Cartagena, Funchal & La Palma

Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena is one of those quintessentially Spanish coastal towns. Cobbled windy streets, wrought iron balconies and hidden little plazas. The ship docks right in town and we walked below the old castle walls to the ornate town hall which led straight to the main shopping street. The atmosphere here is much more casual than Rome or Paris, but sitting in an outside café having a beer and pizza and watching the people go by is just as delightful.

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Madeira is a volcanic island that rises immediately and insistently from the ocean. The tiny roads were built well before the population was the current 250,000 and before the introduction of huge tour buses. Riding around this island in a tour bus makes the Amalfi coast seem like child’s play. We rode up to a town call Monte to go tobogganing. This activity, which is now a major tourist attraction, was invented by an English family as a way to get from their high village down to Funchal at sea level.

To go tobogganing Madeira style, you sit on a thin quilted cushion on a bench in a large wicker basket on metal runners. Your “drivers” are two guys, some young, some old,  wearing white pants and shirts and jaunty little straw boaters. They have on special shoes—which just means that their shoes have tire treads to the bottom of them. They start you off by pulling on a couple of ratty pieces of rope attached to the front corners of the basket. You then build momentum and go flying down the regular traffic roads---snaking your way for 10 minutes from the top of the hill (about 500 hundred meters above sea level) to the bottom.

Let me just tell you that much of our ride was done sideways, and some of it partially off the road over the drainage ditches (they get a lot of rain and have big floods). It was the wildest ride ever and sooo much fun. We had to stop part way down because the couple in the basket behind us (Bellinghamsters from our dinner table) were crashed into by a motor scooter who ran a stop sign. Luckily Lynn was only bruised on the shoulder, and the scooter driver was hauled to his feet and placed back on his scooter and went on his way.

The rest of our tour of Madeira consisted of driving up to a lookout at 1,000 meters above the town. We traveled up one lane roads, some of which went along ridges so it was straight down both sides. These one lane roads were used simultaneously by two tour buses going opposite directions. It meant that we had to back up around curves and do all kinds of dare devil moves. I can’t tell you much about them as I had my eyes shut for most of it, but there was lots of oohing and aahing and clapping from the other passengers.

Santa Cruz, La Palma, Canary Islands

This is our last port of call before crossing the Atlantic. We have just arrived at the dock, but I am writing this before we do our visit today.  I have to find an internet café to post this today or none of these posts will happen until we get back to the US.

I am reading in our port guide that the island of La Palma  “rises dramatically from the sea and has the greatest altitude to surface ratio on the entire planet”. After yesterday I will be staying at sea level!

It is supposed to be 73 degrees today and Fritz says that there are people swimming in the ocean just a short distance from the ship—so, perhaps we will make it to the beach.

Buenos Dias from Santa Cruz

Florence, Nice & Toulon

Florence, Italy

Not having time to deal with trains in this port we took the ship’s bus to town—about an hour and a half, and then we had the day to explore on our own. Having been to Florence before, we sought out our old haunts. The market--where we touched the boar’s nose for good luck. The plaza, where there was some sort of military gathering going on and lots of official looking guys in a variety of very snazzy uniforms. We sashayed through the produce market and negotiated a few purchases from the myriad of vendors selling everything from leather to silk to jewelry. Lunch was delicious bruschetta and pasta with truffle oil at a trattoria just off the Ponte De Vecchio. A quick stroll past the Duomo and half a dozen lesser churches—waved hello to the replica of David, and back on the bus. All in all a very successful day.

Villefranche, France

We tendered into the beautiful little fishing port of Villefranche and took the bus into Nice, three miles away.  As the sun was warm and bright we walked down to the Promenade de Anglais rather than taking their snazzy new ultra-modern tram system. As one would do on a promenade, we promenaded with the best of them, and then wandered through the pedestrian shopping mall and into the flower market, where we stopped for lunch.

As it was the last time we were in Nice in 2004, there was a Presidential visit going on, which caused all of the security forces to be on the scene. This time it was the President of China and there were police vans and roadblocks and motorcycle police galore. Most of whom were guzzling beer at the next table to us in the market—we felt so secure!

 At least we got back to Villefranche on the bus before they blocked all of the roads—some of the tour buses got caught in the middle of it all and had to drive into town and turn around and go back to the ship.

