AxARob's Adventures

8 Days a week....

2010-10-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

Yup, we have 8 days left until we are back at our island paradise.
Time is both flying and creeping by. How is that possible?

There are things I need to do before we leave…for those things time is moving way too fast. Such as, writing a bio, publishing a website, getting my wife to decide on what she wants to bring to wear. Will I have an art show or not…if so which pictures will I bring if not can we pack all in a carry on suitcase? I have a computer that needs to be worked on, movies to download, camera memory cards to clear and batteries to charge up.

Not quite a Beetles song but, there are days we must get thru before loading up and heading out. Still another 5 days of work at my primary job before I can fully turn my focus to travel, photography, sales of items that I have on island and such… Doesn’t help much that two other couples we are looking forward to seeing while there leave this weekend…a week ahead of us…grumble, grumble. Good part of that is we will still be on island once they have left.

I am finding it increasingly more difficult to focus as the days get closer. Nice part is everything on island is taken care of…have reserved my rooms, car, phone and contacted all to make sure things will run as smoothly as ST Martin time allows. Look out island…our trip is on the immediate horizon.

Oh, Well!!

2010-10-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

Guess great schemes don’t always work out. When we booked our airfare to the Caribbean several months ago I chose an aisle and window seat in the back of the plane hoping that the middle seat wouldn’t be sold.

I get on line every Tuesday morning to check our seats. Every week since that seat remained vacant. I noticed last week that there were two, yes two empty seats that do not have an added fee to sit in them that were available. Today’s check brought a little sigh of disappointment. My wife and I will be sharing our row with a third person.

I have done this every time we fly to the Caribbean and probably 75% of the time the seat is filled. This one however didn’t fill until we were three weeks from traveling.

I let out the sigh and then as quickly as it came…it passed. Whom ever is sitting with us will be offered the window or aisle seat…their choice and it is only 4 ½ hours until we tell them goodbye and most likely don’t see them again anyway.

Yes I whined a bit, I choose to think I vented but it was whining. I am now moving on to thinking about all the leisure activities and rest as well as visiting with friends that we will do while on island.

We were betting against the house that the seat between us would remain vacant…and you normally loose that bet and yes we lost the gamble. Again, we are still on the flight, still living the dream of a tropical escape we are just arriving in a full plane. Oh well!

30 Days Hath September!

2010-09-29T12:21:00.001-07:00

30 Days hath September, April, June and November….oh and Rob!
Yes my countdown has gotten to a very manageable 30 days.

Today for the first time in a while I am in a really good mood. I am not sure if I can point to one specific thing or to the concoction I will now describe.

First is the obvious from above is the flour in this wonderful treat…30 days until our next Caribbean escape.
Add in a sprinkle of fake bake. Have laid in the nuclear powered glowing clam shell of a tanning bed now for about a week…must have my sun vitamins starting to kick in.
Then there is a touch of caffeine….am thinking my espresso may be the proverbial icing on the cake of happiness here.

I have a file folder full with a calendar, copies of my tickets, room rental, car rental, phone rental and many other helpful numbers. The calendar has some info like what days our friends will overlap with us, special activities we have planned and specific activities we want to do…things as simple as walking the near mile to the opposite eid of a beach we love.

Ok, yes I am a bit excited. It has only been 6 months since I was last there but I miss the islands…..

Is that bacon I smell???

2010-09-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

No not bacon at all rather,it is the beginning of the beginning of the count down to our next Caribbean trip.

What the hell am I talking about you may wonder.

My lovely wife and I signed up for and completed our first fake bake tan in preperations for climbing into a big metal tube to be propelled at 600+ miles an hour southeast to our final destination of ST Maarten Dutch West Indies!!! In short....VACATION!!!!!!

Last nights tanning adventure went like this. We stroll into the local tanning salon. Meet two young women at the reception counter that ask if we have been there before. Then the same young lady that was there last year recognized us.

Pay our fees and then stroll down the hall to our own private little rooms.

Next step is the obvious, strip down to what ever level of clothing you may feel comfortable in, be it swimsuit, underwear, gym shorts or au natural. Hop into what looks like an open MRI machine with lighting…and pull the clam shell down to a couple of inches above you. Push the button to ignite the afterburners and lie back and relax for my 7 minutes of microwave cooking.

These machines are nice, they even have fans that you can adjust for your face and lighting that controls tanning your face. I set the fans on supersonic and enjoy the cat 1 hurricane force winds blowing thru my hair. Turn up the music and vegetate for my previously agreed on time.

Ding, fries are done! The lighting shuts off and you quickly move from microwave to freezer as the fans are still blowing. Time to pry myself out of the nuclear powered clam that I was just resting in clean up a bit, put back on what ever I chose to remove and then head back to the waiting area to wait on my lovely wife. We all know that it usually takes the ladies a bit longer to get ready to go back out for public viewing than it does guys. I know, more items to remove and put back on…..

Today the dear wife is a quick one and meets me just a minute or so after I get to the waiting area.

Ok, why is this worthy of blogging about today? As I stated above, we start tanning about 30 days before we head to the tropics in order to be able to spend more than a half hour in the tropical sun each day. Besides, if we get off the plane on island and are lily white (maybe not that white but certainly not tan) it kind of puts you out there as a fresh off a plane from somewhere tourist.

We tan once a year before going on our trip…and use lots of sunscreen on the island daily to protect ourselves but we do enjoy having a bit of color before we get there.

So last evening may not have been a bacon fry but it way the beginning of our trip planning and we are now springing over the next hurdle that stands in our way of traveling to the Caribbean.

Listening to the Travel Savvy WIfe

2010-08-25T11:49:00.001-07:00

My wonderful wife and I were sitting together Sunday afternoon discussing….guess….yes it’s a tuff one. Give up? Yup, you got it first guess, our impending visit back to the island. We were discussing getting to the airport. Do we take an airport limo service, do we impose on a family member? We were looking up the pricing of an airport limo (big van) and she asked a great question. Does KC have a park, sleep, fly arrangement like many other large cities?

Surfed the net and low and behold, yes it does and the relative cost beats….limo service as well as the imposition of bothering a relative to get up that early.

Why is all of this necessary? Our flight from KC leaves at 5:30 in the AM. We live 45 minutes south of the airport and we are flying international meaning we would beat every chicken and rooster in the area out of our beds that morning and would be driving to the airport about the time all of the drunks are coming home from the bars.

My wife’s offered solution is awesome and frankly I am a bit embarrassed I didn’t think of it myself. Math works like this….14 days parking at airport (using the outer parking lot) would be $84. Then there is leaving home at probably 3AM to get there, get parked and to the gate early enough to check in go thru security and catch the Oh Dark:30 flight to Charlotte.

Another side journey here is if we stayed home the night before it would most likely be 11 PM or later before we headed off to bed with all of our pre trip activities like watering the plants and making sure everything is just perfect before we went to sleep.

So, we have agreed to leave shortly after my dear sweet wife gets home from work to drive to the hotel close to the airport. We will bring a bottle of wine, some chocolate and cheese and start our vacation that evening before the flight instead of in a rush the next morning. Cost $125 including the room, parking and shuttle to airport. So my math tells me for $41 I can rest close to the airport in a Sheraton hotel, car already parked. Enjoy the company of my wife without all the night before racing around and get at least 2 extra hours sleep.

After all that …the best I can say is GREAT IDEA HONEY, glad I listened this time..

Who Knew?

2010-08-19T08:09:00.001-07:00

Who knew that taking out the trash can be hazardous to your health? I sure didn’t think much of it as I walked out into my garage a week ago and bent over to pick up the bag and take it to the curb. Guess what…I found out right away. No pop or anything like that. I simply felt a sharp sting go down the side of my right leg, then the back spasms set in. I was down for the count! Thursday laid on the floor with a heat pack all afternoon. Went to work on Friday walking like an 85 year old with a bum hip, the only thing I was missing at this point was a walker. Made it to the doctor Friday afternoon.

He filled my hip full of cordozone and another steroid and prescribed a muscle relaxer and sent me home. Repeat Thursday afternoon lying on floor in pain. Sat came and still more pain….took meds but they did very little good. Sunday morning I rolled out of bed and told my wife as soon as I was done with a shower it was time to head to the emergency room, I have never felt my back hurt like this before.

The ER really fixed me up…I left there feeling NO pain. More Steroid and a bit of morphine for the pain along with a new muscle relaxer and an awesome painkiller. First time in several days I had felt at all decent.

I’ll save you most of the rest of the minute by minute cause I did a lot of sleeping and my intent is not to bore you any more than I have. Today is Day 8 and the spasms are most of the way gone but the nerve still tingles down into my leg pretty heavily. I am supposed to continue stretching and cut back on the meds for the next couple of weeks along with some physical therapy.

My biggest concern is there may be a bulging disc or something else that will lead to surgery…..Here is the biggest worry for me. We have 71 days until we load ourselves into a big metal can and fly to the Caribbean. I cant have this still going on while I am trying to get there. I will be going to PT, doing y stretching, cutting out the pain meds and everything else I can and or need to do to get better to include…the obvious dropping of a few lbs along the line.

Learning for the day, if I don’t stay fit, I will end up in a lot of pain by doing something as simple as taking out the trash…by the way I did take it to the curb today with no impact to my back. At this point I have been 21 hours with no painkillers in my system though I am sore enough that they sure would be nice to take they just aren’t necessary at this point.

Quack, quack….boing! Are you kidding me?

2010-08-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

Things I read on Facebook can be a bit troubling at times, today I read a hyperlink on facebook that took me to a letter posted on the ST Marten News Network ( http://www.smn-news.com/letters/4440-american-tourist-files-complaint-against-club-orient-and-gendarmes.html ) I don’t normally send you to another link but I found this story to be pertinent to me as a photographer, take a few moments and read his letter as well as the notes following and make your own decision for I certainly have an opinion on this one.

