Saturday, March 31, 2012

One Happy Island

We needed a break (more on why later)..and my faithful traveling companion, Susan, needed one too.  That usually means a vacation!  So we packed up, scheduled the petsitter and headed off to One Happy Island!
Aruba is a very small island but the people are extremely nice.  We stayed at a nice resort. This was our view from the room (once we arrived...we did get delayed 24 hours in Newark..not fun)
And the resort had a private island that you traveled too by boat
I call this trip the 'vacation of feeding random animals'.  At the island's 'adult only' beach, we were surrounded by a variety of animals.
 But they were quite tame and loved french fries!
 We all got in on the feeding action
 But Jason was the flamingo master by far.
 
He even had some weird language with them..
 
 
 
 
 The flamingo didn't bite him..he was just trying to tell Jason to feed him more!  They were pretty cute and honked at you a lot.  I enjoyed running around photographing them!
They spent a lot of time in the ocean.
But the resort provided a fresh water pond and fed them their 'real' diet in a nice little shady area.  This is where they were joined by the other wild creatures.
 
 yeah...wild iguanas EVERYWHERE!  I found one sunning himself under a hammock.
 I'll admit I got a little too close and irritated him a bit..He stamped his feet at me and snorted.  Then  he ambled away.  This photo was just neat b/c you can see the sand particles as he slowly walks away from the crazy lady with the camera.
 The wildlife weren't all fun and games.  Your drinks were fair game.  I had a hermit crab (hundreds wild), a flamingo beak and this little guy in my fruity beverage throughout the trip.
In the above 'wide' photos you can see a rock line to separate the private island from the ocean.  We read that as 'separating us from the fishes!'.   So donned our snorkel gear and fins and hopped right on over those rocks.  We found some neat snorkeling there.  The coral was mostly dead but the fish were plentiful and varied.  My underwater camera died in this process so I dont' have a lot of photos.
A night we enjoyed gambling and good food.
 We did one excursion while we were there and I highly recommend it! We did an off road jeep tour of the island.  Jason actually got to drive one of the jeeps..we really had a blast. The terrain of Aruba is so different from other islands we have visited..very desert like.
 This is Jason driving (I am proud of a few of the following photos..I did a lot of editing to remove people, cars, etc..I am just learning how to do that)
 Our first stop was the natural bridge. 
 Then some more off roading.
 We stopped at a Donkey sanctuary.  Donkeys are apparently wild on the island but a nuisance to farmers, so this group is a non-profit who cares for them.  Of course, we donated and thanked them for their hard work.  There were a lot of asses.
 i had a great time feeding them
The last stop was a Natural pool, this was the hardest off road part and was pretty fun!  Then we had to walk down a bunch of steps to get the pool.  The gathering of rocks at the bottom is the natural pool
 The water was great and there were a few fish. But the most fun was climbing on the rocks and jumping in.  The view from the top with Jason jumping in
 And the view from below with me taking the plunge.
 The island was fun to explore on your own, the food was great and it was just a nice island
 My favorite toe photo. ;-)
 Before we left, we found out Jason's mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 endometrial cancer.  Just sucks all around.  so when we returned, Jason packed everything up and moved to Charlotte for a bit to be help his Dad and cook for his mom while she is going through chemo.  So after a relaxing week..I am not a single mom to everyone..but that is OK.  We are holding down the fort while he takes care of his mom.  Back to reality..now I look forward to Grapehounds, a week in St. John USVI and Beach Bound Hounds.  ;-)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Dreams can come true

For those of you who have met Jason over the last 3-4 years, know that he has been utterly and uncontrollably obsessed with purchasing a Porsche.  so much so that 3 years ago he sold his beloved Subaru STi for the express purpose of buying a Porsche one day.  We have been to many events and drooled over the cars..and that particular event even had a 'dream car' for Jason.
3 years later...Dreams come true.
Introducing our newest winery traveling companion
Now the first time we drove it..I feel sure we looked something like this:
It is a 2005 Porsche 911 Carrera

it has a very nice front end..
 
And what some might call..and massive booty
Jason is super excited..now we just need tags, title and inspection sticker.  I think Cali can fit in the back for small road trips..but we will see.
But for now ... and only for a short period..Cali has taken a back seat.
And now we ready ourselves for a trip to an island next week..the Beach Boys say it first in Kokomo...to get away from it all.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Saab story


It is the end of an era..we sold the Saab convertible that has been featured in this blog many times.  Many relaxing drives sitting in the breeze with the top down were had...but fear not we have been gearheads/car fanatics for a long time.  There is no need to dial 911..we aren't sitting on a log like a bunch of Poor Schmos.
Another car is on the way..in fact..the Saab has just been keeping the garage spot warm for the next entry.  Once it gets here (just a few more days)..you will know. ;-)
 Henry is excited..
The couch seems to be a hit.  I had my birthday celebration a few weeks ago with unphotographed trips to the Wine Expo and Blue Goat.  But afterwards, we all piled on the couch.
That is Kristen, Stanley, Dusty, Dante, Jaime, Cali, me, Shiloh and Parker.  
Cali and Belle seem to enjoy it as well
 And for those of you who think Greyhounds don't shed..you've never met Dana.  One brushing session on Saturday plus a wet deck..we need to shave the deck now.
Lots of things happening in the next few weeks..new (to us) car, a certain brindle girl's birthday, a trip to a far away and very warm island and hopefully warmer and drier weather at home!!