I present Cruising through the eyes of a 5 year old photographer:
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| My Current Desktop Wallpaper |
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| The morning after we got back. |
Monday, 17 February 2014
Pictures By Buddy: A photo Gallery
Buddy got a kids camera for Christmas, and he brought it along on our trip down south. Some of his pictures came out sortof meh, but some are actually quite good.
I present Cruising through the eyes of a 5 year old photographer:
I present Cruising through the eyes of a 5 year old photographer:
Sunday, 16 February 2014
Family Vacation 2014 - Day 8 - Back to Miami
This is the last installment of a family vacation travelogue. You can find the beginning here.
We spent our last night on Victory packing, but in the back of Momma and my mind was the last outstanding issue of the trip - what to do after we were off the boat.
Our debarkation time was set for 07h30 AM but our flight home wasn't until after dinner - 7:00 PM. What would we do with 12 hours? We didn't have a car booked, 12 hours of taxi-ing between hot spots wasn't appealing, and the cruises activities for the day were cost prohibitive. We decided we would rent a car for the day, and bum around Miami. One problem - there are no rental car desks at the cruise port.
Debarkation went surprisingly smoothly and quick as a button we found ourselves blinking in the bright Miami sun, back in the hustle of the Miami Cruise Port. with taxis and limos whizzing by. We must have looked a little confused because a worker walked over and asked if we were OK. We told him we needed a rental car, and he said to stand in the median and look for a shuttle, they would help us out.
The first shuttle we flagged down was from hertz. The driver told us they were out of cars and he couldn't help us out, then drove off to look for other customers.
The next one was from Alamo rent-a-car. he said that if we looked after him, he'd look after us, then he put out luggage on the bus, and we grabbed seats. The bus filled quickly, and whisked us off to Miami Airport's car rental centre. We gave the driver $10 (a taxi would have been $30) and dragged our gear into the airport.
All the car rental desks were queued clear back to last Tuesday except "Royal Rental Cars." I had never heard of these guys before, but I figured it was better to get in that line than stand in any of the others. In about 10 minutes we had the keys to a Volvo XC90 SUV - which was just about perfect for us. At $60 it was a pretty good deal considering that the cruises excursion and airport transfer was $75 per person!
Straight out of the airport, we navigated our way to South Beach, intent on cruising the famous Art Deco strip, and taking some time to bask on the beach. As we drove into the beach area a plethora of police cars descended with sirens wailing and lights flashing. I pulled aside to let the cruiser past, but the officer just blasted the siren and waved me on. We continued with our police escort, watching as each street was closed behind us, wondering what was going on. Anytime we tried to stop, the siren wailed and we were hustled along. We laughed about how it was just our luck that on the day we decided to go to the beach, the entire waterfront was being closed off. We didn't dare to try to park for fear we wouldn't be able to get back to the airport with all the closed streets.
Eventually, we were pushed out of the South Beach area, and turned west. Driving across the Tamiami Highway, we made our way out into the outskirts of Miami, and into the Everglades. Soon signs started popping up for Everglades tours, and we decided that sounded like a good way to spend the afternoon. We pulled into Coopersville, and signed up the family for an Everglades air boat tour.
The tour started with visiting the Alligators in the pens at the tour centre. There were big ones and little ones. But mostly big ones - some were even famous movie alligators.
After we wandered around for a while, a guide came out and showed us all about alligators.
Once he was done, it was off to the air boat for our ride through the Everglades.
The boat operator told us it was his second time driving a boat, but I don't believe him. He did a pretty good job. We saw Herons and egrets early on.
Then we started spotting alligators in 'gator holes.' As we went the guide introduced teh alligattors and shared facts with us about the everglades. It was a good ride.
Eventually we found ourselves back at the tour centre,where we each got to hold a baby alligator. Then we had lunch (gator nuggets anyone?) and then hopped into the car to head back to Miami.
By the time we reached Miami, everyone was showing early signs of exhaustion...
so we found a park with a shady tree to park under, and settled in for a nap. As the boys woke up, we went and played in the park.
The park had a giant tree with a billion roots and trunks that the boys could hide inside. i don't know what kind of tree it was, but it looked a little like our benjamina at home - except that it was HUGE! We played in the tree and on the park until it was time to go catch our plane, then we headed back to Miami airport to return the car and get our tickets home.
As we walked through the airport, we discovered just how massive the terminal at Miami airport was. It seemed to go on forever!
