." The trick, however, is to get him used to wearing something around his neck, as he normally doesn't even wear a collar. Since we have no pet collars around the house, golf linked two luggage tag "belts" together to make a temporary collar for Wyatt. She tried that first, and he didn't object after just a couple of minutes of puzzlement. Then she needed something about the size and weight of what she figures the camera will be. What would work? Well, she and Larry has been given a couple of metal golf bag tags when they were at Maui Dunes -- she just needed to find one. Not on the golf bags. Not in the golf bags. She had seen one recently . . . . . Okay, on a table downstairs. Attach to collar. Wyatt does NOT like. Too heavy for initial orientation. Remove it, attach a spare key to the collar instead, much less weight but still a dangling object. Okay, no objection, and he adjusted to that fine. That was Monday night. Tuesday night when she came home for work, she switched out the key for the heavier and larger golf bag tag. A little disconcerting to Wyatt for a few minutes, but then he adjusted and paid no attention to it, not even when it was clunking against the hardwood floor while he was eating the kitty treats she gave him for being such a good boy and not objecting to his new "badge." He played around the rest of the night with this rather weighty "iron" hanging on his neck, but there was no evidence of trauma or even discomfort. So he's ready for the camera, whenever it comes in. I have a feeling golf won't be able to wait till she receives it as Christmas present to use it.<br /><br />So, here's how Wyatt looks - the sheriff in town:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_4WOPiayI/AAAAAAAABvY/L0i-Ffr_faU/s1600-h/badgecu2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413318337786702626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_4WOPiayI/AAAAAAAABvY/L0i-Ffr_faU/s320/badgecu2.jpg" border="0" /></a> He may look slightly annoyed here, but I think he was objecting more to the picture-taking that his necklace.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_4V9rujNI/AAAAAAAABvQ/Bb9RsFRkN8s/s1600-h/orange1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413318333341535442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_4V9rujNI/AAAAAAAABvQ/Bb9RsFRkN8s/s320/orange1.jpg" border="0" /></a> Eventually, after he wore himself out playing round the house, he went to sleep. Yes, I can see the badge is REALLY bothering him and stressing him out . . . . .<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_4VUAaBII/AAAAAAAABvI/UFzLXuo3Iyk/s1600-h/stressed3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413318322153981058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_4VUAaBII/AAAAAAAABvI/UFzLXuo3Iyk/s320/stressed3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_4Uzn_-0I/AAAAAAAABvA/2nHZssrZL-E/s1600-h/stress4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413318313461676866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sx_4Uzn_-0I/AAAAAAAABvA/2nHZssrZL-E/s320/stress4.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-84234719232305285002009-11-30T18:34:00.005-05:002009-11-30T18:40:22.247-05:00One more Christmas lights picture -- November 30golf forgot the little lighted Christmas presents boxes:<br /><br /><p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxRWqM3F7mI/AAAAAAAABu0/MwzJa1-VU0Y/s1600/frontdoorcufb.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410044335385603682" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxRWqM3F7mI/AAAAAAAABu0/MwzJa1-VU0Y/s320/frontdoorcufb.jpg" /></a></p><p>She also can't figure out why her fancy-schmancy new Sony camera can't focus on the lights regardless of which setting she uses. She has asked Larry to see if he can get a better picture with his Canon. If so, we'll post one of his pictures.</p>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-70588922208171247422009-11-27T18:06:00.004-05:002009-11-27T18:34:30.056-05:00Friday, November 27, 2009Sorry it's been a month since we posted anything. We had a great Thanksgiving with golf's parents. Then today she was out in the cold decorating the house. She is SUCH a Christmas freak!<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBcG_iE6QI/AAAAAAAABuM/NcOZ7AZg-VM/s1600/dark1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 208px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408924427675298050" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBcG_iE6QI/AAAAAAAABuM/NcOZ7AZg-VM/s320/dark1.jpg" /></a><br />But, hey! In the meantime, I forgot to mention, Larry already HAS his Christmas present -- a 46" Sony Bravia HDTV. Really cool! I'll try to get a picture later of golf using it for her flight simming -- yes! Flight Simulator with a 46" monitor!! Actually, kind of freaky.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBedcNSdGI/AAAAAAAABuc/fwhHfGGDNNM/s1600/newtv.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408927012353111138" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBedcNSdGI/AAAAAAAABuc/fwhHfGGDNNM/s320/newtv.jpg" /></a> In the meantime, here's our tree.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBedh9fjtI/AAAAAAAABus/xegkByS3kxY/s1600/treefull.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408927013897473746" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBedh9fjtI/AAAAAAAABus/xegkByS3kxY/s320/treefull.jpg" /></a> I hadn't exactly planned on becoming a Christmas ornament. But I don't really mind sitting beside the needlepoint ornament golf made as a "representation" of our house.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBedSZtZPI/AAAAAAAABuk/1DZbzwEIFUk/s1600/tree2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408927009720853746" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBedSZtZPI/AAAAAAAABuk/1DZbzwEIFUk/s320/tree2.jpg" /></a><br />Here I am with the needlepoint version of the 383 Park Avenue house (remember that post? But I never lived there . . . .)<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBec1RfNZI/AAAAAAAABuU/mYX9kxGtmvg/s1600/tree1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408927001901741458" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SxBec1RfNZI/AAAAAAAABuU/mYX9kxGtmvg/s320/tree1.jpg" /></a> Doncha love the bubble lights?!?!? </div><div><br /> Happy Holidays!<br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-486396651951153032009-10-27T18:27:00.007-04:002009-10-27T19:28:25.459-04:00Early Sunday morning, October 25 (Happy Anniversary, Dad and Mother!)EARLY (7 a.m.) Sunday morning, golf was out on the beach with her snorkel equipment (and me). Basing her decision on where to snorkel on the placement of the jetty of rocks and her research on Google Earth, she figured the best place for snorkeling was the east end of the beach.<br /><br /><p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud3z6-bJaI/AAAAAAAABtk/rnRvZKwpT4Y/s1600-h/east1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397414412314944930" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud3z6-bJaI/AAAAAAAABtk/rnRvZKwpT4Y/s320/east1.jpg" /></a> Of course, I had to oversee it a little bit. I suggested she go out on the west side (between me and the rocks) of the jetty of rocks, just a little farther along the beach from where I'm sitting on the beach chair here.