Wakatobi Bound

Leaving Houston we set off to Indonesia and eventually the famous Wakatobi Dive Resort.  The first leg was Houston to England, then England to Singapore, and then Singapore to Bali for a 3 day stop to tour and recover.  The Komaneka Inn was lovely and located in Ubud...where we basically crashed the first night!  Off the next morning we toured silver jewelry making, wood carving, several Hindu temples, and a dormant volcano.....enjoying lunch overlooking the volcano.  A stop at the rice fields offered Dana and I a chance to try a rice swing.  It was a long day but we saw lots!

The next day Jill and I booked a tour of the John Hardy jewelry factory outside Ubud.  A private car picked us up and we enjoyed a very informative tour, before having lunch with some of the staff.  After lunch it was time to shop...trying on jewelry was fun and Jill did buy a bobble or two! When we got back we walked to the local market to shop and enjoyed a cup of Luwak coffee, the most expensive coffee in the world.  That evening Jill and I made reservations at Bridges for dinner and had a lovely evening.

Up early the next morning it was time to catch our flight to Wakatobi, so it was back to the airport, more security and a 2 1/2 hour flight!  We landed at Maranggo Airstrip where we were transported by vans to a small port where we boarded boats to Wakatobi.   Finally we had made it and checked into our Oceanfront Bungalow B16!
Diving started for us the next morning and we were assigned to the Waka III for our stay.  It was a big boat, with lots of room, a big staff to take care of us and a knowledgeable dive staff! Our dive master was Nicki and she was excellent...taking great care of our group of 4 divers.....Mark, Suzanne, Jill and I. During the week I made my 600th dive and celebrated with a photo op and later a cake in the dining room.



 The reefs of Wakatobi are amazing......full of life, bursting with color, and unusual marine life creatures.  It was like nothing I had seen before! All our dives lasted one hour....some with a little current, some with crazy current!  Most dives were in the 40-60 foot range. They spoiled us with top notch treatment....warm minty towels after surfacing, towels, hot chocolate, tea or coffee, cookies and breads, plus sandwiches.....plus our gear was well taken care of each day!

During the week we did manage to shop at the boutique, enjoyed two wonderful massages, and enjoyed sunset at the bar pier toasting the day with a Screaming Orgasm.  Several afternoons we floated around in Kirk’s villa pool while they were diving.
The staff of the resort were the kindest, friendliest, and most efficient folks......calling us by name by the second day.....a trick they won’t reveal!

Our final day we had bags out at 6:30 am, enjoyed breakfast, toured the Wakatobi liveaboard, and waited for the journey home to begin.  It began in a small boat to the dive boat, then back in the little boat, climbing up ancient rock steps to vans to the airstrip for our first flight! Landing in Bali Jill and I had a motel room so we could shower, change clothes, and relax before our flight to Singapore.  It was then a flight from Singapore to England, then onto Houston where Dale was waiting to pick me up! Total flying time about 26 hours...not counting layover time, security time, and the hikes in some airports!
Brutal is what I called it!

Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons!

Another Caravan Tour, this time we are headed to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.  Flying into Grand Rapids, SD we joined our tour group of 44 other folks ranging in age from 87 to 8 year old twin girls.  This jam packed tour covered 5 states.....South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah.....traveling about 1,300 miles. Our tour guide for the week was Dennis and our bus driver was Brian, both were great guys and did a great job.
Our first stops were to take in the Crazy Horse Monument and Mount Rushmore!  Crazy Horse was amazing, and we loved the story of the sculptor and his dream for the monument to Crazy Horse and the American Indians.  Started over 50 years ago, it is still a work in progress with family members carrying on the vision."Never forget your dreams" - Koraczak Ziolkowski
Next stop was Mt Rushmore, American's Shrine of Democracy, Mount Rushmore National Memorial feature the 60 foot faces of four great American presidents who represent the birth, growth, development, and preservation of this country.
From Rapid City we headed to Billings, Montana with a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield where Custer and his men were defeated by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Leaving Billings we headed to Yellowstone and our room at The Old Faithful Inn.  This old rustic inn is one of the largest log structures in the world.  It has a large outdoor balcony which is a perfect spot for viewing the Old Faithful Geyser.  Old Faithful shoots thousands of gallons of steaming water into the air about every 90 minutes. We hiked among geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots.  We saw bison, elk, antelope, bald eagles, and deer! The 30 degree mornings were very pleasant, although it did warm up during the day. Old Faithful was the most spectacular geyser and drew a huge crowd!
From Yellowstone we headed to Jackson, Wyoming and the spectacular Grand Tetons.  Our two hour float trip down the Snake River was amazing, and our river guide, Chris was great.  We enjoyed a brown bag lunch on the river while enjoying the breathtaking backdrop of the Tetons.  It was the highlight for me of the trip....wishing it lasted longer.  After checking into our lodge in Jackson we went into town to enjoy dinner, have a drink at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, and find some yummy ice cream.
Up early, bags out and on the bus we headed to Salt Lake City and the end of our trip.  Along the way we stopped at the National Oregon Trail Center and experienced life on the Oregon Trail. We had our final farewell dinner and said our goodbyes after a great week together.
It is amazing to me that you can put 46 people together on a bus for a week, from all walks of like, different religions and occupations, different ages and abilities and you just seem to gel.  We were strangers when we boarded the bus in Rapid City, but friends went we disembarked the final day in Salt Lake City.