We spent our last night on Victory packing, but in the back of Momma and my mind was the last outstanding issue of the trip - what to do after we were off the boat.
Our debarkation time was set for 07h30 AM but our flight home wasn't until after dinner - 7:00 PM. What would we do with 12 hours? We didn't have a car booked, 12 hours of taxi-ing between hot spots wasn't appealing, and the cruises activities for the day were cost prohibitive. We decided we would rent a car for the day, and bum around Miami. One problem - there are no rental car desks at the cruise port.
Debarkation went surprisingly smoothly and quick as a button we found ourselves blinking in the bright Miami sun, back in the hustle of the Miami Cruise Port. with taxis and limos whizzing by. We must have looked a little confused because a worker walked over and asked if we were OK. We told him we needed a rental car, and he said to stand in the median and look for a shuttle, they would help us out.
The first shuttle we flagged down was from hertz. The driver told us they were out of cars and he couldn't help us out, then drove off to look for other customers.
The next one was from Alamo rent-a-car. he said that if we looked after him, he'd look after us, then he put out luggage on the bus, and we grabbed seats. The bus filled quickly, and whisked us off to Miami Airport's car rental centre. We gave the driver $10 (a taxi would have been $30) and dragged our gear into the airport.
All the car rental desks were queued clear back to last Tuesday except "Royal Rental Cars." I had never heard of these guys before, but I figured it was better to get in that line than stand in any of the others. In about 10 minutes we had the keys to a Volvo XC90 SUV - which was just about perfect for us. At $60 it was a pretty good deal considering that the cruises excursion and airport transfer was $75 per person!
Straight out of the airport, we navigated our way to South Beach, intent on cruising the famous Art Deco strip, and taking some time to bask on the beach. As we drove into the beach area a plethora of police cars descended with sirens wailing and lights flashing. I pulled aside to let the cruiser past, but the officer just blasted the siren and waved me on. We continued with our police escort, watching as each street was closed behind us, wondering what was going on. Anytime we tried to stop, the siren wailed and we were hustled along. We laughed about how it was just our luck that on the day we decided to go to the beach, the entire waterfront was being closed off. We didn't dare to try to park for fear we wouldn't be able to get back to the airport with all the closed streets.
Eventually, we were pushed out of the South Beach area, and turned west. Driving across the Tamiami Highway, we made our way out into the outskirts of Miami, and into the Everglades. Soon signs started popping up for Everglades tours, and we decided that sounded like a good way to spend the afternoon. We pulled into Coopersville, and signed up the family for an Everglades air boat tour.
The tour started with visiting the Alligators in the pens at the tour centre. There were big ones and little ones. But mostly big ones - some were even famous movie alligators.
After we wandered around for a while, a guide came out and showed us all about alligators.
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| "Alligators are ornery 'cause they got all them teeth, but no tooth brush." |
Once he was done, it was off to the air boat for our ride through the Everglades.
The boat operator told us it was his second time driving a boat, but I don't believe him. He did a pretty good job. We saw Herons and egrets early on.
Then we started spotting alligators in 'gator holes.' As we went the guide introduced teh alligattors and shared facts with us about the everglades. It was a good ride.
Eventually we found ourselves back at the tour centre,where we each got to hold a baby alligator. Then we had lunch (gator nuggets anyone?) and then hopped into the car to head back to Miami.
By the time we reached Miami, everyone was showing early signs of exhaustion...
so we found a park with a shady tree to park under, and settled in for a nap. As the boys woke up, we went and played in the park.
The park had a giant tree with a billion roots and trunks that the boys could hide inside. i don't know what kind of tree it was, but it looked a little like our benjamina at home - except that it was HUGE! We played in the tree and on the park until it was time to go catch our plane, then we headed back to Miami airport to return the car and get our tickets home.
As we walked through the airport, we discovered just how massive the terminal at Miami airport was. It seemed to go on forever!
Eventually we found our gate and settled in to wait for our plane and our flight home.
The plane would fly through the night, with the boys sleeping most of the way back to Buffalo, then we drove across the border and through Toronto, finally getting back home at about 04:00 AM. We went straight to bed after emptying the car, and slept in the next day. It was a great getaway for all of us!
To see vacation pics taken by Buddy, tune in tomorrow!
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Family Vacation 2014 - Day 7 - Little Stirrup Cay
You are reading the second last post of a family vacation travelogue. You can start at day 1 here.
As we faded off to sleep, Momma admonished "You better be feeling better in teh morning, tomorrow is that private Island, and I am not doing it alone!" Good thinking Momma - I better feel better in the morning!
