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| A carefully calculated underwater kiss |
As I am sure is true for everyone reading this, summer was a
busy time – and as fall sets in, life sometimes settles down and provides a
moment to reflect and be thankful. We hope this note finds you well and that you
had a good summer wherever you enjoyed the sunshine and long days.
Our summer was filled with extensive traveling and between
each trip, we worked full time at West Marine to get that employee discount for
our ongoing boat parts list. You’d think we’d be done with projects on our
beloved Pura Vida, but we have a shorter list this fall than other years. Believe
it … or not. We thankfully are heading south shortly to hopefully reach new shores and additional ports of call than we’ve explored in recent years.
Our summer travel found us in some pretty incredible watery locations.
Water…It’s our thing, I’d venture a guess. So, read on if you dare.
Grand Turk Lighthouse - Turks
& Caicos
We’d paid deposits and had credits to use from our
aborted fall 2022 dive trip to Grand Turk – last year’s hurricane changed our
travel plans. So, we rebooked to depart June 1 – Mike’s birthday, on a red eye
to the Caribbean paradise we’d not visited since 2005. Scuba diving awaited and the diving was as exceptional as we remember.
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| Positioned around the anchor at a shipwreck |
At Blue Water Divers on Grand Turk, our dive masters, King and Nick, took great
care of us for 10 dives over 5 days. The wall is right there so
the boat ride is short to some pretty killer diving. Turks and Caicos is a UK territory
separated by a 7,000-foot marine trench: Turks Island Passage or Columbus
Passage. This breathtaking wall is a superhighway for migrating fish, rays,
turtles, dolphins and local fish schools and other cool stuff. One of our dive
companions and his son had cameras so we were fortunate to score some of their
images.
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| We saw plenty of turtles |
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| Shallow reef around GT |
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| Queen Angel |
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| Look closely to see the flat Peacock Flounder |
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| Coral heads as I swim on by |
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| Gray Angels |
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| Kiss me, dahling! |
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| With dive master King |
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| Touring the island in our deluxe golf cart |
On a non-dive day, we tried to rent a scooter to tour the 7-mile-long
island, but the scooter was so small, Mike knees were in front of the head
light so they “upgraded” us to a golf cart for the same price. Score! The shade
cover was most welcome on that hot humid day. We visited Grand Turk Lighthouse,
built in 1852 by British architect Alexander Gordon to alert sailors of the
treacherous shallow reef. There’s plenty of colorful stories about that lighthouse and
the pirates who took advantage of shipwrecked vessels.
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| Door County LH |
Door County Lighthouse – Wisconsin
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All dressed up for the
HS reunion |
August found us on an extended visit to spend time with my family
and attend my Oconomowoc Senior High School class reunion. Mike graciously attended
with me. It was way more fun than I expected – well attended, interesting to
connect with so many people - and the weekend included a golf outing.
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| Mike explores the chandlery at the museum |
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| Lake MI viewpoint |
Our travels to Wisconsin took us to Door
County, where we experienced our first visit to Lambeau Field, home of the
Green Bay Packers. We enjoyed lunch and a great visit with my sister and her husband.
Later, we spent hours exploring the fascinating Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. Of course, Mike found the Chandlery!
We headed out along the jetty to reach the Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Light, built
in 1881.
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse – Washington
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| LB Peninsula |
We ended summer in September with a trip to Seattle to pick up our long
backordered Vitrifrigo AC/DC fridge from Sure Marine in west Seattle. After the
rainy drive, we wove our way southeast to spend a couple of days in Long Beach,
Washington where Mike’s family had a beach house for 50+ years. It was a great
rekindling time, visiting familiar spots and enjoying beach walks.
We trekked through the rain forest to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse – walking gingerly as waves crashed around us. Although
we didn’t see any gray whales, we heard they were on their way south. We hope
to catch a sighting or two in the Sea of Cortez this winter.
No lighthouse – but Canada beckoned
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| View from our friends' place on Camano Island |
Each month had a big trip and July was no exception - a winner,
visiting friends and sharing experiences. It started with a visit to friends on
Camano Island, WA on our way north. Their timber framed home and property look
across to Whidbey Island with views of the Olympics and Cascades. Wow.
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| White water rafting in BC |
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| Waterfall on our rafting trip |
We headed to eastern BC, where we had the extreme pleasure
of white watering with friends on the Columbia River at its headwaters, staying
at their log cabin overlooking the river. They arranged the full day trip and
it was amazing.
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| Our fantastic camp site along the river |
We headed further east to Calgary, Alberta, for more
adventures with great friends, also from our Mexico travels. They arranged a canoeing
and camping trip with their gear on the Deer River. The trip was well planned,
relaxing and highly appreciated – and even included homemade carrot cake, shared
around the campfire. Nice.
We’ve been very thankful for our summer and look forward to new adventures as we head south this month. Always remembering that every
day is a blessing!
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Welcome rum drink
at Manta House, GT |
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Donkeys abound across the island; they were
imported to transport and mine salt on the island |
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| Our first night sunset at Manta House, Grand Turk |
