October 2013 Perdido Key, FL

Rusty and I decided we wanted to spend a week just laying on the beach. So after much consideration we settled on Perdido Key. Neither of us had ever been there and a fishing friend of Rusty's recommended it. The weather was wonderful and it was a beautiful drive down.

A friend who I had worked with at Bridgestone, Glenn Capehart and his wife Vicki retired to Foley, AL. We contacted them and met them for dinner our first night in Perdido Key at a place called Cobalt's - it was great seeing Glenn and Vicki and dinner was delicious.

For the most part, the week was spent either walking or lying on the beach or around the pool. We just kicked back and relaxed - it was wonderful.

My friend, Elaine, and her husband Bobby live in Pensacola so it was just down the road. They picked us up one evening for dinner. It was great seeing Elaine and Bobby again and catching up on each other's lives. Another delicious dinner was had, this time Italian.

The annual shrimp festival was taking place in Gulf Shores, AL (just down the road from Perdido), so Elaine came over one day and the three of us went to the festival. They had a lot of crafts, some great music and delicious food. It was great spending another day with Elaine.

We headed home on Saturday after a very relaxing week on the beach. Perdido Key is definitely some place we would go again.

June 2013 Colorado

June 2013 our grandson, Jesse graduated from high school. Rusty and I headed out early in the week so we could spend a few days before the graduation (June 8th) as well as a few days after. Colorado Springs is absolutely gorgeous and one of our favorite places to visit.

Jesse's graduation was amazing. He attended school part-time as well as on-line, so it was a very unique graduation with an extreme mix of graduates. The actual graduation was in Pueblo at the fairgrounds. Not only did Rusty and I go to the graduation, but Christine was also able to make it from Florida. It was good to get the family together.

Jesse and part-time care giver, Diane

Jenny and Jesse

Christine, Jenny, Rusty, me and Jesse

Jenny had a really nice open house party for Jesse and a lot of people who he had interacted with over the years were able to stop by. Had a very good turnout.

Jenny's backyard

Me, Rusty & Jesse

Jenny, Rusty, Christine & Jesse

Jenny has done an amazing job decorating Jesse's room with Star Wars Lego's.

While in CO we also did a lot of hiking at Garden of the Gods National Park (my favorite place - love this park) and Red Rock Canyon as well as Cave of the Winds. From certain peaks at Red Rock, you can see Garden of the Gods - amazing scenery. And of course, you also get good views of Pikes Peak.

Cave of the Winds - June 5th:

Rusty and Jenny

Red Rock Canyon - June 6th:

Garden of the Gods - June 7th:

One day we even spent checking out the shops and having lunch in Manitou Springs.

Storm clouds moving in over Manitou Springs

Jesse is now attending Colorado Springs Community College. After a great week visiting with Jenny, Jesse and Chrissy, we headed home to Nashville, but we will be back.

February 2013 Fort Lauderdale

After the completion of our cruise, Rusty and I stayed in Fort Lauderdale another 3 days so that he could spend some time with his daughter, Christine. They spent the time at her apartment, going to the beach and out to dinner.

I don't get a lot of time to spend with my daughters since we live so far apart, but when I do get time, I am always amazed at how much personality they can give to their homes/apartments with a limited budget. They have a talent that they did NOT get from their father. 

Chrissy showed me a great time in Lauderdale, a walk by the ocean front, and dinner that evening at an ocean side restaurant with an excellent pitcher of Sangria. It was also pretty cool being driven around town by a good looking young woman in her convertible!!!  A memorable visit I will not forget.

February 2013 Ultimate Caribbean Cruise

It was a difficult decision for me to go on this cruise, as I had been spending time in Akron helping take care of my brother Bill as he was quite ill and we were awaiting a liver transplant. Bill insisted we go and have fun, so with trepidation and a lot of anxiety, we decided to make the trip. Rusty and I drove to Fort Lauderdale to meet up with our Akron friends for another Caribbean cruise. We departed Nashville January 29th for our latest adventure. We spent a couple of nights in Fort Lauderdale, meeting up with some of our group (Racco's and Pirkl's) for dinner the evening of January 31st. While at dinner I got a call from Debbie (Bill's wife) that he was on standby for a liver, we would know for sure in the morning before we departed on the cruise. Unfortunately for us, the liver went to someone else who needed it. So, we proceeded with our plans to cruise with our friends.