This is a story about a guy that sat down at the edge of a naturist beach resort with a powerful camera that was accosted by the security folks of said resort. They requested to view what was on his memory card….he refused. They jerked his equipment away from him and took it to the front desk of the resort. The clerk viewed the pictures and then reformatted his memory card deleting the pictures he captured. He sent a letter off to the French Govt to complain about how he was treated on the beach as well as by the gendarmes after they were called. The folks at the resort say that there were graphic images of children that were undressed on the memory card. It was deleted so there is no proof one way or another.

I am concerned on a couple of levels here;

First and foremost if this “gentleman” was shooting photos of naked children…he is a sick man and needs see a therapist after he serves time for invasion of privacy and child pornography.

Second, I too am a photographer and bring some reasonably expensive equipment to the island but to capture nature’s scenery not people with or without clothes on.
I hate to feel that because I bring a professional quality camera to a beach to capture the beauty of the island that I will be lumped in with those trying to capture secret pictures of the unaware people on the beach.
When we go to a beach in which there may be nudity, I will shoot pictures of the landscape in the early morning light and if we choose to stay and enjoy the day on that beach I will put my camera away, not to see the light of the rest of the day at that beach.

I simply find the explanation of what occurred tasteless and rude…just the image American’s need. Thanks dude! It says in your note you are 60 but that doesn’t sound like rational behavior of any 60 year old I know.

The Facebook page that I found this on had a lengthy list of responses and basically one could shoot a lot of holes in the story that he told. His complaint is one that leads me back to Woody Harrelson’s character in the movie “after the Sunset” says…..”hey ,look over here at my assistant with the big tits while I take that Rolex off your arm”..one of deception and diversion from what was really happening.

In the end I responded if one walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I seriously doubt that they are a kangaroo….now you know why today’s title is ….Quack, quack, boing!

Batteries…it must need new batteries.

2010-07-28T11:53:00.001-07:00

What needs new batteries? My watch does, especially the date component. I think the damned thing is stuck .

I have most of my plans made for our fall adventure and now it seems as if Father Time is standing dead in his tracks and refusing to budge. Come on, I want to get to ST Somewhere….ok not so much somewhere , really just like to be boarding that giant cigar tube with wings on my way to ST Maarten!.

I still need to be in contact with some island friends to see when I can set up a party and possibly another art showing. I need to spend some time and increase my picture count from the dozen or so I have to a couple of dozen and then have some more prints made up. Get some more canvas works ready as well.

There is still some shooting I need to do to become even more comfortable with my camera and its settings. I may even try out a new product line. Then there is the website that is about half built. Cant sell anything if there is nothing on line to sell.

Hmmm guess I have plenty to do after all. Wait, in thinking this thru, I just saw the second hand move. The watch does work it is just real slow at this point.

I can already see the watch scenario work out and here is what will happen. Those proverbial batteries will get recharged with about 30 days left before our trip and then I will see Father Time move into a sprint to the finish line…leaving me grasping at last minute straws to make sure everything I am looking to get done is ready to go when I am. Guess it is time to stop whining and start winding the watch …..crap, just saw the minute hand move guess I best get a move on! Tick, tick, tick….

99 bottles of beer on the wall…

2010-07-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Take one down and pass it around…..Yup, yesterday my return to the island countdown fell below 100 days until we return to the island! Woo hoo and yeah for us! Today is 98 bottles o beer….er, days till we are back on the terra firma of ST Maarten. Guess some of the terra won’t be so firma when the soothing waves wash over the tops of my feet at the beach but I think you get the idea

This trip is going so smooth in planning that I am concerned that it no longer is a challenge or that I am just getting too good at it and is second nature…

List;
Airfare…check
Timeshare…check
Rental car….check
Cell phone…check
Cash……is check the appropriate response appropriate here??? Anyway most of that already put away too so…check
New photo gear….check
Plans for a second art show…in the works

I even made a calendar for the time we are there and have added things like Corresponding times that some friends will be on island
Places I want to shoot
Prospective night for art showing
Evenings available for dinner with friends

This time I am really focusing on capturing more of the photos I desire as well as optimizing my time with the one I desire while juggling activities and friends.

We learn from each trip and the residual effect is that we cant wait to get back to the island and enhance our next trip with the sweet mixture of friends (local and travelers), sun, sand, relaxation and recharging.

See ya ST Maarten in 98 days!

Oh Happy Day!

2010-07-07T09:51:00.001-07:00

I was up a bit late last night booking our airfare to the island. I then had an issue with going to sleep after I booked. Glad my home town baseball team was playing on the west coast last night, I got to watch the end of the game and all the post game interviews in order to put myself to sleep.

We got great flights again! Price not so great but the flights are perfect.
Rob’s Caribbean flight ideas….I live in Kansas City….I travel in spring and fall….I do not want to go north to go south..especially in those seasons!! I prefer to have one stop when at all possible, from KC flying American I have to make two stops but that is part of the price of flying American. I would like to spend no more than 12 hours in travel to my final destination. That can be done on all airlines when the sun and moon are in alignment.

Now we wonder why the friendly skies aren’t as friendly as they once were ….Airlines amaze me. I have been following prices for ticket since I returned from my last trip in April….American had the best prices however I was going to visit some of the most populated cities and busiest airports along my path to paradise. From KC I was scheduled to fly to Chicago, Atlanta and Miami before heading to the Caribbean. This would have been about 15 hours of travel….just too much time!

Delta has a great flight, KC to Atlanta.. (without going thru Chicago or Miami) and Atlanta direct to our Caribbean destination…but the price was almost double that of American’s flights.

US Scare…sorry folks US Air had reasonable prices and the best flights….up early for a 5:30 AM flight but the reward is touch down at 1:42 PM the very same day…so for an extra $50 each ticket….we chose to fly US Air. Have taken this flight before a couple of times and it is honestly perfect for us…up early and there before we get too tired!

Now time to save cash and work on some more of my art and maybe even a new product to introduce. This time I am thinking two photo art shows while on island.

Prepare to say goodbye to the couch potato

2010-06-30T07:08:00.001-07:00

We have 122 days until we board the big metal bird and head south east!
At day 120 Mary and I are going to start the P90X program. I already know I wont follow all parts of it …as in I wont follow the diet. I will work on a modified diet and be willing to do that. Our goal is to lose several lbs before we get on the plane to our paradise.

How successful will we be? I am guessing I will lose my goal of at least 25 lbs but not as successful as could be if followed the program to the letter.

So I have my tennis shoes ready, sorting out all of my old t-shirts and shorts and getting ready to get my sweat on….wish me luck!

My wandering mind

2010-06-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yup, the title says it all. I have only been back from a short island trip just over 6 weeks and I have a very bad case of “I don’t give a flip”. I need an escape and I need it fast. Problem being I have about 4 and a half months till we jet out of the American heartland and back to our island paradise. I have a lineage of songs running thru my head that are all about the same thing, escape, escape, escape! From the Beatles to Jimmy Buffett to Kenny Chesney. They make me smile and at the same time frustrated that I cant be where I want to be. Wow that is an incredibly spoiled comment!!

I have the bug to use my new camera and lenses to get out in the tropics and shoot pix so that I can sustain myself thru envisioning myself immersed in new dreamt adventures that are captured in snapshots of time via camera and lens.

I know I shouldn’t whine but …..My mind is not here and hasn’t been for some time. I am on island emotionally and simply going thru the motions here. Yes, I do my job but have no gusto left. I constantly think of how can I get back down island? How much time can I spend there this time? What can I shoot while there and am I going to get the sparse or heavy clouds?

As you can see my mind is in the clouds and my focus is already on our return to the island.

Yes, I checked airline ticket prices today. That is an every Tuesday and Wednesday effort even when I have tickets in hand already…Come on Delta or US Air….time for a sale. American is about the price I am used to but is an all day trip leaving at 6AM arriving 8PM and visiting a city in the Midwest like Chicago or Dallas and either Miami or San Juan before ending at SXM.

A weekend of digital upgrade…

2010-06-07T12:33:00.001-07:00

This weekend I pulled the trigger on a new Digital SLR to replace the Canon xTi that I have been shooting with (which was borrowed from one of my sons) I stepped to the plate and with a 2 balls 1 strike count, I drove a sharp line drive into the gap plating all base runners in front of me with a stand up triple. Baseball aside, I purchased a shiny new Canon 50D with two new lenses, a 28 – 135mm base lens and a 75 – 300mm zoom for those hard to get shots. All are equip with a lens stabilizer which is a big plus in my book.

I took the camera for a bit of a test spin to our local arboretum to put it thru its paces…the camera way out performed me…guess it will be time to brush up on some skills. I was very impressed with the smoothness of operation and ease in which changing controls occur. Much easier to adjust than the Rebel I used before. Everything seemed pretty intuitive.

I think I am ready to take another trip to the tropics…like I wasn’t before I got the camera. I cant wait to see what new shots I can come up with because it sure has jumpstarted me to get back out and shoot some more!!

Back from the island....safe and sound!

2010-05-24T11:38:00.001-07:00

I’ve been back for just short of a month now….Went to ST Maarten for a 3 day junket.
Had an art show in which probably 40 people attended and even sold a couple of pieces while there. Then hit and worked Front street in Philipsburg. That part didn’t go nearly as well as I would have hoped. Though I did learn a few things…..tourists are cheap and for the most part want to buy junk. I brought one item that fit into that category….cheap that is and two others that were still under $20 but very little interest in those. I did find out, one store owner was honest with me…..I picked a bad time to visit the island for sales of tourist trinkets. Was there the last week of April, should have been the last week of September. Seems that all of the buying is done in the fall for the next season.

