BVI Trip 2010 (Part 3)

When the cruise was over on Saturday, we said goodbye to Jim & Marianne as they headed back to Long Island and Harley & Robin as they headed back to Miami and to Steve & Erin as they headed home to St. John (JEALOUS!!!)

We caught the ferry from Road Town on Tortola over to Virgin Gorda. We ended up taking this trip over with Bruce & Judy who were going to be spending a week on Virgin Gorda! (We agreed to try to connect one night for dinner if we could.)

We arrived on V.G. earlier than expected with no real plans. We had to get a cab to the place we we supposed to rent a car. They were not really planning on us (Super cool Ray and Gemma) and didn't have our car ready. So they gave us another one to use until ours (a cheaper Jimny) came in later that evening. This thing was literally falling apart, it was in terrible condition and yet it was too "nice" to give us for the whole trip... Hahaha!

We went to locate our place... we found it.

There was a sign on the door, "back in 30 minutes", but it didn't say when they left... was it 29 minutes ago or 3 minutes ago? Hahaha! ISLAND TIME!

We drove around the island and explored.

Eventually we came and check in and started our Sat-Wed stay.

Savannah Beach on Virgin Gorda - our place was

just around the corner in the shadow, in the distance.

Reading the Kindle at Savannah Beach.

Wrapping up a 7 hour beach day... carrying the back pack chair and ice chest!... We know how to travel in style! (A lot of people thought we lived on the island because of our tans and our supplies... we WISH!)

Our Jimny (which ended up being in MUCH better condition than the original car)

Mango Bay Resort

On Monday we took the 7:20AM ferry from Virgin Gorda to Anegada. It took an hour. We got dropped off around 8:30 looking for scooters to rent (we had been told to do this). the scooter guy was not open and wouldn't be opening for a few days (we think). So we were told to rent a car. $50 for the day... no credit card, no license, no contract. "Here's the key" (broken!), bring it back and pay when you are done :)

We drove to Cow Wreck (called this because a boat with cow bones wrecked off the coast and the bones washed ashore) and spent several glorious hours reading, swimming and basking.

After, we had a few sodas and conch fritters and "crack fries" at Cow Wreck Bar... we visited with Bell, the owner for a while and since we were the only people there, were able to ask some questions about Anegada and how she got the land and built the bar. he sweet little grandson was dropped off from Junior Kindergarten at the bar and was exhausted and sucking his thumb... long day (and it was just 12;30 :)

We explored the island and tried to go to Loblolly beach but it had been kind of ruined in the recent hurricane, so that was a "miss". (Loblolly trees are often called "tourist trees" because apparently they are red & peely, like sunburned tourists!) We stayed on the island until the ferry came at 5:00.

Last day of vacation - back at Savannah Beach (with my new hat & sarong).

Feeding the mama and her chicks.

Body surfing... there were actually WAVES!

It literally couldn't have BEEN a better trip.

The relaxation, the weather, the travel plans, the "Cat", the island, our health, the places we stayed and ate... all of it!

D was VERY sad to come home and go back to real life... he wants to move there...

BVI Trip 2010 (Part 2)

Our typical day on the "Cat" looked a little something like this:

Wake up around 8AM.

Get swimsuit & coverup on.

Go up top.

Marvel at the spectacular weather and view.

Lather up with sun block.

Get served a fabulous breakfast at the table with the others. (Unless you sleep later, then they will serve you when you get up.)

Set sail for the morning's location - this would usually be a snorkeling location.

While sailing, lay on the trampolines up front or sit up with the captain... read or just look around and appreciate the beauty.

Arrive, moor, Swim/Snorkel/lay out/read.

Get fed lunch.

Sail to afternoon location.

Arrive, moor, Swim/Snorkel/lay out/read.

This may or may not be the location we would moor for the night... if so, we just stayed there... if not, we would sail to that location at this point.

We would have appetizers around 5:00.

D would maybe nap in the cabin sometime in here while I would maybe swim or read or play cards or talk until dinner.

I would shower every evening when I was SURE I was not going to be swimming any more.

Erin (our chef & first mate) would serve dinner between 7:00-8:30.

We would chat, read, hang out until about 9:00 then go to bed.

I would fall asleep fairly quickly... D would watch a movie on his ipad.

Then we would wake up and do it all over again :)

D - Looking at a book with photos and descriptions of all the fish you would see while snorkeling

Swimming in the deliciously warm water

Eating a late breakfast made by our wonderful Chef/First Mate, Erin.

Enjoying the GORGEOUS weather and sea!

At a 400 year old Rum distillery on Tortola (they still make it the old way, from sugar cane)

Reading in the main room in the evening, waiting for dinner.

Our boat at Jost Van Dyke

Where I spent a lot of the trip, reading (especially when we were sailing)

BVI Trip 2010 (Part 1)

This trip came about it a funny way.

We didn't have a trip planned... there was no trip on the horizon.

With D's new business and him being a one-man-shop, we just didn't see how we coulod make it work.

So I just went online and fantasized. I shopped & planned vacations... and that's when I was bitten by the bug.

"Well, maybe we can do a little vacation... squeeze just a little something in..."

I started looking on our timeshare web site for possible trades. I was looking at the Dominican Republic. I wasn't totally sold, but I was shopping. (At this point, I hadn't even asked D - after all, it wasn't real... it was just a fantasy, right?)

Then, on the timeshare website, a catamaran cruise popped up.

WHAT?!?!?

I didn't even know you could TRADE for something like that!

There was an added cost for "provisioning" since it was all-inclusive.

But how new and exciting and different! What an ADVENTURE!

This was something we had never done before.

I wanted to put it on hold and talk to D and see if we could maybe consider doing it. It was a little touch & go for a few minutes with the representative couldn't find it online -

"It's gone... sorry."

"WHAT????... It was there... I was booking it!"

"Yeah, but it is not there any more."

Thank goodness I am persistent though because I asked her to look to see if there were any other weeks available all year for it. She looked around and said "no" but then "Oh wait, there IS one week available... it is October 16-22".

That was the week I wanted... sheesh!

That is rule #1 - don't give up!

I put it on hold and approached D.

He was concerned about the tight quarters, the other guests (3 other couples), the weather, and numerous other things. I was too.

This WAS a risk.

The question was Was It Worth It?

After discussing and chewing on it for the 24 hour hold time (and talking to Grammie - could she watch the kids?) - we decided to do it.

We booked it!

We added a few additional days onto the end of our itinerary - in case the cruise was a BUST. We looked into which islands might be the best bet for the extra days. (It was between Virgin Gorda, Tortola - where we were flying in & out - St. Joh, but we had been there for 11 days already, and Cooper Island.) We booked our airfare (best deal this time was on www.vayama.com).

And then we counted down the 45 days to "blast off".

I looked on www.tripadvisor.com and Googled comparisons (like Tortola vs. Virgin Gorda).

Everything I read was saying Virgin Gorda was the winner. We had been to Virgin Gorda before, for 2.5 hours on a previous day trip, but hadn't spent any actual time there. I was going back and forth between 2 affordable places to stay on Virgin Gorda... Guavaberry and Mango Bay. Guavaberry was down by The Baths, which seemed like a great location. BUT

* it is waaaaay down at the end of the island, away from everything else

* we had been there before

* we were going again for an afternoon on the catamaran.

So we chose Mango Bay which was more at the midpoint of the island and seemed an easier base from which to explore.

Our flights were expensive but not the peak (which was like $850+ per person). They were also LONG - LAX to Dallas to Puerto Rico to Beef Island (Tortola)... we could definitely see why so many people are baffled when we tell them we are from California... it is mostly East Coasters there... they wonder why we aren't in Hawai'i. (But when you meet the people, see - and feel - the water, and experience the Caribbean, you don't wonder any more :)

We arrived to Beef Island at 9:00PM after a LONG day of travel which started at 4AM. We got eaten ALIVE by mosquitos as we waited to go through customs etc.... what a way to start the trip - ugh! We walked out and told a guy we wanted to go to Nanny Cay (pronounced "Key"). They put our bags in a van and we took off in the dark on an island we had never been to to a destination that was a bit vague to us. This is the norm here and we are used to it, but we thought how scary & foreign this would seem to people who had never done it before or who were not used to traveling. So many people arrive and their resort has sent a car... but we have NEVER done it that way.

The drive to Nanny Cay was long, much longer that I had thought... maybe 45 minutes on curvy, narrow, dark, unfamiliar island roads. Our driver had his wife (girlfriend?) and their toddler in the car too... the baby snuggled quietly on the mom's lap in the front seat and they murmered quietly to themselves as we drove. We arrived at Nanny Cay, which is the marina. There were probably 6-7 Festiva "cats" all docked side-by side. We were greeted and after a little confusion, were put on a boat - the "Annie" - a $770,000 catamaran. Some of the other boats' guests were still awake with music and drinking and partying... but our fellow cruisers were all asleep already (about 10:15PM). We settled in to our tiny little cabin and fell quickly asleep.

D woke we pretty early the next morning and let me know we were the youngest BY FAR on the boat.

Bruce & Judy from MN were in their early 70's... we can only HOPE to be as active and adventurous as them when we are their age! They had both be devastated by the loss of spouses to cancer and reconnected (they had been friends in Jr. high) had married each other just 8 years ago.

Marianne (Cardiology Nurse Practitioner) & Jim (works for "the fed") from Long Island... live SUCH the Long Island life... $100,000+ weddings for each of their girls, etc.

And Harley (forensic psychologist with GREAT stories) & Robin (runs his practice) from Miami (they had a large, black, pet potbellied pig named "Pinky").

Our bed - Yes, we both slept there :)

Our "wet head"... the bathroom IS a shower all in one (check out the drain in the floor)... the sink faucet is the shower faucet.

See D's foot in bottom left corner? He is on the bed!

Getting ready to go snorkeling off the boat at Norman Island on the first day.

Snorkeling.

Sunning

Limin' (relaxing)

Playing Black Jack with Bruce & Judy, Marianne (the dealer), and Harley & Robin.

At The Baths on Virgin Gorda - this was just a day stop... we could come back here for 4 days at the end of our trip.

Climbing through The Baths at Virgin Gorda

Miss M's First HomeComing

Although Miss M got ASKED to homecoming while we were still in town,

her very first Homecoming Dance was the very day we left for vacation and WE MISSED IT!

:(

We were SO excited for her:

Lovely new haircut

Beautiful new dress

Great date (dear friend, Parker)

Great group (a ton of her favorite people)

We were soooooooooooooo sad to have to miss it.

A picture MAY be worth 1000 words, but it's sure not the same as being there.

*sigh*

(Photo credits to Emily - THANKS, Em!)

Oak Glen, Twenty-Ten

Sara has Sundays off and brought up a trip the pumpkin patch. Normally, we would go later in the season, but we are going to be in the Caribbean for 12 days, returning RIGHT before Halloween with no time left to do a pumpkin patch.

So we decided to make a whole event of it and travel for the first time since I was in second grade up to Oak Glen in Yucaipa. We tried to go up last fall, but missed the season by a couple of weeks... so this year, we got an earlier jump.

Apple picking season had just started. The weather had cooled a little (it was 80 instead of 100!). The crowds were ready to descend on "apple land" as Deevs called it.

We left at about 9:30 and got there by 11:00 after a wrong turn and a bit of a detour. We found the kitschy little village and various orchards and farms. We had decided on Los Rios, so we found it and parked. We decided we needed to find the restrooms and eat so we were energized and ready for pumpkin picking, apple picking, and raspberry picking.