I'm still working on catching up the blog... Now we're up to September 13th...

I had mixed emotions on my last day with my parents. On one hand, I knew they would be leaving within 24 hours, which made me sad. On the other, we still had another 24 hours remaining to spend together, which made me happy.

We had spent two amazing weeks traveling together; from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean through the Panama Canal; Trekking through the rain forest in Corcovado; Driving across Costa Rica to watch a volcano erupt; And we still had an entire day to spend in Playas del Coco.

My parents had seen most of what there is to see here in Coco, so on our last day together we decided to head to the neighboring beaches and have a look around. But first, I wanted to give them a slightly different view of Coco before we move on... a view I knew they would appreciate.

I took them up the hill, to a place I found when I first discovered HDR photography. There is a gated community behind my condo, and it has a spectacular view of Coco beach.

You might recognize this view from an earlier post, called Sunset with Enya. Its funny to see how my HDR skills have changed since July. Also, I'm using a much more powerful camera now. Still though, its fun to go back and look at the difference between the two.

We took a lap around the community, and admired all the pretty, & huge, and pretty huge houses. Most are for sale, which is just a sign of the times. It seems the depressed housing market knows no limits.

We then headed north, to Playa Hermosa, which is a short five minute drive. We had one specific thing we needed to accomplish, other than that it was play time all day.

Mom, Dad & I used to have breakfast together every Thursday morning. We had been doing this for 6 years before I left. Towards the end, we were meeting at Coco's, and we had become good friends with our favorite waitress, Mary.

They had brought a couple of signs with them which read, "Hello from Costa Rica," and we wanted to get some pictures together to bring back for her. Hermosa was an excellent spot to do this, so we brought along the tripod. This also let us get some pictures for ourselves, something that we had lacked so far in the trip.

On our way to Playa Panama, the next beach on our list, we past a road that I remembered from my last trip to this area. I was curious as to what was down there, since it looked like a newly built road, which usually means there is new construction somewhere.

We were stopped by the gates of some fancy hotel, over looking the bay, and had to turn around. All was not lost, since it afforded us the opportunity to take another group photo. In the background you can see Playa Panama... not such a bad view.

Playa Panama is a little smaller, and much more secluded, than Playa Hermosa. There is really not much to do there except sit on the beach, watch the tide, and relax. Playa Hermosa has a few restaurants along its shores. Panama, not so much. It all depends on what you're looking for. We were just here to put eyes on the beach, and move on.

Next up, Playa Ocotal, by way of a failed excursion to the Riu Hotel. I had heard that the Riu is a city within a city, a vast expanse of luxury that is worth the terrible drive out to it. We headed down the dirt road, bump after bump, for as long as we could manage. Finally we turned around, after we were all looking at each other, as if to say, "what are we doing?"

We made our way back and turned into Playa Ocotal. This beach is mainly focused on the high-end residential communities that fill the nearby valley. From what I hear around the camp fire, everyone who lives in Ocotal comes to Coco for an evening out, be that dinner or just drinks.

We had lunch on the beach in Ocotal at a little place called Father Rooster's. There were a half dozen of these White-throated Magpie-Jay's flying around, which we found to be very cunning creatures. The instant we turned our back on our food, one would swoop in and steal a fry. It happened so fast I barely noticed. They had their timing down to a science, probably from years of practice on unsuspecting tourists.

I had one more place I wanted to show my parents before we returned home for some R&R. There is a small community right on the beach in Ocotal, with a road that winds its way up the hill. We pulled the car in, and came face to face with a howler monkey walking straight down the center of the street, right at us. I imagine the three of us had that deer-in-the-headlights look. I know I sure did.


Fed & happy after a long day of sightseeing, we found our way back to the condo and threw on some NCIS. It was peaceful to lounge around with Mom & Dad, not a care in the world. We had nowhere to be, nothing to do, and felt absolutely great about it.

Mom & Dad had brought me down a card game called Slam! I loved playing this game with them. Its kind of a cross between War, Speed, & Scrabble, and we had some pretty good games going. We were all pretty evenly matched, which made the game that much more fun.

I snuck out at sunset to get some last minute pictures of our beach while I still had my parents here. The sky was extremely yellow that evening, as you can see. Even though I doused myself in bug spray, I still got eaten alive. I guess I have the good blood.

We spent much of that evening copying photos. I wanted to have a copy of all Mom's pictures, and vice-versa. We had purchased a pack of DVDs early, and used those to send all my pictures home with them. Somehow though, I didn't copy all of Mom's pictures, which I only found out while writing these blog posts. What a bummer!