Toulon, France

This town is the base of the French Navy and we were going to go to the Naval Museum, but it was closed because today was a strike day in France. In fact, while the ship all-aboard wasn’t until 4:00 we had to take the bus back to the ship no later than 1:30 because the bus drivers were going to join the protests in the afternoon and wouldn’t work any later. I guess we should be grateful for small mercies—that they drove that day at all.

Toulon was a more middle-class community than any that we’ve visited (apart from Naples) and we were there on a Saturday, so the large street market was very busy. The town also had a large Muslim community, so there were lots of ladies in headscarves and we noticed a lot of cafes with groups of men smoking and drinking their espressos.

As this was our last port of call in France, we made sure to have a farewell crepe—and a Magnum ice cream because you never know…

On board after Toulon came the highlight of the trip for me. Royal Caribbean supports the Make a Wish Foundation and earlier in the cruise I had won at auction the right to blow the ship’s horn as we left Toulon. So, just as we were leaving the harbor Fritz and I were escorted to the Bridge. We got to stand just behind the control panels as the Captain and the Pilot maneuvered the ship out of the harbor. Then, after we’d cleared some boats that he didn’t want to startle, I got to sound three long blasts on the horn---and three shorts (as we were turning to Starboard). Then I got to do whatever I wanted so it was da, da, da, daaaaa. Plus, as the Captain was in a generous mood, Fritz got to do three blasts too. How much fun was that!!!

Naples & Rome

Our visit to Naples started off a bit rocky—we took the bus to the train station and on our 10 minute bus ride Fritz was pick-pocketed. Luckily they only got his cruise card as he had heeded all the warnings and had his wallet in the inside pocket of his European Man Bag (really an Eddie Bauer nylon shoulder bag) which he had firmly held by his side. He was wedged up against the wall so he couldn’t move his other arm and we were wedged in like sardines. The guy was good—while face to face with Fritz he managed to reach inside his windbreaker and get the card out of his shirt pocket. 

It didn’t stop us enjoying the day. We took the train to Pompeii where we joined a small group of English speakers on a private tour. Our guide, Pasquale, was excellent (he’s been doing it 42 years) and we learned more about the Romans (they were only 5 feet tall while their slaves were over 6 feet) than we ever could have imagined. Did you know that the wine bottles had pointed bottoms because they used to stick them in the sand in the hold of the ship that was used for ballast.

After Pompeii, we got back on the train and headed south to Sorrento. We were really struck by the graffiti. It’s such a shame that beautiful historic buildings, along with every other surface, including most train station signs and all of the train cars, are covered. There doesn’t seem to be any effort to cover any of it up.

Sorrento was lovely. Our new best friend, Enrico, made us fabulous pizzas in his fancy pizza oven and we trekked down the little windy side streets down to the harbor to catch our hydrofoil back to Naples. Very conveniently the hydrofoil dropped us just across the pier from our ship. Security is very laissez-faire on the dock in Naples, so we were able to get Fritz back to the ship to report his lost card. 

After Naples it was on to Rome. The ship docked in Civitavecchia which is about an hour and a half from Rome by train. We bought our all day train, bus and metro passes for 9 Euros and hopped the first train. Here’s the “it’s a small world” story for this trip. The people sitting across the aisle from us were from Seward Park in Seattle. When I said that I had lived there when we first came from England in 1966 they asked us where. I described the house and location and she said “well that’s 5403 and that’s my sister’s house”. Amazing! (and, they weren’t from the ship—just random travelers).

What’s not to love about Rome? The weather was gorgeous, about 70 degrees, and the sun was shining, and the sky was blue. We wandered around and threw our coins in the Trevi Fountain and meandered by the Pantheon. We had a great birthday lunch for Barbara on the Piazza Navonne. Sipping wine, while eating our caprese salads and spaghetti carbonara-- the music playing and the waiters humming in the background—it doesn’t get much better!

We completed our loop walking tour by going past the Vittorio Emmanuel memorial and back up to the train station. We topped off our day with gelato—just a little snack before a 5 course dinner.  Next port—new clothes with spandex!