Oh well I have a couple of friends on island that will help me out and thank you all!!!

I have placed items in 4 shops on front street, one piece of art in Grand Case and some of my products in Simpson Bay too.

I need to re evaluate the smaller items, do I want to go forward with them or just stick with my art?? Here is my dilemma, I don’t like the idea of some of my better photos ending up on something that gets tossed in a couple of days….should it matter to me? Maybe not but it does.

My art show was pretty successful, at least I got good reviews from those that saw the pictures. That made me feel better as I had already heard the proverbial “no thanks” at least 50 times before the art show.

On a happier note, my eldest flew to the island with me and fell in love with it, he loves the French side and did enjoy the Dutch side too. He liked the culture on the French side…though at 25 wasn’t too thrilled with Orient beach…there were no women under probably 45 there the day we visited so was less than enthused with what he saw….tried to tell him to each their own and it takes some nerve to be an American and take some or all of your clothes off ….a nerve usually reserved for those over 40 that frankly don’t care what others think or say. Example…We were bobbing up and down with the waves at Orient when a very large couple entered the water….she immediately started in on every woman that walked by…she shouldn’t be topless and other un pleasant jabs like that. Listening to them I later found out that this was a pair of cruisers from the Dakotas. They literally fussed about the price of the chairs to rent, expensiveness of the drinks, how ruff the surf was ( and it wasn’t) and then they became judges of the men and women that walked by. If this is how those of us from the US are no wonder we have such a bad rap as ugly tourists. They then made their way back to the beach bar and proceeded to order French fries and deep fried string cheese…what happened to when in Rome? Try something new..or better yet if you are going to sit and complain….go back to your cruise ship and stay there… OOPS there I go ranting again!!

We did cover most of the island to view some of the beaches and man that turned out to be exciting too….there was a bit of a surge on the south and west facing shores. We stopped at Plumb Baie to enjoy the water but after walking to the beach I quickly realized there was no place to get in that wasn’t rock covered that day and the waves were a bit too strong to try that so we decided to head to Baie Longue, was ruff there too but we found a little sandy entrance to the water so hung out there for a bit. (side note, I learned while living in Hawaii, never turn your back on the Ocean). We had been at the surf’s edge for probably 10-15 mins enjoying the break and just having a good time when the undertow suddenly picked up ….as in it pulled my 250+ lb body down and into the surf, and started pulling my son out. He is an excellent swimmer and diver and not one prone to panic…I pulled myself out and turned to him and said….relax and wait for the wave….sure enough a much larger than average wave followed behind and not so nicely deposited him on the shore. We decided that caution should at that point override our confidence and we headed for the dunes to relax a bit before heading back to the room.
He said when he took his shower….he brought 5lbs of sand back with him…the shower floor looked like the beach its self… Out of the multitude f times I have been on island, that was the first time anything wave related has ever shook me…but that was the only time that I didn’t respect the ocean like I should have.

Rest of the trip was simply awesome and we are looking to return in late Oct.

Island bound!!

2010-04-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have 4 more days till I travel to the island. All products in place. Now busy weighing each bundle and figuring how to distribute to my suitcase. I wrote on my Facebook account earlier this week. Packing for a business trip to the Caribbean isn’t near as much fun as packing for a pleasure trip but is still better than the day in day out doldrums that you go thru in a normal job. This adventure is quite a bit costlier than I had intended with who knows what chance at being a success?? Yes it is easy to doubt myself. People here in the land locked American Midwest seem to love the products but what will a tourist think? Also have a small art show next Tuesday…am nervous about that but all will be fine!

I hope to earn back at least a third of what I have spent. I know some of my stuff has a long shelf life where some of the rest not as much. Will find out soon I guess.

If you are in the Grand Case area on Tuesday evening the 27th of April, stop by TiJon and say hi…if you say you read my blog….I will have a gift for you.

Rob

Pre-show thoughts

2010-04-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

The sun, moon and all of the stars aligned this weekend.
I got all of my products ordered and on a shipping time line which will give me a week to pack and weight…then redistribute the load before I board the flying tin can to the tropics.

I have decided to take many of my products down in my luggage. This required, of course getting the suitcase and measuring the inside width and length to see if I could pack it all in there. The next part may seem funny to some, I am a very visual person so I laid out a grid on the carpet with masking tape…laying out the complete size of the suitcase to be followed by the size of pictures that I have ordered. This helps me to realize just how much room I will have and how large the frames I want to order with it can be.

Yes it is a bit obsessive but I will have my first show and I don’t want it to go poorly because I didn’t plan well.

Only 20 days till I fly and another 2 till my show….ready or not SXM here I come.

My Island Return is Imminent!

2010-03-17T12:17:00.001-07:00

Just crossed the 40 days till I board a plane for the islands threshold.
Things are coming along…a bit slowly but still they are getting there.
The two products that take the most time for me are in the production pipeline.

I still have to sleect some of my photos for artwork, figure how I want to present them and oh yeah, work some more on getting folks to attend the exhibit. I have contacted a few locals on island but still need to write up something for the paper and then see if one of the radio stations might be interested in putting me on the air for a couple of minute spot. Still need to get my website up and ready too…..

So nothing much to do and not much time to do it in. My eldest son has decided to hitch a ride to see the island so I will also be a bit of a tour guide. We look forward to hanging out a bit, some introspective conversation about his future and that of my business and of course consuming a few bottles of rum while on island.

I am looking so forward to getting away from Kansas for a while ….we have been set in a dreary weather pattern since December. Still haven’t hit 70 and seldom see the sun. I need a battery recharge badly.

I am working with a friend on island who is going to link me up with some of the business owners on front street in Philipsburg and I hope to see a few folks in Grand Case and even Marigot if I don’t run out of time.

If you have time on the evening of April 27th from 6-8PM locally and have nothing to do, stop in at Tijon in Grand Case and say hi, I will have a special gift for anyone that says they read about the debut in my blog….

Diving it is!!

2010-03-08T10:36:00.001-08:00

As any of you that follow my page know, I have invited our 25 year old son to travel to ST Martin with me for a few days. I promised him one day of activity that is his choice…Threw out two fun ideas, first being a tour of Anguilla and second being a couple of dives off of ST Martin.

To my surprise he chose the diving. Yes we are both advanced open water certified with PADI so being qualified is no issue. I made the assumption that he would want to go to Anguilla and was wrong. I like to dive and has been a bit over a year since I have been so I am very good with refreshing my skills a bit and seeing a bit of King Neptune’s gardens that surround ST Martin.

Our next discussion is what part of our own equipment will we bring or no. Our fins are large enough to propel a pretty healthy Humpback whale thru the water. Problem being they are just that large. My guess is we will be taking our masks and snorkels but leaving the fins behind. My intent is to use Octopus dive in Grand Case. They look like the kind of shop I would like to use. Max on a dive is 6 people and they will rent equipment that is fairly new and very well kept. That makes things easy. Now just have to book a half day of diving to enjoy…

A lesson learned in seeking out vendors

2010-02-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

I am putting together ideas for different ways to market my photo art, from photo paper to canvas works and even printed on metal (awesome by the way) and Plexiglas. I have worked with local vendors, national and even one international.

The following are some of my learnings;

First and foremost, sample it. I have had to absorb a bit of expense with sampling some products but in the long run it has saved me some serious heartburn.

Visit with many vendors, you never know who you will just fit with and what will work out. I have one vendor that does exquisite work…with out a doubt the best quality bar none. Issue is they price me out as the middle man. If I were to go directly to retail their incredible art work, I would do ok but to wholesale, I lose my shorts. I know, I am selling on ST Maarten so who needs shorts? I do!!!! I will use this vendor for a few items where it makes sense.

Have a second vendor that is like me fairly small potatoes. Very good to work with but draw backs are things like, I have shipping expenses so what ever it costs there is a small mark up just to get it to me as is a few states away. I have at least one product in mind that this vendor makes well and is worth me using.

Third vendor is a local ad agency. They are fantastic for my lower end products and some specialty printing they do is out of this world. I think they will get the bulk of my business. They are close by so I save on shipping and get very good prices and turn around time.

Fourth vendor is the vendor from hell. This is my international vendor, I tried a number of products. They misspelled words…that they spelled correctly in other places. Put logos on products crooked and even lopped off heads on simple photos. I have to wait weeks for these orders to complete and ship. Last item took them four full weeks to get to me. By the time I add shipping and time….these guys are simply unacceptable for product.

I am currently working low quantity and that is part of my expense with an over seas vendor. If I were ordering 2500 or more of an item and knew the quality was decent, then I would be in good shape with using the over seas vendor.

Rob is building his business on shoestrings so doesn’t have an extra 10K at hand to be able to order quantities like that so I guess I will work with my “local” vendors.

Look for this flyer on island soon

2010-02-24T14:05:00.000-08:00

I sent several copies of this flyer with one of my friends today as they headed for ST Martin/ST Maarten.

If you have some free time that evening I would love to meet you.

I've commited to a show!

2010-02-23T09:09:00.001-08:00

Moved forward with my business that is. I am now officially scheduled for a meet the photo artist evening at TiJon Parfumerie in Grand Case on the evening of April 27.

For anyone on island that wants to stop in and say hi, meet me or even just come and visit the shop, this would be a great opportunity. Flyers have been printed and will be en-rute to the island tomorrow..gulp. Rob has to prepare to meet folks. This is a bit unnerving as well as just plain fun.

Next on the agenda is to gather a few more interesting shots from around the island that are unique. I have a load of the normal beauty shots. I want to bring those and some unique ones as well.

This trip will be super short, only on island 3 full days but I will have so much to do.
Will be meeting with a friend that is going to introduce me to some folks on front street for some sales opportunities too. This will of course be using my pix but not necessarily as art prints. I still have a bunch of work to do but the advertisement component has at least started.

