Peru & Ecuador - Part 4

Day 2 on board the Santa Cruz II took us to Isabela Island. After breakfast we boarded the pangas to study the coastline of the island, which is a nesting place for several of the area's unique species including the flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins, and boobies. After that we jumped into the water to snorkel. It was freezing at 67 degrees fahrenheit! I nearly climbed back on board the panga. They had provided us with partial wetsuits, but honestly it was still so cold. I'm glad I persevered though, as it was some of the best snorkeling I have ever done. The sea life was plentiful, and I saw so many sea turtles. I had not experienced that before. Unfortunately my underwater camera decided to stop working after only a couple of photos so I didn't get much there.

Isabella Island morning excursion

The panga ride back to the ship was quite chilly. Jim and I decided to hop into the hot tub on the back of the boat once we shed our wetsuits. It felt great! Then we had to shower and have lunch so we could rest up before the afternoon hike.

the ship had two hot tubs

Fernandina Island was our hiking expedition in the afternoon. This was probably my favorite spot on the whole trip. There was a high concentration of marine iguanas of all different colors. The sea lions were also abundant, and a sheltered rocky cove was a perfect nursery for the sea lion babies. They put on quite a show for us! The colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs scuttled along the rocks as well, and the American Oystercatcher traversed the rocks looking for a meal. We saw another sea turtle resting on the sand, paying no attention to those of us trying to take his picture. The beautiful sunset was a perfect ending to an exceptional day.

Fernandina Island

The Gateway City

St. Louis Arch

Following our Kentucky and Indiana stops, we drove the remaining three hours to St. Louis. Even after all these years, it remains a thrill to catch sight of the Arch as you cross the Mississippi River into Missouri.

The main purpose of our trip was to attend the 30th Anniversary celebration of SWT Design, the company Jim founded with Ted Spaid and Susan Trautman in 1995. What an accomplishment!

But the trip also gave us an opportunity to catch up with friends and family while we were in the area. We were able to see my sister's family, which was great, and Jim got in a bit of motorcycle riding with his friend.

While he was off the first day, I met a girlfriend at the Sophia Sach's Butterfly House. It was a pretty hot day so neither one of us wanted to go on a long walk outside. While the butterfly house is on the warm side, at least you are in the shade. It was great to sit and chat while the butterflies flitted around us. We grabbed lunch after that. 

Butterfly House

The next day while Jim rode, I picked up another friend and she and I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden. I have been to many gardens in my travels around the world, but I have yet to find one that is as wonderful as the one in St. Louis. It is easy to navigate while offering a different visual and sensory experience around every corner. As this particular friend is also a photographer, we were in perfect sync stopping to photograph the flowers and insects around us. When we were finished, we went to the Trainwreck Saloon for lunch. This restaurant is owned by a gal that I worked with at the American Cancer Society from 1980-1982. In all the times I have eaten there, she has never been around. But that Wednesday was my lucky day as Chris was in! We had the best time catching up, and since my lunch friend graduated from the same high school as Chris, they had things to talk about as well.

Missouri Botanical Garden

On Thursday Jim and I spent the day together since the party was later that afternoon. We first went to the St. Louis Zoo. Again, I've gone to a lot of zoos in my lifetime, and none of them compare to this zoo. And it is FREE to get in! SWT Design has done a bit of work in the zoo, so in addition to enjoying the animals it was fun to check up on the progress/maturation of some of their work. The nice, hot day necessitated a stop at Ted Drewes for some frozen custard - always a highlight of a visit to St. Louis.

St. Louis Zoo

That afternoon was the SWT celebration garden party. While it was hot, it was wonderful to catch up with staff members and clients. I don't think Jim and Ted ever anticipated what their dream would one day become. It's a huge milestone to make 30 years in the design field, and to know that their projects have made and are making a lasting impression not only in St. Louis but throughout the country.

Friday was our last day and we began it by playing pickleball in a nearby park with Jim's riding buddy, who has been playing even longer than me. Then the three of us had a late breakfast, and the guys dropped me off at the hotel so they could go pick up the motorcycle trailer. For a few months Jim's motorcycle has been garaged in St. Louis. But it is time for the annual inspection and licensing, so we needed to get it back to Charlotte. It seemed easiest to trailer it back so Jim wouldn't have to make that long bike trip on his own.

