We Be Cruising, Literally

December 3 – 10, 2017

When I last wrote I indicated we would be doing a first. Well that was taking a cruise. In all of our adventures a cruise is one thing we had not done. So the Sand T of SIT went on a seven night cruise leaving from Port Canaveral.

 That's a Big Ship

Leaving Port Canaveral

We were able to go with some friends, Frank and Linda, who have been on more cruises than I have fingers and toes so we felt good about tagging along with the pros.

We had three stops along the way and disembarked at each one. We visited St. Thomas where Steve and I had actually been before. We didn’t stay off the boat long although we managed to go back to a restaurant we had been to back in 2012. It was nice to see they were still around after the hurricanes.

St. Thomas Awaits

 Ahhh

Hanging Out

I Am Pretty

Tickles is Still in Business

Our second stop was San Juan Puerto Rico. Frank and Linda had not been there before so they enjoyed wandering around old town as much as we did. We went to the Fort which is part of the National Park Service. We enjoyed reading about why would they put something like this on the island and it was wanted by European nations. It just happened to be in the perfect location for ship travel. The Spanish built the fortifications on the island. They have done a great job preserving much of the wall that once surrounded the entire island.

 Linda and Frank

 The Cistern

 The View

 Hard Bunks

 Protection from Everything

 Watch Tower

 The City

You can see damage from hurricane Maria but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the locals. We wandered around as long as time permitted and would have enjoyed staying there much longer.

Watching Over

Damage Remains

 

Parks Nearby

Cobblestone

Ready for Christmas

Friends

Color and Class

Along the bay

The Pet of Choice

 Blended Fort

Part of the Wall

So Long San Juan

Leaving the island

 Gives you perspective

Our next stop was Labadee Haiti. The part of the island we spent the day on is owned by Royal Caribbean. They have done a nice job in creating a relaxing and fun place to spend a day at the beach. You can even go zip lining here but unfortunately the road was washed out so we didn’t get a chance to zip over the Atlantic!

 Beach Fun

Just Wandering

 Colorful

 The Island

 Native Dancers Perform

 Peaceful

Sunset as We Leave

It was amazing what the ship does have to offer. For newbies like us it was quite impressive. You think you are in a mall that has a lot of restaurants to pick from, a theatre for shows, casino, and of course several pools. Our time on the ship was spent mostly reading, wandering, and well what else eating!  We did get to a few of their shows which were great including Cats. Needless to say if you choose to be busy 24 hours a day you certainly can.

 Mashed Potatoes Anyone?

 Just one of the kitchens on the ship

 They Really Don't Drive this around

 Ginger Bread Houses Galore

One of the Pools

 
Theatre

Guess Who

 The Promenade

 Christmas

Central Park is Below

Who knows if we will do this again but it was a blast and now we can add a couple more places to our list of where we have been.

As always more to come from SIT!

Cruising into Fall

September to November 2017

It is hard to believe that Fall is almost over and I am just now letting you know what SIT has been up to. Oh well, I am sure most of you are in the same boat!  Speaking of boat, we didn’t have any luck fishing the great Cascade Lake this past summer. I guess we wanted to make sure there will be plenty of fish for everyone next year.

Scott (Steve’s brother) came to Cascade for a week and enjoyed the quiet mountain community. He was traveling around a bit after seeing the eclipse in Wyoming.

Izzy's Little Stick

Scott after ATVing all day

We did enjoy the time spent in the small community, but the trailer is tucked away for the season. We will be sure to get it out when the spring is blooming and head some place.

We were able to see our great niece for the first time. She is Steve’s nephew’s daughter and such a cutie. I managed to take a few pictures when she was a happy baby! If you ask her Mom she is a joy all the time!

Great Grandpa, Grandma Chris, and Ellie

 Great Grandpa

Great Uncle Steve

We ended up having a maple tree removed from the backyard. It grew faster than our tomatoes ever do and was blocking other plants. So we left the stump fairly high and have plans on carving a bird house. Maybe next year I will have a cool picture to show you.

The rest of the time we were getting things taken care of around the house and spending time with friends and I was able to see my cousin Amy. She had a business meeting in Boise so we enjoyed getting caught up. I also made a short trip with my friend Bobbe to Featherville. It was a beautiful day and a neat place to check out.

Amy, My Cousin

Featherville

An Evening with Tom and Becky

Showing our Support for the Boise State Broncos

Smokey Sunrise at our house

I can wear this can't I

We managed to stick to our schedule to head to our winter beach bungalow the first of November. The trip across country was uneventful but our first day out we were treated to some pretty cool looking clouds.

 Space ships?

Invasion

Once we arrived we had to deal with damage to the ceiling from hurricane Irma. We had lost the roof to our place and ended up with some water damage inside. It’s a good thing we don’t shy away from fix-it projects!  We have the living room, dining area, and hall completed. The kitchen is left to tackle which we plan on getting done before Christmas.

Progressing

 Working on the cure

Work Space

 Finished Living Room

You might be wondering what we will do when that is over. Don’t worry as I have rooms to paint and more ceiling work! Oh and we need to play golf and fish some too.

Fall Color in our front yard

 Sunset in November

 Vero Beach

Walking the Boardwalk

I will end here for now but don’t go too far away as the next event I will tell you about was our first ever cruise!

Take care and will connect soon - SIT 

Summer Fun

July-August 2017

SIT’s summer has continued to cruise on by but not without us having a bit of fun and of course watching the total solar eclipse.

We have continued to get out and play some golf once in a while but also go to a local car show where we saw quite a few pretty cool cars. Tom put his Model-A Truck in the show and won the “One of a Kind” trophy. We like to think Tom is one of a kind too! Izzy really thinks that as he always has a treat for her when she goes to visit him!

Tom's One Of A Kind

Model A

We had a friend (Cindy) come stay a few days with us the end of July and I was able to take her to one of my favorite places, The Birds of Prey Center. The birds cooperated when it came time to taking some pictures. If you ever come to Boise you should check this place out.

 Just Call Me Screech

 California Condor Guard

 Head Shot

Bateleur Eagle

 I'm Pretty

 Northern Aplomado Falcon

 Simply Regal

We have spent some more time in Cascade but the fishing hasn’t been on-fire yet but they September is the best. Steve will just have to check that out since September is fast approaching.

 

Morning Walk

Should I Swim Here?

We were in Cascade for the eclipse so I decided instead of making a filter for the camera to take pictures of that event I would take some pictures of the people watching the eclipse and the shadow effect it provided. It was fun to walk around and see what the trees and other objects looked like during the eclipse.

Steve and Izzy Waiting 

Steve's Looking

Ooh Ahh

 Clouds? Nope

 Pretty Cool

Looks Like Mushrooms

Guess What This Is?

Well that’s it for now for SIT, short and sweet, pretty much how summer seems to be as it continues to speed on by. Stay tuned more to come!