Barcelona, Voyager of the Seas

We took the bus from the airport to downtown Barcelona and walked the couple of blocks to our hotel, the Hotel Continental Palacete, just off Plaza Catalunya, which was actually once a Palace. We were going to take a taxi, but the taxi warden at the airport wanted to cram all four of us and our luggage into a Toyota Corolla and we wanted a mini-van. She refused to let the guy with the mini-van jump to the front of the lengthy queue, so we took the bus. As we drove off she was having to contend with about six angry drivers who thought she was as ridiculous as we did. Our motto—always have a Plan B.

First stop in Barcelona—a Tapas bar, where we loaded up on little sandwiches and nibblies and some liquid refreshments—oh, and Fritz had the requisite chunk of chocolate cake! Once restored we walked the length of the Ramblas to the port. With one hand on our wallets (the Ramblas is notorious for pickpockets) we strolled through the market and marveled at the varieties of fish, vegetables, cheeses,hams, eggs (including Ostrich) and other delights. The temperature at 6:00pm was a delightful 60+ degrees—quite the change from Paris.

Sunday we boarded the Voyager of the Seas and were pleasantly surprised to have been upgraded to a “Junior Suite”. It’s certainly the fanciest cabin we’ve ever had—coffee maker, couch and chairs in a little sitting area, nice big bathtub, but the envy of all—a walk-in closet (really). We are enjoying it as we have it for just this week, and next week we go back to our original balcony cabin amongst the peasants.

This ship is really cool. It has a three-tiered dining room, reminscent of something you would see in New Orleans or Paris—ornate columns, wrought iron railings, long sweeping staircases and huge chandeliers. The ship also has a central promenade with an English pub nestled among the shops—it’s on our list to try out. Barbara and I are thinking of taking up roller-blading so that we can try out the course on board. Also, there’s an ice rink, but we think we’ll just watch on that one—and we’ll just watch at the rock climbing wall. We were going to do ballroom dancing today, but we’ve discovered that it’s Belly Dancing—so I’m thinking we’ll give that one a pass—at least until we’ve been to the gym.

Farewell to Paris--On to Barcelona

As we prepare to leave Paris for Barcelona tomorrow, we wrapped up our trip with a bus tour across town. We took the #69 bus from the end of our street through all the great neighborhoods to the 20th district. At the end of the line we visited the Pere Lachaise cemetery and paid our respects to Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison, among others. There were some amazing memorial statues to those who died in the various concentration camps during the war. Also, many to those who fought for the resistance and died at the hands of the Nazis.

There is so much more to see, but we will have to save it for another visit. Lasting memories from this trip include:

The Food--of course, and we have done our best to sample as much as we could--crepes, cheese, croissants, frites, beef, lamb, mushrooms, fruit--all of it fresh and colorful and washed down with some great wines.

The Architecture---my descriptions can't possibly do it justice, but I love the wrought iron balconies--some dripping with flowers. The carved corbels and pediments over the windows and doors. The statuary and the gargoyles and the lamp posts and the bridges. All set in magnificent boulevards ending in grand squares with fountains or obelisks-- or windy little cobble-stoned streets that dead end abruptly as you round the corner.

The Metro-- We love subway systems everywhere, and this one is as fun to navigate as most--and even with the strikes it got us to where we wanted to be quickly and we only had to jump the turnstiles once.

The Shops--While everything here seems very expensive, especially with the Euro so strong, it's great fun to see what's available. Today we spent some time looking at the incredible variety of fresh fish (eels, scallops, octopus, shrimp, sardines, etc. etc. in the fish shop opposite the hotel. It was next door to the Cheese Shop which has more varieties of cheese than I've ever come across. Add to that fabulous bakeries every few steps, interspersed with cafes and chocolate shops--what's not to love!

The Weather--We've been so lucky that there has been only the briefest drop of rain while we've been here. Otherwise, it's been clear and cool--with splashes of sun!

Au Revoir from Paris.

Versailles, The Louvre and More

Wow, we have been on the run all over town and beyond. I had computer difficulties the other day--yes, user error, but the French instructions didn't help, so this is a few day's worth of activities.

A quick update on the political situation. We have not been impacted at all, although the lady at Versailles told us that they decide each day whether to open--depending on how many show up for work. The day we were there they opened an hour late-creating a big jam for those that had gone early--not us--we were eating. A few less trains running in the metro, but we don't follow a schedule so we don't know if they're late anyway. Word is that things are getting back to normal.

