2009 - Electric Passport Vacation

Yes, we traveled in 2009. We were fortunate to spend time in Bermuda, California, Florida, Maryland, Mexico, Nevada (Vegas to see Donny & Marie of course), Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC & of course, the cultural capital of Snohomish County (Hwy 99 in Lynnwood) during '09. We just took a break from blogging. Everyone needs a break, right?

Double-click on the pic below to view a few random '09 travel pics with The Chicken from our East Coast USA & Bermuda trip. Just to explain, whenever someone on my work team travels they have to bring Mr. Chicken along & take pics of various landmarks with him in it. It's sort of a Flat Stanley thing. Enjoy!



Stay tuned - We're heading back to South America for about a month in 2010. There will be too many opportunities to NOT blog about that trip!

Free Range Iguanas

We're very fortunate. How many people get a chance to see and photograph free range iguanas? Today we spent the day in Tulum, which are ancient Mayan ruins by the sea near Playa del Carmen. Eventually, we'll get the pictures posted. Until then...

Here's an imaginary picture of "George, the Iguana of Great Importance" sunning himself (on 2nd thought, it could be "Georgette, the Iguana Wife of George") on the rocks of the Tulum ruins. A smile crosses George's mouth. He is watching tourists from all over the world (including two from Seattle) fawn over his great importance. George is posing. Posing for a spread in "Mode" (the magazine headed by Daniel Meade -- Betty ran out and picked up some crickets for George's mid-day snack). George rules!

Anyway. We heard over dinner that there was snow/ice in Seattle yesterday. Cool! We are suffering through 88 degree weather while you all are snow-shoeing.

Tomorrow's stop is Belize. We'll miss George.

Progreso (not the soup)

We spent most of the day in Merida, which is the captial of the State of Yucatan. The temperature was in the 90's today, which is a big change from the overcast day at sea and the tornado watches in Houston (not kidding).

The pier @ Progreso is 6 miles long. It was built this way such that large ships could dock without having to damage the limestone shelf that surrounds the port. Progreso usually has a population of around 35K. During Spring Breaks and other key holidays, this population balloons to greater than 300K.

Tomorrow we will be in Cozumel/Playa del Carmen & are planning to see some Mayan ruins.

Good News/Bad News

This is a brief post. The good news/bad news is explained below.

Good News: Things have been truly wonderful so far. There is a great Houston-to-the-ship story which will come later. We also met "Bob" the Cabdriver from India's cousin.

Bad News: Our Macbook stopped booting up earlier today, so there likely won't be elaborate postings (meaning ones with pictures) until after we have returned. There may be a well-traveled Macbook up for grabs sometime soon...

We spend tomorrow in Progreso, Mexico.

Upcoming Spring Break Trip to Mexico & Beyond

Trip time is coming up again. Of course, this is purely an educational visit to help Megan ace her HS Spanish class!

Panama Canal Cruise - Spring 2004

In the Spring of 2004, we took a cruise through the Panama Canal and documented it using the links listed below.

Official Panama Canal Cruise Pics

Unofficial Panama Canal Cruise Pics

The killer things about that cruise were that:

• The average age of the cruiser was 67.
• We took Joel's parents on the cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary.
  
• Joel's father won a free cruise for 2 while on this cruise. They were some of the youngest folks on the ship.
  
• We narrowly avoided a tornado enroute to Puerto Rico.
  
• At the end of the 20 days, all family members were still talking to one another.