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud12WQc0eI/AAAAAAAABtc/T_wgOBZ_5I4/s1600-h/bol1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 236px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397412254974792162" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud12WQc0eI/AAAAAAAABtc/T_wgOBZ_5I4/s320/bol1.jpg" /></a> She did so -- and found very shallow water and the "dark" areas she saw on Google Earth were just seagrass (or whatever you call that underwater "grass" -- not coral, unfortunately). She paddled around for a little while but didn't see many fish -- not even any convict tang, which are usually rather prevalent in Caribbean waters. Finally, when she got out about 50 yards beyond the rock jetty, she started seeing the neon blue tang. Frustratingly, at that point, she noticed that her new air mattress was losing air. Granted, she wasn't really in very deep water but she was rather far out, so she paddled on back to shore (to find the reason the mattress was deflating was not because of a leak but because she had not fully inserted the plug -- yes, she felt rather . . . . . embarrassed/dumb/hey-she's-a-blonde -- never mind . . . . )</p><p>So she just gave up (since she wasn't spotting any special fish) and just took pictures of the beach for Larry, since he hasn't seen Bolongo Beach. Below I'm sitting at the rock jetty and this is the east end of the beach.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud12LMLYNI/AAAAAAAABtU/q9Rjixyb2qc/s1600-h/bol2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397412252004081874" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud12LMLYNI/AAAAAAAABtU/q9Rjixyb2qc/s320/bol2.jpg" /></a> Sun is coming up a little more in the picture below.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud112cNt7I/AAAAAAAABtM/uzL3wvfKU30/s1600-h/bol3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397412246434199474" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud112cNt7I/AAAAAAAABtM/uzL3wvfKU30/s320/bol3.jpg" /></a>From where she was at the east end of the beach, looking back toward the west end, this is the edge of the bay farthest out into the sea.</p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud30jk4SPI/AAAAAAAABt8/b-v1eN8lvX0/s1600-h/west3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397414423213656306" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud30jk4SPI/AAAAAAAABt8/b-v1eN8lvX0/s320/west3.jpg" /></a> One camera turn in toward shore . . .<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud30RyUv9I/AAAAAAAABt0/FUP2IX6z9WA/s1600-h/west2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397414418438209490" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud30RyUv9I/AAAAAAAABt0/FUP2IX6z9WA/s320/west2.jpg" /></a><br />And for the third part of triptech, the shore west to east to the rock jetty.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud30CoAA7I/AAAAAAAABts/nXFtKCSABKg/s1600-h/west1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397414414368375730" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud30CoAA7I/AAAAAAAABts/nXFtKCSABKg/s320/west1.jpg" /></a> </div></div>She retired back to the condo unit to pack up and get ready to head out. Out on the balcony, she was fooling around on the laptop, checking email and flight status, etc., and took these pictures of her view of the west end of the bay, over the beach outside her second floor condo unit. Note the "wedding arch" trellis where there had been a wedding on Saturday evening at sunset.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud11coPdSI/AAAAAAAABtE/4HHv8bW5F7E/s1600-h/westwaves.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397412239505323298" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud11coPdSI/AAAAAAAABtE/4HHv8bW5F7E/s320/westwaves.jpg" /></a> Nice little boat in the bay. But note the waves -- a little too much surf for snorkeling here, but maybe that's where one is supposed to snorkel to see the good fish. They sure weren't where she tried on the east end!<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud11LnRXJI/AAAAAAAABs8/rc_BN0GbkuE/s1600-h/weddingarch.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397412234937851026" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sud11LnRXJI/AAAAAAAABs8/rc_BN0GbkuE/s320/weddingarch.jpg" /></a> So after this rather disappointing morning (in terms of snorkeling -- she was still enjoying a very nice morning beachside on a tropical island, for crying out loud!), she packed up and checked out and headed to the airport for the trip home.<br /><br />Which leads to an ENTIRELY different story that she's not ready to deal with right now (at least in the public domain). Maybe in a few days, she'll come to see the humor of the episode. (I'm LMAO!) But for right now, let's give her a little "come to grips" time and I'll reveal all as soon as she is willing to concede her stupidity and 'fess up. She usually has a good sense of "black humor" and the ability to ridicule herself. Right now, she's just too embarrassed. I'll cut her some slack -- this time!golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-77267359167059194192009-10-24T18:05:00.015-04:002009-10-24T19:09:25.316-04:00Saturday, October 24 -- Back in St. Thomas! Yea!<div>We are back in St. Thomas, this time at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort. This resort "ain't much to write home about" -- the buildings are pretty old, but the furnishings seem updated and it does have a kingsize bed.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7Nu7W3SI/AAAAAAAABsM/61XRs79H0MI/s1600-h/studio.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396292254385495330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7Nu7W3SI/AAAAAAAABsM/61XRs79H0MI/s320/studio.JPG" border="0" /></a> And the beach itself is nice, though from what golf found out when she waded a little bit into the water just before sundown, once past the sand, it's rather rocky. Here's the view from our balcony.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7NN7gpHI/AAAAAAAABsE/gp3npQ03r08/s1600-h/balc2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396292245527766130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7NN7gpHI/AAAAAAAABsE/gp3npQ03r08/s320/balc2.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7MxAIUbI/AAAAAAAABr8/R_AzbCBi5bg/s1600-h/balc1.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396292237762515378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7MxAIUbI/AAAAAAAABr8/R_AzbCBi5bg/s320/balc1.JPG" border="0" /></a> Bath is rather small, but the resort does furnish little bottles of shampoo and conditioner, little bars of soap and a hair dryer (Sapphire Village didn't in every unit, depended on the owner, I guess). (Yes, that's golf's laptop on the bathroom counter -- the bathroom had the only available electrical plug she could find to re-charge the battery on the laptop, which she ran down on the flight down, using GoGo internet ["free for one flight for new user" for which she signed up so she could email Larry about the flight, but then he wasn't paying attention to email because he didn't know golf was using it! [gnash teeth] AAAAGGGGHH!!!)<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7OF2OH5I/AAAAAAAABsc/A2HuMYGz7Hw/s1600-h/bath.