Yesterday, we took the train to the Palace of Versailles to get some home decorating and landscaping ideas. Talk about opulent, but I guess that's what Louis XIV had in mind 300 years ago when he and his 5,000 aristocratic buddies and entourage decamped Paris for the new digs.  If you're into gilt and marble, this is the place for you. Unfortunately, at this time, there's also some Japanese art exhibit going on and in the middle of the Hall of Mirrors there's a 15 foot high purple Pokeman like thing. We all thought that it detracted from the main event, but the Japanese tourists were in awe.

I personally like the brocaded canopies over and around the beds and thought it would be fun to do at home, especially with the plumes of feathers on the top. I also particularly liked the 8 inch deep dark red and purple marble door surrounds and thought it might add a nice touch to our house.

The gardens were amazing and spread beyond what the eye could see. We wandered up and down many of the pathways lined with trees and it felt as if you were in a giant maze. There were people boating on the grand canal and they looked like little dots from the house. We did have a sandwich in the garden and imagined what it would be like to send the children to play in the garden (come back when you're 18), but I'm sure they had nannies for things like that.

Yesterday we took the metro to the Arc De Triomphe and had none of the difficulties exiting that we did on our last trip--when we took a wrong turn and ended up face to face with a group of soldiers practicing with machine guns.  This time, we strolled out into the sunshine and spent some time watching the traffic whiz around the circle while all of us snap-happy tourists used up our gigabites on a multitude of photos.

We then ambled down the Champs Elysees and did a lot of window shopping. The guys went into Mercedes Benz and drooled over something that cost 189,000 euros, while Barbara and I zipped through all five floors of the flagship store of Louis Vuitton. I particularly liked a turquoise purse, but at 17,500 euros I thought that it might cut into my croissant budget, so we left it for the Japanese tourists standing three deep at the cash registers

Last night we walked over the Pont Alexandre (Alexander Bridge) with it's quintessentially Parisian lamp standards--all curly cues and gold leaf and walked through the Jardin des Tuileries to the Louvre (open late on Wednesdays). To say that we did the abbreviated version is putting it mildly, but we did ooh and aah over a fair number of Renaissance paintings and, of course, the Mona Lisa. I couldn't believe that they now allow you to take flash photos and videos of everything in the museum. There were people camped out in front of the Mona Lisa, including a 6 foot 4 inch guy with very big hair, just snapping away.

We figure that we walked over 5 1/2 miles yesterday, so we feel quite justified in our support of the local patisseries.

Today is was boating on the Seine--very relaxing and under beautiful sunny skies. It's still a bit chilly, but we have gloves, and Barbara and I did buy hats that are quite stylin'.  We also explored the Latin Quarter, where they have been learning Latin for over 700 years. I think someone should tell them that it's not quite so useful anymore, but what do I know.

While wandering up this street and that, we came across the Palais de Luxumborg and gardens and it was such a pleasant surprise. There's a large fountain and the kids were sailing boats on it. They had big sticks that they used to get the boats going, then the wind and water would sail them around--and the kids would race around the fountain to where they landed. It was so wonderfully low tech, you could imagine that kids have been doing that very same thing in that very same place for hundreds of years.

We sat in the sun and watched them for ages. Ah, life is good!!!

Paris, France--All Quiet On the West Bank

Bonjour! Mr. Nichols and Mr. Biggs, my high school French teachers would be so proud. Today I ordered 4 croissants and coffees with milk--in Paris. Actually, I had to have help, but it's the effort that counts. And ordering 50cl of wine just doesn't have the same cache as "Je vais chercher du bon vin, ala cave". 

Courtesy of Iceland Air, and with a very quick stop in Keflavik airport we arrived in Paris on Sunday wondering if we would make it out of the airport due to the barricades and protests. We have now been here for a day and a half and the only signs of trouble that we have seen were some long lines at the petrol station on the motorway coming into Paris from Charles De Gaulle.

The weather is quite like the Pacific Northwest that we left, mid 50's in the day, high 30's at night. Quite the shock for Carl & Barbara, our traveling companions from Atlanta.  

