A Summit Experience

It was a few years ago...my daughter told me that if I wanted to stay connected to the family, I needed to learn to 'text'.  Well, I've realized now that when the younger generation begins to tell us what to do, it might just be well worth listening to...I learned to 'text' the old fashioned way. I've never been sorry.

 Our family left for a ski holiday.  We all met promptly at our home at 9:30 am.
 We were headed out and in 10 minutes there was a 'text....'
"Stop at Bridal Falls for potty break and goodies."
Is anything new?  I thought that I had covered all my bases many years ago.
We stopped and I brought out my fresh blueberry muffins, still warm to the touch.

We finally arrived at our destination.
Big White!
A  familiar destination filled with many memories over the years.

The following days were filled with crystal blue skies.
A skiers delight, fresh snow, powder and sunshine.

An annual tradition brought us up the T-Bar, to  the highest peak!
Are you not itching to glide down or race down this gorgeous stretch of snow?
No one can resist the T-Bar when it's sunny and clear.
Many times it's under a huge white fog...
thus the name Big White!
But not today!

I'm always looking for the perfect photos ops...
How could one actually live the dream of seeing the glistening crystals or smiles?


Another 'text' came flying through...
"Can we all meet at the top of the Bullet?"
And away we went...we all met...but there was some confusion.
Did we get the wrong 'text?'


 This time the iPhone photo explained it all!
There was a proposal on top of Big White...
and we were all there to witness this long awaited event.
(it was difficult to keep a secret for two months)
And I'm glad that I learned to 'text'
It was a lesson worth learning.

The family cheered in disbelief...as there were screams of sheer excitement,
as they all shared each others iPhones and compared notes.
This was a moment where we all felt like family again!
One fantastic moment!
One fantastic memory!


Congratulations Suzanne and Christopher! 
 
We wish you happiness in the years to come!

Time Changes!

We have just spent Spring Vacation skiing with the family.
This little one has been taught how to make the necessary adjustments.
Skiing and laughing all the way down.


 His apres' ski time was spent playing with his Oma's IPAD!
His favorite game is called "Cut the Rope"
Tonight he came running to me chuckling at the same time....

"I might find some money in your house...and then
we can get the new version of Cut the Rope!"

 Of course he found his looney and we got the new version.
He knows how to win his Oma's heart.

 

How does a little one like this make the necessary changes in life?
A few hours later, he's all ready and dressed to go...'ring bearer'

From skiing, to 'cutting the rope' to being a ring bearer for the evening wedding.

I guess it's all in a day's work, even for those little ones.

He's sleeping soundly now.

Almost HOME AGAIN!

We've journeyed back...rocked n rolled, and endured the cloudy weather once again.
But Oh my, was it good to see land again.
Our last port..Ensenada, Mexico.

We're both enjoyed standing on the highest deck overlooking Mexico.
We made the decision to stay on board.
What is it about seeing land?

My fascination of flags had me viewing the hoisting of the Mexican flag.
They always hoist their flags when entering a new port.

 From a distance we spotted the large Mexican flag.

 Ensenada boasts Mexico's largest flag. It is known that  Mexicans really like their flags, and that this one is about 100m across and dominates the landscape, visible from nearly all parts of the city.



We enjoyed ourselves. We sat at table 123 and we met the couple next door.
After the first evening, it was already reported that we were long lost sisters.
We found out that we had many similar interests and we continued to enjoy
our friendship over the duration of our 14 day cruise.
Do you see any similarities?

Our evenings were spent visiting back and forth or going to the theater.
We began to share pudding.
Do you know what pudding means?
To me, it means custard or a custard sauce.
For our English friends it meant dessert.
Flambe Peach dessert could only be made for a table of four.
Let me know if you want some pudding some time.

Tuesday, Feb. 28th, Queen Victoria arrived in the morning light at Los Angelos.
The sun greeted us once more. 

It's fun to leave, and we enjoyed ourselves in spite of the weather.

But it's always fun to come HOME AGAIN!

It isn't that life ashore is distasteful to me,
But life at sea is better.
Sir Francis Drake

The Islands of Paradise!

