Washington DC!

We're in DC for a Vet conference and brought the kids along to check out some of our nation's history.  We arrived yesterday afternoon, checked into the hotel then walked around National Harbor.  We had supper at a fun restaurant called Ketchup, then walked down to the riverfront to enjoy the sunset.

Peggy and Ketchup

Charlotte and her huge burger

Peeps Store!

The atrium inside our hotel

Night view of our hotel

~

First time skiers

Yesterday we had a family outing to Sunrise Park for a day of spring snow skiing.  It was Klara and Charlotte's first time, so we put them in ski school in the morning.  They came out with the basics and had a blast the rest of the day.  I think they're pretty stoked to go again.
I forgot to take pictures, but here's a snap of Charlotte finishing up at ski school.

~

Leap Day Adventures

We did some Geocaching on Leap Day to try and help set a new global record for Leap Day finds logged.  Since Peggy had to work, it was sundown before we got started.  By 8:00pm we had made 4 finds and were suddenly greeted by the Payson Police while looking for #5.  They had us surrounded!

We were in a wooded area within the city on public land.  Apparently some Nervous Nellies with homes nearby saw us walking around with flash lights and thought we were bad guys.  Don't they know if bad guys are sneaking up on you in the dark they won't all have flashlights turned on and be talking loudly? DUH!

We had a nice talk and a laugh with the cops.  They were using some $18,000 military night vision goggles and let us have a look. Those things are ridiculously awesome!  The contrast was so good I could see things better than in daylight!  I looked at a hilltop a half mile away and could make out every tree and rock.

I totally want some of those, so if you'd like to donate to the "Buy Ron some completely awesome military style night vision goggles" fund just let me know and I'll tell you where to send the $$.

~

25th Anniversary Trip, Day 9

After we disembarked our ship and went through customs we checked in at our hotel and then spent the afternoon walking around Old San Juan.  We had lunch at a nice restaurant, The Parrot Club, that we found years ago when we were in Puerto Rico.

Supper was at a funky little restaurant called Dragonfly.  One description we read described the decor as a cross between an old San Francisco bordello and a Chinese opium den.  They were right on the money, but it was cozy and fun.  The restaurant features Asian-Latin fusion cuisine.  We enjoyed Peking Duck Nachos, Crispy Fried Baso Sweet & Sour (fish) and Tempura Dragon Roll.  We finished up with an Asian flavored creme brulee and a lemon-infused white chocolate napoleon.  So yummy!!

Fountain near El Morro

Some of the Southern wall of El Morro

Nice street in Old San Juan

A protest blocked the path back to our hotel.  They were against a new gas pipeline.

More pretty Buildings

Uggh!  The toilet in our hotel room is right up against the leg of the wash stand.  It digs into your hip while seated.  This and a few other reasons will prevent us from returning to The Hotel Sofo Casablanca.

~

25th Anniversary Trip, Day 8

Today was a sea day so we just hung around on the ship eating, checking out shows, playing games and watching movies next to the pool.  We also sat in on a cooking demonstration by the Head Chef and the Maitre d'Hotel and took a galley tour.  We had a nice dinner (again) and came back to the room to get our bags packed and put out before 11:00pm.

Our dining room

The Galley

All made from food

My sweetbreads in puff pastry.  Dee-lish!

New York strip

Baked Alaska (sorry, American night...no chocolate-hazelnut dessert)

Our waiters, Hemant and Edward

~

25th Anniversary Trip, Day 7

Having never been to Aruba, the tour company thought it would be a great idea to put me behind the wheel of a Land Rover Discovery loaded with tourists.  Okay, you caught me, I asked (or more appropriately...begged, politely)!  I highly recommend this tour for any of my brothers or brothers-in-law that come to Aruba - or my sisters, for that matter!

We had a great drive round the island including cruising the city, traversing the island, stopping at a natural bridge, checking out an old gold smelter, a wild donkey sanctuary and having a snorkel on the windward (dangerous!) side of the island.  The best part, however, is that most of it took place in a national park which is also a fun ORV park!  Yay for off-roading!

We spent the afternoon having a great local lunch and doing some shopping.  After boarding the ship we dressed for our second formal night and enjoyed escargots, lobster and shrimp for dinner.  Excellent!  Every evening has been a chocolate-hazelnut-fueled rocket ride and tonight was no exception.  My dessert was a chocolate hazelnut souffle with hot whiskey sauce.  It's three hours since dinner and I'm still smiling.  The pastry chef must be my soul mate.  I wonder if I can talk Peggy into another wife?

Haha!  Behind the wheel with 6 tourists along for the ride!

Anyone recognize the sign in the sand?

Natural Bridge

Gold smelter made to look like a fort to scare off pirates

Donkeys getting the best of Peggy

This seemed like a safe place to snorkel, so we did!

Down by the beach on the windward side.

Climbing back up from the beach

Our guide blew a tire on his rig (yes, I helped fix it).

~

25th Anniversary Trip, Day 6

I gotta say, booking our tours through shoretrips.com has been the best.  Not only do we save, but the service is great.  We fully expected to be with others on a bus today, but it was just the two of us with own guide again!  Nothing like doing things on your own schedule and getting personal service all the way!

Today was Bonnaire, which is dutch.  Dutch is the official language, but English and Spanish seemed to be most common.  The US dollar was adopted as the official currency less than 2 years ago.

We had a nice cultural tour around the island, but it is not tropical at all.  It's very rocky and desert-like.  Most people come here to scuba and after seeing all the great dive spots we were feeling a little disappointed we didn't just book a dive.

The island has many beautiful birds as well as wild donkeys and iguanas, or "Bonnaire chicken" as our guide called them.  There is also a major salt flat near the south end where salt is harvested commercially.

It was a good tour and we learned a lot, but next time we'll be here to dive.

Wild donkey looking for a handout

Gorgeous beach

Most beaches are covered with huge pieces of broken coral

Peggy checking out the beach of Goto Lake. Normally it's filled with flamingos, but they've moved elsewhere because of rainstorms

Traditional style house in Rincon

Another traditional house in Rincon

Unique fences are built here

A view of our ship and the port city of Krendaldjik

Finally found some flamingos, but had to shoot them through binoculars

~

25th Anniversary Trip, Day 5

Granada was our stop today.  We had another private tour.  We went around the north end of the island, visiting many villages along the way.  We also visited and waterfall, a nutmeg farm and processing plant and learned how cocoa is processed on the island.

We also drove through the rain forest and stopped at a small lake in the caldera of a volcano at about 2000 feet.  Our guide, Denny, was very knowledgeable and narrated almost the entire 4 and half hours!

I was kinda sick today and had a massive migraine so the twisting, bumpy roads were a little hard to take.  We came back to the ship a little early for quick lunch and a nice nap.  Don't get to take too many naps at home!

Beautiful Granada

Waterfall

Drying Cocoa beans

Nutmeg fermenting

Nutmeg drying

Stirring the drying nutmeg

Sorting the nutmeg

School kids in uniform

Grand Etang lake in the Rain Forest

A couple of local ladies trying to make a buck

~

25th Anniversary Trip, Day 4

Today we stopped on St. Lucia.  It was our Second time here.  We took a private tour of the southern end of the island including the Pitons, a hot sulfur spring and swimming in a warm waterfall heated by volcanic activity nearby.  It was a short day in port but we had a nice time.

When we got back we found our room decorated for our anniversary.  One of the couples at our table was celebrating their 70th anniversary!! Nice folks.

Peggy and our Driver, Kern, overlooking Castries

Peggy and one of her animal friends

The Pitons

Sulfur springs

Our ship in the bay

Happy Anniversary to us!

~