We had a fabulous day yesterday,eating our way across Paris. We started with breakfast at a quintessential cafe on the corner of a grand boulevard just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. Our fabulously crusty baguette and creamy butter topped off with fresh apricot jam. Freshly squeezed OJ always tastes so much better in a wine glass, plus we had our coffee with milk (espresso that was shown the milk jug--not much more). Our eggs and bacon came with the sunny side up eggs cooked in butter (yep that's the way) and canadian bacon.

A couple of hours later after we'd negotiated the metro out to the Bastille and sang "Do you hear the people sing" while marching down the street (well only Barbara and I did that, the men pretended not to know us). We ended up in the Jewish section where we had lunch at the "best Fallafel place in town". This told to us by our new best friend--the native Parisian standing next to us in the 25 minute line to get inside. You know it had to be good. He informed us that we had to have the Schwarma, which we did. He said that it was beef--actually that beef was lamb, but it was excellent. Fritz and I had it in a pita oozing with eggplant, tomatoes and sauce, Carl & Barbara had the plat du jour which was the same thing, but on a much tidier plate.

From there we walked to Notre Dame, paid our respects, and the men used the time inside to synchronize their cameras--heathens!

While strolling across to the left bank to get the metro we purchased a black peaked cap for Fritz as a replacement for his "I am an American Tourist" Cal Poly baseball hat. We're still working on Carl!  Barbara and I have our eyes on some tres chic cloche hats that we just need to have a couple of glasses of wine before we actually purchase.

Dinner was crepes--the men had dark chocolate and bananas, I had sugar and lemon and Barbara had Nutella. Yes it was a light meal, but it did come only a few hours after Schwarma.

We wandered over to the Eiffel Tower just for a post dinner walk and decided to go up as the lines were light. It was spectacular. The moon was full and the air was crystal clear (and chilly), and the views went for miles. We saw the Arch de Triomphe, the Seine winding by with the Bateau Mouche brightly lit up and many of the historic buildings were lit up as well--including the Tower which offered up a light show on the hour--while we were at the top---incredible.

Today, we're off to wander more neighborhoods, using that mad-man Rick Steves as a guide. Talk soon.

7-11-2010 Maui, Hawaii

Here's a fairly accurate accounting of our time here on Maui----Eating, Eating, Eating----Swimming, Snorkeling, Lounging---Sightseeing, Strolling, Shopping, Sleeping!

We have been here since Tuesday, Monique arrived on Wednesday and has to go home today, so we've been cramming in all of the important events as mentioned above.

Our B & B "Wai Ola" is a fabulous place just to the North of Lahaina. We have a 1,000 square foot apartment with a patio which leads right to the pool and hot tub. There is only one other couple staying here, a mother and daughter from Germany, and we have only seen them for about 2 minutes one morning. Therefore, we feel very proprietary about "our" private swimming pool. Kim, our host, is an excellent baker so we get little treats all the time--just what you need lots of coffee cake, mint chocolate chip brownies and chocolate dipped macaroons when you're trying to look sylph like in a swimsuit.  Actually, we've given up on sylph like and are now emulating some of the local Samoans. You just get a great big sarong and tie it over everything--then put your towel down next to the largest person on the beach.

We have seen some fabulous fish and urchins and coral while snorkeling. There's a great beach with a good reef just a few miles from here--although it has been quite windy which blows the sand into the water (wind is coming off the land so it's not the nice light trade winds you normally get here).

We have been hitting up all of our favorite eating spots and had a delightful meal at Cheeseburgers in Paradise--sitting in the open window---watching the sunset---listening to a nice young local guy strumming away on his guitar. We've also eaten so much fresh fish that we're starting to sprout gills, and have had our fair share of papayas with lime and pineapples. As that all sounds so nice and healthy, I won't go into great detail about the vast variety of Mai tais that have been consumed in the name of research or the macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup (don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em) that have been wolfed down in moments of weakness. These are especially delicious taken with a mimosa at Castaway's at Ka'anapali --best when sitting on the patio right on the ocean overlooking the island of Lanai. We liked these so much we've been twice.

Yesterday we went to the South end of the island to see what was going on there. They were having some outrigger canoe races, so while Fritz and I read our books under the shade of a big palm tree, Monique wandered down the beach to get a closer look. When she returned we asked if she had made new friends with some of the nice looking young men with paddles, she replied that, just her luck, when she got there they were just starting the Lesbian Canoe Club trials. Bummer!


 Aloha from Maui.

