The ziplining pack!

Left to Right ... Tina, Tad, Gene, Mike, Darcy, Cody and Lindsay ... of course me, too!

Ziplining in the Canopy of Trees

We are like monkeys in trees except we are double harnessed to lines that take us from tree to tree. No swinging involved, just zipping along with the greatest of ease! We begin to zipline a very short distance with very little height from the ground. We are taught posture and technique. Gradually each "step" of the way (we literally climb steps up to the next zipline platform), we go higher and faster. We reach a total distance about 90 feet in the air in the "Canopy" of the Trees and a top speed of about 55 MPH! We would do again!

So who does ziplining?

We do! we love it! what a blast!

This is where we attended Christmas Eve services

Parroquia De NTRA, SRA. De Guadalupe

Around Puerto Vallarta

The "flea market" of Mexican souvenirs. A walk through town reveals many sidewalk food "courts." A suspension bridge to the more shopping area. This bridge could swing so radically that when we walked on it ... someone in our group thought it would be funny to mess with us! We are all grabbing the fence to balance ourselves. You don't see Gene in front of the camera, do you?

The Malecon

On the waterfront, the Malecon where people walk, run, shop, eat or just hang out.

Los Tulles Resort

We are here @ Los Tulles Resort in Puerto Vallarta. The grounds are gorgeous here Here is a pic of one of the ground decorations here so reflective of the cultural influence in the area. We ventured out each day exploring the area and learning more about popular destination.

Happy Man!

Having a bit of fun with my camera, I grabbed a pic of Gene enjoying his new Bose noise reducing headphones. With all his traveling ... those airplanes are noisy ... I wanted to give him the gift of quietness ... especially when he sleeps on the plane. Now he can boogie to the music or hear the movie easier. The headphones worked great! I had to poke him to get his attention. I asked him why he was wearing his sunglasses on the plane ... he said he was getting ready for our arrival in Puerto Vallarta! Landing was still 3 hours away!

From the air

Although the visibility declined somewhat, I took a pic of the Columbia River ... that divides Washington and Oregon ... as well as an interesting shot of snow patterns as viewed from a bird's perspective ... but then again, I don't think any bird flies this high ... except an aerobird.

Fly away

I just love to fly out of the Seattle area! Anticipation of being able to see Mount Rainier and the Cascades as well as the Olympic Mountains are just about more than I can stand. I could just view this part of the world for hours. I had my pocket Olympic camera ready just in case there might be an opportunity. It was an overcast day flying out of Seattle so imagine my excitement when I saw Mount Rainier poking through the clouds as we broke out on top of the clouds. Yea! What a photo!

Christmas trip

We took a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for the Christmas holidays. Our friends, Tad & Tina, who sailed their sailboat, Imagine to Mexico this past fall, invited us to come visit and stay in one of their timeshare condos. What a generous gift! Tad & Tina ... if you recall from our sailing trip to Princess Louisa ... "followed" us with their sailboat on that trip. Now they are in Mexico enjoying the culture there and enjoying the challenge of the cruising life. They share an incredible story of their adventure with their own blog site. Look for the link on my blogger if you are interested and read all about it. Tina is very truthful from her perspective of the sail south and found it quite challenging. Tad, being like most men, loved the challenge! And so my story starts ...

Arriving back to Semiahmoo ... Friday, July 13

Alas, the familiar landmark of Semiahmoo.
The water tower built in 1943 and an original wharf building.

15 days of adventure and fun! Seeing places that we had never seen before and visiting a few places that we were already familiar with and loved. As much as we miss our family and friends on the East Coast, we absolutely have fallen in love with the boating opportunities and beauty here in the Northwest. Islands, full of coves and bays in our "backyard' to explore ... enough to last our lifetime. Yes, it is rainy here and overcast many days ... but the sunshine and sunbreaks that we get are treasured. When we go several days and can't see Mount Baker or the islands and then we can see for miles ... one can only thank our Creator for the beauty that abounds here! Anywhere one goes on this planet, there is a view ... that is awesome to behold. Just take the time to stop and pause for a few minutes ... and say thank you for the gift of being here on Planet Earth.

More of my favorite photos

I played with my macro lenses at various times on our trip. I love these pictures!

Let's go to Montague Harbor ... says Tina & Tad

"You will love it! They have beer there!" Well, that's all that Gene & Jim needed to hear. "Oh yea, Delores & Paula, there is a really neat island to go hiking on, also!" So away we went ... and what a lovely place! Montague Harbor is the first marine park established in British Columbia. It had the Caribbean feel to it. A couple of hundreds of boats on mooring balls, shops, and places to eat. A floating pastry boat was anchored in the bay. The owners bake fresh cinnamon rolls every day as well as many delicious pastries and breakfast sandwiches. We hiked one of the islands there and walked a shell beach. We were treated to an especially beautiful sunset that evening. That's a lagoon that we had to hike around to get to the shell beach and the island . There are many artesian shops to explore ... many sights to take in. I definitely want to go back. Montague Harbor is known for the bus ride to the pub. We didn't do the bus ride this time. So we have a reason to go back! Thanks Tina & Tad for suggesting that we spent our last anchor at Montague Harbor.

Silva Time

OK, so we went to Silva Bay last year on vacation. But we loved it so much we wanted to go again. Memories of great food, beautiful sunsets and great biking opportunities ... made this a favorite choice. Well, we opted out of biking this time ... it's a mountainous island for sure. But Gene & Jim remembered the beer opportunities there. Another thing I REALLY learned this trip ... Paula has a MEGA sweet tooth ... especially for chocolate ... see even her tank top is chocolate! She goes from anchorage to anchorage looking for that one special sweet, the way Gene and Jim go looking for beer pubs. L.O.L! We love you, Paula! Especially since you shared your desserts with us!

False Bay

OK, so we go to this place called False Bay on Lasqueti Island. Nary, a boat is anchored in the bay. But we can see in the distance the village that held visions of fresh vegetables, fresh baked bread ... and a pub! The cruising guides that I had on board described this small village as having a mellow charm all of its own. Well, as soon as we entered the pub, we smelled that charm ... a familiar fragrance from the 60's & 70's. The public wharf was busy with the locals and visitors that traveled the passenger ferry service from Vancouver Island to Lasqueti Island. We loved the island! It certainly had it's own appeal. Above pics ... looking out over False Bay, reading the notices at the the local Post Office, selecting veggies from the roadside stand (honor system for paying), a working vessel at the public wharf, colorful artwork, and a view through the trees.

My prized Eagle shot

This shot amazed me when I viewed it. Not only is it pretty sharp, I even got a sailboat in the background of this one. I was so focused on the eagle that I had no idea that there was a sailboat in the horizon. One could think that this is a Photshop pic but I am proud to say it is not!

The Eagle shots

So here are few of my eagle shots. I shot so many but was only able to grab a couple of pics in focus. Most of these have camera shake. I didn't have my tripod so holding the lens steady was impossible with the zoom that I was working with. Tasha got away from us and chased the eagle to the tree he landed in. Fortunately the eagle was more interested in getting fish instead of dogs. She is such the ratter, always looking for something to go after! You can click on a photo for easier viewing!

One of our favorite places, Musket Island

We spent some time on Musket Island Marine Park at Hardy Island. This is where we wiled the afternoon away watching an eagle fishing. Is was beautiful here! FYI, you can click on photo to enlarge it for a easier viewing.