Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Stepping thru pre-trip planning

(No I am not obsessed….ok maybe just a little)

You will also find I repeat some things here over and over...that is so my male mind remembers it otherwise it might slip away into oblivian....hey there is a game on....what was that I ment to write down....touchdown...oh well I'll remember later..or not!!!

Tier I (make or break stuff)
Step 1
pick dates…check
Step 2 invite friends….check
Step 3 book Time Share…..check
Step 4 book extra days on Anguilla……investigating
Step 5 price flights…..investigating heavily

Tier II (nice to have…..very nice to have)
Big ticket items to purchase (hopefully) before trip

Purchase 1 Procure a laptop from son….needs new hard drive and battery but otherwise I like all the extras this machine has on it……check
1a price out needed parts….investigating
1b purchase and install parts….on hold till 1a completed….duhh

Purchase 2 New digital camera(s) Looking at either a high end beginning DSLR or low end pro…thinking Canon XTi or D40 and possibly an inexpensive point and shoot as well……..investigating heavily Olympus has a point and shoot that can be used in snorkeling…depth to 30’ or so with no external case, I’m very interested.

Purchase 3 pick up some dive equipment for CB (child bride) …at least the “underwear” consisting of a good mask, snorkel a good set of split fins and some booties and possibly a shortie wetsuit. I usually use an on line shoppe….. http://www.leisurepro.com/ Have made several purchases and have been very happy with all.

Tier III (activities we know we want to do)

#1 a day trip to Prickly Pear with friends
#2 couple of mornings diving..one each in AXA and SXM
#3 jet ski over to CayVerte (Green Cay) and also ferry to Pinel Island
#4 visit way too many beaches. We try to get to 3-4 each time we go.
Last trip was Orient Plum and Cupecoy only. Trip before was Orient, Rouge, Longue, Plum. This trip already know we want to visit Pinel, Verte, Rouge, Plum, Friars, and Happy as well as Prickly Pear and a few days on Anguilla.
#5 dinner in Grand Case….yes we have been to the island several times and no we still have not eaten in GC. We certainly will this time.
#6 Contact island photographer and schedule a photo shoot with him...will provide name and review when I return.

We do pack a lot of activities into a trip but all is; 1. general and 2. changeable if one or other of us is not interested or has a better idea.

Yes this trip is still a long time off (231 days).
My planning is about passing time between the year mark in which we book our return to our Timeshare and the day we get on the plane.
Rob is a much happier person when thinking about and planning for vacation, if you don't believe me ask CB she will tell you.
We may get there and go to one or two beaches and never even think about anything or place else. But…..nah not like me at all.

I really like to explore and do something new and different each time we visit.
Kind of live by this plan…."make a thorough list write it down and then use it as my book mark while lying at the beach and laugh"…..thinking that we could have been too busy to enjoy much at all if we would have followed any plan.

Friday, August 24, 2007

To Do List has been Started......

We are starting to create a list of activities for our trip.

I am going to upgrade my camera and take lots of island pix. I so enjoy trying to find something unusual to shoot. Funny with all the pix I take very few are of people…
This trip we are even talking of getting a hand held GPS to plot our daily journey. Yes I am a bit obsessive but I also have my reasons…We (my friend that is going with us and I) are owners of a couple of websites and the more info we have the more we can share on those sites.

We will certainly hit a beach each day weather permitting.

Beaches we will most likely visit are in no particular order;
Orient, Cupecoy, Rouge, Baie aux Prunes, Firar’s, Happy, Pinel and Green Caye. We are talking of a day sail to Prickly Pear and will stay on Anguilla for a few days and hit a beach or two there as well.

I know that all those beaches sound like a lot especially to those that go to the same beach each day, but we enjoy the change of scenery and we may visit 2 beaches in a day…as some close enough to allow that. We will get plenty of time to do nothing more than relax for sure.

CB (my Child Bride, who she is actually older than I am but looks so much younger) and I are discussing a few half day dive adventures. If so we certainly will dive Anguilla waters and most likely a pair of St Maarten dives as well.

One of these trips we will make it to Saba but for now CB is more interested in shallow dives until she has a bit more experience. I am good with 30-70’ as well as 120’ as long as I am “getting wet” I am happy. I have done a two tank dive off of SXM before. We dove the wreck of the HMS Proselyte and another site just off of Simpson Bay. Not a lot to see but were able to keep skills up and to me I want to at least dive once a year. This of course means we will not do our normal carry on only baggage but since we will bring our own fins, mask and snorkel, will be checking luggage this time…yippee!!

Again this is a big anniversary so we will do a bit of shopping one day (LOOK FOR US Depti) and catch a very nice meal somewhere. I have found out thru Travel Talk OnLine (TTOL) that there will be at least 2 other couples there celebrating their anniversary the same week we will, is possible that we may all meet up for dinner somewhere in I’m sure Grand Case one evening.


