Cruise Pics Set Five

It's a sad day when the vacation comes to an end. We kept the vacation alive after we got off the ship with a trip to the Florida everglades. I didn't know what to expect, but it was beautiful and scary at the same time. We went out on an airboat and saw two alligators! Our captain splashed a rope in the water and one of them came right up to the side of the boat! Meanwhile, she told us not to point or wave our hands over the water, and that the alligators can attack in a flash. Nervous, much?!



This is not a zoom lens! LOL. This alligator was right beside us...



They also had an animal reserve with baby alligators, snakes, tortoises, pigs, peacocks, bunnies, and this GORGEOUS florida panther named Mia:




This is the only Gator wrestling we did...



The next morning we had to get up early to catch our flight(s) back to Seattle, followed by our drive home.

Definitely a trip to remember...to deal with our post vacation blues we're searching for our next cruise! ;)

Cruise Pics Set Four

On the Friday of our cruise we had our only stop where we had to take tenders to the island of Half Moon Cay. Another gorgeous island, this one owned and operated by the cruise lines. Only 35-40 people live on the island, all staff. Our only complaint were with the staff..who were NOT friendly at all, bordering on rude. I think they thought it was "their" island. Really? Anyway...we had a couple of excursions planned, a kayak trip and more snorkelling. (Ross took this picture through a "hold" in the pirate ship on the island)



We didn't think to take the camera out on the kayak, but we found out there were little packs behind the seats, so we could've. Good to know for next time. It was a GORGEOUS trip around the different bays on the far side of the island. The water was a bit choppier in the open spots, so it was a team effort workout as well. We took pics after and no, we didn't go jet skiing, though that looked fun too!





After returning we checked out the sting ray encounter, but were glad we did it in Grand Turk instead in the ocean, rather than in the "pen" they had set up there.

Next, the cruise crew through a big barbeque, which we of course took full advantage of...



Then we had another snorkel excursion. It did start to rain a bit, and the tempature dropped, but we toughed it out and went out with a small group. I ended up not lasting very long in the water...it was too c-c-c-cold!! For future colder water, I'll get a rash shirt like Ross bought in Grand Turk. (notice the long sleeves = smiling, bikini=not so much)





By the time we got back to the island, most people had headed to the ship or were in line for the tenders due to the rain. That didn't stop us. We still played frisbee on the beach and Ross even got in a little baskettball, while I hid in a shelter. ;)



Back on board, big surprise, it was time to eat again! We had another lovely meal in the dining room with Ross' parents. (yummy!)

The ship would then cruise all night and arrive back in Ft Lauderdale on Sat morning. That would have been the end of our trip, except Ross' dad treated us to a trip to the Florida everglades!! (very cool) I'll post those pics next. :)

Cruise Pics Set Three

Our third port in a row was St. Thomas. Famous for it's shopping, we decided to take a different approach and went on an excursion to the island of Ft. John. We took a ferry ride, got some information about both St Thomas and St John, spotted Madonna's house, a house "once owned by Michael Jackson" and two islands that are for sale, one for 11 million, the other for 9 million. Want to buy one? The only hitch is, you have to by both. So, got a spare 20 million laying around?

Here's Ross checking them out...probably thinking about the next World Series of Poker Main Event...


There we did an eco hike to a gorgeous beach. Once again, we asked our guide if we could hike a bit higher, so we kept climbing, then came back down and still had plenty of beach time.



A couple that had been on our snorkelling excursion in Grand Turks also came on the hike. They cracked some coconuts open and gave us some. So this is the picture they took of us in the water, eating our fresh coconut. Does it GET better than this?! Look at that water!!



We had some time before the ship left after we got back to the port in St Thomas so we did a bit of shopping. (yay!) We didn't spot any cats this time, instead, there were iguanas all over the rocks!! Ross wanted to take one home, but I wouldn't let him. ;)






The next day was at our sea day, to head back up toward Half Moon Cay. I'll admit, I didn't do much except eat, sleep, eat and sleep. The three days of big port excursions wiped me out! Luckily, that night was the "Chocolate Dessert Extravaganza" so I got to refuel. This may be the funniest picture I've ever posted of myself.



If you haven't stabbed yourself in the eye yet over all my picture posting, there's still more to come! :)

Cruise Pics Set Two

I'm surprised I'm not carrying my cruise pictures around to show everyone I run into, friends or strangers. But I'll settle for blogging them. ;)

Our next port of call after Grand Turks was San Juan. We decided to do an excursion that would take us to the El Yunque Rainforest for a hike to a waterfall. The description said it was a 45 minute hike to the waterfall and a 45 minute hike back out. Great! We went ahead of the group and reached the waterfall...in 15 minutes! No, we weren't power walking or running, it just wasn't that long a hike. Once the rest of the group came to the waterfall, we asked our guide if we could continue hiking up. He gave us ten minutes to hike up so we did that, then hiked all the way back. It was a fabulous hike, if a little short. It felt like being dropped into Jurassic Park III, the trees, the sounds, I thought a pterodactyl was going to swoop down and carry me off by my backpack!