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396292260537966482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7OF2OH5I/AAAAAAAABsc/A2HuMYGz7Hw/s320/bath.jpg" border="0" /></a> Kitchen, though, hardly qualifies as a kitchen. A tiny wet-bar size sink, a small microwave, and a half refrigerator with no ice trays, much less an ice-maker. golf had to go buy a little styrofoam cooler and a bag of ice (she didn't take a picture of those).<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7NxPzHrI/AAAAAAAABsU/zzvTDlBTRJ0/s1600-h/kitchen.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396292255008104114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN7NxPzHrI/AAAAAAAABsU/zzvTDlBTRJ0/s320/kitchen.jpg" border="0" /></a> By the way, St. Thomas is on Atlantic time, so it's an hour ahead of Atlanta except when Daylight Savings Time is in effect, and then it's the same time.</div><br /><div></div><div>Now, as to how we (golf and I) got here. Larry and golf, with their smoking vice, had used up all the cigarettes golf got when she was down here in August, so it was time for another cigarette run. golf was able to get on the 10 a.m. flight down here (stand-by) without an problem, but this time she wasn't in First/Business Class. Bummer! (Is she spoiled or what?) Picked up her rental car, made it through "downtown" Charlotte Amalie (she's learning her way around pretty well) and to the resort without any major setbacks. Got all her stuff into the rental unit and seriously thought about going snorkeling first, BEFORE the cigarette run to K-Mart, but then she decided maybe she ought to do that run before dark, since this time she was taking a cross-island road that she hadn't driven (on the left side of the road, remember!) before, plus the water looked pretty surf-y (i.e., larger waves than she wanted to deal with while snorkeling).</div></div></div><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN-2PVud9I/AAAAAAAABss/9_cgIOEAshA/s1600-h/surf2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396296248815679442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN-2PVud9I/AAAAAAAABss/9_cgIOEAshA/s320/surf2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuN-13R3baI/AAAAAAAABsk/Q-a3uUHVCBg/s1600-h/surf1.jpg"></a><br /><p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuOAkvC5f6I/AAAAAAAABs0/MCQHmfizMXc/s1600-h/surf1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396298147112255394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SuOAkvC5f6I/AAAAAAAABs0/MCQHmfizMXc/s320/surf1.jpg" border="0" /></a> So, golf figured she'd make the K-Mart run and be back in time to snorkel for a little while. "The best laid plans . . . " and all that. The extra stop to have to get ice and the styrofoam cooler added a little too much time to the trip. Nevertheless, golf gave it her best shot and changed into her swimsuit, blew up her inflatable raft, loaded up the snorkel gear, and headed for the east end of the beach. Where she discovered that the loopy thingy that holds the snorkel to the mask -- was MISSING! Had she been able to get her equipment in order, I think she would have gone in the water for 10 minutes or so, just to see if there were any fish there. But without that one little piece of equipment, she reluctantly resigned herself to no snorkeling today. HOWEVER, the resort does have its own dive shop, so she diddly-bopped over there and purchased a new loopy thingy for $2. Of course, by this time, it was too late to go in the water, but she's set for tomorrow morning (YES, she did check her luggage to be sure the loopy thingy hadn't just fallen off in the bag, but, alas, it had not -- or yea! it had not, since she had just spent two bucks to buy another one). Oh, yes, along the line of talking about buying things, the unit may have little bottles of shampoo, etc., but it has virtually NO drinking glasses -- only three mini-orange juice size glasses. So along with the cigs at K-Mart, golf also bought a cheapo set of four "old fashioned" drink size glasses (good for margaritas) and a souvenir-stamped West Indies plastic insulated mug for her diet orange Sunkist in the morning (okay, okay, she KNOWS she can't buy Diet Sunkist here, so she packed four cans of that in the bag she checked [extra bag to be checked for more cigarette cartons room] -- and they made it through the flight without exploding! So she has her version of "morning coffee" -- she never learned to like coffee).</p><p>Also, since she hadn't had anything to eat all day but a few grapes before she went to the airport this morning, a Burger King croissandwich at the airport, a couple of cinnamon cookies on the airplane, and a handful of peanuts, she figured she ought get something for dinner. She bought a frozen (what her generation calls a "TV dinner") at the grocery store, so I guess she better go cook it in her little mini-microwave . . . . though now she's not hungry . . . . good thing she decided against the $40 lobster dinner at the restaurant here at the resort. That $40 will buy a lot more than one 1-lb. lobster at our local Kroger . . . .</p><p>Signing off for tonight (while I still have whatever internet connection she's managed to piggy-back onto for tonight). !<br /></p>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-63606344368077324932009-10-21T08:49:00.011-04:002009-10-21T16:29:34.171-04:00October 17, 2009 -- Another ArachnidNo, this is not turning into a Nat Geo blog -- we just haven't been anywhere to DO anything recently (though I believe golf has something stirred up for this weekend . . . . )<br /><br />Anyway . . . . although Larry and golf keep "losing" their argiopes, they seem to keep an eye out for potential new visitors. On about October 13-14, Larry found a HUGE web in the back yard -- it stretched from the river birch tree to the ground and over to the patio, a span of about 15 feet. The web didn't cover all that area -- it was just in the center of the area for about a span of 3 feet, but the strands stretched that far. Never found the spider though, and the web didn't look like Ariadne's, Venus', or Emily's as it didn't have the center zigzag stabilizer - it just had a hole in the middle. And it was a very "disorganized" web -- but then it was pretty big to be very detailed. We had a lot of rain over this time period, and I think it was after midnight one night (Thursday, October 15) that Larry went outside looking for the spider and finally found her on the web, busily repairing and respinning the web. He tried to get pictures, but his camera wouldn't focus in the dark. The next night he went out with our old Sony video camera that has a light and filmed the spider again. Our spider expert advised us this is an Eriophora ravilla, a southern orb weaver, usually found in the tropics. Here's a picture of one (not ours, we didn't take this picture).<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/St9q4HCcyYI/AAAAAAAABr0/340xeUkHkBc/s1600-h/eriophora+ravilla.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395148390807685506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 258px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/St9q4HCcyYI/AAAAAAAABr0/340xeUkHkBc/s320/eriophora+ravilla.jpg" border="0" /></a> However, HERE is the video Larry shot. It's not all that good because we don't have professional night-time photography or video equipment. But it's clear enough to see this little lady. We didn't have time to name her before she blew away in a storm the next day and since then the temperature has dropped below freezing at the house (yes, fairly unusual for October in Atlanta), she's probably long gone. Don't know that we'll find any more this year . . . . :-( </p><p>(Now what is really neat about this video is that the spider drops and starts swinging on a strand and Larry is able to follow her [in the dark!] and track her as she swings, gets to the ground and moves along in the grass a little, then skitters back up the thread [or another one] -- he was really good at following her in the first place, even if the video is not totally in focus all the time. That he got this much action at all is very commendable, in my opinion.)