Saturday morning we left St. Louis as the sun was rising and made the thirteen hour drive back home. The trailer added time to the trip as we had to stop more often for gas, and be a little more cautious when driving through the mountains. So we saw the sun rise and the sun set, but made it safely back here.

sunrise, sunset

 

Visiting North Myrtle Beach

view from the condo

A lady in our community offered her condo in North Myrtle Beach to residents here, and our next door neighbor asked us if we would like to go in with them and rent the condo for the month of July. It is right on the beach, and has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The downside is that the unit is on the third floor, and there is no elevator. Despite that and the fact that July is the hottest month in Myrtle Beach, we agreed to the rental.

fireworks on North Myrtle Beach

The four of us spent the first week of July together. Our neighbors then headed home and we stayed there until July 17th. There were pluses and minuses to being at the beach for the 4th of July week. It was incredibly crowded, and the heat was a factor. But it was really amazing to see the Patriotic Flyover, and to be able to put our chairs on the beach for the fireworks was great. We didn't have to drive anywhere, and there were fireworks displays all up and down the beach. As fireworks are legal in South Carolina, that meant lots of amateurs were setting them off all around us. That was somewhat disconcerting, especially when a display fell over and began shooting rockets off into the crowd!

The condo is located in a great area, and you could literally park your car and never have to drive anywhere. Restaurants, bars, shops, and groceries are all within walking distance. We even found a park with pickleball courts that was within walking distance. Also, this beach is the birthplace of Carolina Shag, the official dance of South Carolina. Fat Harold's Beach Club was right around the corner from us, and they off free Shag lessons on Tuesday nights. It was fun to go and watch the dancers there.

Every Thursday night there is a free concert at North MyrtleBeach. We were able to set our chairs up mid afternoon, and head back to the condo. Then we went to Buoys for happy hour, timing it so we could then head to our chairs for the concert. The bands were great, and what a turnout!

We had decided the four of us would go on a dolphin watching cruise, but unfortunately the ocean was too rough as tropical storm Chantal was heading towards the coast. Instead we took a ride on the intracoastal waterway, which was fun as well.

intracoastal waterway

After our friends headed back to Charlotte, we ended our first week at North Myrtle Beach by driving a little north to do some hiking at a preserve. We had the Heritage Shores Preserve to ourselves, and it was nice to enjoy the peace and quiet after all the crowds on the beach and in town.

Heritage Shores Nature Preserve

My next post will cover part 2 of our North Myrtle Beach trip.

one of the beautiful sunsets

 

Sandals Royal Barbados

Barbados

Last week we escaped the cold temperatures with a trip to the all-inclusive Sandals Royal Barbados. This was the second time we have stayed at a Sandals, but our first time visiting Barbados. We had a direct flight from Charlotte to Christ Church, Barbados, and were blessed that no one occupied the seat between us. Entering the country was quite easy, and we had a short 15 minute drive on the Sandals bus to our resort.

The Barbados property actually contains two Sandals resorts side by side, giving us access to 21 dining options and multiple bars and swimming pools. We stayed on the Royal side, which is newer, and had an end room on the top floor (5th) of building 7. This afforded us a partial ocean view, which was great to enjoy from the large balcony. Our location also enabled us to listen to the live music each evening from the privacy of our balcony if we so desired.

Some of the online reviews of the resort were fairly negative, but I tried to keep an open mind going into the trip. I'm glad I did, because one thing I have learned is that people like to complain. We found the staff to be almost overwhelmingly helpful and friendly, most of the food was very good, the drinks were tasty and for the most part not watered down, and housekeeping took great care of our room.

Was service sometimes slow? Yes, but you are on island time so just accept it. Our one try at room service was dismal. The food took over two hours to get to us (we were told 40 minutes), my sandwich was nearly inedible due to being soggy and they forgot to include a spoon for my soup. But that was just one meal, so no big deal. The food at the specialty restaurants exceeded our expectations, and we particularly enjoyed our experience at the Japanese restaurant.

Kimonos

We took advantage of the snorkeling trip offered by Sandals. Unfortunately the boat was not located at the resort, and it took way longer to get to the boat and back than the actual time we spent snorkeling. That is one area I might mark them down a little. At other resorts we have typically been taken to a couple different areas to snorkel. In this case they took us to one, and it was fairly crowded with other excursion boats. Nevertheless, it was cool to see the sunken ship, the fish, and especially the sea turtle!

snorkeling

We hired a private driver to give us a tour of the island. Barbados is only 166 square miles, but the road system and traffic make it impossible to get anywhere fast. So in our four hours we traveled from our location in the south up the west coast to the north coast and back. We saw a little bit of Christ Church, then visited St. Nicholas Abbey and its rum distillery. The tour of the house and the rum operations was very interesting.