After we had a handle on the photos, Dad & I jumped in the pool for a late night swim. We talked about life, love, experience, and how to take over the world! Ok, maybe not that last one, but the swim was very special for me. We swam until our fingers were so pruney that they could take on no more water. I cannot think of a better way to end our trip.

It was perfect......

On our first day waking up in Playas del Coco, I wanted to take my parents over to my favorite little breakfast spot, Cafe de Playa. Its just across the street, and sits directly on the beach. They have lawn chairs out back on both their grass & sand, and its the perfect spot for a "Tico" breakfast.

Unbeknownst to me, this cafe doubles as a timeshare selling hub. We were immediately accosted by a Realtor, trying to push her wares on us. We politely declined, pushed our way through, and sat down. During breakfast, we could constantly hear the pitch of another Realtor two tables over. It wasn't as bad as it may sound, but it was a little annoying for me in particularly. I wanted this to be perfect, and was hoping they would just disappear. No such luck, but the food was good, the view was better, and the company at my table was the best.

Afterwords we strolled down the beach to the waterfall, or what was left of it. It was more of a watertrickle, since the weather had been so dry lately. We wanted to jump in and take a picture together, but didn't feel like waiting around until the couple who was occupying it left on their own.

Lots to do, lots to see. We hopped into the car and drove into town. A whole three minutes later, we were parking. Like I said, its a small town. In Coco, there is a very common scam of what I'll call "parking patrol." These are guys that sit around with reflective vests on, and wait for unsuspecting tourist to pull up. They slyly walk over and ask for money to watch your car.

I had been hit with this before when Scott had visited. After he left, I started asking around town about these guys. Its a rip off, and the locals know not to pay. Its like feeding milk to a stray cat, you'll never get rid of it after that.

So this time I knew better. As soon as we parked, sure enough here he comes. I jumped on him, and just wagged my finger, "no, no, no." He actually smiled, turned, and left. Sometimes you just have to be in the know.

We had souvenir hunting to do, and if there is one thing Coco has, its souvenir shops. We started at one end, and hit every single store on the strip making a big loop back to the car. The stores are small, so each one didn't take that long. Truth be told, they all have a lot of the same stuff.

What a different experience it was walking around town with a camera around my neck. Mom had hers on too, so it was as if we had giant signs attached to us, flashing "Tourist!" We were approached several times by the guys selling timeshares. At one point I got so sick of it, that I started to get a little rude. I upset one guy so bad that he was cussing as he peddled off. We just smiled.

Funny thing is though, they never bother me when I walk through town alone. They did at first, but I guess I've gone native. Either that, or they recognize me now. I hope its the later. After all, I've been here for five months.

We found what we had come for, and by this time we were ready for lunch. I had just the spot in mind, a place uptown called the Coffee House. For a place that sells great food, they probably couldn't have picked a worse name. I have tried to tell friends about it, but they always reply, "I don't drink coffee."

We took a quick drive through the south side of town before heading up for lunch. The south end has a very different feel from the north, but we all get along just the same. It is the older section of town, and has many more permanent residents, as compared to the newer vacation condos on the north.

When the market was booming in 2003 to 2005, developers came into town and started constructing anything they could think of. There was an overnight explosion of condos on the north, and now that the market has fallen out from under itself, there is nobody here. Construction had ceased by mid 2006.

We settled into the Coffee House, and Catherina, the cook, smiled and said hello. She is one of the best cooks in town, and I've been in to see her countless times. I can't remember exactly what each of us had, but I know that we all had one kind of smoothie or another. They are exceptional, filled with fresh fruit and served ice cold.

The restaurant is connected to a gift shop, and its one of the more decadent gift shops in town. The souvenirs sold in this store are unlike anything else around, and its always a treat just to wander through.

Ever since Scott was here, I had been eying one particular piece. It is made out of ironwood, and is a 3D sculpture of a seascape. In my opinion, its the best piece in the shop, simply beautiful.

Ironwood has a unique, hidden ability. It is extremely hard, and the trees from which its cultivated are very drought resistant. However, its special trick is that when heated, simply by the sun shinning through a window on a piece such as this, it emits a potent fragrance. You can smell a hint of it when cold, but once warm, it is said to fill the room with a pleasant odor.

