Galápagos!

Jenn and I visited the Galápagos islands and hiked some of the volcanoes in mainland Ecuador in early February, and the entire was fantastic! So as not to re-invent the wheel, we're posting about the planning and execution of the trip, along with a portion of my 5,000+ photos and videos over at our travel blog: gates50states.wordpress.com.

Here's a taste:

Western Caribbean

Jenn and I had a nice vacation get-away and the kids had some really cool time with Grandma Laura, then Grandma Paulette & Grandpa Doug.

We chose this vacation for the itinerary and the company, and while we’ve really enjoyed the warm waters of the southern Caribbean, we chose the western Caribbean this time around with stops in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Pete and Moe, along with their friends Kevin and Beverly, joined us, as well.

This was one of the smaller ships we’ve been on, though it was hard to tell. The big ships tend to hide the crowds well with more areas of activity and dining to shunt everyone. Vision of the Seas is a nice ship, our room was comfortable, our balcony was nice, and the entertainment was good. Our food service improved as the cruise went on. The first two evenings were quite disappointing, as our waiter was just not as responsive as we’d expect on a cruise. After moving to a different section and taking on a new waiter, things turned out very nicely.

Jenn scheduled all of our excursions herself with the help of Trip Advisor. There is good savings and better options staying away from the cruise listings, we've found.

We went with Roatan Ocean Adventures and went drift snorkeling for a time, followed by a visit to a place that rescues monkeys, macaws, parrots and other animals. The animals were very well cared for, and we had a blast on both stops.

Preston describs what we were to see under the water on our drift snorkel.

In Belize we went with Belize Tours Unlimited and our driver, Marvin, picked us up a the cruise terminal and drove us to Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, apparently one of the best birding locations in North America. It did not disappoint. Marvin lives about 5 minutes from the Audubon Society outfit there, and when he felt like we didn't see all of the species we should have, he took us to his house where we found a number of new species in his back yard. He also cut open some newly ripe cocunuts to drink from, and wow, was that tasty.

On the way back to the terminal, he took us to a hole-in-the-wall named Dand's and we had a *really* good Belizian meal of rice & beans, I had pork and Jenn had gibnut, a.k.a. "the royal rat."

The third stop was a beach on Costa Maya. Our experience with sitting on Caribbean beaches has been mixed, with the most negative experiences coming when the beaches were filled with "vendors" and solicitors. This time we reserved a spot at Nohoch Kay Beach Club that included beach chairs, an umbrella, wifi, food, drinks, kayak, restrooms, and very friendly service.

The beach was really pleasant, and while the air and water weren't as warm as we've experienced in the Caribbean this time around, this was our best weather day of the week. Also very cool were the small patches of sea grass where the Little Blue Heron and the Yellow Capped Night Heron were fishing for lunch. This was my first opportunity to wade into the water with my big lens, and it was a lot of fun.

Cozumel was our last stop, and Jenn arranged for us to drive around the island in a modified VW Beetle with a guide. One of our stops was a tequila factory where we were pretty much only interested in learning the history and the technique, not in tassting. Even the smell of tequila has nearly triggered my gag reflex in the past, but that was apparently because I was smelling cheap, chemical-induced tequila. This factory was a very small outfit that made it the right way, which takes >7 years to grow the plant and then months to years to age the product. Theirs was very tasty.

We drove through the city, then across the island to the beach, down south to Punta Sur Eco Beach Park, then up to a fun restaurant, then back to the boat. Santiago, our guide, was as friendly and professional as they come, and he showed us a good time around the island.

We finished the cruise with a day at sea that included 5 hours of dominos in the solarium. It was a blast!

Christmas Season, 2015

The seasons just keep running together. Not so much the seasons of the weather and the calendar, but the seasons of life. The stages that we Gateses move through, they just merge from one to the next.

In my last post I left off with the time-lapse of the Christmas tree decoration. Well, Christmas 2015 has come and gone, and Jenn and I agree that this was one of our favorite episodes. Certainly not contributing to this was the complete lack of winter feeling outside. However, the relative slow pace of the family Christmas gatherings, the delaying of playing Christmas music in the house, and the overall maturing of the kids really made this a neat Christmas time.

One aspect that prevented this Christmas time from being too drug out is the variety of events that broke up the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jenn made two non-seasonal cakes that were amazing.

Jenn and I also revisited Mountain Horse Farm, our favorite winery (Atwater) and a few new-to-us wineries.

As usual, we shared Christmas parties with our several families.

You know that moment when the kids' presents are opened and the grown-ups have more to open?