<br /><br /><br /></p><div align="center"><a href="http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i42/golfmobile/Spiders/?action=view&current=NoctSpider.flv">http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i42/golfmobile/Spiders/?action=view&current=NoctSpider.flv</a></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-23358049317071564572009-10-08T19:32:00.006-04:002009-10-08T19:54:54.406-04:00October 8: We interrupt this program . . . .<div>Are you getting tired of reading about Hawaii? Well, that's fine, I'm tired of writing about it. So I'll get golf to stick some other "news" in here. First of all, we have a new spider!!! If you followed along for the sagas of Ariadne and Venus . . . ., well, now we have Emily (golf flatly refused to name her Charlotte -- "Everyone names his/her spider Charlotte!!" -- so she decided on Emily -- get it?) And here she is (Emily, not golf), in all her glory. </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Ss53s04VfqI/AAAAAAAABrU/dc_7PTq0Clk/s1600-h/fullsun1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390377416001945250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 294px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Ss53s04VfqI/AAAAAAAABrU/dc_7PTq0Clk/s320/fullsun1.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Ss53tZI8VAI/AAAAAAAABrc/XcE2SZoHGQA/s1600-h/belly1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390377425735275522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Ss53tZI8VAI/AAAAAAAABrc/XcE2SZoHGQA/s320/belly1.jpg" border="0" /></a>Now, secondly, October 1 was golf's birthday. As usual, she got for herself what she wanted sometime back in March and just kept it hidden until her birthday, when she advised Larry of what HE had gotten for her. Ta-da!!<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Ss55JkBddSI/AAAAAAAABrs/ZrHz2j-SL3c/s1600-h/jacketlft1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390379009204647202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 276px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Ss55JkBddSI/AAAAAAAABrs/ZrHz2j-SL3c/s320/jacketlft1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Ss55JVYsBNI/AAAAAAAABrk/R1gPk3Vg_FY/s1600-h/jacketrt1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390379005275538642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Ss55JVYsBNI/AAAAAAAABrk/R1gPk3Vg_FY/s320/jacketrt1.jpg" border="0" /></a> Is that a good birthday present, or what? It is an actual jacket given out to the crew during the filming of the show. She got it on eBay from a former crew member. She's stoked! Her Magnum-Mania.com buddies asked her if she was going to frame it. Uhhhhh, she never thought of that. She's planning to WEAR it -- when it gets cool enough to need a jacket.</div><div> </div><div>So, whaddaya think?<br /></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-63042336181911684692009-10-04T18:28:00.009-04:002009-10-04T18:59:28.220-04:00Maui, Sunday, September 20 - Boat Snorkel TripHere is the Pacific Whale Organization catamaran boat that we headed out on at 8:30 Sunday morning.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sskj0IA0WUI/AAAAAAAABq8/fw3uRAYybyU/s1600-h/ourboat.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388877807536593218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sskj0IA0WUI/AAAAAAAABq8/fw3uRAYybyU/s320/ourboat.jpg" border="0" /></a> golf catches a quick shot of me with the wake of the boat behind me.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskjzwSDZSI/AAAAAAAABq0/GRyWXfOM9CA/s1600-h/headingout.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388877801166431522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskjzwSDZSI/AAAAAAAABq0/GRyWXfOM9CA/s320/headingout.jpg" border="0" /></a>Coming up on Molokini, a crescent-moon-shaped crater that is a nature reserve and therefore protected.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sskjzl_yPSI/AAAAAAAABqs/owjfbyQOVt8/s1600-h/molokini.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388877798405455138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 188px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sskjzl_yPSI/AAAAAAAABqs/owjfbyQOVt8/s320/molokini.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Aerial view (obviously not taken by us)<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskmC7xJ2DI/AAAAAAAABrM/27TQhthKot4/s1600-h/molokini.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388880260970960946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskmC7xJ2DI/AAAAAAAABrM/27TQhthKot4/s320/molokini.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Approaching the area where our boat tied up and we were allowed to snorkel within a triangular area from the boat reaching out left and right to the cliffs where the landmass goes down into the water -- couldn't actually anchor or touch anything there due to preservation rules.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskjzQ5KdCI/AAAAAAAABqk/tscpa_2WYuM/s1600-h/approachinganchor.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388877792740537378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskjzQ5KdCI/AAAAAAAABqk/tscpa_2WYuM/s320/approachinganchor.jpg" border="0" /></a>Here we FINALLY saw a few more yellow tangs and a few Moorish idols. But mostly we saw a lot of black Hawaiian triggers. These look pretty cool "live," as that white band on their bodies looks almost neon light blue in the water.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsklfmaEwII/AAAAAAAABrE/MIY41F4flFI/s1600-h/NigerTrigger.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388879653941592194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsklfmaEwII/AAAAAAAABrE/MIY41F4flFI/s320/NigerTrigger.jpg" border="0" /></a> Here is a rock formation at Lana'i, where we headed after about 45 minutes of snorkeling at Molokini. It took about an hour and a half of boat ride to get from Molokini to Lana'i.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiV38zyvI/AAAAAAAABqU/7OD4J0MMvME/s1600-h/lanairocks.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388876188317108978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiV38zyvI/AAAAAAAABqU/7OD4J0MMvME/s320/lanairocks.jpg" border="0" /></a> There we snorkeled for about another 45 minutes or so. It was very nice snorkeling in terms of fish seen, but it's hard to beat the manta rays and the spotted eagle rays . . . . . which, by the way, we never saw again. Larry told golf not to be unhappy about not seeing them again, as it was almost a "once in a lifetime" experience to see them at all! </div><div> </div><div></div><div>After their return and another steak at home, they went back to the beach for the sunset (EVERYONE does this on the west sides of the island every night!), where this time there was a wedding going on.