I happened to lead my parents over and point it out. They shared my opinion, and bought it on the spot. It was an excellent buy, and now it just came down to shipping it home. This proved to be a nightmare, and ended up taking over a month to finally arrive in the US. Long story short, it is now in my parent's possession, unscathed, intact, and beautiful as ever.

My parents had brought me a copy of NCIS season 7. We're big fans of that show, if you didn't know. We took a few hours to rest and recoup, watch a few episodes, before heading out for an evening walk along the beach to admire the sunset.

Along the coast there are some beautiful homes, like this one. This tree is a pretty common area for people to sit, and just enjoy the beach. I'd imagine that those tinted windows come in very handy during the hot season.

A few years back, the government came through and bulldozed any building within the 50 meter mark from the water. This is apparently land owned by the government, and they were reclaiming their property. Some houses fell, others only partial fell, but I'm glad this house, and its tree, are still standing.

Our walk ended at La Dolce Vida, a pizza parlor around the corner from my house. By the time we ordered, it had started to lightly rain. We walked home while our pizzas were cooking, and I grabbed the car to return and pick up our food.

With pizza in hand, we turned on an episode of NCIS. I'm not sure how many we watched that night, but we were up until almost 11pm. It was too good of an evening to call it quits any earlier than that...

To wake up staring at a volcano is a magical thing. At some point during the night the volcano rumbled, and it actually shook our beds, and we all woke up talking about that. Mom made coffee, and we stepped onto the back porch for some early morning air.

Suddenly Mom caught something out of the corner of her eye. She grabbed her camera, and commando style snuck up to the neighbor's porch. It was a coati, a member of the raccoon family. It was a couple doors down, then creeped across our neighbor's porch onto the back lawn. Mom got a little too close at one point, and it started to pose an aggressive position. She backed away, unharmed.

Our hotel was offering a breakfast buffet, so we ventured out to join the crowd. If the whole point of your hotel is to view a volcano, then every room better have a wall of glass facing it, and the cafeteria certainly complied. It was a long room, with the entire north wall made of glass, an impressive site unto itself.

After breakfast we moved outside to the viewing deck where we found many birdwatchers sitting around, enjoying the view. There was a telescope for spying on any lava flows that may occur, of which we didn't see any. Apparently the volcano has been slightly dormant for the past couple of months, at least as far as lava goes.

Then we spotted the following bird, called a Montezuma Oropendola (thanks birdwatchers), acting very peculiar in a nearby tree...


This appears to be some kind of mating ritual, but I don't know for sure. What I do know, is that it looks like a lot of fun!

They also had this cool bird feeder made from sticks & a few flag pool holders welded together. Simply add fruit, and presto, instant entertainment. My parents spend a lot of time in Almanor, California, and they have countless bird & squirrel feeders up there. Maybe they'll add this type to their collection. Can't be that hard to make...

Soon it was time to hit the road, but we weren't head to Coco just yet. We had to make a pit stop at one of my Mom's favorite things to do, Zip-Lining!

There are several zip-lining tours around Arenal, but we decided to go with the longest & fastest cables we could find, SkyTram. You can view a map of the tour here.

This consisted of 8 zip-lines. Their lengths varied from a 92 foot test run, to the longest line at 2,440 feet. That's almost half a mile long! Yikes... It took a breathtaking 45 seconds at 44 mph to complete that run.

However, that wasn't the fastest line they had. Cable 6 is actually faster, at a cool 50 mph and 2,060 feet long.

I have never been on a zip-line like these before. Sure, I've done some small stuff with boy scouts when I was a kid; there were a few small zip-lines when I went canyoning in Switzerland; but nothing ever like this.

I must admit, I was a little scared. I've jumped out of plains at 13,000 feet. I've bungee jumped coming 5 feet from the ground. I've even rock climbed in Joshua Tree with no regard for how high I was. Yet, what I'm finding is, that as I get older, I'm starting to realize I'm not invincible anymore, if I ever was. I'm actually starting to develop a fear of heights!

Mom is a pro, and was completely excited, but very relaxed. Their is a long zip-line tour in Catalina that her and her sister Karen do every chance they get. I wasn't about to let a little fear stop me, so off we went.

We were stuck with a large group, maybe 20 or 25 people besides us. One gentlemen had to take a hike back about half way through because he looked like he was going to have a heart attack. Another kid was goofing around and dropped his helmet in the middle of the cable. The guides were none too happy about that one.

Look at that smile! I think she might be having a bit of fun... what do you think? If you could muster the courage to look around while hanging on for dear life, it was actually quite a beautiful surrounding.