St. Nicholas Abbey

Overall we had a wonderful time in Barbados. We met some nice people from Great Britain, Canada and the United States, enjoyed the resort grounds with its wildlife, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and made some great memories.

Sandals sunset

On Island Time

Folly Field Beach

Last week I drove to Hilton Head Island to meet up with a good friend from St. Louis. Diane has a timeshare on the island, and invited me to join her. When I picked the week I wanted to come, I did not realize that it was going to be Easter week. Hoo boy, was the area ever crowded! Traffic was heavy on my drive down and very stop and go once I got close to Hilton Head.

While the weather could have been better, there were still plenty of activities to keep us busy. With all my skin cancer, I'm not one to sit out on the beach anyway. Though I do like to walk it in the morning and evening to catch the sunrise/sunset colors on the water.

Folly Field Beach sunrises

A weird occurrence that I have seen every time I have come to this area is the abundance of jellyfish on the beach. Since they are not really fish, it is more appropriate to call them jellies. Usually I have just seen one jelly here and one jelly there, but this time there was a large grouping of them on the beach by our condo. I guess that jellies travel in "blooms", and they can be washed up on shore together. I wondered what happened to them once they are on the beach, and then in the morning I saw seagulls eating them. Turtles also like to consume jellies. The circle of life...

Folly Field Beach jellies

It was wonderful to get away for a week and spend time with Diane as I only get to see her every couple of years or so. It was a rejuvenating time for both of us.

Grand Canyon National Park

Having left Colorado, we arrived at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona after dark. We had chosen to stay two nights inside the park for easy access to sunrise and sunset photos in the park, plus the ability to just park our car and leave it while using the bus service within the park.

We had not been to this park since 2006, when I took Jim there for his birthday. Our daughter had never been. It is certainly a national treasure and one that all Americans should strive to see. There is nothing else like it, though I suppose Canyonlands comes closest.

We got up early the next morning for the sunrise before grabbing some breakfast. We spent the day on the park shuttles, getting off at each stop for photos. In the evening we went back out for sunset pictures.

Grand Canyon National Park

The next morning we took off to our final stop before heading home. We drove to the Hoover Dam, and took the Guided Dam Tour. This tour takes you on the original elevator down to historic tunnels along with a guided powerplant tour. It was very interesting to learn about why the dam was built and how it operates.

Hoover Dam

 Las Vegas is a short drive from the Hoover Dam, and we spent our last night together at Harrah's on the Vegas strip. It is not one of my favorite places, but it is certainly entertaining to walk there at night. Jim says it is like the bar scene from Star Wars, and that is pretty on point. 

Las Vegas

In summary, we put over 2,000 miles on the rental car, traveled through four states, and visited seven national parks and two national monuments in addition to a few other things. We recognized the vast diversity of landscape in this country, and found ourselves wondering why we travel so often out of the country when the United States has so much to offer. It was wonderful to spend this time with our daughter, and I'm confident more national park trips are in our future.

More National Parks

Following our stops at the Grand Staircase-Escalade and Capitol Reef, we arrived in Moab, Utah just after dark. For the first time on the trip, we stayed in one location for three nights. Our two bedroom townhome was equipped with a washer and dryer, which was perfect halfway through the agenda as we had all brought just carryon luggage and it was time to do laundry.

The unit was located very near Arches National Park and was also convenient to Canyonlands National Park. We spent Thursday, September 21st at Arches, going back in the evening to catch a sunset there. Arches was the only place we visited that required us to purchase a timed ticket ahead of time. While you did need to arrive within the hour time slot on the ticket, you could come back later in the day if you wanted.

There are over 2,000 natural stone arches in the park. What mostly impacts the rocks today is erosion from water. It's a spectacular landscape.

Arches National Park

Friday we left our unit early to drive to Canyonlands. This was another great park for hiking and sightseeing. The area was formed again by erosion, this time by the Colorado and Green Rivers.