The stage is set

2010-02-17T09:53:00.000-08:00

Tickets purchased….Check
Room booked……....Check
Car reserved………..Check
Phone reserved……..Check

Now the rest is well, up to me. I have a date to roll out Antilles Treasures photo art.
That will be April 27, 2010 at TiJon Perfumery in Grand Case, Saint Martin in the French West Indies. That evening my friends John and Cyndi are willing to host a meet the artist night. Now I am working furiously on my art. Have several prints already in development but want to get them all set up and ready to go by mid March.

I then will spend a couple of days with the merchants in Philipsburg Sint Maarten (Dutch West Indies) same island. Working on creating some products for them such as smaller prints and trinkets that catch the eye of tourists that are not as much into the art component of what I have. I am real behind on this one but will be working thru the weekend to feverishly catch up. Still have to pick out the products, have samples made and purchase in a small quantity items to take with me.

It is exciting but a bit stressful though I realize nothing ventured nothing gained and my dear wife is willing to support me on this so here we go….

I am currently doing some more mundane things like creating a meet the artist poster in English and French to be distributed and hung on the island. Getting together ordering forms and making new business cards. Lots of fun things that will leave me needing a vacation when I return from my trip to the islands.

I hope to have my website up and running by April 24th, before I board the plane to ST Maarten.

Wish me luck all……

Who Dat?

2010-02-08T13:34:00.003-08:00

No not talking about the New Orleans Saints....congrats on your championship however! I honestly think most of the football loving country was cheering for you last night...

My Who Dat is about a friend...

Today I had to cut loose one of my friends. He isn’t a close friend but was one none the less. It was time for me to call INS and have this guy sent home. Yes, I did that to one of my friends…. Wonder who he was?? I will tell you he was my friend Jose. We have had some fun together but every time he thinks I'm not paying attention to him this dude sneaks up on me and whacks me in the head, steals my money and then leaves laughing while I am left with no more than an empty wallet and a massive headache. He came to my super bowl party last night and was friends to all but once again when I least expected it, like a scene from the 1060’s batman tv show….Whack, Pow! Clocked again. This morning I deciced that I have had enough and made the call….Yes my friend Jose it is time for you to go, never again to be welcome in my house or hanging out with me. So as of today, Jose Cuervo is no longer a friend of mine. Back into the bottle you bastard…and be gone!!!

Buzz buzz buzz

2010-01-28T11:46:00.001-08:00

Getting to be as busy as a bee hive with clover in bloom. Have selected a few new items for an upcoming business trip to ST Maarten.. Have a couple of meetings this Saturday with a possible vendor and my shipping guru. I did select the dates that I will be traveling to the island, Getting there on a Sunday afternoon and returning on the following Thursday, waaaaaaay too short but a guy has to do what he has to do.

Newest occurrence there is I am not completely sure where I will stay. I had a friend on island offer me a room and I truly appreciate it however our eldest son may be coming along with me and if that is the case I wouldn’t even think of imposing on our friends like that so we will stay at our usual stomping groundt the Flamingo Beach Resort. I have checked and they have space along with plenty of available seats on the flights.

Have to wait on my son to say weather or not he wants to go. He said he wants to just relax, sit at the beach and have a few….ok a bunch of drinks. He is 25 so if he wants to pack in some rum punch then so be it!! If he goes he can relax while I am calling on prospective customers and then we can hook back up for the evening and go hang out at a local establishment or two…

I am getting pretty excited but have so much to do and January is almost over….gulp!

Buzz buzz buzz, time to get back to it!!

Board meeting weekend

2010-01-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

This weekend we are having a board meeting to discuss the path we are to take with our fledgling business before it overwhelms us. Need to discuss our website build, pricing of products, descriptions of products, budget, new business cards and flyers. Even simple things like returning to the island that we are trying to get our items into and making contacts for sales opportunities as well as international shipping. Doesn’t sound like much, or maybe it is a bunch but is next step things that are must do’s to grow the legs we need to have Antilles Treasures get up off the ground and move on it’s own.

We have ordered some samples from China and truly were more than a little disappointed. Will try that again but we are looking for manufacturing here in the USA as well. Have break points set as to pricing but the US wins with quicker turn around and cheaper movement of the product from completion to me.

I need to get a price sheet of products to one customer and prepare pricing and merchandise for several more.

There is a contact to be made on island before I can even think about a return trip that would be full with business and after that there is the annual trip to schedule that will be yet another bountiful harvest of photo art.

The weekend is already pretty full but this is a meeting that really needs to take place in order for us to grow this business. Oh, almost forgot I need to plant a couple of new money trees in our back yard too.

Wish us luck and think good thoughts for us!!!

Hallucination and Anticipation

2010-01-21T09:38:00.001-08:00

What? Where am I going with this??

Let me weave this story for you.

Hallucination….

Our weather has been exceptionally wet and cold this winter. There has This week we have actually been above freezing all week so the snow is melting rapidly…and there has been a lot that has had to melt for this part of the country. Now that the stage is set and you are wondering what is this guy on anyway I will proceed with the story.

I carpool with a co worker and was sitting in his drive this morning waiting on him to join me for our drive into work. I peered out the drivers side window and what did I see??? No, not a fat man dressed in red with 8 reindeer….come on now..stick with me.
There in the pile of snow that he or a family member had shoveled off his drive was the outline and topographical shape of the tropical island of ST Maartin/ST Martin. I just stared at it…picking out different bays that we frequent and reminiscing about being there. I did make a mistake as I always carry a camera with me to capture unique and unusual things I see. I didn’t even think about taking this picture until of course my friend had joined me and we were driving away. Unfortunately the mound of snow wont look like ST Maartin when we return this evening…I would imagine that…. for those of you that know the island…. Terres Basses or for us Engilsh speaking folks…the lowlands will be gone, guess reclaimed by the earth.

Anticipation….

I wear a small medallion strung on cord around my ankle that is about the size of a quarter, in the center is a cut out outline of the very same island. I wear it to remind me daily, choices I make and things I do are for a reason and that reason is to get us back to that very island. I am planning two island adventures in 2010. One as a business opportunity and the other as a photo working trip. The first trip if all goes well will be at the end of April without my dear wife as I will work some of the shops along front street and possibly have a meet the artist event in Grand Case. The second one will be around Halloween and will be for new photo ops as well as a bit of R&R for the two of us to renew and recharge.

Trial and Error

2010-01-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

I am working on finding a low cost distributor for some of my photo products. I placed an order in late December for a couple of samples. They arrived yesterday. Rob was pretty excited as these are some small items that I am looking to produce to go along with my photo-art. Something a tourist would pick up while in gift shops as a memento of the island. I picked some simple and useful stuff then provided my pictures and waited….news came on Sunday that the package had been received at my son’s residence. He said he would bring it to me on Monday evening so I came home from work top change and then had a short business meeting with a vendor that I hired to tweak a few pictures. I left that meeting very happy with the end results. Went home and my son was soon there with my package from China. I tore into it like a three year old at Christmas…all you saw was flying paper and moving elbows…with the removal of each item I felt worse and worse. Fortunately these were one off items so I didn’t have to buy 2500 of each but if this is what they have to offer, I wont be doing business overseas for products. So this trial brought error but at least it was at a very small level so I don’t feel that I am out a bunch of cash or stuck with junk I cant move.

No one really hurt but just a bit let down. People tell me that I will need to work with manufacturers in China to make any money. From my first experience, I would rather work with those in the US and not make as much. I want the best quality I can get for merchandise or there is no point in me making an effort. I have a feeler out with a company I use to make one of my other products. We shall see how this goes.

Could it be so???

2010-01-15T13:20:00.000-08:00

It may be that I will be making a return to my island paradise soon, very soon as in 91 days from today. While there I will be shooting pix, hitting up some sales opportunities and with some luck having a meet the artist session at a wonderful store in Grand Case that has agreed to host some of my photo-art.

I have lots to do still, like purchase tickets. Make some contacts and plan the meet and greet. Still checking on products and new ideas. Trying to set reasonable price points and honestly having a difficult time with that subject. I see what going price is on items and just rub my eyes and swallow hard…I’m finding it puts me between a rock and hard place. I am finding that to wholesale I may make less than the stores that carry my products…OUCH!!! Hard to justify some products. Say it cost me $10 to have something made, I think it is worth $25 that would mean I would need to mark it at about $12.50 a unit to make the item appealing to a retail sales establishment.

Hmm, I fly to another country pay for my say and food, shoot the pictures. Buy the pictures from a photo lab and then make $2.50 a print while someone else makes $12.50..but I have no risk like they do so I see where they should make some reward. Now I am part way thru a website where I can offer the same thing at retail prices. Lets see what happens….done venting.

I am very excited to have the opportunity to once again visit the island and possibly put some of my products out there for sale. I am also soon to be the featured photographer on a website. Myislandart.com There are 10 pix out there already with pricing to follow soon.

Wish me luck folks.

What a difference a day makes.

2010-01-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

Just realized it has been a month since I have posted. Man the winters get me down.

Yesterday was cold and blustery, today..you would think it is spring. Yes, the weather has changed for the day but not that much. Here is what has made me think it is spring.

We are planning our return trip to our little paradise. It will be late October or early November but guess what….we are going and I can plan again. Have talked with some friends that will be there at the same time…Look out Halloween here we come!!!!!!!!

Paid my resort fees for our timeshare and can book as soon as we nail down the days we want to be there.

Second, it looks as if I may have a bachelor trip to the island in April. This will be a very short trip as in 3 full days on island and two full days of travel but…..it will be a great launch opportunity for my business. My intent is to get on island, visit with some merchants and hopefully get into their shops with some of my photo merchandise.

