A log about those Silly Folks and their Escapades

A Day at Sea Prior to The Panama Canal
Today was a full day at Sea prior to entering the Panama Canal. So this meant it was going to be very busy day aboard the ship.
This started off with a Panama Canal presentation, Veendam Olympics then Dancing with the Stars this afternoon.
The evening was casual dress in the Rotterdam Dining Room.
After dinner we went to the evening show which was the Male Singers from the entertainment cast performing Street Music.
After that it was to the Crow’s Nest for a nightcap.
Also, each night when we returned to our cabin our bed was turned down and there was a towel animal creation and a couple chocolates 🙂

We arrived in Aruba a little late due to headwinds and engine speed. As a result we were second in the line-up for the Local Pilot to come aboard in order to dock the ship. In the end we were only about 1 hour late and they adjusted our disembarking time so we could have the same time on shore as orginally planned.
The port area where the cruise ships dock are similar to a lot of other Caribbean Islands and you run a gauntlet of local cabs and tour folks as you exit the port area. After this is the endless line of booths selling local and imported handicrafts, t-shirts, knick-knacks, etc.
After a bit of a walk around we found a wi-fi hotspot at a local shopping mall where we downloaded e-mails and uploaded a web post.
From here we headed to the beach for a swim and some sun.

After a while at the beach Brenda and I decided to head back to the ship so we left Dean and Judy to soak up more sunshine. On the way back we poked through some of the shops and found a couple trinkets as mementos of Aruba.

From there we headed back to the ship for a light lunch and to relax.
Dinner tonight was casual dress in the Rotterdam Dining Room.
The evening entertainment was a lady who sang and did voice impersonations of famous singers – male and female, she was very good and it was a fun show.
Then it was off to The Crow’s Nest to listen to some Karaoke (which was terrible 🙁 and a nightcap.
Tomorrow we are at sea all day prior to entering the Panama Canal.

Day’s #2 and #3 of our cruise we were at sea headed for Oranjestad, Aruba.

On day #2 Brenda went to a morning session on Cruise Port Highlights with the Shore Excursion Manager while I wandered and got a better idea of the ship layout.
In the afternoon I attended a beginners learning session on Texas Holdem and then an Olympics competition on golf putting. The golf putting was the first part of many more activities that make up the overall competition. Brenda went to Gemmology session that was alright but not great.

Sunday is a Formal Evening in the Main Dining Room, se we are getting spiffed up for tonight’s dinner. After dinner we went to the evening entertainment show and finished off the night in the Crows Nest dancing the night away.

Day #3 was another day at sea and another day to take advantage of the Holland America programes.
In the morning we went to a presentation on the History of the Panama Canal. It was very interesting and we will definitely attend the follow up sessions that are coming up prior to our transit of the canal.
In the afternoon Brenda attended a Flower Arranging session and I compete in the second event of the Olympics which is Ring Toss.
Brenda, Dean and Judy all went to the Dancing with the Stars show and I wandered the ship watching the many poker games going on.
We all met at 4:00 p.m. for a pre-dinner drink and then got dressed for our evening dinner at the Pinnacle Restaurant.
It really is great to be aboard the Holland America ship Veendam.

Saturday morning we headed off on the start of our 15 night Panama Canal cruise aboard the Holland America ship The Veendam.

Dean, Judy, Brenda and I decided the night before to catch the early shuttle to the Cruise Port thinking that it would be good arrive before the larger crowd that would arrive closer to embarkation time.

Anyway, enough about this little bit of excitement.

Wow! What can you say but it’s wild here. Somewhere between George Street in St. John’s Newfoundland and New Orleans LA. 🙂

Duval Street is the main strip where the real action goes all day long, but it really heats up once the sun goes down. It’s pretty much Pub, Bar, Restaurant, Tee Shirt Shop, Pub, Bar, Restaurant, Tee Shirt Shop, repeat as necessary and as many times as you can imagine. Alcohol is abundant at anytime of the day and clearly many visitors have enjoyed themselves a bit too much 😉

However just off the main strip are some pretty historic sites. Like the home of Ernest Hemmingway (and his 6 toed cats), Harry S. Truman’s “Little Whitehouse”, the Southern most Point in the Continental United States to name a few.

The weather has been fantastic, lots of sun and cool breezes off the ocean.

We have done a ton of walking which is a great vacation style for us and in addition to many other sites ; we have seen a Sunset at “Mallory Square”, 60 – 70 pound Tarpon in the Harbour and a very large and mature Manatee.

Tomorrow we are headed off early back to Fort Lauderdale and then we start our 15 night Panama Canal Cruise. Updates will be sporadic as we understand that Internet service aboard a cruiseship is not that great:)

Last Saturday morning we headed off on our next big adventure. A trip of a lifetime to Florida and then a 15 night cruise to through the Panama Canal to San Diego CA.

We ended up taking the Trans- Canada highway though the Fraser Canyon as the Coquihalla was closed for avalanche control. The drive was a little over an hour longer but we made it safe and sound.

The next morning we were up to catch a very early flight to Houston then on to Fort Lauderdale. After a couple days in Fort Lauderdale we headed off to Key West. On the way there we stopped at an Everglades Tour.

What a fun way to see the Florida Everglades………. on an Airboat.

The guide was very informative about the Everglades; the challenge of water levels (average water depth is only 12″), the alligators and other wildlife.

From here we drove down to Key West, more on that adventure in the next post….. and what an adventure it was 🙂

On December 31st we headed up to Sun Peaks to go snowshoeing.

The weather was perfect, fairly warm (near zero) and the the sun was starting to come out between the clouds. After finding a parking spot; which took a while since all the parking lots were full, we headed off snowshoeing…………. and there was lots of snow.

