Happy Birthday Karen!!!!

Dale and I were invited to celebrate my friend, Karen's 65th birthday at Greek 205 bar on Friday.  We arrived to find a lot of old friends.  It was great catching up with folks I hadn't seen in some time. Karen was her usual crazy self and was having a ball  as the center of attention.  It was great celebrating this milestone with her family and friends.
                                                      Happy Birthday Karen!

Red Fish Tailing!

The sun peaked above the horizon  as we made our way to our fishing spot...the water like glass.  Dale spotted a nice red tailing near a duck pond and poled me closer and closer, the first cast failed.....but with the second cast the red hit the gold spoon and immediately started splashing in an effort to get free.  Soon he was in the ice chest.....doesn't get any better.

Our luck was brief, as the next four fish we caught were small, so we had to release them to grow bigger.  As fishing slowed, we crossed the bay, making a stop at the Army Hole and then into the back lakes where Dale caught a nice fish.

Lunch was cold fried chicken, potato salad, fruit and ice tea on the deck of the boat.
We checked out a few other spots, but no luck!  Back home to wash the boat, clean up the gear.

Cruising on the big ship.....Oasis of the Seas!

                                     Saturday
Dale and I flew out of Austin to Fort Lauderdale on Southwest a day ahead of our cruise....all went well!  Up the next morning, we caught the hotel shuttle to the Oasis of the Seas.  Embarkation was flawless, and in no time we were on-board for lunch.  Our cabin, #14327 was ready at 1:30 and just a little later our bags arrived.  We met our awesome cabin attendant, Dean Barnes from Trinidad....what a great guy!  Although we had booked an inside cabin, we discovered a lovely, large, balcony just steps away from our door.....so immediately I claimed it!!!  Drinks and hor dourves at the Diamond Lounge were on the agenda before dinner .  We went to the ice show before turning in for the night.

 Sunday
Up early the next morning I watched the ship dock in Nassau, Bahamas from our balcony.  We had planned to stay on board and explore the ship while most were ashore. 
After breakfast we hit the gym and then had a soak in the cantilevered hot tubs. We attended the sail away party on the heli-pad as we left Nassau.  Drinks and then dinner, plus a Broadway show.....Hairspray completed the day.

Monday
Today was a sea day and we had booked the aqua show, Oasis of Dreams...Wow!  High diving into a tiny pool on a ship on the ocean.  We also enjoyed soaking in the hot tubs and some quite time on our balcony.  It was also our first formal night.....so we put on our best duds!
                                                                         Tuesday
We docked in St. Thomas on this day....caught a taxi and went to Megan's Beach for the day.  The beach is beautiful and the water is turquoise....I had rented a pool float and enjoyed just floating and relaxing in a beautiful tropical setting.  We had lunch on the beach and caught a taxi back to the ship.

Wednesday
St. Maarten was our next port and we had booked an excursion to Orient Beach....the nude beach.  We grabbed chairs next to the water and rented an umbrella for shade.  Lunch was mahi mahi and rice, with salad.  Dale read and I played in the water until it was time to return to the ship.  No much happening on the nude beach...I did check it out!  The show tonight was two comedians...they were OK! We did enjoy dinner at the Solarium Bistro....where we enjoyed a delicious bison steak.


Thursday
A sea day today...started with coffee and Mimosas on the balcony.  Breakfast then lunch....plus more time reading and relaxing.  The show tonight was called Come Fly With Me....it was not great and they did have technical problems that delayed the show.  It was also our last formal night and we joined Horace and Fran in the Main dining room.

 Friday
Up early to enjoy breakfast before Dale's birthday present.....an All Access Tour of the ship.  We started with a behind the scenes tour of the Aqua Theater, then we toured the galley, bakery, storage facilities, engine room, HR department, crew dining facilities and bars.  The laundry was really amazing.....what a job! The staff and supplies move down below on I 95....a path that runs from one end of the ship to the other.  Then we toured the Heli-Pad and our final stop was the bridge.  Dale got the chance to sit in the Captain's chair.  It was a great tour...lasting about 3 1/2 hours!  After lunch we enjoyed the hot tubs and our balcony.  That night we had dinner at Giovanni's and went to the Comedy Club......very, very funny!
Saturday
Packed and ready....we had breakfast!  Said our goodbyes to Dean, our cabin attendant.  Off the ship a little after 8 am and to the airport to catch our flight home at 11:30 am.  All went well and soon we landed in Austin with a short drive home.

The cruise was great, the ship is awesome...it is amazing that with over 6,000 guest we never felt crowded.  We met many people from all over the world...Canada, Australia, Venezuela, Columbia, and England.  We loved our little cabin and our "private" balcony!

Floating with Friends!

Karen, Virgina, Elaine, and I decided it was time for another girl float trip on the Comal.  Off we went for a day of chillaxing in the cool, clear, water of the Comal in New Braunfels, Tx.  We pulled into Texas Tubes about 10 am, filled the cute glasses with bling that Karen got us with tasty Pina Coladas that I had made, then rented our tubes.  The water felt great, the crowds were small, and a leisurely two hour float was our mission.  We stopped along the way to get our picture taken.....a great group shot.  After the first float we grabbed the shuttle back to Texas Tubes for some snacks and cold drinks under the shade of a tree along the river.
The second float we went back in the water armed with water guns.....acting crazy and having fun.  This time we did a shorter float...but still had just as much fun. A shuttle ride back to our car, a quick shower, and dry clothes were on tap before heading to Clear Springs Cafe for some world famous onion rings, fries, and burgers. It was a great day, with old friends!