Instead of leaving their car at the hotel as planned (a park and cruise deal), the France's and Gray's decided to drive to the port and leave their car there. So we packed ALL the luggage for 3 couples for an 11 day cruise into the France's car and all of us piled in for the drive to the cruise port (it was just down the road). Once at the cruise port, we met up with Racco's and Pirkl's to begin our adventure. Once on board we all headed to the pool deck to begin our basking in the sun.

Our sea days are usually spent on the pool deck just basking in the sun. The first port of call on February 4th was Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. We went to Megan's Bay for a beach getaway. We just got some beach chairs and laid on the beach all day with the gang. It was very relaxing.

Me and Kathy Racco

Barbie Gray

The second port of call on February 5th was Basseterre, St. Kitts. Rusty and I decided to do the Essential St. Kitts tour as we had never been to St. Kitts before. This included visiting the Caribelle Batik at Romney Manor - a lush tropical garden on the foothills of the rain forest. Although it rained while we were here, this was spectacular.

From the rain forest we went to the Brimstone Hill Fortress, which is perched 750 feet above the Caribbean and overlooks four neighboring islands. The views from the top of the fortress were amazing.

Rusty at top of fortress

Our next port of call was Bridgetown, Barbados (February 6th) - again Rusty and I had never been here before. On Barbados, the Racco's decided to accompany us on our natural wonders tour of Barbados. We got to see black belly sheep (saw these along the side of the road), Andromeda Gardens and Bathsheba rock formations. Bathsheba was by far my favorite spot on the island.

Rusty, Kathy & Frank

Rusty and I

Motorcycles

The motorcycles in the above photo were unloaded from the belly of the ship. They received a police escort as they toured not only this port of call, but all the ports of call on our cruise. It was impressive watching them all come off the ship and then take off.

Spectacular final resting place

Beautiful old church overlooking Caribbean

 Bathsheba

Bathsheba rock formations

Spectacular views from atop Barbados - the pictures say it all.

February 7th - Roseau, Dominica. This was our first visit to Dominica and we let John Pirkl make some private travel arrangements for the Pirkl's, Racco's and Wood's - we had a wonderful guide, Martin Alexander, for the day. (The France's and Gray's opted to do something on their own.) We combined some of the favorite items from the ship's shore excursions but let our driver make the best decisions for us. There were some breathtaking views on our drive in Dominica. 

We went to Mome Trois Pitons National Park and hiked to the base of the Emerald Pool.

Rusty and I @ Emerald Pool

Kathy & Frank - hike to Emerald Pool

We drove through the Botanical Park and got some wonderful photos.  

Tree that fell on school bus (empty) during a hurricane

We also took a drive to  Trafalgar Falls and hiked to the overlook for a view of these twin falls.

First sight of Trafalgar Falls from a distance:

Rusty & I @ Trafalgar Falls

Racco's @ Trafalgar Falls

Martin also took us to some local farms and we were able to taste the local fruit - it was very delicious.

Banana Tree

 All in all it was a wonderful day with good friends and beautiful scenery. 

Frank, Sue, Kathy, Martin Alexander and me @ top of Botanical Park

February 8th - Philipsburg, St. Maarten. As a group, we spent the day at Orient Beach. It was very refreshing and relaxing.

Orient Beach

The last two days were sea days. Most of the time was spent hanging around the pool just relaxing and enjoying the company of our friends. We had some wonderful dinners together as well as enjoyed the evening entertainment. We always have a good time on our cruises with this group of friends, whom we have known for over 30 years. We look forward to many more adventures with this group.