Officially Retired Float!

Spent two days up in the New Braunfels/Gruene area celebrating my friend, Diane's retirement. She is now officially retired!

We did two float trips on the cool, spring fed, Comal River with Karen adding some excitement on the last trip.

After our float we went over to the beautiful home of Diane's friends on the Guadalupe River.  Tom and Lisa were gracious host, and fixed us a wonderful dinner.

The next morning Karen had to leave early, but Diane and I kayaked the river.....so peaceful!
Later we headed home with a stop at Clear Springs Cafe for a late lunch.

Living it Up in St Lucia!

It was time to head to St Lucia, for my ninth trip with the Lady Go Divers group!  We only get together once a year, so it is always good to see old friends! I arrived on the island and joined up with the group for a hairy van ride to the resort, Anse Chastanet....the roads on the island are crazy!  We were greeted at reception, with a cold drink and our room assignments.  Cecilia and I had picked a beach room-10C, with AC!  No piton view, but we love being down on the beach with AC!

The next day we chilled out, set up our dive gear, recovered from our travel day, and waited for the others to arrive!  Sunday morning started with a checkout shore dive, and skills test...followed by a boat dive. Our dive masters, Bernita and Zeta were awesome!  Xavier, our boat captain and Emmanus had their hands full with a boat load of crazy women for the week. Lots of laughs!

The dives were nice, the reefs very healthy, and we saw lots of little critters! Cecilia, my roommate is a pro at finding the itty, bitty stuff!  The highlight of my week was a big, yellow seahorse and two octopus.  We did have one dive with a pretty strong current called Superman’s flight!  The plan each day was breakfast, 2 dives, lunch, one dive, beach time, cocktails and supper!  One day they took us to the resorts other beach club for burgers and cold Pitons on the beach!  Our group booked the Jazzy Champagne Sunset Cruise on a big catamaran.  It was a fun evening with drinks, snacks, good music and dancing.

During the week we had a get together to honor our leader being inducted in the Women Divers Hall of Fame....way to go Patty!  We were also lucky to get a private tour of Jade Mountain, the ultimate in a luxury vacation!  Our final night we had a cocktail party and dinner with the dive staff before saying our goodbyes!  

As always it was great to see my friends and spend a week together doing what we all love......blowing bubbles!

Made the trip back home, staying overnight in Charlotte!

North to Alaska!

Bags packed, Jill and I headed North to Alaska on a girl's trip in search of wildlife, spectacular scenery, and cooler weather.  Boarding our ship, Radiance of the Sea just in time for muster drill, then dinner at Giovanni's, and unpacking our bags before collapsing into bed. Our first day was spent at sea, so we had a chance to get settled and check out the ship and shops on board.
Snorkeling in Ketchikan was the first adventure, and putting on the 7 mm gear was an adventure for sure.  Amazingly we didn't get cold, and saw some unusal creatures in the 55 degree water.  Having a bald eagle watching us from the shore was a pretty cool backdrop!  Getting all the gear off was a workout, followed by a hot shower, and dry clothes.  Snorkeling in Alaska checked off our Bucket List, we got the t-shirts to prove it.

Icy Point Strait and some whale watching was the plan at this port.  We did see whales, just not really close up, but the scenery was awesome and we had a great time.....you can see in the photo we both had boat hair by the end of the trip.  Walking into the quaint little town we had lunch and walked around finding a bald eagle sitting on a nest in the middle of the town.   We decided to walk back to the ship and enjoy the great weather.

