E. Caribbean Cruise

Pat and I had a great time on our recent cruise during the first week of March. We spent a 7 day cruise with stops in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.



We cruised on the Carnival Dream, the company's newest and biggest ship. 4200 passengers; 1500 employees.


When we stopped at Nassau, Bahamas we were parked by this "tiny" little yacht owned by some prince out of Saudi Arabia. Nice to see you gasoline purchases are going to a good cause.



Here we are at the huge Atlantis Resort in Nassau.




Of course, there are always a lot of fun things to do on the ship!



The Atlantis Resort from our stateroom.



This is the view from our stateroom balcony.



In St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands), we took a catamarran excursion to Buck Island for a snorkeling adventure. Pat with her sister Sandy and her husband, Jim.



The gals are snorkeling in the Caribbean not a swimming pool as it appears.



Strolling through St. Thomas.



The harbor was congested with cruise ships and very expensive yachts.



In St. Maarten (the Dutch side. The other side of the island is owned by the French.



Sue and Gary Hughes.



Our St. Maarten excursion took us snorkeling again and unto a beautiful beach. These beaches are as nice as we have seen, including Hawaii.



The bathing beauties waving.



I had to take a picture of this yacht which is much bigger than the picture appears. When we were coming up to it on our catamarran, Patty and her sister thought it was another cruise ship. According to our captain it is the largest yacht in the world, costing $1.2 billion. Equipped with its own inboard submarine. Owned by some Russian dude (where do you suppose that money came from?) and he only uses it to shuttle himself between St. Maarten and St. Barth (a distance of about 7 miles)



We had fantastic servers in the dining room from Bali (Ni and Goosey)

The Holidays 2010 (and the first week of January)

We had another exciting Christmas Eve day celebration with lots of good food, games, fun, and, of course great company. It was great to have the Springer's with us this year. We missed having the D.C. Stewart's, the Dalpias' and the St. George Klarman's, but some day we will have everyone together.









Before New Year's, Patty and I went to St. George to thaw out a little (and hopefully play a round of golf). Well, Mother Nature did not cooperate in that department, but we always enjoy ourselves there. The snow with the red rock is truly beautiful. Here is a shot of our home with the evidence of a snow storm in St. George.



On January 4, I had a management meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I told Patty that if she wanted to book a flight (thanks again, Robert) that she could truly warm up while I was in my meetings. We both left at the same time from SLC (Patty through Detroit, me through Phoenix) and we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale within minutes of each other.

We were due to come home Friday, but I felt slighted somewhat in not being able to enjoy the great weather and surroundings so we stayed another day. We came home yesterday (Saturday). Temps were 75-80 degrees. Very lovely.

DC in November 2010

Patty and I made a quick trip back to DC just before Thanksgiving. We did a little pre-birthday celebration with Tennyson and Jeremy. Overall, just had a great time as we visited the Eastern Market, the National Mall, the "Great Falls" of the Potomac, etc. Some of these pictures were too cute not to share (Tennyson happens to be in most of them. He is a very busy little guy). Enjoy.

"The Big Island"

We had the great fortune of spending a week on the Big Island of Hawaii in October. Our friends the Pugmire's were at their condo in downtown Kona. We stayed in a really nice condo about 6 miles south of Kona. Some of you have been there, but for the benefit of the rest I am posting some pictures (we took dozens) that show the variety that this great island has to offer.


With the Pugmire's at a very old "Painted Church". The priest took years to paint murals on the inside.



A great view from Poloku Overlook.



This is a terrific beach called Hapuna Beach.




One day the four of us rented a 4-wheel drive vehicle and drove to the top of Mauna Kea (about 14,000 ft). Mauna Kea is considered the tallest mountain on earth although 16,000 feet are below the ocean. This is where the greatest telescopes in the northern hemisphere are located and looking into the heavens. It was really cool to see them. And speaking of cool . . . you can tell from the pictures that the temperature was considerably different than on the beach. With the wind chill, it had to be below freezing. You can see where Ralph and I climbed to the actual summit as well as to a small lake that no one seems to know the source of the water.







Coming down off the mountain you get a great shot of the volcanic activity of yesteryear as well as the weather pattern from the windward side of the island.



The beautiful Waipi'o Valley on the northern end of the island.



A shot straight up as you lay on the beach at Kahalu'u.



What Connie was seeing at the same time.



Beautiful "69 Beach"




A-Bay Beach flowers.



We spent quite a bit of time observing and hiking at the Kileauau Iki volcano. Amazing eruption from 50 years ago.




It's also amazing what can grow in hardened lava.



An incredible beach close to the airport that we had to ourselves.




Friends and others at The Black Sand Beach.




Wearing our leis at the Pugmire condo. They have a great ocean view.



And . . . the obligatory sunset shot.