On Our Way to the Panama Canal

March 20, 2016March 20, 2016 CharliExplores9 Comments

Our Very Large Cruise Ship - The Westerdam — Our Very Large Cruise Ship – The Westerdam

On Saturday March 12, Tom and I boarded the large Holland America ship the Westerdam to fulfill another of our bucket list wishes – to navigate the Panama Canal.

We left Fort Lauderdale harbor heading to the beautiful private island of Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas – a lovely and relaxed way to begin our voyage.

From Half Moon, we were off to the ABC islands. Where/What are the ABC islands you might ask. Well, they are three, tiny, Dutch islands in the South Caribbean Sea – Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao – A,B,C (although we did them in the reverse order). The national language for the ABC islands is Papiamento – a combination of Dutch, Spanish, African, and Arawak. It is a musical language from a vibrant people.

So Willemstad, Curacao was the first stop. Willemstad is the quaint and colorful capital city of Curacao.

Willemstad - The Quaint and Colorful Capital of Curacao — Willemstad – The Quaint and Colorful Capital of Curacao

The population of Curacao is about 155,000 and the island covers 171.4 square miles. The Dutch architecture is evident in the pretty buildings throughout the islands.

Tom and I walked across the Queen Emma Bridge into town.

Queen Emma Bridge - a pontoon bridge that cruises open to allow ships in and out of the harbor and closed to let people into the city. — Queen Emma Bridge – a pontoon bridge that cruises open, to allow ships in and out of the harbor, and closed to let people in and out of the city.

I spent the afternoon walking around this charming city enjoying the sights, sounds and spicy smells.

Local Farmers' Market — Local Farmers’ Market

And then it was on to the tiny B of the group – Bonaire.

Kralendijk (pronounced Krae - len-dike) is the capital of Bonaire. — Kralendijk (pronounced Krae – len-dike) is the capital of Bonaire.

Bonaire is the smallest of the three islands – only 114 square miles with a population of only 17,000. Our tour guide pointed out that Bonaire can host up to two cruise ships at a time – an influx of 5000+ people on this tiny island – WOW!

Anyway, the snorkeling is great in this part of the Caribbean, so I chose to go on an excursion on the Aquaspace – half snorkel boat and half submarine – pretty cool.

Gift - Our Aquaspace Excursion Guide — Gift – Our Aquaspace Excursion Guide

The fun and informative Gift was our gift for the day.

Our Captain and Owner of the Aquaspace - Dirk — Our Captain and Owner of the Aquaspace – Dirk

And Dirk captained our craft.

We spent the first part of the trip in the bowels of the boat watching the coral reef as we sped along to our snorkeling spot.

Over night we sailed on to Oranjestad, Aruba. I slept like the dead that night but was up early the next day for another exciting excursion on the island of Aruba.

This one was called “The Natural Wonders of Aruba!” And so we were off on the tour bus with our adorable excursion guide Bexana from whom we learned (among many other things) that Aruba covers about 179 square miles and has a population of 103,400 people.

We stopped first for a quick photo op at the local cemetery. I know it sounds a bit strange, but it was really pretty interesting.

The local cemetery - cremation is the norm and Gift said that generations of a whole family share a tiny apartment building as they pass. — The local cemetery – cremation is the norm and Gift said that generations of a whole family share a tiny apartment building when they pass.

Shortly after, we arrived at our first official stop – Aruba’s Natural Bridge along the rocky northern shore.

The rocky shores of the northeastern side of Aruba.

From there we motored to the interior to The Granit Boulder Park to see the rock formations and learn about some of the local history from Bex.

Bexana, our very young and cute as a button tour guide.

Ancient cave paintings of the Arawak natives.

The last of Aruba’s natural wonders on our agenda was my favorite – The Butterfly Garden. I love butterflies almost as much as I love flowers and this did not disappoint.

Butterflies from all over the world. This the only way I could get a good picture of the large blue butterfly – so pretty and so quick..