Rob is big time jazzed. Even had a hard time sleeping last night. I was up till midnight working on pictures and merchandise. Today there is a bit more pep in my step and I am so much more excited about things than I was just yesterday…..

Now trips to plan...have the blood flowing with a bit of adreneline again. Guess that will give me reason to post more so if there is anyone out there reading these....there will be more to come.

New cube farm same company.

2009-12-16T14:14:00.000-08:00

We moved buildings this week so am now in a new, ok different cube farm. Same job same staff that I work with but we now share our floor with others.

Here are a few things I have noticed….This building must be from the late 70s early 80s the tile in the mens room is bright and I mean BRIGHT yellow. I would know this since my cubicle position has left me as default bathroom monitor..but who is fussing? I made an extra $3 in tips this week. I have been removed from window status and am now as I noted above in a strategic location ….across the hall from the mens room, on the main hallway to a conference room as well as just off the pathway of the elevators and break room. Am I fussing?? Hell no! I have a job and honestly despite the onset of depression because of lack of sun I am pretty happy. My cube is way larger than what I had in our previous cube farm. I am in a grouping with a bunch of people that I like so all is good there. Here is the bonus….more wall space to hang my tropical pictures on….ahhhhhhh!

That leads me to my next topic and basis for this page in the fist place. We are starting to look at when we can return to the island mon!!!!! We are thinking it would be good to head back in April to make some island contacts and then again in hopefully November to simply enjoy our friends that are on island. I am trying to figure a way to budget both as we will have the need to paint our house this year and take care of a couple more things that are out there and need addressed. I am lining up some new products, some that will be fun and some that are very much in the realm of art. I hope to put my head down and work towards getting a website up and running and then when we visit the island work towards getting some of my products into some shops there too. I have my domain name and LLC all taken care of so I am a shot …Long way towards getting to a successful place with MY company. I have even gone as far as to find a graphic artist that has redesigned my logo and is looking at my pix to tweak the colors a tad…clearing out that tropical mid day haze.. I am working with printers to develop products and will soon have a bunch of samples.

It's in the books!

2009-11-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving that is.. What a wonderful weekend it was. Got to see my family, eat turkey, od on football and didn’t have to leave the house too much. We saw family and some good friends. Met a new one too. Even got out all of the Christmas decorations, now just have to decorate the tree and we will all be done.

We got our first real frost of the season last night, you know the kind in which you have to scrape windows on your vehicle because the defrosters may not be enough to do it by themselves at least if you want to get going quickly.

I took the time to go thru a bunch of my travel shots with the idea of setting up a coffee table book for use in the future. I have even ventured out to websites to see costs of products as I take my fledgling photo company and move it into the world of profitability.

What I am getting to is that this was a very productive 4 days away from the working world. I can use a few more of those. As I said earlier we got together with some friends this weekend and talked about our trip to the island. Even discussed when we would be going back. If there is a way we can squeeze it in we will be back this spring and hopefully again in the fall. Wow moving up to twice a year will tacke some commitment but as the little train that could said…..”I think I can, I think I can” Toot toot!!

Goodbye to Anguilla Rums LTD

2009-11-22T11:04:00.000-08:00

We make a day trip to Anguilla each time we visit ST Maarten. This year was no different. We have two things that we consider a must. 1. A day at gwen’s Reggae beach Bar at Upper Shoal Bay. 2. VisitAnguilla Rums LTD in Road Bay to pick up our yearly supply of Pyrat rum…yes, we can get some of it at home but that isn’t what we buy. We pick up a bottle or two of Cask (their very high end stuff) and a couple of bottles of Savage….this is special blend that is only produced on island.

So….why am I blogging about this?? I found out just the other day that the owners of the plant (Patron Tequila) have decided to close the plant on Anguilla. This is the only place that the rum was blended and bottled. Pyrat rum is not going away. Just the quaint almost surreal place and style that it has been bottled. So much for the good ole days. This is a money decision. I understand it and know that the rum will still be every bit as good as it has always been, I am just in a bit of mourning over the close or the plant.

Why?? It was part of our Caribbean experience to stop in, take a tour, sample a bit and then lay out a few Benjamin’s and walk away with some of the finest rum on the planet (cask)as well as some of the sweet nectar that is Savage. It is the experience that I will miss. Certainly not the rum its self as I will continue to purchase their products.

It just feels like another palm grove has been bulldozed to put up a high rise condo village. Yes I am a Pyrat rum fanatic, that being said, I was more than a bit sad. I decided to come home and drown my sorrows.

This is what Rob did to commemorate the sad news. Shared with my wife what my intent, she snickered at my idea but was supportive. I came home and put on my pirate costume from Halloween parties that we have hosted in the past, found a couple of pirate movies to watch and then poured a strong drink of Pyrat Blanco (another of Pyrats products that is no longer available but quite tasty) and coke, Yes I did watch both movies and finish my drink…then had another.

Will this change my life…no. The move has however stolen away a bit of Caribbean flair that our visit to Anguilla Rums LTD used to provide.

Welcome back????

2009-11-18T13:31:00.001-08:00

Have been back from the Caribbean a week today. The weather here at home isn’t much fun but it is mid to late November weather so what should I have expected. Went from mid 80's to an inch of snow in a very short time.

We had a great time on ST Maarten, Anguilla and ST Barts. Took lots of pictures and hung out with lots of friends. I will have a long trip story to post on my webpage this weekend if I can get away from the rug cleaning that we have to do before the holidays.

There will be lots more blogs to come over the next few weeks.. lots to say.

Welcome back????

2009-11-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Ten and a wake up!!

2009-10-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Autumn is here in my home town, the leaves are vibrant and the weather has cooled.
So freaking what!! I have ten days and a wake up till we are off on another journey to the Caribbean. Getting excited! Will have the chance to renew friendships, start new ones and of course rekindle or own.

Lots happening in Rob’s household. Youngest and family are in process of moving out. Not sure I understand how when they moved in everything was there the same day but when moving out it is a staging process. Oh well they are now living on their own and I hope doing well for themselves. They are missed but the freedom at home is nice too.

I also have a business trip scheduled for next week to Las Vegas. I am even bailing on the conference’s last night of fun that will be Thursday night. I am sorry that I will miss it but it seems that if I wish to get everything I need done before we leave for the Caribbean that it necessitates me passing on the after party to catch the last flight of the day back home. Gets me in bed by about 1 AM on Friday but that is fine as I will run errands Friday to prepare for our journey.

I already have my camera equipment packed and just need to drop my laptop into my bag and all technical equipment I need will be ready to go. Dive equipment is out and ready to be packed but not too sure if will take it or not…We may dive and may not…guess not much time to make up our minds now. Will be a 12 day trip that will cover ST Maarten, Anguilla and ST Barts. Diving may jut not be on the relax plan this time..we shall see.

Stopped by the techno geek store at lunchtoday and picked up some burnable DVDs and new headphones. Came back to work and fired up my best buddy Jimmy Buffett for some escape this afternoon while editing a bunch of presentations that will be given next week.

Not yet too geeked about the trip but know it is coming. There is just so much to do and so little time to do it in. Feel as if we have been planning for so long that I truly feel over prepared.

We will also see so many friends that this trip will be different from any we have previously taken. I will however commit my early mornings and evenings to photography. I wont hesitate to stop while driving around the island to snap off a few pix no matter what time of day. Time is coming fast….and it will go by even faster once we are there. Right now it is 10 days and a wake up till my toes will be in the sand with the most beautiful woman in the world at my side…..can hardly wait!!

Reach out and touch someone…

2009-10-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

I am sitting and pondering some odd things today. I have 19 days until our vacation…we are seriously all but packed. We have never been this prepared for a trip this early. What has me shrugging my shoulders and scratching my head today is….cell phones…have em at home, use em all the time. Seems I cant get away from them. We have traveled to the Caribbean many times and we take one with us but the phones only have US service so they stay tucked away in our travel bags for the lion’s share of the trip. I have always liked that we are pretty much left to no communications for the week or so we are traveling…kinda nice just my wife and I.

This year we are renting a phone and will have a number while in the islands….why? What the hell? Am I crazy? (responses…dunno, not hell but will be warm, response #3 Yes, you know you are crazy) Oh, wait maybe I shouldn’t be answering rhetorical questions.

We will for the first time know several couples on island at differing times while we are there so have found that having a phone may make our lives easier…wait, did I just say having a phone makes life easier…again here I go with the am I crazy thing. There is something to be said about not worrying about a ringing phone, escaping day to day life and its electronic “enhancements”.

Ok still stuck on the cell phone thing. Since we will have a multitude of friends there interlacing in and out of the set days we will be on our little island get away, we thought it wise to be immediately reachable by the relaxation shattering screech of a cell phone to break the romantic and relaxing mood of lying on a beach on an exotic island with the beautiful woman at my side…(yes honey I mean you), rather than the tried and true we will meet ya at Peg Leg Pub at 7:30 or see ya at the port tomorrow morning at 7 to head to Anguilla, we can now call and coordinate.

Hmm have we made our vacation complicated life by making it easier??
Me thinks so!! Therefore we will be like many others and be able to reach out and touch someone even when we don’t wanna or they don’t want to be touched all for the convenience of coordination. It seems instead of a man’s word being his bond it is now a quick little buzz to confirm that yes you intend to keep the pre-arranged date and meet us when you said you would.

We all know no one ignores a ringing cell phone, us included.

Rob plays the bonus round and WINS!!!

2009-10-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just noticed that I have been absent from posting for quite some time...if there are readers out there sorry....

Met with a friend for coffee Saturday morning to cuss and discuss life in general as well as a bit more specific trips to the islands. We became friends several years ago and found that we both have a terminal case of DIF. What is DIF? Dreaded Island fever and the kind we both have is quite terminal. It possesses our very thoughts. We are both budding entrepeneurs and yes both businesses are based arount the Caribbean.