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiWXOhP8I/AAAAAAAABqc/0Urws0J8uwI/s1600-h/beachwedding1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388876196712890306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 222px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiWXOhP8I/AAAAAAAABqc/0Urws0J8uwI/s320/beachwedding1.jpg" border="0" /></a>golf again attempted to get big splashes of the waves breaking on the rocks.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiVm7nq4I/AAAAAAAABqM/lCjCjxoDvds/s1600-h/rocksplash.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388876183748717442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiVm7nq4I/AAAAAAAABqM/lCjCjxoDvds/s320/rocksplash.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />And more color in the sky as the sun descends.</div><div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiVRqeZfI/AAAAAAAABqE/EyRmF-aXDPg/s1600-h/sunset1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388876178039662066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiVRqeZfI/AAAAAAAABqE/EyRmF-aXDPg/s320/sunset1.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiVKiRXCI/AAAAAAAABp8/TTkm0XVZucE/s1600-h/sunset2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388876176126204962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskiVKiRXCI/AAAAAAAABp8/TTkm0XVZucE/s320/sunset2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-5841112069526998262009-10-04T17:09:00.006-04:002009-10-04T18:02:01.422-04:00Another Day in Paradise<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskUBzTu7mI/AAAAAAAABp0/3fyGKyGqGN8/s1600-h/Splash1small.jpg"></a><div><div>Saturday, September 29:</div><br /><div></div><div>Since apparently snorkeling was so disappointing around Kihei, Larry and golf decided to go north again this morning, this time up around and past Lahaina and Kapalua, attempting to find Honolua Bay, which is recommended in the guide books as a good place to snorkel, but hard to find. They went as far as Honokohau Bay before they figured they had actually passed it. Went too far back south to D. T. Bleming Beach Park, where there was some kind of canoeing race going on, so it was crowded, headed back north and finally found the stairway going down to Honolua. But the water was WAY too rough for swimming, much less snorkeling. So they gave up and went back to Kaanapali Parkway and parked at the beach access underground parking for Black Rock. That was really crowded (not the parking -- the beach), and hoards of kids were leaping off the rock into the pathway of snorkelers trying to view the fish! This was not conducive to snorkeling around the area for the obvious reason of risking getting landed on by the kids leaping into the water and then the fish aren't likely to be hanging around where big objects are leaping into the water. So they paddled out past that distraction and explored around the rocks there. Still no yellow tang or Moorish idols (well, later Larry said he saw a couple of each but golf never did) BUT they DID see TWO spotted eagle rays, swimming together with the smaller one under the larger one, as in mother protecting youngster. They have NO knowledge that this might be the case, but it was lovely to see! (Again, not their picture, but here's a spotted eagle ray so you can see what they saw.)</div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskSbjX8b_I/AAAAAAAABpk/pVgtps-FjvU/s1600-h/Spotted_Eagle_Ray.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388858693686947826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskSbjX8b_I/AAAAAAAABpk/pVgtps-FjvU/s320/Spotted_Eagle_Ray.jpg" border="0" /></a> Oddly enough, they didn't take any pictures during this foray north!</div><div> </div><div>When they got back to the condo, the travel time on Tuesday and the excited going-going-going for the next three days caught up with them, and they crashed. They didn't have the energy to do anything much. Larry started browsing some of their tourist magazines and found the Pacific Whale Organization boat trip for snorkeling to Molokini and Lana'i for less than some of the usual tourist boat trips, plus the proceeds go to the Whale Organization and benefit the Pacific environs and sea life. So he booked them a trip for Sunday.</div><div> </div><div>One more sunset at the Keakawapaku Beach park . . . .<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskUBzTu7mI/AAAAAAAABp0/3fyGKyGqGN8/s1600-h/Splash1small.jpg"></a><br /></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskUBuJJGBI/AAAAAAAABps/CaE6-KPc3QQ/s1600-h/sunsetthrutreessmall.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388860448924309522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskUBuJJGBI/AAAAAAAABps/CaE6-KPc3QQ/s320/sunsetthrutreessmall.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-91917168970687150442009-10-03T22:37:00.018-04:002009-10-04T17:09:43.096-04:00Another Maui ReportFriday, September 18: Larry and golf are still getting up early. And here I am on the lanai of our condo waiting for them to get ready for snorkeling first.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgMruVSStI/AAAAAAAABoM/Ut7Ip-N9ST8/s1600-h/onlanaist.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388570899460016850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgMruVSStI/AAAAAAAABoM/Ut7Ip-N9ST8/s320/onlanaist.jpg" border="0" /></a>This morning, they went back to Waimea Beach, where they had explored on Wednesday but didn't go in the water. They didn't see anything here as impressive as the manta rays at Ulua; still, they enjoyed it, though they are beginning to conclude that the number of fish are greatly reduced, compared to what they used to see around Maui and on the Big Island. They are seeing virtually NO yellow tangs or Moorish idols. These cut little yellow tangs<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskG8VyfTII/AAAAAAAABpE/FNfOWt5U6B0/s1600-h/yeltang2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388846062836337794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskG8VyfTII/AAAAAAAABpE/FNfOWt5U6B0/s320/yeltang2.jpg" border="0" /></a>( Moorish idol below)<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskH1HpJjQI/AAAAAAAABpM/_zczrfMDTWI/s1600-h/Moorish_idol.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388847038291610882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskH1HpJjQI/AAAAAAAABpM/_zczrfMDTWI/s320/Moorish_idol.jpg" border="0" /></a>used to be so prolific, you got tired of seeing the schools of them swim by. Where have they all gone??? Now they are seeing convict tangs, instead, and not even huge schools of them.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskH1bHZFCI/AAAAAAAABpU/ployWp4ZZnM/s1600-h/convicttang.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388847043518731298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskH1bHZFCI/AAAAAAAABpU/ployWp4ZZnM/s320/convicttang.jpg" border="0" /></a>They are used to seeing the convict tangs around St. Thomas (along with blue tangs and brown tangs) but not in Hawaii.<br /><br /><br />Anyway, here I am on Waimea Beach.