This was one of the exhibits just to give you an idea of a few of the butterfly varieties they had at the garden.

You had to look closely or you would miss these delicate, well camouflaged, beautiful creatures.

Newly emerged butterflies dry their wings surrounded by cocoons still sheltering their developing inhabitants.

This beauty is a specimen of the largest variety of moth. He has a 10 inch wingspan.

This is the kind of caterpillar the huge moth comes from.

This is the cocoon from which the moth just emerged.

My favorites - they were prevalent but hard to catch on camera. — My favorites – they were prevalent but hard to catch on camera.

The pretty, little finches shared in the show.

The gorgeous white sand beaches of Aruba.

And so we say goodbye to the beautiful beaches of Aruba and the other ABC Islands. Next stop Cartagena!

Headin For the Barn

June 23, 2015June 23, 2015 CharliExplores1 Comment

We have had a lot going on in our lives since we got home, so I am a very slow getting this last post out. However, this part of the country is so beautiful that I have to share my photos with you. So here goes.

Bidding a fond farewell to Yellowstone, we began the last leg of our trip. We headed across Montana, and across Montana, and across Montana – it is a very wide state. But it is a beautiful and diverse state, so I snapped my way along.

Montana is called, “Big Sky Country”, but is also known for its Huckleberries! It would have just been wrong to be in Montana all that time and not sample this delicacy, so we stopped by:

They take their huckleberries very seriously in Montana.

Who knew that Captain Jack had a thing for Huckleberries.

Savored their huckleberry pie (delicious!), and perused the gift shop – a quick but fun break in the drive.

Gluteus Maximoose - thats what you get from sitting in the backseat of a car for a month. — Gluteus Maximoose – thats what you get from sitting in the backseat of a car for a month, or eating too many huckleberries.

I need a Mooseage - badly! — I need a Mooseage – badly!

We continued on taking in the peaceful scenery,

We did a little geocaching along the way to break up the drive.

This geocache was placed by a guy as a memorial to his mother - a box with things that reminded him of her. — This geocache was placed by a guy as a memorial to his mother – a box with things that reminded him of her.

We made pretty good time zipping along with virtually no traffic. It’s not a heavily populated state which is okay until you run low on gas, then it can become an issue. We were getting pretty anxious when we finally came across a sign promising gas and food. We were in the middle of nowhere, and were skeptical but, having little choice, we headed toward Winnette, Montana. We found the “gas station” – no building, no attendant, just two pumps and a credit card machine, but hey, it worked.

This is the gas station we stopped at. Just this - no building, no attendant, not another living soul in sight. — This is the gas station we stopped at. Just this – no building, no attendant, not another living soul in sight.

Having fed the car we decided to see if they really had food, so we drove another block into down town Winnette which consisted of three buildings -one bar, one general store, and one café & bar. What the heck, we pulled up to the Kozy Korner Café and, deciding to live, dangerously, went in. We were seated by the 78 year old receptionist/waitress/cook/entertainer who took our orders and regaled us with the story of her life while she prepared our meals.

No kidding, they were written up in Gourmet Magazine.

We didn’t have pancakes, which evidently are world renowned, but the food was pretty good and the entertainment delightful – a fun addition to the adventure.

As we continued on our way the weather turned pretty dark, but didn’t cause much trouble.

Graceful Wind Farms - Harvesting Earth's Energy — Graceful Wind Farms – Harvesting Earth’s Energy

A Huge Thunder Storm on the Montana Prairie - Absolutely Awesome! R — A Huge Thunder Storm on the Montana Prairie – Absolutely Awesome!

We finally reached Traci’s and Danny’s lovely home.

In the month since we embarked on our journey, we traversed thirteen states, drove 7600 miles, and

collected more wonderful memories a than we could count.

After spending another couple of days in KC seeing family and friends, Tom and I headed back to Virginia.

Pictures taken from the plane flying back to Virginia

I couldn't stop photographing. — I couldn’t stop photographing.