Once we got back to Old San Juan, we had a bit of time left and decided to take the seaside walk that goes around the
Castillo San Cristobal Fort. I'd heard the commentary by the ship's travel guide as we pulled into San Juan and she said you might see some feral cats that live there. We thought, great! We can walk around the entire fort and maybe see some cats. SOME CATS?!!!! We probably saw FIFTY cats on the seawalk, sunning on the rocks, and hanging out in the grass and bush areas on the other side of the path. Some ran and hid when we walked by, some stared us down and we knew better than to try to approach them and some came right up to us. I've never seen so many cats at once. Never. They were all colours, from pure white or black to "burnt umber", orange and grey tabby. There's a group of volunteers who feeds them and cares for them, we saw lots of food sitting out for the little guys. We did capture a few of them on film, but there were just too many and it started to get dark. If you like cats, you'll like these pics. If you don't like cats, skip this part. :P











Oh yeah. And we got a great look at the fort.



We didn't leave San Juan till later and we tired after all the hiking and walking, so all we did was hit the buffet (and hit it HARD!). After we came back from dinner that night we found this waiting for us in our room. Another great day, with another early morning excursion the next day...more photos to come!! ;)

Rubbing It In-Cruise Pictures Set One

We're back from the beautiful Caribbean and I have an overwhelming urge to post photos to show off what a fantastic time we had. Because that's what you do when you come back from an incredible holiday, right?! Just like our last cruise, we did so many great things, hiking, kayaking, snorkelling, sightseeing, that I couldn't possibly post all the pictures at once. Our days and nights were jammed packed and I made sure to get lots of pics to remember it all. (I'm sparing you the full number of pictures we took, that would be ridiculous) So once again, I'll post them day by day and that way I'll get to relive our cruise now that we're back on dry land and having to face real life. (awwww)

We flew from Vancouver to Ft Lauderdale, stayed the night and boarded the boat..no, sorry, ship. I've been told I'm not allowed to call it a boat. The first thing we did was check out our spa stateroom which had healthy extras like a pilates dvd and yoga met (never got to use them) organic bath robes, a water fountain feature, pedometer, a special breakfast menu and vitamin water. (you know, cuz we're sort of healthy type people) Not only that, it had an extraodinary view out the very front of the b-- ship.

After that, second priority of course, was eating. I'm proud to say I am still on my streak from last cruise and I had ice cream every day. EVERY day! The food was fantastic.

Third thing we did was go to the Explorations Cafe. Similar to our last cruise, the Holland America Eurodam has a library/games room/cafe that we love. Ross found a book to read, then a puzzle to work on.





I didn't bring a book on this trip (except my own to edit) because I was expecting to find one in the ship's library to read for the week. I'd hoped to find something great, and I did! I found a book by Terry Brooks that I didn't even know existed, a continuation to his Landover series that I love. A Princess of Landover is the the first book in the series for over a decade and it was a great addition to the trip!!



The ship sailed all night and in the morning we docked at Grand Turk, while we enjoyed our in room dining breakfast (we did that every day!) and watched out the window.



We had an early morning "Reef and Ray" excursion, where we went out snorkelling on a reef and then pulled right up on a small island to play with the sting rays. We got up close and personal with them, even had the guys hold them so we could kiss them. (what, it's good luck!) Unfortunately we don't have those pics yet, which, maybe is for the better.



After our excursion we still had time to shop and sit on the beach. We walked down to a small shop and found a few locals we just had to get pictures of.





Then some beach time before boarding:





That day was also Valetine's and our anniversary, so we went to one of the restaurants on the ship, followed by a show on the mainstage, this night happened to be a fantastic magician.





Phew! And that was just the first two days!! More rubbing it in photos to come. ;)

Cruisin'

We leave tomorrow morning for our Caribbean cruise! (excuse me while I do a happy dance, I don't mean to rub in it. HA!)
I've been down and out with a nasty cold that last few days, but am feeling better today, thank goodness.This is our anniversary, valentine's day (which happens to be the same day. I know...) and last year's Christmas present to each other, so we're going to hit some great excursions while we're there. We have big plans, including Ultimate Snorkelling in Grand Turk, a rainforest hike in San Juan, a Kayak, Hike and Snorkel trip in St Thomas and a Stingray Adventure in Half Moon Cay. Of course, those are just plans and plans can always change, but we're looking forward to some great adventures, not to mention the food (oh, the food), the shopping, the casino, the gym (with a great view!), the amazing Explorations Cafe (where you can sign out books, do crosswords, puzzles and just relax!!) and the entertainment.

You know I'll be posting pictures when we get back. :) This is our ship, if you look really close, you can see me waving. :P

 

How To Network at Conventions

For today's blog, I'm blogging about another blog. It's our group blog at www.inkpunks.com and today I've asked Diana Rowland to guest blog for us. With 2011 now in full swing, many people are looking ahead to which conventions they’d like to attend this year. Or perhaps you’ve never been to one and are considering it. I thought this would be great timing to ask Diana Rowland (Mark of the Demon, Blood of the Demon, Secrets of the Demon) to share her words of wisdom about how to properly conduct yourself at conferences and conventions. Thanks to Diana for loaning her words to the Inkpunks.

Get over there and check it out!!