I am not sure how high we were off the canyon floor, but it was enough to get your attention. The chart says that cable 3 was 656 feet high, if I'm reading that correctly. That sounds about right.... 60 stories up, wow. That's half the height of the Empire State building in New York.

I think my favorite line was what they called the "Tree Tunnel." There is a section of cable that goes under a section of canopy. Seeing the trees whiz past all around you really gives you some perspective on just how fast you're moving.

The entire tour took a few hours. The cables are long, but it was the number of people that slowed us down. We had three guides with us, and they would separate onto three different platforms. One by one the guests would move from platform to platform until they reached guide number three.

Then everyone would wait while we all caught back up to each other, and the process would start again. The lead guide would always go down backwards, spraying the cable with a lubricant/sealer of some kind. We asked if this job ever gets boring, and the answer was an emphatic, "No."

All this adrenaline had worked up an appetite. The tour building was under construction, so their restaurant was temporarily closed. No matter, I just happened to know of a good place to eat on the other side of Lake Arenal, so we were on the road again.

Part of what makes travel fun is the difference in cultures. Where I come from, you would never see cowboys horseback riding, towing cows, on any public road. Perhaps in the Midwest, but certainly not in Southern California. We saw this all over the place, and was just something you get used to. I had to snap a quick shot, for posterity's sake.

I led my folks right to the German Bakery, a place that Scott & I had eaten at during our trip to Arenal. This is the second meal I've eaten here, and I must say, I really enjoy their food. The atmosphere is pleasant with a nice view of the lake, and there are sleeping cats everywhere, which I love. So if you get the chance, stop by, you can't miss it. <end of advertisement>

We were now officially headed to my home town of Playas del Coco! I had a pretty good idea of how to get there, but the GPS saved the day. We still had hours and hours worth of driving to do, and my Dad slugged out most of it. In fact, he had done all the driving up to this point, what a trooper!

When we started to approach Liberia, I asked to take the wheel. We were now only about one hour outside of Coco, and I wanted both of them to enjoy the drive in, and experience as much as they could of my little village. I pointed out a few things along the way, and told them what to look for on their way back to San Jose a few days from now.

We were racing against the falling of the sun once again. I had picked up a few supplies before hand, snacks I knew my parents like, but we needed to stop at a grocery store regardless.

Actually, I needed to replace one of the snacks I bought for them, since I already ate it before they got here (cottage cheese & fritos). Ooops, but they wanted to pick up other things, so it all worked out.

Their first reaction was that Coco is much bigger than I had described it. Driving through the countryside of Costa Rica, I can see their point. We pasted through some towns that had maybe 10 stores, and that was it. So, compared to that, yes Coco is bigger than what they might have been expecting. Yet, coming from Huntington Beach, I would say this is a beach community rather than a town.

At last, home sweet home. I got the feeling they were impressed with the quality of living I had setup for myself down here in Central America. It's not luxurious, but comfortable and clean, and that's all that matters. I gave them my room for their visit, since it has the bigger bed. I took the guest room with the two twin beds, sounds like a fair deal to me.

I was so happy that evening. To have my parents staying with me, in a foreign country, if only for just a small while, is one of those memories that you can touch, taste & smell.

I knew that in a few short days, my parents would be headed home, but the memories, those will never leave...

Our last morning at Jinetes de Osa, a quick wave good-bye, and we all piled into a small, beat-up van. The roads had returned to driving condition, which meant we could fly out of Drake Bay, rather than having to travel all the way back to Sierpe and loose another half a day.

I use the term driving condition loosely, since we were still required to cross a huge river which shouldn't have been there. This was the section of road that had flooded so bad a few days ago, they closed it down. Wow, it must have really been flooded!

We saw a few interesting things along the road to the airport, including a family of pigs that were playing in someone's yard. They had with them the tinniest little piglets I've ever seen, maybe only a foot long. It looked like two adults and three children, so we stopped to giggle for a second before moving on.

We soon arrived at the airport, which was very small. We had some time to walk around before our flight departed. There is only one or two flights a day out of Drake Bay, so that helps show just how remote of a destination this place was.

The small building where we all took refuge from the sun also housed the ticket counter (if you can call it that), and a small gift shop filled with local, handmade souvenirs. Each person was required to weigh their bags, which came with very strict guidelines. These planes are so small, and each seat was filled, that weight becomes a major issue.

This is another one of my favorite shots from the trip. Be sure to click on the image and view full size. Unfortunately Blogger reduces the size & quality of uploaded images, but you can still see a lot of the detail. I like the translucent part of the wing where the barbwire is showing through, pretty neat.

