Category — Travel

Well, it was interesting …… that’s the best way to describe the last couple of days. If this had been a worked related trip in my former life (working days) I’m sure we exceeded a least a couple regulatory requirements along the way.  However, that’s all behind us now and we are comfortably located in St. Maarten at the Turquoise Shell Inn. So what happened? Well we left Kamloops close to the departure time and arrived into Vancouver pretty well on schedule. Customs and Immigration was smooth and the new system for baggage handling is pretty slick. If you are transferring on to a USA bound flight you no longer have to pick up your luggage; what happens is they take a picture and you identify it with the security people and the customs officer on their computer screen. The United Airlines flight out of Vancouver was a little late  but we were late getting into Chicago due to weather and air traffic. When we taxied and arrived at the gate the pilot shut off all the power systems prior to the ground crew hooking up power so there we were in the dark until the emergency lighting came on…… never had that happen before. The gate to our next flight was only steps away and everything was lining up for a quick connection. That was until the airplane developed a mechanical issue just after we boarded and were getting ready to get pushed back for taxi and take-off. So after a few minutes the pilot decided to abandon this flight and he had us all go to another gate where a flight that had been delayed earlier was waiting for us. In the end we were about 1 1/2 hrs behind schedule and finally got to the hotel and to bed a about 2:00 a.m. local time. The 6:30 a.m. wake up call came early and we were off to the airport, the flight left on time and arrived a few minutes early…… things are looking good! OOPS that was a little premature. As we exited the airplane and head to customs the lights in the airport go out…….. I mean pitch black except for the very rare battery powered building light and of course cellphones, cameras, the odd flashlight and my I-Pod screen. So, that means that absolutely no one could enter St. Maarten or depart on a flight from St. Maarten. The good news is that we were the first aircraft in at that time and of course in the front of the Customs line. Pity the poor people that were the 4th aircraft in that afternoon. So there we were (and of course 600 other people) waiting for the lights to come on. Well things on the Caribbean Islands move at a little slower pace than where we live. But after a little over 1 hour the lights came on, people cheered and everyone was hustled through the line-ups. In another post I’ll rant about people’s etiquette, politeness, beautiful people syndrome (those that think they look so good and should get to go to the front of the line, etc). Anyway, we finally made to St. Maarten and I hope to attach pictures from Simpson Bay Beach if I can get a solid internet connectiion. More to come…… check regularly.

I just love the title of this post. I’m not sure if it is because of the alliteration of Snowshoeing and St. Maarten, or is it the fact that it is so illogically non-sensical that it is just funny! Anyway on Thursday we went up to Sun Peaks for a day of snowshoeing. It was great day, weather was around 2C, a little bit of sun came out, we did some of our favorite trails, met some new people and finished with a coffee, home made muffins and cookies as a lunch. So how did St. Maarten get into the title you ask? Well, as I write this we are sitting in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge sipping on wine and waiting for our flight to Chicago and on to Charlotte. Then tomorrow morning we head off to St. Maarten. We will be there for 4 days and then off to St. Bart’s and we’ll attempt to keep everyone updated every couple days or so. Must run……… wine glass is getting empty.

Last weekend we were in Campbell River to attend a wedding for Kristin and Caley. Kristin is the daughter of our good friends (reunion group) Ross and Betty-Anne. The bride was given away by Ross, Betty-Anne, Colby and Cash. The bride and groom exchanged rings and then also gave small wedding bands to both young boys; it was really nice and very family centered. We stayed at Oyster Bay Resort which was a unique location right across the road from Oyster Bay. The resort has small cabins which are very well equipped, have a gas fireplace, jacuzzi tub and you have a view of the ocean while having your morning coffee in bed. The reception for the wedding was at the resort, so it was real easy to stumble home. Rick and Gayle (reunion group) were traveling with us and despite some snow/rain and other conditions that throw west coast folks into a tizzy we made the ferries on or ahead of time. Great friends and a great time!

Now that we are back attached are a few pictures from our St. Martin vacation. They include random photos from St. Barth’s, our Studio in Mt. Vernon, various beach scenes and daily excursions. Enjoy…… Larry & Brenda

Well today is our final full day in St. Martin, we are going to make the most of it by doing another self-guided circle Island tour. Traffic today could be good or it could be bad, all depends on ????? Yesterday was an absolutely crazy day on Orient Beach, it was wall to wall people like on Waikiki Beach Hawaii. This was a result of the fact that there were 6 Cruise ships in port, one of these was the Disney Ship which is commonly referred to around here as “The Death Star”, we’ll explain on a later post. Yesterday was sunny from morning to the night and with absolutely no wind, so it was very warm and humid. We had lunch at “Talk of the Town” LoLo in Grand Case. A LoLo (which stands for Locally Owned and Locally Operated) is a bar-b-que stand on the beach and/or roadside and the food is very inexpensive, very tasty and you get a plate full. Anyway our internet time is almost up we’ll talk to everyone when we get home. Bonjour…… Larry & Brenda

Well, as you can probably guess from the last post, the pictures did not work out as planned, so we will post a bunch when we get home. Our French is getting better each day and with the help of the locals we are able to carry on a decent conversation for the basics of beer and bread and wine. However our Dutch is non existent, so that provides a challenge when we go to Phillipsburg or to the Dutch side especially when we need to check ingredients on food. Anyway a big Happy Valentines Day tomorrow to everyone. Bonsoir……… Larry & Brenda

We have finally found an Internet Cafe where we can attempt to download a few pictures. They are just random shots so far.

It’s Sundat today and the beach is fairly quiet. Today’s weather was a bit unsettled but the rain never seems to last that long. The kite surfers were outin full force. Most days there are  5-6 this afternooon on our way back fro, our walk we counted 9 of them. They are so fascinating to watch, they reach speeds of 60 km and easilt pass right by the high speed windsurfers. They are a dedicated bunch, one evening while having dinner on the deck Brenda saw one in the dark, it was eerie to see this kite flyinh along the edge of ythe water knowing someone was attached to it. Tomorrow we are off to Phillipsburg for a day trip. Take Care……. Larry & Brenda

Today we headed into Marigot right after our morning beach walk and breakfast. A large Cruise Ship was sitting out in the harbour so we knew is was going to be busy. We checked out the details for a day trip to Anquilla and watched the “Lighters” off load the cruise ship passengers. Within a few minutes the market area got really crowded. We are currently at the Library but unfortunately we cannot download any pictures, we will try another internet location later. The last few days there have been some wild fluctuations in temperature. It is about 28C during the day and it cools right off to about 26C at night….. Ha! Ha!Having a great time……… Larry and Brenda

Since our last post we have driven around the island from a couple different directions and both invovled traffic jams, interesting scenery and beautiful sites. We visited Baie Longue which was spectacular beach but the crashing surf made it unswimable for us, but we had a great beach lunch. We also visited Cupecoy Beach which was solid rock as the sand had washed away ( locals say it could be back tomorrow or the next day?) and then we stopped Mullet Bay where a wedding was about to start on the beach. Anyway, internet time is up and must run (waddle off) to Happy Hour and nibblies. Larry & Brenda