Belize Aggressor with Lady Go Divers!

It was an easy flight to Belize City with Beth, Bonnie, and Amy to join the Lady Go Diver group for a week on the Belize Aggressor.  We boarded the boat at 3 pm, unpacked, and stored our dive gear away....then we had the Captain's welcome aboard party and dinner.  We left the dock for an overnight ride out to the dive sites, about 40-50 miles........a very rough ride it was as the boat rocked and rolled.  Up at 6 am, breakfast a 7 am, and the first dive was at 8 am. Most dives lasted about an hour, then a surface interval of about an hour, before we did it all over again about 10 am.  Yanis and Vanessa always had a delicious snack waiting for us between the dives.  The second dive of the day was followed by a wonderful lunch and a little down time, before the afternoon dives began about 2 pm and 4 pm.  Dinner was usually around 7 pm with a night dive option after that.  So basically it was Eat, Sleep, and Dive....then do it all over again!

We had a group of 15 women in the Lady Go Divers, and two lucky couples on board.  The highlight of the week was the Blue Hole dive...a dive to 130 ft. in a hole that was once a cave that collapsed.  The total dive lasted 27 minutes...with about 8 minutes of bottom time.  The remaining time was spent either going down or coming up with three safety stops.  It was pretty amazing to see the giant stalactites hanging down.....also we saw a couple of sharks on that dive.
I managed to get in 20 dives during the week that included one night dive and the Blue Hole.  I was kinda disappointed in the diving and felt it wasn't as good as some places that I have been....but the trip was a blast with all the gals.  Lots of laughs and catching up!  I experimented using White Balance to take photos instead of using my flash...not sure I liked it.
My roommate, Amy was lots of laughs and put up with me the whole week.  She even still thought I was "Normal" after a week together.  We turned the back dive deck into a spa deck and shaved our legs.....got lots of laughs...Captain said it was a first!  Heck the cabin shower was to small to do the job! The boat had a hot tub up on top, one day we squeezed a bunch of us into it for a soak. Several nights we stayed up late talking with Yanis and Vanessa, part of the crew.....some wild stories! Friday morning we had only two dives before heading back to Belize City and packing.  Six of us booked the cave tubing excursion...it was awesome!  A rough ride for about an hour took us to the jungle where we grabbed tubes and hiked for about 45 minutes before reaching our starting point. Our guide, Junior was great and we gave him a hard time.  The cave system was beautiful, looked like something out of a movie set.  We got back to the boat just in time for the Captain's cocktail party and dinner at a local restaurant.  8 am the next morning we off the boat and headed over to the Radisson to wait for our shuttle to the airport.  The flight home was easy and Dale picked me up at the airport.

The Deadly Duo on the Comal!

With Texas temperatures soaring  into triple digits, it was time for a float on the Comal.  Karen and I packed our stuff, and headed to New Braunfels for a float.  Arriving we applied several layers of sunscreen, rented our tubes, filled our ice chest with goodies, and jumped into the cool water of the Comal.  A lazy two hour float, with two chutes for a little excitement was the plan for the day. The spring fed river provides enough flow.....so no paddling necessary!  I was thrilled to see a

Boy Scout Troop learning to scuba dive in the river.....future divers!  We stopped later under the shade of a Cypress tree for a refreshment break and a drink.  Arriving at the take out point.....we hauled all our stuff up to the street for the shuttle bus ride back to the starting point at Texas Tubes.  Finding a shady spot we enjoyed some snacks and a drink, deciding to do the next float without the ice chest tube.  More people were on the river now, but the crowd was not rowdy....lots of families.  We decided to get out at the first take out this trip, making the float a little shorter....so we could get

back, take a shower and go to Clear Springs Cafe on the way home......those delicious onion rings were calling. 
Awesome fun...with awesome friend!!!!!

Bonaire Bound With Eels on Wheels 2013

On board the United overnight "killer" flight to Bonaire with the Eels on Wheels group....it was hard to sleep on the plane .....we landed and hit the ground running!  It was really tough, since we couldn't get in our room until about 4:30 pm.  Patsy Kott was my roommate and she arrived a day after me.  I was assigned to the " Estrogen Boat" the Alice H with Jill and the gang.  We had two guys in chairs on our boat....Joe and Don, both were lots of laughs and fun.  We did 3 dives a day, two in the morning and one in the afternoon.....after the last dive of the day we all headed to the pool for relaxation. One of the highlights of the trip for me was being able to dive the Salt Pier, a first for me.  The other highlight was finding a octopus out on the reef on a afternoon dive.  I enjoyed taking photos, and got some awesome shots of the octopus.  We ate all our meals at the resort, since it was part of our package.  We walked into town a couple of times, mainly to enjoy some delicious gelato and do some shopping.  It was great to see old friends and I had a chance to make some new ones.  The trip home began with pick up at the resort at 5:15 am, with a 7:30 am flight...it was a smooth flight and we landed before Noon.