Canyonlands National Park

Saturday morning we had a four hour drive to Mesa Verde to visit the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Along the way we stopped at Hovenweep National Monument. It was established as a national monument in 1923, and archeologists consider it to have the finest examples of ancestral Puebloan masonry found anywhere. The ruins were very fascinating.

Hovenweep National Monument

We arrived in Mesa Verde in time to check in and then enter the park for a short hike. We wanted to capture the sunset in the park, and though it was a little overcast we still saw some stunning skies.

Mesa Verde National Park sunset

The next morning we went back to Mesa Verde National Park to see the archeological sites in the park. We also had purchased tickets for a ranger-led talk about the Cliff Dwellings. That is the only way you can hike down to the actual site. The hike involved steep ladders and narrow stairs, but was so worth the effort it took to get down and back up. It is fascinating how these structures were built so many years ago in such a harsh landscape.

Mesa Verde National Park

When we finished with the tour and our drive through the park, we took off for the Grand Canyon, which is about a four hour drive. More on Grand Canyon National Park in the next post.

Heading to Moab

On the way to Moab from Bryce Canyon we decided to stop and see the Grand Staircase-Escalante National monument. We hiked part of the area, hoping to be able to go through some of the narrow passageways. Unfortunately the water was a little high, so we couldn't go as far as we would have liked. It was still a beautiful walk.

Grand Staircase-Escalante

From there we drove to Capitol Reef National Park. Known for its long wrinkle in the earth called a Waterpocket Fold, the park has canyons and striking rock formations. Due to time constraints we ended up just driving through the park. We saw a beautiful sunset on our way to Moab.

Capitol Reef National Park

Beauty out Back

 

Mountain Island Lake sunset

The other night I was blessed to see this beautiful sky behind our house as the sun was going down. It is hard to imagine all the ugliness and cruelty going on in the world right now when I'm surrounded by such incredible scenes on a daily basis. Just in the last few days I have spotted an eagle on the lake, a lizard making himself at home on our porch, a praying mantis, and some of our perennials bursting with color despite the date and the cooler temperatures. We are truly blessed to be here.

Mother Nature at her finest

Thanksgiving 2021

Virginia highway sign

Well, we certainly didn't think we would still be worrying about Covid when another Thanksgiving rolled around, but here we are again. 

We kept our celebration small, driving to Virginia to spend the holiday with our son and daughter-in-law, and the grand-pup Monty. As we traveled on Thanksgiving Day, the traffic wasn't super-bad.

We had a fun weekend of food, games and pickleball with some nice people we met at a nearby park. To get us in the Christmas spirit, we went to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens for their Walk of Lights. While it was a little chilly out, there was no wind so it made being outdoors at night bearable. It was a lovely light display for such an inconspicuous little botanical garden.

Thanksgiving weekend

The drive home on Monday was more heavily trafficked, but we still were able to make good time with our travels. Now to tackle Christmas cards, shopping and decorating to get ready for Christmas!

sunset the day we got home

Still Staying at Home

Another announcement was released by Governor Cooper today regarding Covid-19 restrictions in North Carolina. Current rules were set to expire this Friday, but basically due to the devastating statistics that are coming out, he extended the restrictions for at least another 3 weeks. We are at day 229 of Safer at Home orders, and 286 of overall restrictions due to the pandemic. 

To date, North Carolina has had 578,000 cases and 7,080 deaths. In the United States there have been 21.1 million cases and 357,000 deaths. Worldwide there have been 86.8 million cases and 1.88 million deaths. The statistics are daunting, and the fear is that we haven't seen the peak of cases resulting from the more than 80 million Americans who traveled over the Christmas and New Years holidays.

With the Covid vaccine being months away from having a significant impact on the spread of this deadly virus, it is difficult not to get discouraged at the situation we find ourselves in. I continue to be grateful that Mother Nature offers me an opportunity on a daily basis to stop and take a breath.

yesterday's sunset

Day is Done

 When the end of the day has a lot to say...

sunset from the front yard

Post Debate Day

 Holding out for a hero...

God bless America

Phase 2 Hairdo

Uptown Salon

As I have been writing here, we have kept very close to home and limited the number of people we are around since the Mount Holly and Gaston County Stay at Home Orders went into effect on March 27th, three days before the state order went into effect. With Phase 2 allowing the reopening of hair salons, I thought long and hard about if I wanted to chance going to get my haircut. To say that my hair looks like crap is an understatement. My last cut was on March 3rd, and my hair grows fast.