4-27-2010 Roatan, Honduras

Well here we are on the slippery slope to matching nylon track suits! We all purchased clearance Princess Caribbean T-shirts on board and wore them off the ship at our first port of call--Grand Cayman. Must admit that Grand Cayman didn’t do much for us. There was the usual array of Diamond sellers and T-shirt hawkers, so we hopped the local bus and paid $2.50 to go to Seven Mile Beach, which apparently is a bit shorter than its name. The sand was beautiful and white and the sun was shining, but the waves were a bit high for bobbing around, and the greatest insult was that a rum-punch was $8.75. Add to that the hoard of Carnival revelers that came and took over our covered pavilion and then proceeded to screech up and down the beach at each other and it was not the best beach adventure.

Roatan, Honduras today made up for it. We docked at Carnival Corporation’s new cruise dock (apparently there wasn’t a cruise dock, so they built it themselves)--complete with an old ski chair that takes you to the beach--about a 5 minute walk otherwise. They do have to stop the chair regularly for old people to get on and off and, while Fritz was making disparaging remarks, I had to remind him that he caused the chair to be stopped at Steamboat when he caught his ski tip getting off.

Still, we didn’t wait around the perfectly manicured beach at Mahogany Bay, but entrusted ourselves to Marlon and his trusty Toyota Corolla Taxi with the sagging headliner, no rear-view mirror and a piece of rope for the driver’s door handle. He gave us a tour of the island, including such hot spots as the new Wendy’s hamburger joint, the police check point where they have a rope stretched across the road as a speed bump, and Half Moon Bay where we spent the most delightful day. This bay has the best snorkeling on the island, and we were not disappointed. There was about 5 different kinds of coral, including my favorite--huge chunks of brain coral. There were dozens of fabulously colored fish from mottled browns that surprised you when they moved, to reds, to neon blues and greens and manta rays and fuzzy caterpillar like things. The water was like bath water and the outside air temperature was 106 degrees with 100% humidity, so the water was that much more enticing. Of course we had to cool off with some rum punches and local beers and fish fresh out of the bay---so you can see why this day rated as pretty close to perfect. Plus, we were only a slight shade of pink from yesterday, compared to many of our shipmates who spent their time in the sun and are now varying shades of brilliant red to flame red to “oh my god why didn’t I wear more sunscreen “ red.

3-28-10 Steamboat Mountain

Watch out world--we've advanced from beginner green slopes to intermediate blue slopes and now we're really cocky. Another beautiful day on the slopes--I think we must be like fair-weather golfers because we have been spoiled so much with gorgeous conditions. No more skiing in downpours or sleet or blizzards for us. Plus, we really like the Gondola--less chance of getting whacked in the head by the chair (which didn't happen all day either--see why we're cocky).

We came down from the top of the gondola to the base of the mountain, about a 2500 foot vertical drop--without incident--no going over the edge of the track, no running over the skis of other people, although Laura did yell at a snowboarder for almost running us over and interrupting our smooth wide curves. One of the runs reminded me of the mogul course that they used at the Olympics--apparently in warm weather they get carved up in the afternoon-and we even made it down that one--eventually. Don't we even sound more advanced.

Afterward we sat on the sun deck swilling a little Fat Tire and listening to the band butcher "Cheeseburgers in Paradise". Laura and I tried to outsing them, but the guys threatened to leave. Being the end of the season here we were able to score some great Steamboat logo attire for 50% off. We are going to be a walking ad for the chamber of commerce in our beanie hats and polar fleece jackets--no, they are not matching--we have not yet gone over to the dark side.

Last night we went for a wonderful dinner at a nice restaurant downtown Steamboat, Bistro CV--great food. We did have to almost physically restrain Mr. Mellow Tristan from clobbering the pretentious twits at a nearby table when they made comments like "Oh, I am so over alpine skiing, telemarking is the only way to go", and "snowboarders just don't know how to treat the snow". At one point one of the guys got down on the floor (in a white tablecloth restaurant) to demonstrate the appropriate foot and knee placement for telemark skiing. Geez!