We picked up our tickets from the Morrisey chair lift station and started on the Valley trail. For the first while you are in a valley below the ski runs and the village, then after a bit you climb out of this area, cross the Nordic trails and head up the side of Morrisey Mountain.

Well, about half way we noticed a couple coming towards us and surprise of surprises it was Jeanine (our God daughter) and Clay from Cochrane/Calgary. What a shock and pleasant surprise.

We visited for a while and then went off on our separate ways.

We stopped for a snack break and the weather was spectacular, so we soaked in the sun and the surroundings. As we sat there we could hear sled dog teams barking in the distance and we figured they were getting hitched up and ready for a run. Well it wasn’t too much longer when we saw a team of dogs, the sled and their musher heading towards us.

As they approached he said that two more teams were coming and sure enough after a few minutes the two other teams passed by. It was pretty neat to see and hear.

After the rest we headed back towards Sun Peaks Village and it was so gorgeous we had to take a “Selfie” just to prove we were there and we also had another snowshoer take a picture.

Once we got back to the village we decided to visit our favourite coffee shop before heading back to town. Guess who we ran into????? Jeanine and Clay……. you could not make this happen if you tried to plan it. So we had a bit longer visit, got all caught up on their busy lives and then after “hugs all around” we headed home.

It was a great day 🙂

The title says it all. This Christmas was all about the grandkids, since they are all at just the perfect age for the season.

On Friday Dec 20/13 in the early afternoon we headed down the Kelowna to spend a couple days with Jeff, Lindsay, Zachary and Oliver.

Saturday morning we were up early to get over to Zach’s daycare to watch their Christmas concert. Man was it cute, there were about 20 kids in the concert and for the most part they stayed pretty well focused; well at least the little girls anyway, the little boys weren’t quite as focused.

Right at the end of the concert Santa Claus arrived to hand out presents and have the little ones sit on his knee or get as close as they dared.

Sunday morning we celebrated Christmas with Zachary and Oliver opening a few presents……… lots of fun for the little ones.

Family photo Christmas 2013.

Monday morning we headed over to Princeton to celebrate with Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad. This was also going to be a very special Christmas as Tamara’s brother Gene, his wife Tonya and their son Colton from Vernon were coming to Princeton. It was so great to have this much family together for this Christmas.

Brenda and I did a Gingerbread House project with Sage and Conrad which is always fun for us and the kids love all the sweets they get to eat.

On Christmas Eve we had a Christmas Concert with songs and complete with guest participants from the audience…….. lots of fun and laughs.

Christmas morning came early with Sage and Conrad making sure everyone was up early so we could start opening presents 🙂

Lego chaos.

Christmas dinner was amazing. Tamara did a tremendous job making sure that the turkey and all the fixings were tasty, there was lots and lots of food and the dessert was not only yummy but it was also very festive.

Family photo Christmas 2013!

What a great Christmas!

Yes, it certainly has been a long time since our last post.

Yes, since September we have both been very busy volunteering with the Theatre, driving school bus, exercising, planning a winter vacation and everyday stuff.

We have also visited with grand-kids (Oh Ya and their parents) in Princeton and Kelowna got lots of hugs and had a bunch of fun with the little ones.

Today we headed up to Sun Peaks for our first day of snowshoeing in a couple years. Weather was a little cool and overcast to start. But later on it warmed up to above “0” and the sun came out between the clouds and it was quite nice. For early in the season there is a fair bit of snow.

Enjoy the pictures!

On Sunday August 11th we had arranged with Kevin, Tamara, Sage, Conrad, Jeff, Lindsay, Zachary and Oliver to meet in Merritt for a nice quiet Family Picnic as a celebration for my 60th Birthday on that day and Brenda’s upcoming 60th Birthday on September 3rd.

Well unknown to us, behind the scenes and in cahoots with our kids, everyone was busy  organizing and arranging a surprise birthday party that was much bigger and certainly included a lot more family. We sort of thought something “was afoot” when I didn’t receive a Happy Birthday phone call from my sister Donna. She hasn’t missed calling me on the morning of my birthday for at least the last 10 years……. so that was the first clue. The second clue was when Dean and Judy with GGPa and GGMa passed us on the highway headed down to Merritt 🙂

Around 12:30 we met the group from Princeton and a few minutes later the Kelowna gang arrived and as we were all saying our hellos all of sudden a cavalcade of vehicles started to pull into the parking lot at Merritt’s Rotary Park.

In addition to our immediate family there was Donna and Bob, Maureen and Duane, Lynda, George, Roxanne, Jennifer, Tricia, Johnny, Lynette, Arjun, Mike, Rose, Sarah, Mitchell, Dean, Judy, GGPa and GGMa, Brent, Karen and Colin…….. phew… what a gang!

It was so great to see so much of the family and extended family together. As with any family gathering the food started appearing from coolers, and boxes, a serving tent was set-up and there was enough grub to feed a military campaign for the next month. Everything was delicious and our Daughter-in-law Tamara made a special 60th Birthday Cake out of Cupcakes…. Yummy!

After lunch there was a Pinata that Sage, Conrad and I had trouble opening with the stick, but in the end we got it and got lots of Candy.Then it was time for lots of visiting, lots of laughs and lots of Hugs. What a great family 🙂

There was also a lot of pictures taken by everyone…… especially the two photog’s in this picture; the one in the pink and the one in black. All of the pictures that are used in this Blog were courtesy of our niece Tricia. Check out her photo site http://mercuriphotography.smugmug.com/

By early afternoon it was time for everyone to say goodbye and for us to head off on our trip down to Washington State and over to Whidbey Island.

It was a great day and we are blessed.

Thanks to everyone in the family that made this day possible.