John & Anne Wiley

2013/07/13

Leaving the Keys (2)

OK, so speaking of the Florida Keys, after passing Key Largo and the quiet outskirts we saw many boaters enjoying the sparkling water.

1339 Happy Boaters

1339 Happy Boaters

Some of the happy people who live and play here might use boats more than cars.

1350 Beach Boating

1350 Beach Boating

Some of the houses that have apparently been destroyed by hurricanes have sturdy shells that still seem to provide some useful shelter.

1362 Stout Shell

1362 Stout Shell

The long causeway that connects the island chain is a lifeline, and in some places where it’s been upgraded they left portions of an earlier one in place.

1364 Old & New

1364 Old & New

Parts of those older portions are now quite useful for pedestrians and cyclists going between keys.

1390 Bike Freeway

1390 Bike Freeway

I’ve already shared some words & pix from the Keys trip, but here’s Key West where we turned around to head back up the chain for our landing at Marathon. It’s obviously a major cruise ship destination.

1429 Key West

1429 Key West

So skipping past more stuff you’ve already seen about the day, here’s another look at Miami where we passed much closer to downtown than on our way to the Keys.

1551 Miami

1551 Miami

I like the geometry of this perspective on the skyline, and how the water line is so integrated with the city (though I’m guessing hurricanes would be a big concern).

1552 Water World

1552 Water World

We passed near enough to a cruise ship that I could snap this zoom pic of a crowd enjoying some sort of show. Until looking at the full-size pic after the flight, I thought maybe it was the lifeboat orientation. Actually, maybe it was and they did it with a show rather than a lecture.

1559 Show or Drill?

1559 Show or Drill?

Having landed at Fort Lauderdale to clear customs when we came back from the Bahamas, it was interesting to fly nearly over it on our way to the day’s final destination.

1570 KFLL Airport

1570 KFLL Airport

We also got a good look at the city, though after all we’d seen on this day it didn’t seem an especially impressive place.

1574 Ft. Lauderdale

1574 Ft. Lauderdale

Now I haven’t mentioned it today, but I’d been watching the weather very closely after we passed Miami. There were several thunderstorms brewing from there to Lake Worth’s KLNA airport. Several times I very nearly diverted to other destinations, but could hear on the radio and see out the window that it was safe to at least go further to take a look and have ample alternatives well clear of the storms. So it was with considerable relief that we were able to stay far enough from those dark clouds in the distance.

6174 Approaching Storm

6174 Approaching Storm

As we touched down some lightning started in the distance, and after we firmly tied Tripp down in case of gusty winds later, it started to rain while we gathered and sorted luggage. Walking into the airport office we got a good bath at the end of quite a full day. 🙂

2013/07/08

Cabo

Friends and family have sung the praises of Cabo San Lucas (and San Jose del Cabo) for many years, so we’re glad to have finally been there. After our hurricane volleyball and other evening fun with family, we cozied in for a sweet sleep with the song of surf. In the (very late) morning, I began learning my way around Pepito (my new ukelele) on our balcony.

1169 Pepito Awakes

1169 Pepito Awakes

The day passed with many fun times, but few pix until we gathered around a beach bonfire like our familes used to enjoy on SoCA beaches.

0894 Beach Bonfire

0894 Beach Bonfire

The next day was a beautiful blur with the highlight being the wedding ceremony we’d all flown in to celebrate.

0900 Procession

0900 Procession

By this time I was in the throes of the Mexican rite of passage some call “Traveler’s Illness.” At the delicious reception dinner my meal consisted of a single glass of water. Happily the next day I was well enough to enjoy more time with family, and after many had departed for the airport we moved to a second hotel for our own two-day vacation.

0953 New Digs

0953 New Digs

This room had a better view, and the large hotel/timeshare complex had multiple swimming pools including this “infinity” bar pool over the beach.

0988 Infinity & Beyond

0988 Infinity & Beyond

Our “honeymoon” continued with a stroll on the beach, and later a very brief snorkeling expedition by yours truly.

0981 On The Beach

0981 On The Beach

The water at this beach less than 5 miles from the other hotel was at least 10 degrees colder! Still there was so much marine life that beyond innumerable large crabs I saw at least a dozen fish the size of dinner plates along with smaller varieties and even a fleeting ray swam by. The next day we drove the hour and some to explore Todos Santos for a couple of interesting hours though somehow the only pic I have to share is this one of the hotel of song, taken with my cellphone.

491 Hotel California

491 Hotel California

Back in Cabo we hired a panga for the Arches ride, and joined the many tourists marveling at the rock formations.

1038 Pelican Spire

1038 Pelican Spire

The arch was cool, though there are so many other interesting features there it can sorta blend in.

1049 Arch

1049 Arch

Then our captain put us ashore to explore the beach for a few minutes, and Anne was transported.

1167 Beach Bunny

1167 Beach Bunny

The interactions of water, sun and sand have sculpted the stones all along Cabo’s shores into artworks like this.

1184 Rock Relations

1184 Rock Relations

After touring art galleries, everything is Art we find. So maybe that’s why I paused to stand entranced for a time by this curtain doing a slow motion veil dance in the breeze as we walked back to the car.

1210 Simple Enchantment

1210 Simple Enchantment

After more fun without fotos this grand adventure ended the next day much as it had begun, watching Baja pass 32,000 feet below like a silent dream.

1331 Distant Shore

1331 Distant Shore

2013/07/04

Where Were We?