A beautiful end to a awesome journey. Thank you Traci for taking us along and for being wonderful!

Another Side of Yellowstone

June 12, 2015 CharliExplores5 Comments

Our last day in Yellowstone we headed to the opposite side of the park where we were promised better chances of seeing the wildlife as well as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This side, again, did not disappoint.

Before I go on, let me put “headed to the opposite side of the park” into perspective.

Yellowstone National Park – Fast Facts

GENERAL

World’s First National Park
A designated World Heritage Site and designated Biosphere Reserve
3,472 square miles or 8,987 square km
2,221,766 acres or 898,317 hectares
63 air miles north to south (102 km)
54 air miles east to west (87 km)
96 % in Wyoming
3 % in Montana
1 % in Idaho

Getting from one site to another often took hours, and we saw a lot of sites and sights – Thank you, Traci, wonderful daughter and trip chauffer.

Moving right along, we arrived on the west side of the park to yet another traffic back-up, but this one was due to park visitors stopped along the road. The attraction was a momma black bear and her two cubs. The ranger was urging people to move along so I got a couple of quick shots before complying with her request.

And the babies - awwww. — And the babies – awwww.

We continued along the narrow winding roads taking in the sights.

And as promised, wildlife!

(Again, the disclaimer: Many of these photos are a bit blurry due to being taken from the backseat of a moving vehicle.)

Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam…And they roam freely everywhere in Yellowstone .

This guy along with some of his buddies got on the bridge we were on. Again we were not 75ft. away. Traci was kind of freaked. — This guy along with some of his buddies got on the bridge we were on. Again we were not 75ft. away. Traci was kind of freaked – visions of having her car gored which we had been warned could/has happened.

More wildlife - so cute. (When Traci was very young, she called these "cimpawumps" - also too cute.) — More wildlife – so cute.

We drove to the southeast corner of Yellowstone to see Lake Yellowstone where we got a look at the Grand Tetons – breathtaking!

Then it was north again hitting the sites we had bypassed on the way south. The first was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone!!!

Check out this very long and very cool walkway.

Artist Paint Pots - part of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. — Artist Paint Pots – part of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Tom and Charli at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone — See, I was there too.

Traci and her daddy at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Waterfall. I love this picture.

The sky was overcast for much of the day, and at one point we were caught in a hail storm. Now the hail was only BB sized, but it came down pretty hard, so we pulled into a turn-off to wait it out.

Between the rain and hail it was pretty hard to see. On narrow roads with sharp turns, pulling off seemed the prudent thing to do.

Got caught in a hail storm at the top of one mountain - only BB sized, but lots of it. — Got caught in a hail storm at the top of one mountain – only BB sized, but lots of it.

Though the weather was a bit gloomy, as we headed toward our home away from home, the silver lining showed itself in all its glorious grandure! – a beautiful ending to our wonderful Yellowstone adventure.

Yellowstone/Awesome!

June 10, 2015 CharliExploresLeave a comment

We spent the next 3 days driving, walking, photographing, learning about, and savoring this incredibly amazing national treasure.

According to Wikipedia: Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles (8,983 km²),^[1] comprising lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges.^[8] Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years.^[10] Half of the world’s geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism.^[11] Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly-intact ecosystem in the Earth’s northern temperate zone.

Beyond impressive, so let me show you a few of the amazing sights.

Fountain Paint Pot

Midway Geyser Basin

The Grand Prismatic Spring – Amazing Colors!

Such Amazing Colors! — It’s hard to see it here, but this looked like a giant polished geode with geysers springing up here and there. Way cool!

Taking a short rest at Midway Geyser Basin.

Mammoth Hot Springs

One of the first things we encountered was this big guy taking a snooze.

He was very near the walkway and there are signs everywhere warning you to stay at least 75ft. from the bison. There were also signs warning you to stay on the walkways. This guy was definitely closer than 75ft .to the walkway. Hmmmm,, what now. We very quickly and quietly tiptoed past and luckily he let us get by with that – wheeew!