To make my decision, I looked at what the state was requiring salons to do in order to open their doors. Then I read what safety precautions my salon was putting into place. And finally I talked with my stylist about my concerns. After all that, I went in for a haircut at 9:00 this morning. They are required to operate at 50% capacity, so only four stylists were there, each with one customer. No one who is not in a chair is allowed in the salon - you must wait outside or in your car, and the stylist will text you when you can come in. The only things you are allowed to bring into the salon is a form of payment and your phone. No purses or bags allowed.

first haircut in 11 weeks

As the first appointment of the morning for my gal, I did not have to wait, and I used a sanitizing wipe to open the door on the way in and out.  The stylist chairs had been moved further apart with two being placed on each side of a wall, dividing the space in half. The only person who came closer to me than 6' was my stylist. She was masked the whole time, and so was I though I had to hold my mask over my nose and mouth while she shampooed me so I didn't get the elastic of my mask wet. In all honesty, I felt less concern about being in the salon than I do at a grocery store. At a certain point in time, we have to get back to a somewhat normal life, and getting this haircut was certainly a way to lift my spirits, which is important as well.

community garden plot

As our community garden is just down the street from the salon, I dropped in to see how our plot is doing. It is looking so good! I forgot to bring any tools along, so I'll need to go back and prune the tomato plants. They have gotten huge and are shading out the pepper plants. I also need to tie them up some more so the stems don't break. It was great to see all the bees buzzing around the marigold plants.

Last night we had another beautiful sunset over the lake in the backyard. This photo was taken due north. It was as if the cloud grabbed all the sunset and held it inside.

sunset on Mountain Island Lake

Photography Challenge Week 33

Last week's challenge was Inspiration: Tell a Lie. It is said that the camera never lies. Prove it wrong. I captured this photo of a sunset on a recent road trip. While this is what my camera saw, my eyes saw a different sunset entirely.

Dogwood Photography Challenge Week 33

Aretha Franklin RIP

"I say a little prayer for you...", Aretha. Rest in Peace, and sing with the angels.

Aretha Franklin quote

Write On!

Kim Wolterman

Last week I gave a presentation on why every book needs a business plan at the monthly meeting of the St. Louis Publishers Association. The topic sounds a bit dry, doesn't it? Hopefully, the presentation wasn't. I didn't see any of the 30 or so attendees sleeping, at any rate. I believe it is important to think of the business side of writing a book as much as you think about the creative side. What is the point of spending months or years writing a book, only to find out that you can't afford to get it into print? Or to have it fail because you didn't have a plan for helping it succeed? Sometimes I feel like we don't cover the expense side of book publishing enough. At any rate, the presentation seem to be well-received, and people hung around talking until 9:30. If you are interested in reading more, I have posted about book business plans on my Write Formation blog, which you can find here.

Jim was on a motorcycle adventure last week, so Kirby and I held down the fort. The pooch is doing quite well, though we did just find a small lump on his tummy which we will need to keep a close eye on. I took him with me to Creve Couer Lake for a walk and to watch the sun set. Wow! This is the view I fantasize about when I think of a retirement home.

Creve Coeur Lake

Jim got back home last Saturday, so on Sunday we went to the Missouri Botanical Garden. These extended periods of temperatures in the 80s and even 90s have played havoc with the fall colors. I am afraid we are not going to see the vibrant oranges and reds we are used to. Instead I think the leaves will go more brown and then fall off. That's too bad, because I love fall. Some pretty flowers were still blooming, so it was still worth the visit.

Missouri Botanical Garden

children await arrival of UP 844

Tuesday of this week a train powered by a steam engine came whistling through our town. Delivered in 1944, Steam Locomotive 844 was designed to pull high speed passenger trains, and was the last steam engine built for Union Pacific Railroad. This is the first time in three years that it has been in operation as it was undergoing restoration. The train is traveling from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Memphis, Tennessee for the dedication of the "Big River Crossing" pedestrian bridge/rail bridge over the Mississippi River. I was amazed by how many people turned out, not only in our community, but many other locations in the St. Louis area. I loved the fact that the local pre-school brought the children down to see the train. This is a piece of history you just don't see every day. And of course I had the Johnny Cash song, Folsom Prison Blues, going through my head. "I hear the train a 'comin/It's rollin' 'round the bend..."

You can check out my short video here.

UP 844