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgMQ93O7rI/AAAAAAAABoE/wEeIOQ-2AUM/s1600-h/onbeach2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388570439772466866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgMQ93O7rI/AAAAAAAABoE/wEeIOQ-2AUM/s320/onbeach2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgMQni_OlI/AAAAAAAABn8/IUfca-SKQDs/s1600-h/onbeach1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388570433781971538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgMQni_OlI/AAAAAAAABn8/IUfca-SKQDs/s320/onbeach1.jpg" border="0" /></a> After snorkeling, they decided to go way north past Wailuku and play at the Waiehu Muni golf course. They had played here once before, when they were on Maui in October 2004, and it was VERY windy. They got there earlier than they expected, so they stopped at the beach park just north of the course.</div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskLJfvyCEI/AAAAAAAABpc/AsPCgrpPggI/s1600-h/beachpark6small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388850686894147650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SskLJfvyCEI/AAAAAAAABpc/AsPCgrpPggI/s320/beachpark6small.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div>Waiehu was still as windy, but not as crowded as it had been when they played it before. Here I am in the cart on the first tee.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgMGh-yYnI/AAAAAAAABn0/WjxAHEe3p64/s1600-h/firstteecu1small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388570260489265778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgMGh-yYnI/AAAAAAAABn0/WjxAHEe3p64/s320/firstteecu1small.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />This is golf, swinging hard to drive off the tee into the wind.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgL6KxK8fI/AAAAAAAABns/aE6fFLqFQOE/s1600-h/swingingintothewind.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388570048099709426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgL6KxK8fI/AAAAAAAABns/aE6fFLqFQOE/s320/swingingintothewind.jpg" border="0" /></a> She stopped at the top of a hill to get a picture of me with the ocean in the background, but the wind was so strong, it kept blowing me off the fence before she could get me placed and the picture snapped!<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgL5hXxuaI/AAAAAAAABnk/K9T7KzS77UQ/s1600-h/ducksmall.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388570036987345314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgL5hXxuaI/AAAAAAAABnk/K9T7KzS77UQ/s320/ducksmall.jpg" border="0" /></a> Again, she's repeating her thing about putting me in trees . . . . . but I really don't object to this one. This is one unusual tree!<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgL5QmM4MI/AAAAAAAABnc/I7JCiADzcUM/s1600-h/funkytree2small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388570032484442306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgL5QmM4MI/AAAAAAAABnc/I7JCiADzcUM/s320/funkytree2small.jpg" border="0" /></a> And she keeps posing me with her Himalayan cat driver club cover -- named Kia after a sealpoint Himmie she had from 1976 till 1990.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgL44Et-iI/AAAAAAAABnU/UGxNCnHwJT8/s1600-h/kia2small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388570025901554210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgL44Et-iI/AAAAAAAABnU/UGxNCnHwJT8/s320/kia2small.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />After golf, Larry grilled a steak for them and then they went down to watch the sunset at Keakapaku Beach Park, which was across the street from our condo at Maui Hill (right in front of the Days Inn, which used to be the Best Western, where they stayed one night in 2004, and where they snorkeled then and saw all the things they haven't seen this time!)<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgN2e5m8EI/AAAAAAAABos/l6nPGEHYfik/s1600-h/Splash1small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388572183807586370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 186px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgN2e5m8EI/AAAAAAAABos/l6nPGEHYfik/s320/Splash1small.jpg" border="0" /></a> Watching the sun set . . . . .<br /></div></div></div></div><div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgN2ByCD6I/AAAAAAAABok/TN04zLcN_xo/s1600-h/facingsunsmall.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388572175991181218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgN2ByCD6I/AAAAAAAABok/TN04zLcN_xo/s320/facingsunsmall.jpg" border="0" /></a> Larry took a picture of golf taking a picture of me.<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgN1pdwHII/AAAAAAAABoc/LA8W1XcTqVY/s1600-h/golf&mgi.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388572169463667842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgN1pdwHII/AAAAAAAABoc/LA8W1XcTqVY/s320/golf%26mgi.jpg" border="0" /></a> And Larry got a picture of Larry walking along the lava rocks on the shore.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgN1QZUHdI/AAAAAAAABoU/eCaGQ0FZac4/s1600-h/larry&mgi.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388572162734169554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsgN1QZUHdI/AAAAAAAABoU/eCaGQ0FZac4/s320/larry%26mgi.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-73124622668996730152009-09-27T18:41:00.043-04:002009-09-27T21:09:27.815-04:00Sunday, September 27 -- Maui ReportI'll try to do this on a day-by-day basis. First of all, we were unable to get on the flights to LAX on Monday, September 14, as originally planned -- all the flights were sold out and NO non-revenue passengers were seated. Based on that information, Larry and golf thought their best chance was to get to the airport very early (do we HAVE to get up at 4:30 a.m.???) on Tuesday, September 15, and catch the first flight to LAX, if we could get on it. We were able to get on that early flight (and flying over Arizona, golf got this shot of the crater that is east of Flagstaff -- looks more like the moon than the good ole US of A . . . .) (as usual, click on any picture for a larger version of it)<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_yfjhJCfI/AAAAAAAABk0/7VD0Gg0_JQ8/s1600-h/crater.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386290303282514418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 188px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_yfjhJCfI/AAAAAAAABk0/7VD0Gg0_JQ8/s320/crater.jpg" border="0" /></a> but unfortunately, the one daily flight from LAX to Maui (OGG) didn't leave LAX until 5:15 p.m. in the afternoon. So we were able to get on the early flight to LAX, but then we had an eight-hour layover in LAX!!! Fortunately, we were able to "piggy-back" on the wireless internet from the Continental President's Club on Concourse 6, so at least golf and Larry had the internet to play with while they waited out the eight hours. But this makes for a really LOOOOOOONG day, by the time they got to Kahului, Maui, at roughly 5:10 p.m., Hawaii time, which made it 11:10 p.m. to golf and Larry's body time, and since they had been up since 4:30 a.m., well, they figured it was close to 21 hours without sleep by the time they got to their condo in Kihei and got settled in and ready to retire for this first night in Paradise. So here's the condo at the Kihei Bay Surf (the next morning) and me out on the railing of the porch there (not much of a view of the tennis courts, but there was a nice plumeria tree right there).<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_utnIT0KI/AAAAAAAABks/vtMcfPdQFxA/s1600-h/condo1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386286146723762338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_utnIT0KI/AAAAAAAABks/vtMcfPdQFxA/s320/condo1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_utJBFywI/AAAAAAAABkk/kPXxVY7dfd8/s1600-h/condo1deck.