During our discussion he brought up our impending trip. Easy conversation fro Rob for sure but he threw a giant monkey wrench into the works….he said something like Hey, did you see that Jimmy Buffett is giving a free concert to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Le Select in Gustavia, ST Bartholomew French West Indies. My response was no but my interest certainly was piqued. Rob is a closet Parrot Head….that would be Jimmy Buffett fan to any non parrot head. I load up on island music about 30 days before my trip and honestly JB is, wait…have to get out my Ipod, ok he is playing now….the most prolific musician that plays ESCAPE music and I love it!!! Ok, tangent complete for now so back to the conversation.

Buddy asked if I was going, I said would love to but not so sure my wife would be into it.
He said if he and his wife were going to be on island they would move heaven and earth to go. I went home and asked what she thought and her response surprised me, she was in!!! Didn’t really do much about it. Looked into travel from ST Maarten to ST Barts but frankly didn’t see this happening so kind of left the idea beached like a smugglers boat after a storm.

Monday on my way to work I got a text message…same buddy…Hey we booked to be on island, still wanna see the JB concert? There is a one word reply….DUDE!!!!
We talked a bit and next thing I know I am calling the couple that has been planning on traveling with us the entire time and they want in as well. JB boat to Bart’s for 6!!

Before lunch on Tuesday we have acquired passage for 6 from SXM to Barts….look out Jimmy here we come. For many this seems an awful lot to do to see this guy. JB will as I said above be playing in Gustavia….to celebrate La Select’s birthday. Significance is this is the little restaurant that was the catalyst for the song Cheeseburger in Paradise. So for a parrot head…we will be in what equals out to be the escapist’s Mecca. I never in my life thought I would have an opportunity like this.

Our diversion to ST Barts is truly an opportunity that someone like me doesn’t pass up when presented to you all wrapped up in a pretty little package. My wife asked about the cost….response was concert is free, trip over and back is $95 each plus…she then chimed in…your souvenir. To which I answered emphatically Yes Ma’am!!!

Now you may see why Rob sees this little piece of incredibly convenient timing as playing and winning the bonus round. We were to be in ST Maarten anyway and now I get to see the master of escape music perform in the place that may have provided the inspiration for the song that gave him his big break………Look out Gustavia you will be inundated with a flock of parrot heads that will bring a voracious appetite for beer, rum and that infamous Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Oops I goofed.

2009-09-09T12:34:00.001-07:00

Rob prides himself on doing the travel stuff right and getting it done early.
He made a little faux-paux earlier in the month. Forgot to deposit the remaining points from a cancellation made in July..yes July. I recognized my error on Sept 1 and bet you cant guess what the last day to save timeshare points was? Insert Jeopardy music here….ok times up…yup you guessed it. The answer is, What is August 31, Alex! Rob is officially a bonehead…now sitting with a bunch of points he cant deposit, it is the beginning of the 9th month of the year and our big trip is still ahead of us. Nice part is, there is always visiting the folks in Branson in December. ( no, not a bad thing, is actually a great time to visit Branson )

Soooo now have to find out what I am to do with these points. That didn’t take too long to figure but made me no happier to use however the bright side is it put money back in my pocket…the error ends up being a $100 loss error when it comes down to it but frankly will save me somewhere around $700. We decided that we would cancel our three nights on Anguilla and the single night stay on ST Maarten and book those four nights on ST Maarten at our timeshare.

Upside…entire time will be at one facility, downside….will have to change rooms part way thru our stay. ( from one bedroom to a studio )
Upside….save quite a bit of money by not staying on Anguilla, downside…..we love Anguilla
Upside….not wasting any of our points, downside…..if would have deposited when I should have could have taken friends again next year….wait that one could be two upsides or an upside and downside not too sure there.

Back to making lists;

I am a travel list maker but our list is down to three things…
1. Fake Bake, get the base tan
2. Pack
3. Go to bank for some cash…..

As Porky Pig said….ba de ba de ba de, That’s all folks!!

Planning is going well and actually other than a purchase of tanning....COMPLETE!!
All this with 52 days left till touch down in ST Maarten…look out island we will be there for Halloween!!!!

Trippin....

2009-08-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

Have just over 60 days till we head for Anguilla and ST Maarten.
That will be my third trip away from home in the next 60 days..
Trip one is to Dallas to meet a friend and discuss some business.
Trip two will be to a conference in Las Vegas the week before we go to the island.
Yes, the week before. Will leave for Vegas on a Monday and return home on that Friday only to get on board that big silver bird and fly waaay southeast the next day to SXM!!!

Last year I was on vacation the week before our yearly conference in Vegas. This year I didn’t plan our trip in the spring like we usually do but rather for the first of November and low and behold…we moved the Vegas trip. Nice part is I will be sick of travel by the time I get back from the islands.

Part of the reason to visit the islands is for photo ops. I have daily shoots planned. Will have to see how things work out but I am hoping to spend hours a day shooting and moving about the island. If I can do what I plan we will still have the bulk of the day to relax on the beach and soak up lots of rays and rum. We might even get to spend a couple of hours getting wet one morning with a dive shop out of Grand Case.

I cant even begin to express my level of excitement about this trip. We will have a life long friend and his wife coming along with us this time too. It looks as if there will be a few other couples we know that will be on island at the same time and I am hoping we will find a way to rendezvous with them for at least a quick drink and how do you do.

Manscaping….its a dangerous thing!

2009-08-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, I never thought I would blog about something like this but eh its almost 2010.

Yesterday I decided that the Austin Powers look was out for me….um, didn’t know how far out I was thiking!!! LOL

If you are following along and not getting what I mean I will explain it in 1980’s terms.

Chest hair on men seems to be a bit passé. I grow a mean crop of chest and belly hair so in my infinite wisdom I thought I would trim it a bit and see if less was more. Ummmm, well!! Lets just say I got a bit less than I wanted.

First I used the trimmer that is for my beard. One pass and it was clogged and frankly couldn’t even tell that I had trimmed anything…I think it takes like every 10th hair or something. Rob goes and gets out the big gun! The shears that his wife cuts his hair with. Hey I am a generally bright guy so I recognize that there are guards for each length of hair. I go with the shortest one. Fire up the weedwhacker 2009 and watch the dials on meter on the side of the house spin like they just got caught in a tornado. Lights flicker and then return to full brightness…. Rob starts at the waistline of gym shorts and takes one swipe straight up the belly and stops at pecks.... Looking at the tumbleweed that has formed at my feet I realize that the ole # 1 may have been a bit too short.

Not much I can do now but complete the sheering of this dark haired sheep that is standing before me in the mirror and then hope and pray that it will all grow back to a decent length over the next 60 days.

What the hell have I done to myself? What would have ever possessed me?? I did however find the great pumpkin that Charlie Brown has been waiting in the pumpkin patch for all of these years. It is below my chest and above my waistline but he isn’t orange…no he is a very stark white….run, run for your lives!!!!

The one positive in this miss adventure is the motivation that the over exposure of skin has caused. I started doing sit ups again last night…Holy cow only 74 more days till people will see me with no shirt on. If I don’t get the great pumpkin carved down a bit I may have to stay away from the beach as I don’t want to be mistaken for a beached marine mammal.

Tonight, second ab workout. I already know this will lead to sore muscles but I gotta do it just in case the camouflage for the great pumplin doesn’t grow back before we head to the islands…

So guys, if you are thinking about any kind of manscaping….pay a pro or look like your chest has mange..your choice but choose wisely!!!

Yes I am laughing at my foolish self here……

Island fever – catch it!!

2009-08-06T11:02:00.001-07:00

Things are clearing up here…have heard about my job and am safe until the next round of layoffs, when ever that will be. Have all room reservations made and double checked.
Have rental car booked for the ST Maarten part of the trip at least. Have a general itinerary of activities….ok a list of places on island I would like to visit. Have everything ready for passport renewal….just need to write the check and drop in the mail.

In quick review…I’s dotted and T’s crossed. We are 10 times more prepared for this trip than any one we have previously made. Now for the hardest part of the game….sit and wait. We have 86 days to sit and ponder on what more we can pack in and what we may want to take out.

This year for the first time we are getting a bunch of stuff to pre-pack. I know it sounds ridiculous but items that we know we will want or use and may not find or don’t feel like hunting down while there. A new small collapsible cooler, a small noise making machine for the room, several grocery bags as they no longer use plastic on island for groceries. A couple of book for the travel portion of our trip (there are book exchanges all over the island), our over the counter regiment of meds like allergy meds and benedryl. The benedryl saved me a trip to the hospital last time we were on island. We have collected a few other things too but I will spare you from enduring the entire list of what we already have gathered.

I got the fever….is going to be a long illness…. the remedy will only be applied by the first breath of air that fills my lungs upon arrival to the island.

And then there were two….couples that is.

2009-07-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

Just found out today that one of the couples planning to go with us will not be able to make it for the trip. It makes us a bit sad but we asked them a bit last moment so something like an international trip is a lot to ask of someone else to make a decision about in 60 days or less. I am saddened that they wont be able to make it to the island with us this year but they go quite regularly so they aren’t missing out on anything other than the sterling company!!! LOL

Just gives us more opportunity for friends to come along in the future.

Rather than continue to ask friends and give them less and less time to plan to go. I cancelled the third room we had booked and will have a blast with the couple that is still planning on going with us. They are island virgins so this will be special as we will get to see the island anew thru their eyes.