3-27-10 Snowmobiling Rabbit Ears Pass

Looking for something a little less energetic than skiing and snowshoeing we signed ourselves up for 4 hours of snowmobiling--plus lunch. Let's just say that snowmobiling is not entirely a passive sport. We had 2 snow mobiles and were in a guided group with 3 others, plus the guide-Josh, who was a professional snowboarder who switched to motorcycle racing after he nearly broke his back on the half-pipe tricks he was doing in his Olympic training. Needless to say our tour was hardly suitable for wimps. We were in the National Forest and went on some groomed trails and then he let us loose in a "meadow". What fun, zipping up and down and round in circles, racing with Tristan & Laura and getting covered in powder as we churned up the new snow. Note--fancy new snow pants, while warm, are not waterproof! Our machines did have heated handles which was nice, but not heated seats. Luckily it only snowed hard for about the last half hour.

The most fun was a long run that we did through the woods, single-tracking, where the trees are touching on both sides. It was especially fun when you popped out of the woods and were suddenly going straight down the mountain. Fritz says that I almost dumped us, but he is imagining it as we barely went up on one side.

Coming back to the lodge for lunch I was more than ready for the out house after 3 1/2 hours of bouncing along. It was like one of those extreme sports events (the outhouse experience). Here's an exercise:

Put on at least 6 layers of clothes, including long underwear and 2 pairs of gloves. Stand in a meat locker for about 15 minutes at below freezing temperatures until you're really cold and your fingers don't bend. Put a chair into a dark closet and go in and close the door so that your knees are touching the door. Be sure to have your motorcycle helmet and dark goggles on too. Then undress, including your two jackets, suspenders, long underwear and both pairs of gloves and don't put anything on the floor or drop it on the chair. Added degree of difficulty points if you do it while hopping up and down on one foot. Now you can appreciate my experience.

3-26-10 Uranium Mine Snowshoeing Adventure, Steamboat Springs

Day 2-Snowshoeing.

The story from Tristan and Laura.---It's a short hike up to the mine, only a couple of miles, and it's mostly flat.

The reality--They are 26 and live at over a mile high and are training for a marathon. For "real people" it was up hill, both ways, up the side of a mountain and you're wearing the equivalent of tennis rackets on your feet while slogging through the snow. After the first hill both my heart and lungs were requesting a transplant to someone sitting on a couch at sea level.

Once we did hit a flat-ish spot you could really appreciate the beauty of the area. The skies were overcast, but the Aspens have that lovely silvery glow and the evergreens covered in snow looked as if elves should be popping out offering up Christmas presents. It was very quiet with the snow falling lightly and the sun peaking through on occasion. There were only a few other intrepid souls out hiking to the mine, but they had dogs who were having the most fun of all---racing ahead and then circling back kicking up the new snow.

Needless to say Fritz and I felt that we had earned our Margaritas once we were done.

3-25-10 Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Well, it took us an extra day to get here, but we finally arrived in Steamboat Springs to beautiful sunshine and nice warm weather. Our flight on Tuesday was canceled as we were boarding due to some technical issue like the plane wouldn't pressurize. We went back to Oceanside had a nice walk on the beach and tried again on Wednesday. Just as well it turns out as Denver had over a foot of snow on Tuesday and people who got into Denver didn't get out. They had over 5,000 people sleeping in the airport on pads with blankets--I'll take my king sized bed over gate 58 any day.

First day--on the mountain with Tristan (Laura had to work). Tristan informed us that we were no longer gapers (clueless tourists) as we had our new equipment and gear. My new Burton snowboard pants with the brown and orange zebra striped suspenders and light aqua Bonfire jacket with 27 pockets are, obviously, a step up from Molly's middle school ski jacket and borrowed pants that I wore last year. I must admit that I did feel slightly less a gaper as I almost skied over the edge of the platform as we waited for the chair--you can do anything if you do it in style.

The skiing was great--we still are sticking to green runs--and the breakage report only includes 3 fingernails (2 on boot buckles and 1 loading the skis into the bin on the side of the bus). Oh yes, and 1 small branch that Fritz skied into. He, also, no longer looks like a gaper as he managed to rough up his new equipment by putting his helmet under the chair as it went by--unfortunately his head was in the helmet, but those chair operators are really quick at shutting things down when helmets get in the wrong places.

We finished our day on the slopes in our shirt sleeves having some libations on the outside deck at the base area. I must admit that apart from the shin splints from new boots, you could really get used to this snow bunny lifestyle.