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386286138640419586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_utJBFywI/AAAAAAAABkk/kPXxVY7dfd8/s320/condo1deck.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p>So . . . . bright and early Wednesday morning, September 16, golf and Larry went exploring south of where they were staying. First, they found the condo to which they would move on Thursday, Maui Hill (more pictures of the inside of this condo later).<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_0cw8zZLI/AAAAAAAABk8/q_yLpq-ldAE/s1600-h/signdist.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386292454371845298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_0cw8zZLI/AAAAAAAABk8/q_yLpq-ldAE/s320/signdist.jpg" border="0" /></a> Basically, we explored down the coast from Kihei down past Wailea and Makena all the way to the Ahihi-Kinau Reserve (underwater reserve for spinner dolphins, etc.), the land of which is mostly piles of lava rock.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_2yVSGjFI/AAAAAAAABlE/dJjuuDe6ZOE/s1600-h/dolph2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386295023925365842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_2yVSGjFI/AAAAAAAABlE/dJjuuDe6ZOE/s320/dolph2.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_2ywiOSZI/AAAAAAAABlM/wHj4BTFzsmI/s1600-h/splashlava2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386295031240739218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 244px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_2ywiOSZI/AAAAAAAABlM/wHj4BTFzsmI/s320/splashlava2.jpg" border="0" /></a>You'll note golf got a picture of me sitting beside little rocks that tourists stack up and leave everywhere. This stacking of rocks, which you will see all over all of the Hawaiian Islands, is done by tourists because they think it means something. It doesn't.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_2zAlxoHI/AAAAAAAABlU/1tp_p990K8U/s1600-h/mitsubishi.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386295035550605426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_2zAlxoHI/AAAAAAAABlU/1tp_p990K8U/s320/mitsubishi.jpg" border="0" /></a>Anyway, we were stopping at several of the beaches along this route to check out where to snorkel the next day -- stopped at Keawakapu, Mokapu, Ulua, Wailea, Polo, Makena, Big Beach, and Little Beach. By the way, golf didn't think to put on sunblock since they really weren't stopping and staying anywhere for any length of time, but the combination of all the stops and walks resulted in a bit of a "red neck" for golf, though not a bad burn. By about 3 p.m., they were already fading, so they stopped in Kihei and ate an early dinner at Oceans, then headed back to the little condo, had a margarita, went across the street from the condo to watch the sunset at Kalepolepo Beach, and then crashed for the evening.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_6SfAq4DI/AAAAAAAABlc/SBrt92XJhJY/s1600-h/sunsetwflora.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386298874827300914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_6SfAq4DI/AAAAAAAABlc/SBrt92XJhJY/s320/sunsetwflora.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_6SxA139I/AAAAAAAABlk/5H41DhezaTY/s1600-h/DSC00321.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386298879659859922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_6SxA139I/AAAAAAAABlk/5H41DhezaTY/s320/DSC00321.JPG" border="0" /></a>Thursday, September 16: They couldn't check into the Maui Hill until 3 p.m., so they figured a good way to spend the time waiting was -- to go snorkeling!! After breakfast at Denny's, we headed for Ulua Beach first, as it is highly recommended for snorkeling.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr__ATEC4-I/AAAAAAAABmM/ZCQc6en1pl4/s1600-h/Larryatulua.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386304059940725730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr__ATEC4-I/AAAAAAAABmM/ZCQc6en1pl4/s320/Larryatulua.jpg" border="0" /></a> Above, that's Larry on the beach at Ulua, and in the picture below, I'm waiting on the beach towels for them to return from their venture into the water at Ulua.<br /><p><a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386305337445005090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAAKqIzNyI/AAAAAAAABmU/ryiZdo0YSjo/s320/DSC00330.JPG" border="0" /></a> Now, below are pictures that we did not take (because Larry wouldn't let golf get the underwater adapter pack for her camera), but they were THRILLED to see a manta ray coming RIGHT AT THEM at Ulua Beach!! They later found out that it is pretty rare to see one of these, so golf searched the internet for pictures so you could see what they saw (well, sort of).<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAAL9WCFrI/AAAAAAAABms/Tb39ELsTGaM/s1600-h/1268988-Manta-Ray-0.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386305359780648626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAAL9WCFrI/AAAAAAAABms/Tb39ELsTGaM/s320/1268988-Manta-Ray-0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsALe0kKC-I/AAAAAAAABnE/umrU1jLhQZc/s1600-h/MantaPNG.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386317778469391330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 250px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsALe0kKC-I/AAAAAAAABnE/umrU1jLhQZc/s320/MantaPNG.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></p><div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAALKp0jAI/AAAAAAAABmc/JX0_YzDpCh8/s1600-h/Safety_Stop_Manta_Ray_Circling.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386305346173438978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 278px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAALKp0jAI/AAAAAAAABmc/JX0_YzDpCh8/s320/Safety_Stop_Manta_Ray_Circling.jpg" border="0" /></a> The one they saw coming right toward them was about five feet wide. They later saw another one that was further away, but it appeared smaller. So this turned out to be a rather unusual snorkel venture with a very special "sighting"!!</div><div></div><br /><div>However, they were highly disappointed not to see any yellow tang, which previously had been so prolific they were almost boring. Where have they all gone?? They didn't see any Moorish Idols either. They found this very odd after their previous snorkeling on Maui and the Big Island. The rays made up for the lack of yellow tang spotting, but that same lack seemed to indicate something bad happening in the waters around Hawaii.</div><div></div><br /><div>So after this snorkeling excursion, they headed back to the first condo, cleaned up, packed up, and headed to check in at the Maui Hill. There they discovered that the unit assigned to them had been, by mistake, given to someone else with a similar name, and they were assigned a different (and we think better) unit. It was certainly more conveniently located -- in just about the first building after the entrance, so it was very convenient for ingress and egress, plus it had a view toward the ocean (though you really couldn't see the ocean due to all the vegetation, but at least it wasn't facing the back of the complex, as the one they should have gotten was). Here I am sitting on the nose of the whale at the entrance sign (hey, this photo op was Larry's idea!!)