Since the staging is now over, it is time to look at activities. Friends are avid golfers and one of the couple is a diver so we will get wet but is up to them to go whack that little dimpled ball around the “course” that is on island. That will be a day that my wife and I will find something to do by ourselves..wonder what we could plan to fill the day????? Hmmm bet we find something. Heck worst case scenario, there is always the beach…LOL

Will be time to work with friends to see what they are interested in doing other than golf and diving. Know we will be looking to spend a day in Anguilla…darn the bad luck. My buddy is pretty easy going as in, hey we will go with the flow. My flow as I have stated will be hopping a bit more this year cause I am wanting to catch a ton of pictures on this trip. I really want to make sure they have as good of a time as possible while there without putting too big of a dent into our time, which is a fine line to walk!!

Too much on my mind....

2009-07-28T11:35:00.001-07:00

This week we are supposed to hear about our jobs….
1. If we will have one
2. what our new salary will be, and they aren’t on the rise here!!!

Rob is suffering from a bit of writers block..no cutsie quips or lengthy story.

I have heard as long as there is testing done in schools that there will always be prayer there. That is kind of how it is here. We are waiting and waiting and waiting. Most of us really like our jobs and at this moment it is very hard to stay motivated. Have had our trip to focus on but was told last week that we would find out either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week about our position…First note I got this morning said not today.
Damn, I am losing sleep, this is as probably many of you know a huge event in my life and I have no control over any of it……and to top it off our air conditioner shot craps last night so have had to call a repairman for some more Freon and then can hope it lasts another season.

Guess we all have those downer days, weeks, months and years. I wont let this get to me…it will improve I just have to be patient. Patience isn’t one of my strong suits either..oh well! God never gives us any more than we can handle and he knows I have broad shoulders so guess is time to brace myself and see just what will happen.

Writing block will dissipate soon and I will be back with my whit and charm…

Double Digit Midgets!!!!!!

2009-07-24T11:05:00.001-07:00

That is what we became today.
What the heck is this guy talking about?
Has he totally gone off the deep end?
Is it once again time to bring Rob his the white dinner jacket? You know the one; it has the wrap around sleeves and leather straps.

No I am quite sane and today passing yet another hurdle in this long race to the vacation finish line. Sooo, I am saying that as of today I have less than 100 days until I board the silver bird headed south for ST Maarten and Anguilla. I know it seems like that is a long way off and it is but that time will fly by just like the vacation that I have worked months on.

We booked our room 234 days out and our flights 141 days out so milestone 3 is we are now under 100 days. See why it is significant? Time passes quickly so 99 days will be here before we know it.

Will send in our passport renewals today so all that will be left to do is save some more coins, pack and work with friends about when they want to do a couple of big activities such as diving and day tripping to Anguilla otherwise, find me a beach and comfortable chair and get out of the way cause I want a clear view to watch the waves breaking at the shore as the grains of sand tumble over each other jockeying for a place to settle in and shimmer in the sun when the tide recedes as quickly as the hair follicles on the head of a 45 year old man.

I love being a short timer or double digit midget. Will love it even more when my countdown clock says….hours not days!!

Obsession; it’s not just a perfume for women!

2009-07-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

With my last post I was running a bit of island fever.

Today's topic is Obsession.
Webster’s online dictionary definition of obsession is…a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling. So! Where am I going with this?? Here is where; Count the number of times I use the word island in this post. Already have used it twice…

Since I last shared I have made the one night reservation on ST Maarten that will cover our late arrival on all hallows eve. (We found a great on line rate for our timeshare for one evening) Next morning we will get up and take a cab across island to Marigot and then on to Anguilla for a few days. Only reservation left will be for a rental car on Anguilla, I will do that when we get there as it is still off season and won’t be an issue to get.

Scheduling

Since I am going to visit the island to capture as many tropical pictures as I can I have started a simple spreadsheet to make sure I can take advantage of the best lighting as well as optimize our beach time. We are taking my buddy and his wife along with us this time and they are island virgins. I want to make sure they are getting some of the highlights of the island so it only makes sense to make a kind of calendar that can be interchanged with events such as…a round of golf when and if we get a rain out day..it can be replaced by an afternoon of shopping. Schedule? Schedule?? Are you kidding me? Rob is the type that plans all the way until we get there then…neatly folds up the schedule and puts it in what ever book I plan to read while on the beach and uses it as a bookmark, what ever happens on island stays on island. Ok, not quite like that but we get up in the morning and as we are getting ready will have the Where’s Waldo discussion about which beach we will be on that day. Sooooo, this schedule thing is tuff for me but I know I want to be on differing parts of the island during the softer natural light hours of morning sun and evening sunset.

Mindset

When I started this blog, I quickly realized that I am inflicted with what travelers to ST Maarten refer to as DIF (dreaded island fever). Once I have been there I can’t get enough. Why? What is so special about this little island? With all of the islands in the Caribbean, why continue returning to this place? Is it the island or the mindset?

Above, are a group of questions that one might ask before planning a vacation to this piece of island paradise.

1. Why? This one is easy for me. Ever been to the heartland of the USA? Try living there, many are narrow minded and set in their ways. Most have never seen another country or even costal USA. Simply the escape from Bubba and kin would be my response there. Yes I grew up here so am a bit red in the neck too but I try to escape my own environment at least once a year. That being said, I come from landlockedville USA. Only water we see is very dirty brown lakes just not my bag to swim in. I gotta go to ST Somewhere, a tropical island and nice beaches….that is where ESCAPE starts for me.
2. What is so special about this little island? Where do I begin; how about this recipe? ST Maarten is a slice of Europe covered in tropical Caribbean sprinkles with a sugar coating of beaches all kissed and baked by the sun and served for your enjoyment by some of the Caribbean’s nicest people. Honestly it is a great place to visit and enjoy.
3. This is a place that you start your day with a fresh morning greeting of bonjour and a double espresso and a nice glass of a magical rum concoction served by your favorite bar tender is the perfect ending to the day. The island offers some of the creature comforts of the good ole US of A blended with Caribbean love and friendship and displays just a flair of Europe.
4. Island or mindset? BOTH. We love the island and what it has to offer. We totally enjoy what it transforms us into. This little island escape has become our yearly recharge/honeymoon. When you land at PJIA and they roll up and secure the jet way and crack the doors on the plane, there is a rush of warm (sometimes hot) tropical air that wafts thru the cabin. In that air is just a hint of jet fuel and smell of the tarmac. That combination of smells is about as exhilarating to my nose as a fine perfume on my beautiful wife, it means we are back on island and for 7-14 days we don’t have any cares to worry about. It is just my wife and I escaping from our normal routine to enjoy each other and what the island has to offer.

My wife and I love our visits to St Maarten (yes we sleep on the Dutch side but travel the entire island a multitude of times while there). We love the island, its people, the return visitors we have gotten to know and some other private things that make this a special escape for us. We work hard for 11 and a half months a year and take about 2 weeks to enjoy the fruits of our labor each year by taking the time to escape to the island, walking hand in hand with the one we love, soaking up rays and enjoying each other without all of the concerns back home.

Obsessed? Maybe a bit…..ok yes I am!!!!
By the way did you count how many times the word island appears in this post??

I've got a fever of 115!!!!!!!

2009-07-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

For those that may be new to my blog, I may have a bit of explaining to do.
115 is a countdown of days leading up to our next Caribbean vacation. We leave early on Halloween morning and fly to Dutch ST Maarten (SXM) for a one night stay, the next morning we travel via cab to the French port of Marigot and board one of the hourly ferry runs to Brittish Anguilla (AXA).

My fever is simply an obsession with being in the islands with my wife. We are fortunate enough to escape the every day drudgery such as bills, responsibility and work for a few days. Doing this yearly replenishes me to my very core. Yes I am obsessed but when you plan all year to go, save from each check. Book rooms, make flight reservations it keeps trips like this in the forefront of my mind. When we bring friends with us it is even more so because my need for uber planning is intensified so they can get a larger bang for their buck.

After the first night, we will spend three relaxing days and nights on Anguilla visiting different beaches and of course sampling all of the different rum punch recipes that we can. My intent is to get our little rental car out on “the wrong side of the road” and see the beauty of the island. Where there are side roads, we will take them and just see what we will find. Last year we did this and I discovered the villas on the cliffs that overlook Road Bay. What a view. Will visit some of the beaches we haven’t in the past and of course get our fill of our favorite little beach bar on Upper Shoal Bay. As a matter of fact, we will be there on a Sunday…and get to see first hand the music that lends its name to Gwen’s Reggae Beach Bar. We are so excited about the pickup jam session that they have that we can hardly wait to get there. Only problem will be that 3 days will FLY by and we will have to depart for a weeks stay on Dutch ST Maarten. We will however meet up with some life long friends on SXM and they want to experience AXA so we will get to return for a day trip…hello Anguilla Rums ltd (Pyrat rum bottling plant).

Our stay on SXM will be highlighted by the sacrifice of a pair of virgins….ok not exactly but our friends joining us for the week and they are virgins to the Caribbean. Having friends visit for the first time is like seeing the island thru a new set of eyes. Things that you have overlooked for years just pop out at me when someone else sees it and asks what is that or why do they do that those brief surprises and make me love SXM even more when shared with friends.

As I have previously noted, we have an agenda this time. That I don’t like but won’t get done the things I intend to if I don’t take care of the agenda. Have a blooming landscape photography business going and it is geared around the Caribbean. After all, this is a place that millions escape to each year, a place with stunning vistas and incredible sunsets. Meaning there are shots to be taken and many miles to put on the car to make sure I am in the place I want to be to capture the beauty of the island. Nice part is the middle of the day is waaaay to bright to shoot pictures so dang, will have to relax with my beautiful wife and friends on a beach, sipping a bit of ti-punch and paint pictures in my mind of all the beauty that my eyes soak up to keep me warm thru out the upcoming winter.

Yes, my fever is 115 today but as each day passes the number looks less and less daunting until it finally comes to pass that my feet are firmly entrenched in the sand as the waves of relief gently break at my knees.

