Day 2 – January 2, 2009

Well the day started out early without us – we slept in and did we need it.

The pictures are:

. . Barb getting ready for the first day at the beach.

. . Barb with some white skin and tan lines.

. . The casino host sent Barb a bottle of Kahlua and I got the cookies!

. . This was a plate of the food we ate - who knows what it was

While Ed went for breakfast, Barb slept to get extra sleep and we both left the room for the beach at 10:00am and it was wonderful to relax like that.

The beach was perfect and we stayed out until a little after 1. It was a good thing that we came in when we did because we were close to burning and Barb might have!!

We made our first trip to the casino and met our host who invited us to a dinner and a comedy show tonight – free food, why not.

The Governor was sworn into and a lot of stars are on the island, including Jay Lo and Marc Anthony but they weren’t at our hotel. Lots of police on the street and we saw some escorted limos whizzing by us.

The evening started by our attending a VIP casino party in the ballroom. Catered food for about 600 people and we were taken to a front table. The only trouble was that everything was in Spanish!! When we finished eating and the music stopped, that’s when the comedian came on and we snuck out.

The casino staff and Senior Management Host, Jose Luis Soto and his staff do an outstanding job. We wish we could stay here more ofter because this casino staff is THE BEST and this Marriott is the best resort hotel we have every stayed at.

We then went to the casino where Barb did fine and Ed didn’t – oh well, it happens.

We went for a walk outside before gong to bed – another nice day in the warm sunshine.

Day 1 - January 1, 2009

Well we were up at 4:15 am on New Year’s Day and on the plane heading for San Juan at 6:30 am.

The pictures are:
. . Barb clothes as she was packing last night.
. . The pool from our room.
. . The beach from our room.
. . Just on of our two outside patios.

Nice flight to Atlanta and then right on our plane for 3 more hours to San Juan.

When we arrived the weather was 85 degrees and beautiful. We checked right in and they upgraded us to the exact same room we had last March. Room 1909, a huge corner room with two patios. One looking east down the beach and the other looking out at the Atlantic.

We did not gamble at the casino because we were so tired so we walked up and down the beach and the stores on the street.

We had a great Pizza at a local restaurant that we had been to before and are back to the room at 9pm, ready to go to sleep.

The next two and one-half days are just going to be relaxing, sun and the casino. Barb really deserves the time off after the past three months.

Bye for now.

Our Next Trip - New Years - 2009

We leave on January 1 at 6:30 am to travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

We will stay at the San Juan Marriott until January 4 when we will board the Carnival Victory for our week-long cruise.

The cruise will take us to:

Day 1 - Sunday, Jan 4 San Juan, Puerto Rico - Depart 10:00 PM

Day 2 - Monday, Jan 5 St. Thomas, Usvi - Arrive 7:00 AM, Depart 5:00 PM

Day 3 - Tuesday, Jan 6 Dominica - Arrive 10:00 AM, Depart 6:00 PM

Day 4 - Wednesday, Jan 7 Barbados - Arrive 8:00 AM, Depart 5:00 PM

Day 5 - Thursday, Jan 8 St. Lucia - Arrive 8:00 AM, Depart 5:00 PM

Day 6 - Fri, Jan 9 Antigua - Arrive 8:00 AM, Depart 6:00 PM

Day 7 - Sat, Jan 10 St Kitts, Wi - Arrive 7:00 AM, Depart 4:00 PM

Day 8 - Sun, Jan 11 San Juan, Puerto Rico - Arrive 7:00 AM

We depart San Juan on AirTran flight 6 at 3:00 pm and arrive in Atlanta at 6:05 pm.

We then depart Atlanta on AirTran flight 564 at 9:50 pm, arriving in Bloomington at 10:35 pm.

Home

3700 miles later, we are home!!

Bloomington Gold Tours is awesome, a first class operation.

The pictures are:

Barb at 11,000 feet

A double rainbow over the Rockies

Day 8

The last day before driving home

The pictures are:
50 stories down at the bottom of the canyon
Part of Bryce Canyon from the rim
On the road

The cow in the road
The Ranch at Red River

The last full day of the Tour started out very early and the temperature was only 36 degrees when we left the motel at 8:00 am to go to Bryce Canyon National Park. Yesterday we had taken the shuttle around the entire park to see what was there and we ready to hit the best and longest trails.

We went right to the Navajo Trail which went from Sunset Point down 550 feet – that’s 50 stories! The trip down was almost total switchback paths and it was very steep.