<br /></div> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAAMNDzGuI/AAAAAAAABm0/RvZwj2QG9ao/s1600-h/nose1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386305363999136482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 263px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAAMNDzGuI/AAAAAAAABm0/RvZwj2QG9ao/s320/nose1.jpg" border="0" /></a> And here's our HUGE condo unit, #49, where they had free internet (but not wireless, they had to plug in the DSL cable, no big deal). The only slightly disappointing feature of this very large unit was the fact that it had only a queensize bed instead of a king bed. Pretty unusual, in their condo-swapping experience. Almost every good size condo has a king bed, if not one in each bedroom (e.g., the condo they have in Hilton Head has two king beds, one in each bedroom, and the two-bedroom condo where they stayed the first time on the Big Island, Mauna Loa, had a king bed in each bedroom; and where they stayed the second time on the Big Island in a one-bedroom had a king bed).<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_--5-37jI/AAAAAAAABl0/SzWx6NY1IXM/s1600-h/DSC00339.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386304036028280370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_--5-37jI/AAAAAAAABl0/SzWx6NY1IXM/s320/DSC00339.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_-_zsW0iI/AAAAAAAABmE/v_jVisGxN8U/s1600-h/DSC00341.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386304051519869474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_-_zsW0iI/AAAAAAAABmE/v_jVisGxN8U/s320/DSC00341.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_-_db6jkI/AAAAAAAABl8/ra6LcB155Y8/s1600-h/DSC00343.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386304045545328194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_-_db6jkI/AAAAAAAABl8/ra6LcB155Y8/s320/DSC00343.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_--S4jgUI/AAAAAAAABls/YoaiTPxM-Gw/s1600-h/backdoor.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386304025532793154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sr_--S4jgUI/AAAAAAAABls/YoaiTPxM-Gw/s320/backdoor.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAK-E8QzUI/AAAAAAAABm8/4jT3hPCgEuU/s1600-h/DSC00340.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386317215929781570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/SsAK-E8QzUI/AAAAAAAABm8/4jT3hPCgEuU/s320/DSC00340.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Okay, this is enough for tonight. golf is doing the typing for me and she's ready to stop for the evening since she has to get up early to go to work tomorrow :-( even though she went into the office for four hours today (Sunday) to get a head-start on what was waiting for her after nearly two weeks out of the office. I'll try to finish up more over the next few days. Stay tuned, folks!<br /></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366328913723318696.post-61840701523005539802009-09-13T18:42:00.008-04:002009-09-13T19:30:22.371-04:00Sunday, September 13 -- Prepping for MauiWe are packing for Maui!!! We were scheduled to go out Monday, September 14, but remember golf and Larry are flying standby and all those annoying business travelers have already booked up (actually OVERbooked!) ALL the flights from ATL-LAX on Monday morning. So golf and Larry have decided to leave Tuesday instead, when available seats seem (at least right now) to be more attainable. In the meantime, they continue to pack their one-carryon-each and the golf bags. Here I am in Larry's bag -- however, do note that the fabric with the palm trees showing behind me is one of golf's dresses wrapped around her snorkel mask -- typical female, she ran out of room in her bag.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq15IAK89aI/AAAAAAAABj8/Oz_CsrXeZZc/s1600-h/larrys1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381090308169463202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq15IAK89aI/AAAAAAAABj8/Oz_CsrXeZZc/s320/larrys1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq15HmmubaI/AAAAAAAABj0/3IGvsUGu_hE/s1600-h/larrys2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381090301306629538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq15HmmubaI/AAAAAAAABj0/3IGvsUGu_hE/s320/larrys2.jpg" border="0" /></a> Here I am in golf's bag -- along with Virgie, whose curiosity was cat-typical about what was going on while golf was allowing me to crawl into the bag.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq146Bh1ghI/AAAAAAAABjs/YNRQrMgHX7o/s1600-h/kellys1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381090068015710738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 230px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq146Bh1ghI/AAAAAAAABjs/YNRQrMgHX7o/s320/kellys1.jpg" border="0" /></a> Here is golf's golf bag, all packed up. I think it is not a good idea to plan for this mode of transportation for myself.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq145wZG8DI/AAAAAAAABjk/xjJE9wNGeA8/s1600-h/golfbag1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381090063415701554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq145wZG8DI/AAAAAAAABjk/xjJE9wNGeA8/s320/golfbag1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Can I stow away here?<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq145fkiKII/AAAAAAAABjc/-q_WhlyrYq8/s1600-h/stowaway1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381090058900220034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq145fkiKII/AAAAAAAABjc/-q_WhlyrYq8/s320/stowaway1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Or here?<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq145D3S_RI/AAAAAAAABjU/shYD2bwX0ro/s1600-h/stowaway2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381090051462724882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq145D3S_RI/AAAAAAAABjU/shYD2bwX0ro/s320/stowaway2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Probably not . . . . I think I'll settle for being stashed in golf's tote bag.</div><br /><div></div><div><div>Virgie! Will ya cut it out? golf is trying to get a picture of MOI!<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq1-4f46F2I/AAAAAAAABkc/o_evQsPVO_A/s1600-h/tote1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381096638875572066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq1-4f46F2I/AAAAAAAABkc/o_evQsPVO_A/s320/tote1.jpg" border="0" /></a> Yes, it is her tote bag from St. Thomas . . . .<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq1-4Dci5wI/AAAAAAAABkU/uj0V6GuVnis/s1600-h/totecu.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381096631240419074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq1-4Dci5wI/AAAAAAAABkU/uj0V6GuVnis/s320/totecu.jpg" border="0" /></a> Okay, Virg, it's all yours . . . . You stay here and hog the camera. I'll go to Maui -- ha!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq1-3sGPxKI/AAAAAAAABkM/QbC8KfzAeWw/s1600-h/virgiecu.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381096624972874914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6exW0eRZWBg/Sq1-3sGPxKI/AAAAAAAABkM/QbC8KfzAeWw/s320/virgiecu.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>golfmobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00918640504496210906noreply@blogger.com0