Back on 6/23 I had reached the FL Keys in the series reviewing pix from our Islander Adventure. But if you’re among those who follow this blog, you may have been wondering why it’s taken so long for me to post again. Well, sometimes Life gets in the way of Art. But this time lack of internet was a big factor too. We just spent a week at Cabo San Lucas as I’ll share in coming posts, but before that we enjoyed another SB Solstice Playful People’s Parade.

0678 Solstice Memories

0678 Solstice Memories

We cherish memories from every annual parade since moving here 19 years ago, and the little girl at the right will probably have fond memories of the fuzzy float above. Looking the other way, up State, the merriment continues on to the parade’s turn toward the park with color and creativity everywhere.

0671 Creativity Alive

0671 Creativity Alive

In the park where everyone congregates after the parade, quieter accents magically mingle from the stately old park to join exhuberant music and dancing amid the parked floats next to art with food and crafts for sale.

0711 Wider Spectrum

0711 Wider Spectrum

Two days later we found a similar creativity at Venice Beach after (gasp!) driving there to catch our LAX commercial flight to Cabo the next morning.

1141 Venice Variety

1141 Venice Variety

Wish we’d stayed with Plan A and flown to Cabo in Tripp, but the flight was still beautiful and Alaska Airlines seems to keep their windows much cleaner than other airlines we’ve flown.

0790 Cabo Approach

0790 Cabo Approach

I had fun following along on Avare and got some fuzzy high altitude pix of places we might stop if we ever do take Tripp there. It’s a complex topic with many factors, but we’re still open to the notion of flying Baja in Spring when it’s cooler and greener. But this trip was for the wedding of our precious niece, and we didn’t want to take any chance of missing it due to weather. Turned out it would’ve been made difficult by those clouds from a distant hurricane. Arriving at the hotel we enjoyed a family beach volleyball game.

0809 Hurricane Volleyball

0809 Hurricane Volleyball

The winds were gentle, but those big waves got even bigger, eventually covering this beach and washing clear into the swimming pool behind me. Anyway, before getting back to the Islander Adventure review I’ll share more of Cabo in the next post.

2013/06/23

To Keys (2)

After great fun with friends Georgia & Bob in Boca, we flew the Florida Keys in a few hours. I’ve long wanted to do that, and now we very much want to go back and spend some time there. For now tho, we have a lot of pix. So here are a few from just the part of that flight from Boca to Keys.

1279 Boca Takeoff

1279 Boca Takeoff

Even after our flights in the Bahamas, this was a beautiful beginning. I’ll spare you most of the things that caught our eye, and zip ahead to this small detail almost lost in our expansive view out toward the vast Atlantic from the inland waters off Miami.

1283 Miami Monument

1283 Miami Monument

I haven’t looked it up, but all true Miamites probably know everything about this statue on a tiny sheltered island. I guess it was once visited by thousands, but now it’s fenced off and the trail to it from the surrounding shore doesn’t look especially well-traveled. There are innumerable other oddities in these waters, including a golf course community on the top-middle islet in this next shot.

1285 Storm Golfers

1285 Storm Golfers

Now keep in mind that we saw ample evidence of storm ravages all along the Gulf, on the Bahamas, a good portion of the way up the East Coast, and of course everywhere in the Keys. So an islet barely above sea level exposed to a raging Atlantic for me conjures images of storm golfers. People so dedicated to the sport that a mere hurricane wouldn’t interrupt a game. Something does seem to have interrupted whatever used to happen at this viewing stand on the bay.

1290 Empty Stands

1290 Empty Stands

Traveling the continent as we have, it’s endlessly fascinating to plumb the psyche of those who live in each region, state and city. People ask where we’re from, and next express their terror at the notion of living where earthquakes can crush them in an instant. Of course, here in California the idea of hurricanes punctuating stifling heat is not attractive. 🙂

But I digress. Continuing our beautiful and intriguing jaunt, we crossed this narrow emerald marble of water near Homestead AFB out to the Keys.

1299 Quiet Gem

1299 Quiet Gem

It reminds me of quiet moments in childhood, gazing into a marble and imagining an enchanted world inside. But in mere minutes we were turning up the island chain and flying over Key Largo. If you ever saw the old Bogart flick, like me you might have imagined something other than what we saw.

1309 Key Largo

1309 Key Largo

Now it’s a small city astride the bustling highway. But still, in undeveloped areas along the coast are glimpses of a slow life intimate with the sea.

1316 Lost Key

1316 Lost Key

2013/06/17

Saint Augustine (2)

Revisiting my pix from our first Saint Augustine stop on our Islander Adventure, I’m reminded of the charming walk we had in the back streets of the tourist district.

0048 Back Streets

0048 Back Streets

Then we met up with our charming hosts for an evening of laughter and fascinating conversation.

0056 Fun Friends

0056 Fun Friends

The next day we saw the same back streets again, in the context of this little gem of a town.

0698 St. Augustine

0698 St. Augustine

Soon we were following yet another long barrier island, similar to those on the Gulf Coast yet uniquely Floridian.

0717 Nearing Daytona

0717 Nearing Daytona

Daytona Beach showed off its colorful seaside attractions and wall of tall hotels.

0730 Daytona Beach

0730 Daytona Beach

Before long we angled out away from the shoreline and began our long climb to gain altitude for the crossing to the Bahamas! It was so exciting for us to cruise the Freeport shoreline as we descended to that airport marking the third country we’ve explored in Tripp.

0806 Unknown Home

0806 Unknown Home

Unknown to us then was the fact that most of our week on the island would be based at the big curved hotel near the beach. Also a night in the hotel behind it on this side of the marina. Such great memories from that stay! Maybe I’ll find more pix to share in another post, before bringing you along on my review of the next leg of this Big Adventure.

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