Juneau meant it was time for a float plane flight up to the lovely Taku lodge on a lake for a salmon lunch.  Little did we know a black bear would join us, patiently waiting until the salmon was done and taken into the lodge before coming up to lick the dripping on the grill.  Back in Juneau we booked a shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier and hiked the trail out to the glacier and Nugget Falls. Back in town, we shopped, and made a stop at the Red Dog Saloon for a couple of famous Duck Farts!  Quack, Quack....knock it back!  Yes, we did!  A little more shopping and then dinner at the Twisted Fish Company before dragging our bodies back on board.
Skagway and a day on the White Pass Railroad.....This narrow guage railroad travels from the tidewater to the summit of White Pass....40 miles round trip.  There are panoramic views  of mountains, gorges, waterfalls, tunnels, and historic sites. After shopping on the main drag we enjoyed burgers at the Skagway brewery and then walked back to the ship.
Up at the crack of dawn....well almost, we bundled up for some glacier viewing in Glacier Bay. Wanting to get a spot on the railing on the helipad we knew we had to get going.......we were some of the first crazy folks out there....but soon it was packed as we inched into the bay for a closer look.  The weather did not cooperate.....fog and small icebergs made it slow going.  Finally the Captain announced that for safety would we not go any farther in...but the view was great.  Before frostbite set in we went in and enjoyed a late breakfast with some hot coffee. The rest of day was spent checking our bill, and packing up....tomorrow we were getting off in Seward to start the land portion of our trip!
Up early we were soon off the ship and on the bus with a stop at the Sea Life Center for a tour.  Before lunch we caught our boat out to Fox Island  for lunch and some whale watching.  The whale watching turned out to be FANTASTIC as we got to see a group of 5-6 humpbacks doing a bubble net feeding.  This is a unique and complex feeding technique employed by Humpbacks.  This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for two Texas gals to experience right in front of the boat.  How lucky were we?  My photos really don't do it justice....kinda something you had to be there to see. Back on land we checked into our lodge, had dinner, and enjoyed a hot shower before bed.
Next stop was Anchorage and some shopping at a open market where we enjoyed some beer battered halibut.  After picking up a few things we boarded the bus to the Anchorage museum where we saw bears made out of feathers....unique.  Checking into our hotel later, we walked  to dinner at Humpy's....the Great Alaskan Alehouse.

It was time to board the train again and head to Denali, this time we enjoyed lunch on the train and we did sample a Moose Kiss drink!  Again it was another beautiful, relaxing train trip....arriving in Denali and checking into our lodge just in time to go whitewater rafting.  We signed up for a float trip, but it was much more than that.  The dry suits didn't exactly keep us dry....so we had frozen, soggy toes, and fingers. The trip was a real thrill and we got slapped by several waves...right in the face.....a Glacial Facial!  The water was a nippy 36 degrees.  Thawed out we had dinner at the lodge and enjoyed the scenery.  It was crazy, but it was still daylight at 11 o'clock at night.
The next day we booked the Denali Wilderness tour which meant 63 miles on a bus down a bumpy road with a driver that never shut up.  We did see several grizzly bears, dahl sheep, caribou, a hawk, and a a eagle. We tried to find a moose, but no luck!  It was a long day, but we did get a clear view of Denali, worth the trip!  That evening we took the shuttle into town to Prospector Pizza for dinner.
Back on the bus we headed to Fairbanks where we tried some BBQ and walked around the square before boarding a paddlewheeler for a trip down the river.  We saw a demo with sled dogs, a Bush pilot flying , and learned about the culture of the original people of Alaska.  After checking into our hotel we walked next door for dinner....then we had to repack everything for our flight out early the next morning.

Flying home on Alaska Airlines was a pleasure, service was outstanding and it was all done with a big smile, even at 6 in the morning.  Jill and I were very impressed and would not hesitate to fly with them again.  We landed in Austin, said our goodbyes and both headed home.














Our trip to Alaska was a huge success......I think we packed as much into 13 days as humanly possible.  Going home needing a vacation from our vacation was a good sign!  We checked a  bunch of things off our bucket list.....and got the t-shirts to prove it.  Alaska is a gem, a true treasure!

Colorado Murals