I woke up the next morning....more clear skies!
I was up early once again and would not miss the action.
Shouts of cheer as the whales put on one magnificent show for the guests.

At last we could enjoy breakfast on the patio...
Fresh fruit every morning.

Then we were gently tendered off the boat to the Island of Maui!
And the sun is shining.

 Waves splashing along the shores.
Surfers waiting and anticipating the next Big One!

Patios with a view...
I'm not sure that I'm cruising back...

It's my turn for that dip again...
The warm tranquil waters refresh you.
And don't you believe it..I thought I could swim with my sunglasses.
Now that I'm sixty, I would need to slow down and be more careful.
Not so...the first wave plummeted me and my glasses...
And I was told they would wash up on shore in two years.
So I know I'll be back...they were made of quality lenses...Ouch!

The natural breath taking views renews you.
Walks along the sea shore dipping in an out of the hotels.
There was color everywhere...if I could only linger longer.
So far we're only one day away from spring, and I have not seen any color.


The fresh floral air energizes you.
Hibiscus!  Plumeria! Orchids! Ginger! Bougainillea, Ohi'a Trees
So many varieties...So little time or space for all of them!




This guy is always so patient...standing and waiting
while I'm dashing in and out of the bushes looking for some fun shots.
You'd never want to leave him behind.

There in the distance I could always spot our vessel.
Did we really have to go back?

Straight to the pool deck as the boat slowly piloted it's way out of the harbor.

Who would not love a Sail Away Party?
Just the way it should be in Hawaii!
When the Sun Shines!

Another one of those amazing shots...sun and clouds..
and I was waiting...would there be a sunset on this voyage?

And there it was...
As we cruised out of the Island of Maui!
Refreshed, Renewed and Energized!

My First Sunrise!

Oh...the sun has finally reached out and touched me!
My most magnificent sunrise on the shores of Honolulu just above Diamond Head.
I've seen many sunsets, but not a single sunrise!

I believe we were the first off the cruiseline this morning.
I knew exactly where we were headed.
I was not going on any excursions except to swim in the ocean.

Happy HAPPY Happy!
We parked ourselves under an umbrella and soaked up the rays.
Could it be better than this?
Four days of storm and cloud were forgotten.

Surfboards, swimmers, sun tanned bodies, turquoise waters,
warm winds, blue skies, all the things I was waiting for.

And in the evening just like always....they lined up to see the sunset.
But they were all standing on the wrong side of the island.

Back to our HOME away from home, just as Queen Victoria was preparing for it's departure.

 

But this was worth it all!

Voyage Across the Pacific!

On Tuesday, February 14th we boarded the Cunard Cruise Line, Queen Victoria.
And began our 4 day adventure across the Pacific.
We left sunny skies in search for more.

My first destination was to find the pool deck....
I swam how many times???

Little did I know that it was going to be cloudy.


Wet and Rainy.


And more rain...so I started playing with my F stops on my camera.

Meanwhile I was escorted to table 123, where it was set just for two.


I started looking forward to our formal evenings.
It's not too often I sit beside a farmer all spiffed to the nines. 


And I enjoyed the delights of being served and dined.
Remember there's always shopping available on board just in case.

Day time activities were plenty, piano / violin / harpsichord concerts.
Many soothing afternoons of classical melodies.

The Queen's Library.
Lectures!

The Queen's Ballroom.
In the day time dancing lessons were taught and at two thirty,
English tea was being served promptly.

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour
dedicated to the ceremony known as the afternoon tea."



The dance floor came alive in the evening with a full band.


Eventually I chose my  favorite dance teams.
And they even offered, "Dance with the Stars"
All ages loved to dance, young and old!

Ah..yes, I even attended culinary school.

No, I must admit, I only watched.
I did not indulge!

And we had more to do...IPads, photos, albums, music...
We both enjoyed taking time to reflect about the up-coming 100th birthday party.
There could not of been a nicer place than the comforts of our state room.

 

Assembling photos, rearranging them..cropping them,

And we finally arrived 4 days later at HILO....
And it was raining.....

It was pouring ....we waited in the bus,

then made a quick dash into the mall.

RAIN!  RAIN!  RAIN!

 So what has happened to my warm winter get away?