We woke up as the anchor was lowered, then went and had breakfast before getting on the tender to Carnival's private Island. Apparently Carnival bought this Island from Royal Carribean Cruise Lines, and part of the deal was that RCI would not allow Carnival to use the same name for the island in their literature as RCI had used in theirs.
If you look in RCI's literature, the Island is Coco Cay, its the same place.
After we landed, we wandered over to the beach and claimed chairs in light shade. The beaches on the island were broken up by coral boulders placed out into the water to create sort of breakwalls. The water between the boulders was dead calm, and the sand was nice and clean.
I'm a lucky Dad! The next day we would head back to Miami, and then home, but there was still one more big adventure in store!!
As we faded off to sleep, Momma admonished "You better be feeling better in teh morning, tomorrow is that private Island, and I am not doing it alone!" Good thinking Momma - I better feel better in the morning!
We woke up as the anchor was lowered, then went and had breakfast before getting on the tender to Carnival's private Island. Apparently Carnival bought this Island from Royal Carribean Cruise Lines, and part of the deal was that RCI would not allow Carnival to use the same name for the island in their literature as RCI had used in theirs.
If you look in RCI's literature, the Island is Coco Cay, its the same place.
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| Can you find Buddy? |
I settled in, and helped Momma outfit the boys with water wings.
The munchkins could have played at the beach forever.
Eventually Cuppa got wore out - but not Buddy.
When he woke up, it was lunchtime! We had lots of fruit and water in order to make sure we didn't dehydrate like last time!
Then we went on a nature walk trail around the island.
We found hammocks. They were like swings.
And loads of coconut trees!
The nature walk was pretty rough, and since we were in bare feet, it wasn't really great. We cut it short and returned to our chairs. There are a lot of things to do on the island, but since the cruise company owns it all, everything comes with a price - so we mostly just played in the water for the day.
At the end of the day, we caught the tender and rode back to the cruise boat.
Once we were back on the boat, everyone went in different directions until dinner time. Then we met back up for dinner. Momma got some great pictures of the kids while they waited for me...
The munchkins could have played at the beach forever.
Eventually Cuppa got wore out - but not Buddy.
When he woke up, it was lunchtime! We had lots of fruit and water in order to make sure we didn't dehydrate like last time!
Then we went on a nature walk trail around the island.
And loads of coconut trees!
The nature walk was pretty rough, and since we were in bare feet, it wasn't really great. We cut it short and returned to our chairs. There are a lot of things to do on the island, but since the cruise company owns it all, everything comes with a price - so we mostly just played in the water for the day.
At the end of the day, we caught the tender and rode back to the cruise boat.
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| Headed to shower off |
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| On the Tender |
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| Carnival Victory waiting for us |
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| Bye-Bye Little Stirrup Cay! |
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| Cuppa |
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| Buddy |
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| Chuck |
Friday, 14 February 2014
Family Vacation 2014 - Day 6 - Book Report & Sick Day at Sea
After all the fun we had enjoyed in Grand Turk (it really was the highlight of our trip), I was in for a low point on day 6. When we had boarded the ship, my head had felt a little congested, but i was hoping that the sun and sea air would clear things up. Then we went and had a full day in the sun, got dehydrated, and went to bed without drinking a pile of water. Bad combination.
I woke up on day 6 with a dull, throbbing headache. My stomach felt gross. I was not 100%. I thought it would amount to nothing, after all. Maybe breakfast would clear things up. Besides it was the beautiful sort of day you WANT to be at sea. Light breezes, no clouds, not a wave to be seen, no stress.
We went to the lido buffet for breakfast and found a table in the shade. Then took the boys to kids club. We claimed a couple loungers next to the pool, and I laid down.
The hot sun and breakfast weren't working well for me. My headache intensified and I got to feeling worse. SWMBO went hunting for some loungers in the shade, and found some on the aft portion of the deck, partly shaded, next to one of the windbreaks. I settled in with my book, and tried to angle my chair to take advantage of the available shade.
Once lunch time came, we went and got the boys, and ate, then I took buddy to our cabin for a nap while SWMBO took cuppa for a walk to put him to sleep. I took some Advil and some decongestants to clear my sinus, but mostly lay in bed and read.
I read Chris Hadfield's book: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.