It didn't take long before our plain arrived, and we were airborne. It was only a short one hour trip back up to San Jose, but I managed to sneak in a quick nap.

We headed to the car rental office, and it suddenly dawned on us that we hadn't driven in a couple of days. Costa Rica does not have many overpasses like Panama City does, so I was expecting our GPS to work quite a bit better in my adopted country.

Driving in any foreign country can be confusing, and although the GPS did work much better than expected, we still managed to get ourselves lost a few times on our way to Arenal Volcano. The first was due to some confusing freeway signs, and we ended up driving along the freeway's skirt, on the wrong side of the road.

When we made it out of town, and into the country side, the GPS started to breakdown a bit. It kept showing us roads that simply didn't exist, or were literally dirt trails unsuitable for automobiles. We made a few detours, and took a few wrong roads, and turned our leisurely drive into a full-on excursion.

There are many roads to Arenal, but not so many signs, although signs did help get us out of a town at one point. We ended up taking a long way around, but at least we were making progress, or so we thought. We hit major road construction, and there was nothing we could do but turn the car off and get comfortable.

After what felt like an eternity, the flagman finally started waving cars through, and we were moving again. I tried to count the cars parked in the opposite direction, waiting their turn. After ten minutes I stopped counting.

We were now headed down the hill, and into a valley. Across the way we could barely make out the shape of Arenal Volcano. Dad was insistent that it was still a few days worth of driving away, and given our past driving experience, he very well could have been right.

San Jose was a long ways behind us, but at about 4:45pm, we finally reached the base of Arenal. We were on the backside, and now needed to drive around the volcano to our destination, Arenal Observatory Hotel. Our goal was to arrive before the sun set at 6pm.

We got about 3/4ths of the way, when the fog & clouds broke, and we had a spectacular view of the crater. Although we had a schedule to keep, I pleaded to pull over & get some pictures, because I knew how rare of an opportunity this was.

I grabbed my camera, and stepped across the street. Just then the mountain rumbled, as if to say, "Hello, welcome back." I looked up, and saw a plume of grey smoke starting to form. I freaked out and started pointing & yelling, "Its erupting!"

Mom immediately joined me and we let our cameras fly wild. We couldn't believe our luck. Of all the wrong turns, and construction, and everything that had to happen for this moment to take place is beyond words.

The three of us sat for a moment, enjoying the view, before jumping back in the car and pressing on. We still wanted to see our room's view before dark, but that would require a trip up a nine kilometer dirt & rock trail.

Arenal Observatory Hotel is at the base of the volcano, the closest hotel to the crater there is. However, the road leading into the hotel is not paved, and filled with craters of its own. Scott & I took this road in a little compact car with motorcycle tires on it. As fun as that was the first go around, lets just say that I was glad to be in an SUV this time.

Our room sat with an unobstructed view of the volcano. A wall of floor to ceiling windows ensured that we could see any eruption from anywhere in the room. This picture was taken in the evening from our back patio, two feet from our back door.

Later that evening, after the sun had set, and my parents lay in their bad, I lay in mine, we witnessed yet another spectacular display.

The rain had picked up again, which was perfecting timing for us since we were cozy & comfortable. Then the lightening started, and lasted for hours. We were dumbfounded as the sky lit up with brilliant flashes of light, briefly revealing the lurking volcano. Strike after strike, with more and more thunder all the time. This meant the storm was getting closer.

I tried so hard to capture the lightening with my camera, but just couldn't do it. It was like a game at first, but eventually got too frustrating. Why not just sit back and enjoy the show, and that's exactly what the three of us did, for much longer than we ever expected...

It was another pre-5am morning for me. I had been bit by the sunrise bug, and jumped out of bed excited to experiment with my new camera.

One thing I've learned through all of this, is that if your camera can shoot in RAW format, as apposed to JPG, do it. There is so much more image information in a RAW file that you can tweak it far beyond what is capable with JPG.

I really enjoy taking photos of flowers with my new toy. My favorite is when the focal length gets really short, so that your target is in focus but the background goes blurry.

This flower was tiny, about two inches wide if I remember correctly. Yet, in the picture, there is no reference point so you'd never know that.

On the other hand, this flower was large and in charge. It makes me wish I new the names of these, they're so pretty. I had never noticed them before, but we actually have these back in Coco... who knew...