At the bottom, we picked up another trail and eventually, after about 3 miles, made it back to the top of the rim of the canyon – what an experience we had. By the time we had finished, the temperature was almost 80 and we were tired.

We had lunch with Judy and Dale at the Bryce Canyon Lodge and then met everyone back at the Ruby Inn for a departure at 1:15pm.

We drove 114 miles to Teasdale, UT. The trip was on highway 12 which is supposed to be one of the top 10 scenic highways in the United States. What a trip, with some stretches there was no parking on the side of the road because there was no roadside on the road – either side!!! We went up to 9,200 feet in elevation and once had to stop for a cow in the middle of the road. We also had to stop for deer – what a trip.

Barb adjusted to the road and heights by taking a lot of pictures out of the back of the Corvette so she didn’t have to look forward of down – but she did make it.

We finally arrived at the Red River Ranch. This is a small resort with on 15 rooms so we had the entire place to ourselves. There are horses out back and buffalo across the highway and it is very beautiful.

For our final dinner, we were bused 3 mile to the Café Diablo, named the “Best Restaurant in Southern Utah” and had some great food and fellowship with our fellow travelers.

After dinner, everyone sat around the lodge and talked about what a great time we have had on the cruise.

Tomorrow we take off for home and we hope to be home by late Monday night.

For this trip – we say goodnight.

Day 7

Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park

The pictures are:
Ed in Zion National Park
Driving out of Zion
Entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park
One of the many canyons at Bryce (550 feet down and we are going to hike it down tomorrow)

Well we left the hotel early and took the shuttle into Zion National Park. We only had a couple of hours to explore but we had a fun time. After exploring the park, we raced to the IMAX Theater at the visitor’s center to see a movie about the park and it was amazing to see the entire park in the IMAX format.

The stop at Zion Park showed us another type of rock and canyon formation and we were in awe of the beauty of it all.

Following the movie we all drove out of the park and stopped for lunch at the Buffalo Grill just outside the park. Barb and I both had our first Buffalo burgers and they were good.

Then it was a 68 mile trip to our next destination, the Ruby Inn at Bryce Canyon. The Ruby Inn has been in operation by the same family since 1916 and it is quite a place. We dropped our luggage off in the room and made a fast trip downstairs to the shuttle. We took the shuttle into the park and around to Sunset Point where we listened to a talk by a Forest Ranger about the park.

Bryce Canyon is yet another type of rock formation and I don’t think we can choose which has been the prettiest.

We then boarded the shuttle bus and it took us around the park and back to the hotel.

Next was dinner and shopping and boy can Barb ever shop!! We did have a Utah stone cut in half and inside was a very pretty crystal formation. This rock was many years old and we were then the first people to ever see the inside – pretty neat!!

Well it is time to go to bed as we have a busy day planned for tomorrow – night for now.

Day 5 and 6

Sorry we didn’t post anything yesterday, there wasn’t any internet service in the Grand Canyon.

The pictures are:

Our porch on the Grand Canyon

34 steps from the cabin to the rim

The view from the rim

On the mule ride – notice the edge!

Traveling through Zion National Park

So here is the last two days.

We left Flagstaff and drove 124 miles to get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The north rim is the rim that is harder and longer to get to and is only visited by 450,000 people a year compared to 4.5 million who visit the south rim. The lodge and cabins were built in the 1920’s and 1940’s and they are still in use and virtually in their original shape – very beautiful.

We had a cabin that was only 34 steps from the actual rim and the view was unbelievable! We first heard a talk by a Ranger who explained why they do not know how the Grand Canyon was formed and he gave a number of explanations. It was an interesting talk. We stood outside and watched the sunset over the canyon and it was an awesome sight. After sunset, we all ate in the restaurant of the Grand Canyon Lodge.

Day 6 - After breakfast on Thursday, we took a 1 hour mule ride along the rim of the Canyon – that was a lot of fun. In a couple of place we were literally 5 feet from the edge of the Canyon.

Following the ride, we all got into our Corvettes for the 124 mile drive to Zion National Park and our motel in the town of Springdale. First we stopped in the town of Kanab, Utah which has been the setting for a large number of movies. The tourist bureau had an employee who used to work in the movies there as an extra and she told us about a lot of here experiences. She was very entertaining to listen to.

Zion National Park was a fun drive with a lot of switchbacks; however, Barb wasn’t too thrilled with the winding road and the steepness of the mountains – but she made it.

After shopping and eating in town, we headed for the Jacuzzi and then it was time for bed.