First some background on the author... Chris is a Canadian astronaut who has completed 3 missions. Including being the only Canadian on MIR. He was also in command of the International Space Station, and CAPCOM at mission control NASA. Basically he is a kick-ass master of all things space. He also plays guitar and sings, to wit his now-famous rendering of Bowie's Space oddity recorded while on the ISS:
Ok, so we have a book written by a guitar strumming, space walking, leader on the ISS. How on earth could such a book relate to a guy like me who is not musical, doesn't really have an interest in space, and will never run anything more complex than a blender? Its all in Chris' approach to life.
Over and over again Chris talks about his never ending goal/development cycle. It is interesting to see his approach to life as a continual improvement cycle where he trains in what interests him, then uses that training as a launch pad to his next pursuit. He begins with growing up on his family farm and the git-er-done attitude of his parents that instilled in him a passion for completing projects and building bridges.
As a teen he talks of flying gliders in air cadets, heading off to Kingston's Royal Military College for mechanical engineering, then working as a pilot, a test pilot, and eventually an astonaut. He talks of stresses in his family and his friends who he has lost on the job (the tragedies on Columbia and Challenger) and talks about the way that all of these things - the successes and the tragedies and stresses could have been career enders if he let them. But because he saw each of them as a step to some unknown goal rather than a closed chapter or a endpoint, he has allowed himself to continue to grow despite his successes - and challenges.
Some of his insights into space life are really entertaining. Things like racing around in zero gravity and how they do laundry. Of course Chris made a whole series of YouTube videos on this stuff, so after reading the book, I had to check them out. (Search his name in Youtube for an endless array of cool stuff - like why you can't cry in space.)
The book is really worth a read. Not only as a self-help type book, but also as a biography, and just a good story. Even if you aren't a space nerd (I'm not) it's quite worthwhile.
Oh, and here are some cruise pics to close out the day with... All taken by SWMBO while I laid in bed.
Read on! Day 7 is HERE!
I woke up on day 6 with a dull, throbbing headache. My stomach felt gross. I was not 100%. I thought it would amount to nothing, after all. Maybe breakfast would clear things up. Besides it was the beautiful sort of day you WANT to be at sea. Light breezes, no clouds, not a wave to be seen, no stress.
We went to the lido buffet for breakfast and found a table in the shade. Then took the boys to kids club. We claimed a couple loungers next to the pool, and I laid down.
The hot sun and breakfast weren't working well for me. My headache intensified and I got to feeling worse. SWMBO went hunting for some loungers in the shade, and found some on the aft portion of the deck, partly shaded, next to one of the windbreaks. I settled in with my book, and tried to angle my chair to take advantage of the available shade.
Once lunch time came, we went and got the boys, and ate, then I took buddy to our cabin for a nap while SWMBO took cuppa for a walk to put him to sleep. I took some Advil and some decongestants to clear my sinus, but mostly lay in bed and read.
I read Chris Hadfield's book: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.
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| Photo Source: www.vancitybuzz.com |
Ok, so we have a book written by a guitar strumming, space walking, leader on the ISS. How on earth could such a book relate to a guy like me who is not musical, doesn't really have an interest in space, and will never run anything more complex than a blender? Its all in Chris' approach to life.
Over and over again Chris talks about his never ending goal/development cycle. It is interesting to see his approach to life as a continual improvement cycle where he trains in what interests him, then uses that training as a launch pad to his next pursuit. He begins with growing up on his family farm and the git-er-done attitude of his parents that instilled in him a passion for completing projects and building bridges.
As a teen he talks of flying gliders in air cadets, heading off to Kingston's Royal Military College for mechanical engineering, then working as a pilot, a test pilot, and eventually an astonaut. He talks of stresses in his family and his friends who he has lost on the job (the tragedies on Columbia and Challenger) and talks about the way that all of these things - the successes and the tragedies and stresses could have been career enders if he let them. But because he saw each of them as a step to some unknown goal rather than a closed chapter or a endpoint, he has allowed himself to continue to grow despite his successes - and challenges.
Some of his insights into space life are really entertaining. Things like racing around in zero gravity and how they do laundry. Of course Chris made a whole series of YouTube videos on this stuff, so after reading the book, I had to check them out. (Search his name in Youtube for an endless array of cool stuff - like why you can't cry in space.)
The book is really worth a read. Not only as a self-help type book, but also as a biography, and just a good story. Even if you aren't a space nerd (I'm not) it's quite worthwhile.
Oh, and here are some cruise pics to close out the day with... All taken by SWMBO while I laid in bed.
Read on! Day 7 is HERE!
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