Dive with Cristina

I just got everything washed, dried and put away after a dive trip to Cozumel with our dive friends, Sue and Dave. We flew out of Houston on a Funjet package and stayed at Casa Del Mar. Dave and I decided to dive with Cristina, a divemaster I used on past trips. We made some great drift dives and I got to try out my new Canon G9 camera, quickly finding out that the camera and housing were very bouyant on the first dive. The air temp was in the high 70's, with the water temperature in the low 80's, kinda of unusual weather for Cozumel. I was lucky to find some weights for my housing and the camera problem was solved. Cristina was fantastic, treated us like old friends and loved my new camera. On our dives we saw turtles, barracuda, grouper, lobster, stingrays, anemones, and lots of French Angels and Queen Angels. The visibility was great and the current wasn't to bad, not a good place to use a new camera while drifting.
Dale and Sue lazed around Casa Del Mar and in the evening we went out for dinner. We found some great restaurants: Especias, Alberto's Beach Bar, Coconuts, La Conchita del Caribe, and Cochina Mexicana Dorados de Villa. We had a fantastic meal at Especias and enjoyed a young man playing the guitar, a real talent! A table at the water's edge at Alberto's Beach Bar and great food made Alberto's tops on the list.
We rented a car the last day from Isis and toured the island, stopping for lunch at Coconuts on the rough side of the island, ending up in some hammocks on the beach by a sign that read "Naked Beach".
It was a great trip, no problems, and we got in six great dives with our friend, Cristina Roman.

Berndt Family Reunion

Dale and I were up early this morning and drove to Danavang, Texas for the Berndt Family Reunion. We arrived and began to set up with the help of Elvin and Susan. Soon relatives began to arrive, and the Danavang Lutheran Church Meeting House was buzzing with activity. The reunion was held in part to honor Dale's Aunt Helena Lauritsen, plus it was a chance for all his cousins to get together. Shortly before noon, Aunt Helena led the family in a Danish Table Prayer and the group lined up for a catered meal.
Dale served a Master of Ceremonies, and had everyone laughing with his stories. A plaque was presented to Aunt Helena, and guest shared their thoughts and stories about her. Several tables of old photo albums were on display for all the guest to look at.
Special guest, were cousins and spouses Gary, Kim, Cathy and John, that flew in from the Seattle, Washington area to attend the event. They will be spending the week visiting with their relatives in South Texas.
Almost seventy descendants were in attendance at the event.

Lunch at Moby Dick's

Dale wanted to fly, so off we went for lunch in Port Aransas and some fried shrimp. We caught the trolley, paid our quarter and rode into town looking for a new place to have lunch. We decided to give Moby Dick's a try, after several recommendations from the locals. Lunch was good and we left stuffed. The flight home was good, not to many bumps.

Looking for Redfish

Unloading the boat as the sun came up we headed across the bay to the lakes, our favorite fishing spot. The tide was still higher than we hoped and fishing was slow, but it was a beautiful day to be out on the water. We caught several reds that were to small and threw them back in hopes of catching their "Grandpa". We kept moving, catching one or two, then moving on to try a new spot.
The boat ran smooth after having the motor worked on recently.
We ended the day with some nice reds, I can already taste the fresh redfish filets on the grill.
We headed home, washed the boat and put our fishing gear away.

The Atchetee's Invade Huatulco, Mexico

We just returned from a wonderful week of sun and fun in Huatulco, Mexico with Evon and Linda. We landed, were met at the airport by Carlos, our friend for the ride to Villa Pacifico in Conejos. Rebecca and Hugo greeted us and we settled into our rooms for our week stay. Rebecca spoiled us again with her wonderful cooking and Hugo made sure our rooms were clean and neat. On Sunday we took the car and headed to La Entrega for a day at the beach with some snorkeling. Dale showed Evon and Linda the "Cave" and we enjoyed our first full day. The next day we chilled out around the pool, enjoying the warm water and sun. A trip on Luna Azul with Pepe wasn't very good with the swells making for a rough ride, the snorkeling wasn't good...current was swift and the visibility poor. Just trying to get back to the beach proved to be a group effort. We did enjoy a stop at Maguey for lunch before heading back to the Villa. The next day we stayed around the Villa in the morning to recover from the previous day. In the afternoon we went to La Crucecita for some serious shopping, a tour of the new grocery store and ice cream at Terra Cotta. On Thursday we decided to spend the day at La Entrega, great snorkeling with clear water. Dale even found a spotted eagle ray for the group to see. We also enjoyed feeding the fish some crushed tortilla chips which they really liked.
Our last day in Huatulco we rented the car and went exploring....La Bocanna, a beer at Barra de la Cruz, and a tour of Santa Cruz. We did get in some pool time before showering, dressing and going to dinner at The Kristal Rose. Juan, the owner was glad to see us and took excellent care of us, the food was great and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner our last night.
Sadly it was time to pack and head home, we said our goodbyes to Rebecca and Hugo, caught a ride to the airport with Carlos and boarded our flight landing safely in Houston.
We had another great week in Huatulco, the weather was perfect, Chef Rebecca's meals were amazing and Hugo was always smiling and laughing. Linda and Evon fell in love with Huatlco and liked it as much as we do. The week at our "Little Gem" in Mexico was perfecto!!!!

Autumn Oaks Fly In

We flew this morning to Jim and Ruth's home North of Hallettsville for a fly in and barbeque lunch.
The skies were clear and the flight was smooth and short. We landed, unloaded the plane and visited with old friends. Lunch was very good and the dessert table offered many selections to pick from. The crowd was smaller than usual, other fly ins and the weather kept the crowd down.
We stayed until late afternoon, loaded up and had a hot bumpy ride home.

The Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

This morning we took off to survey the damage caused by hurricane Ike when it slammed into the Texas Coast on the Boliver Peninsula on September 12. The skies were clear, the air cool and the flight was smooth. We began seeing damage at Sargent Beach, erosion and debris along the beach was very evident.
Homes that once stood on beachfront property, now stood surrounded by water, the beach changed forever. Along the beach, roads were washed away and power lines down, crews were still hard at work restoring electricity. We landed at Scholes Field in Galveston and got to see the damage up close. The airport buildings had suffered major damage with about fourteen feet of water causing havoc, the fuel tank had been pulled up and floated away. The airport was operational, but had no fuel and a Port A Potty full of mosquitoes was the only bathroom. We took off, flying over the end of the sea wall which had sustained slight damage. It wasn't hard to see that the sea wall, built after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 had saved the city. We flew over the Flagship Hotel and saw were the historic Balinese Room once stood. We crossed the Houston Ship Channel and saw a sea of tankers and freighters waiting to enter the port. A part of the jetty was damaged by the force of the storm.
We flew over the Boliver Lighthouse that looked like it had weathered the storm in good shape.
Cargo containers, boats, cars and debris littered the coast. At the community of Gilcrest the power of the storm was more evident. Where many beachfront homes once stood, now only the pilings remained. Septic tanks and swimming pools were unearthed, and it was easy to see how the sand had washed away. Huge piles of sand could be seen everywhere, the result of clearing the roads. Crystal Beach sustained almost total devastation, with few homes still standing. The water and the wind had proved to be a deadly force.
We turned around at this point and made our way to Brazoria Airport for fuel and lunch at the Windsock Grill. We flew back to Victoria, landed and put the plane in the hangar.
We lucked out in Victoria when the storm turned away from us, but it will take years for the damage caused by Ike to be repaired. The coast is a beautiful place, but no place to be when the power of Mother Nature strikes.