Dad & I headed down to meet the boat after breakfast. It was supposed to be all three of us, but Mom decided to take a day off, and relax around the cabin. Good for her, we are on vacation after all.

We were headed to Caño Island, a small protected national park used by researchers to study coral death and recolonization. Lucky we weren't going to work, we were going to play. Snorkeling specifically.

The cruise was a straight shot out into the open water, which may sound a little boring at first. However, this area is known for whale sightings, and we were not disappointed.

This is the best shot I could get, since they were so far away. It was a mother and her calf, swimming along peacefully.

Since this is a protected area, the whales have learned to raise their offspring here over the years. There is no fishing allowed anywhere near Caño Island or Corcovado. In fact, an astounding 25% of all Costa Rica is nationally protected land.

This was a lucky shot. We knew there were dolphins in the area, and I had my camera set to rapid fire mode. As soon as someone pointed, I just held down the trigger and turned.

Again this was far away, so this is digitally zoomed in quite a bit, but no matter, this is one of my favorite shots of the whole trip. That dolphin looks like its a good two feet out of the water.

We had made some friends the night before at dinner, Nick & Jessica, who are both biologist, and who both were on the tour to Caño Island with us. Jessica, as it turns out, used to train dolphins for a living. This is a Pacific Spotted Dolphin, one of her all time favorites. I absolutely had to send them a copy of this picture, and was happy to do it.

The captain drove around the backside of the island, and it was time to go snorkeling. We got dropped off in the water, and the boat left to drop off the scuba divers.

The water was warm, no wetsuits necessary. Since this is a protect area, local law required us to wear life preservers, even while snorkeling. A small price to pay, so we all obliged.

One of our first finds was this nurse shark, resting comfortably in its crevice below a small overhang. Nurse sharks tend to return to the same location each morning, after spending their nights actively hunting their prey.

This shark was in about 20 feet of water, not uncommon for this species. I dove down to get as close as I felt necessary, and snapped a quick shot, then just as quickly returned to the surface.

My Dad spent much of his youth snorkeling in Catalina Island off the coast of California, and he's very good at it. He gave me a great pointer during our time in the water, and that is to get below the water's surface before you start kicking your fins.

After that, I was able to have much more bottom time, before shooting back to the surface for air. We had a really great time palling around, even though the water was a little choppy & it was raining, again.

There were plenty of fish around, everything from large schools of fish to the odd man out. Caño Island fish species typically include: king angel, moorish idol, puffers, surgeon fish, snapper, barracuda, barber fish, parrot fish, damsel fish and a variety of eels usually found around the rocks... just to name a few.

Snorkeling was split into two tours, which gave us a chance to move around a bit, as well as dry off for a minute and regroup. Our second location had a little rougher water, but we found much prettier fish.

Like this dogface puffer fish. These tend to be one of the more playful fish to dive with, since they are not overly frightened by humans. In fact, in captivity, they are more often than not their owners favorite fish due to their personality.

These pictures are a little blurry, I know. I had ran out of the house to catch a plain to meet my parents, and forgot to pack my new underwater camera. Thankfully I had given my old one to my parents, and they brought it, so at least we could get a few underwater pictures.

This fish is not nearly as fun, but certainly just as pretty. I've asked around and nobody can identify it. If you have any idea of what it might be, please leave a note in the comments. I'd say it was no more than a foot long, and swimming alone 10 feet below the waterline.

Update: Its a Pompano. Thanks Scott!
A quick shot of me & my Dad... too bad the bubbles are in my face, but oh well. I still think its a great picture of the two of us.

Its a great example of the goofy life jackets they made us wear. I'm not sure what the point of those were. If you're drowning, you don't have the air in your lungs to inflate the vest anyways... That's what the buddy system is for, right?
Eventually it was time to head into the ranger station. The harbor we pulled into was spectacular, and by then the sun was shining and all was well with the world. The water was that perfectly clear turquoise blue that we all know water should be at a paradise island.

We were served lunch of what seemed like home cooked food. Great beans, bread, fruit, deli-style meats, and even fresh cookies for desert. Everyone got to take a shower and wash the salt off (yes, of course one at a time), and that was pretty much it for the day.

In the evening we lounged around at our hotel, very relaxing. I read a book and took a nap in the hammock. We had a nice breeze all night, and were even treated to a short tin symphony again.


While I can't tell you exactly how my Mom's day was, I can say that she seemed very happy, relaxed, and had a big smile on her face when Dad & I returned that afternoon. She had spent part of her day walking around & taking pictures, and I'd like to share some of my favorites: