Eastern Caribbean Cruise, 2010

Thank you Western Heating for giving us the opportunity to do so many things we wouldn't normally have had the opportunity to do. I took my first swim in the ocean, I rode my first zip line, we ate great food and had wonderful company!

Day 1, Ft. Lauderdale. We had breakfast with one of my old friends from high school, Rick Dewey. Boy, did we have some fun back then! It was so wonderful to catch up on his life. He lives in Memphis now but still seems to be the same Rick I remember from 37 years ago. Thanks Rick, hope to see you for the Hillbilly Gatherin' in May!


They have lots of iguanas in Ft. Lauderdale. So many that they have signs...



We found this one. He was sleeping really good.



After hoping he'd wake up on his own, I finally bent over and tried screaming in his ear but he was sleeping GOOD! Goofy thing...


Then we found one that was actually awake. These things fascinate me. They think they're hiding in plain site...



Day 3, San Juan Puerto Rico
San Juan was beautiful. Lovely, friendly people.




We went to a farm where we rode ATVs up to the foothills of the rainforest. Their horses are very small and they all do this fancy, FAST trot. I don't know what it's called, guess I'll have to check on that but it was great to watch.




This was one of our guides who jumped in the river at the base of the rainforest. (he was real cute Lisa!)


The ancient Puerto Ricans found these stones that you can still find today and if they're rubbed in the water, they act just like paint. They come in all colors!


I loved all the bamboo, it's so beautiful!



On board the ship, they had twice-daily shows by people from the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. I've always been fascinated by glass blowing and went to 5 or 6 of these shows as they were always different because they made so many different and beautiful things.

This young man is 23 and was an art history major when he took his first glass blowing course.




This gal is 24 (she had her birthday while we were on the ship). She took her first glass blowing class at the age of 13 and is now a master glass blower. She spent a year in Mirano, Italy studying under one of the most famous glass artists in the world. She's been on the ship for 9 months. What a life! (she had a pair of shoes I really wanted to steal).



And this guy just actually started blowing 5 years ago. They were all three just fantastic artists!


Day 4, St. Maarten, US Virgin Islands. We rented a car here and drove all around the island. It's very small and didn't take long. This is the island where most of the beaches are "clothing optional". It's also where you can stand on the beach under the runway and have huge jets pass just a hundred feet over your head. We triend to get there but there was only one road in and one road out. After sitting in traffic for about 20 minutes and not moving an inch, we gave up.






Don't ask. I was with a group of 180 heating and air conditioning people. Elmer wanted this picture so here it is... I know, fascinating.




We stopped at a roadside pet shop. Beautiful birds, we kept hoping we'd see some kind of wildlife on this trip, but nothing. What a disappointment!