We are not huge on dining out but will on several occasions. This will be our 5th trip to the island and we still have not eaten a meal in Grand Case. This trip we certainly will eat a meal or two there. We also enjoy Peg Leg Pub, good food, drinks and Sean’s hospitality is bar none best we have found on island. We do like to eat lunch out and always stop to see Andy and Cheryl for lunch as well as one of our little known favorites…ribs and chicken from Danny at Cupecoy. This time I also want to visit Halsey’s as the brother of the owner is from the KC area and become a friend of ours. We also want to try Hideaway’s at La Vista as well as our old stand by Zee Best for breakfast. I have given up my caffeine habit so there will not be that drive to go to Zee Best every day to get my day started with a double espresso like in the past but who knows by then may be drinking coffee again….

Will have a photo shoot on the beach taken of us to celebrate a quarter of a centaury together….cant believe CB has stayed with me that long….I wasn’t sure she would hang on 25 months and couldn’t imagine years but nothing makes me happier than the fact that she has.

Is interesting, our vacations are usually filled with activity but in the same sense very relaxing as we spend the biggest part of each day on the beach.

Nuff for today!!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Today's Ramblings

I have continued investigating flights/fares and trying to decide my travel route…please keep in mind we aren’t going to the islands until April 2008….just a short 237 days away (but who’s counting besides Rob), so you can see my issue here right??.....right???

I think we have settled on a route….will be a lay over evening in most likely Miami. Then on to Anguilla for three days and will then ferry over to Marigot and take a taxi to our resort on ST Maarten for another 7 days. Return trip will all be in one Loooooong day. Price today looks to be around $750. I’ll keep shopping and the prices will come down some.

Next on my list is a new camera, have 2 shots at that. My birthday is in a couple of weeks and there is always dear ole Santa. Ok haven’t been good enough this year for Santa but one can hope. Am looking at a digital SLR. I am very familiar with Canon so am looking at a couple of cameras there. One around $600 and one around $1200. Guess which one Rob wants….yup!!!

Speaking of photography I still need to get the name of the photographer our friends used last year on island. They had their pix taken at Cupecoy just as the sun started to set. Great pix and I would like to use the same photographer. Maybe we can have a bit of an SXM reunion this weekend and get together with Jeff and Bonnie and procure the name of the photographer that they used…..if not there is always next weekend.

As you have probably already read…since you are reading this post. It will be our 25th anniversary. We are due for some new pix of the 2 of us. We were quite young when we married and are starting to get a bit long in the tooth and I am getting a bit round about the middle…now the Mrs is better looking every day, a mid 40’s knock out!!! Fun thing is I tell her that all the time and she doesn’t believe me.

Party time….If you have perused my site a bit you will read a story about a costume party we held last Halloween, it was pirates and wenches. Well it seemed to be a pretty big hit so P&W II will be coming this fall. We have locked down the date..it will be Oct 20th. It is a lot of fun and keeps in that Caribbean theme and gives me yet another hurdle to clear before our trip. We have the date and most of our costumes already….guest list is growing and will go out soon.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Catching up

Haven’t blogged lately, was fighting off a pair of nasty staff infections…all is now better.
Have been following airfares and thinking of cities to fly thru….so far have looked at KC-NY-SXM, KC-CLT-SXM, KC-MIA-SXM and now thinking of KC-MIA-SJU-AXA. We are planning a 3 night stay in Anguilla so flying in to AXA is a real possibility. Have to weigh out the $$$ difference as we would fly into SXM we would then need a cab and pay for the ferry over too..may be worth flying into AXA instead of SXM.

We will have some friends with us for part of our stay, he has been to the islands with us before but she has not. Will make for some fun adventures as we do like to go to Orient and Cupecoy but will not participate in the C/O lifestyle with friends from home. Folks we meet on island is a different set of circumstances but we have boundaries with friends from home.

I’ve also been toying with the idea of getting a certification as a travel agent but am slowly and cautiously looking into this. I have a job that already keeps me busy enough.

Our countdown to the island is 239 days…sounds like a long way away but…time will pass quickly and the planning is almost as fun as getting there to me. This year will be our 25th anniversary so I am doing a bit more digging into things to do on island that will be memorable. Am seriously thinking of procuring a photographer while on island to take some beach shots of my wife and I like one of our friends did for their 25th a year or so ago. Problem here is….I am a bit larger than I would like to be….ok 40 lbs larger.

I have changed my eating habits and will incorporate exercise in hopes that I can lose 25lbs or better before we go. That way I won’t embarrass myself for pictures.

Check in later as I am sure our adventures will gain steam as we strive to get back to the islands for vacation.