There are lists to be made....

2009-07-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Yes I am a large gray haired old man but NO I am not Santa Clause, however I will be making my lists and checking them twice!!

Major list;
Flight purchased…check
Room Reserved….check…kind of.
(Have the week on SXM but still need an overnight and 3 nights on AXA)
Car reserved…check
New point and shoot camera purchased….check

Most of the major things are done!!!

Still to be done;
Passport renewal….have forms but have to get my wife’s beauty shot and my mug shot taken.
Book room for three nights in Anguilla (know of availability where we want to stay so this one is easy)
Book room for arrival night on ST Maarten (don’t have a clue on this one)

Planning lists; Money, Activities, Gear

Damn, going to be busier than I would like on this trip.
We used to go to the island to relax, now we have agendas, I think we have this backwards but there are reasons this is happening and can’t share all of them just yet.

Money; We have already put away nearly as much money as we normally take to the island and still have 4 months left to go. This time we do intend to spend a bit more eating out than we have in the past. There are a few things that will need to be purchased before we go and have already started on those.

Activities; We as you know from reading the drivel that has been previously posted are taking ST Maarten virgins with us this trip. Though it is a lot of fun for us it does cause Sir Plans-a-lot to be even more forward thinking and plan slightly more than usual.

I need to plan things like….beaches we would want to take our friends to…as well as those we want to visit without them (wink, wink). There is the prerequisite visit to Orient beach as well as a couple of our other favorites like Baie Rouge and would like to get to Friar’s as well as Happy. Remembering these are friends from home so no French style sun bathing

Our friends are avid golfers and want to play the course on island….I tell them I fully understand and respect that they want to play, however, this may possibly be the worst course they have ever had the chance to knock that little dimpled ball around on. That being said, they do want to play golf one day.

They are also interested in a day of diving. I am looking into going thru the dive shop in Grand Case, Octopus Dive. This will allow for access to a different part of the island and they gear their dives towards a smaller group than some of the shops on the Dutch side of the island.

One evening we want to head up to Fort St Louis above Marigot and have cheese, crackers and split a bottle of wine while watching the sun set in the distance.

There will be of course the required (when traveling with Rob) return trip to Anguilla so we can share a few of our favorite things from that island like a visit to the Pyrat rum bottling plant and to enjoy the beach of upper shoal bay and lunch with Gwen.

There will also be several evenings that we will partake in some fine and not so fine dining at a number of fine establishments all over the island and who can skip an evening at the Red Piano Bar? We can walk back to our room from there!

In all of our visits we have never been to Pinel Island…that has to change as well as we will make another trek to Green Key but it will be just the two of us.

Gear; We are once again entering into discussion and decision making about how much to pack. Issue is dive fins or no….We have a great interest in using our own fins and do plan to dive and may snorkel just a bit so my bet is they will come along. Since they are dive, not snorkel, fins both sets are rather long, equating to the need for a suitcase (more like rolling duffle bag) to go underneath on the flight. With the fins on board it also means more rum for our return!!!! I think we will bring the big bag again this year.

Clothes are pretty easy for us.
A couple of swim suits each
Wife brings three sun dresses a couple of shirts and pairs of shorts and of course appropriate undergarments. Shoes are a minimum we both bring 2 pair and a pair of flip flops.
I bring three pair of shorts, 4 shirts underwear and a shaving kit.

We take a bit of time to do some laundry while there of course, this just makes it so much easier when we pack.

Packing mantra. A week before you travel, lay out everything you think you will need, the day before cut the amount of clothes in half and then go by the bank and get twice the money you planned. This makes for an excellent trip and I think every time we have traveled, something makes it home without being worn while on vacation.

As you can see there are many reasons to make the list and check them twice. Only thing I won’t do is assign a day to each activity because believe it or not Rob hates that much structure. Roll eyes here…

Odd???

2009-06-25T14:02:00.001-07:00

We had one of the couples in our little travel group pull the plug on going to the island with us this year. No biggie there is always another year but am having issues with getting others to join us. I don’t get it, I shower, we leave our clothes on at the beach, and am not the typical obnoxious American tourist.

It is ODD to us since we love traveling to St Maarten that so many have either backed out or turned us down. I am guessing it is one of two things….either my sterling personality…I can be a travel bear….or our economy. I cant do much about the second part but the first one I can explain. We are a bit adventurous and don’t like being tied down. Criteria for travel with Rob is…you too must rent a car and we wont be spending every waking minute together. There are various reasons for part two of that statement.

1. We all so spend a couple of dollars to get there and we like some couples rejuvenation time while there. This is our yearly escape and we love sharing but aren’t willing to be tour guides for a week.
2. I have started a business that is in its infancy that will require me to be free at certain times of the day.
3. We have some differing interests that will cause us to go our separate ways…such as golf and diving.

I know that I am a bit ODD as I will take any opportunity to head for the islands. In today’s economy many are much more leery of dropping the coin it takes to fly from the middle of the US to the island for a week. I just look at it as this is what I work 50+ weeks a year for…and I will do what ever it takes to get me there!!!!! So I guess it is just me that is ODD. LOL

Hey It’s late why you calling? Oh! OK!!!

2009-06-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Phone rang at 10PM last night…that usually only brings bad news.

Last night was an exception to that rule. It was my buddy saying that they had worked everything out and are definitely in for our fall trip to the islands. Wooo hoo SXM virgins. Get the volcano ready..one, two, oh yeah this is a holiday not a sacrifice…never mind guys, shut off the flames and hike back down the hill. Lets head for the beach instead….and who is bringing the cooler?? By the way just incase you are reading this ...no I'm not bothered that you called at 10 is just a fun way to title my blog.

Actually I have been talking the island up for years and they have been saying we would love to go….my response is one day…guess what!!! That one day is arriving soon. As in this fall. I am excited to have them join the crew this year.

We discussed things like airfare…I already have mine but shared what to look for and setting a price he is comfortable with. When it hits the price buy buy buy and then if satisfied don’t look back cause you will kick yourself when you could have saved another 50 a ticket. Told him I will pick them up at the airport on island with some cold ones ready for their consumption.

So the confirmed crew is now 4 there may be 2 more joining this party with the possibility of another 8 that we know being there in overlapping times. We are in process of scouting out a place to call our own on the beach…with those numbers look out we are bringing it!! LOL Actually we are all pretty quiet and generally respectful folks that wont take over a beach or be obnoxious to others.

Is there anyone else out there that wants to join our party? There is plenty of room on the beach!

Vacation + Daily Schedule = Crazy!!!

2009-06-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

I will stick by the math in the title for planning a vacation. I will plan things like room, airfare, car rental and a couple of activities but in the past have not put a daily schedule together to structure our days. This time I must. Not happy about it but since this is business first for me I will build daily structure but not assign days. My first task this time is not to simply enjoy the trip, it is to gather some marketable photos of places known and unknown on both ST Maarten/Saint Marten and Anguilla.

Yes I am trying to make my mark with art photography. These are not of people but rather nature as well as some man made vistas. So this trip will be photo op + specific daylight = work…bright sun = poorer opportunity so we will then relax or make some contacts for possible product sales.

Guess that means, with the help of my trusty COO and assistant, we will be grouping beach visits together with where we would like to enjoy a bit of the sun for the day…
Here is the only catch, we will be bringing two first time visitor couples with us this trip too.

We do have one item we will want to do with the group, we want to go to FT ST Louis above Marigot and watch the sunset while sharing a bit of wine and cheese. Have been to the fort a few times but never later in the day when the light might give an incredible glow as the sunset occurs.

Planning and Friends for travel

2009-06-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

Met this weekend with some friends/business associates and discussed ST Maarten. They had just come back and found the trip to be very worth while to them. I shared that we in turn had just booked our tickets to go in Nov. He said that they may be returning to the island about the same time. What a blast it would be if they went at the same time we did. We have been trying for years to get together while on island.

There is an outside possibility that some friends of ours from Texas may be on island when we get there too. There is also the chance that yet another one of our friends from the KC area will be there at the same time. This could lead to a couple of VERY fun nights out!!!

Rob’s count of friends on island could be something like 12. There is some economy stimulation for SXM.

We so far have our flights paid and our week long stay on SXM booked. I still need to pay for our stay on Anguilla and a single night on SXM before we go to Anguilla.

Other things left to do is book cars for both islands and the hardest part for me……plan our days. No I am not looking to plan out every minute but we are going with the intent of taking lots of photos for my business. That comes first for us, way before hanging out on the beaches or what non-business meals we may plan.

Our typical plan in the past has been ….make a list of three or four things to do and do them otherwise we get up in the morning and have a conversation that goes something like this….
R says “Hey honey can you help me with sunscreen?”
M says “ Sure let me get that for you.”
R “Hey I need to run by and get my Espresso fix on our way to…..what beach do you want to go to today?”
M “Well, I kind of like the chairs at La String over on Orient, would you mind if we drive across island today”
R “No problem as long as I can stop by Zee Best on our way”
M “Ok, and I have already gotten the cooler ready for some snacks”
R “Cool, lets get outa here so we can enjoy the sun and surf, besides we need to get there and grab front row chairs”
M “ Ok I’m ready lets go”

That is a conversation that goes on almost every morning..just change the name of the beach. This time I will need to work on planning a bit better so we can hit some other photo ops while there.

To say we are getting excited about traveling back to the island is a bit of an understatement but that is what this blog is all about remember!!!

You will see me posting quite a bit more often now that we are booked!!

Book’em Danno!!

2009-06-12T13:58:00.001-07:00

It’s done, we are proud owners of two tickets to paradise…we wont be packing our bags to leave tonight but will however be spending 10 days in island paradise. For us that is three days and nights on Anguilla followed by another 7 on ST Maarten.

My constant monitoring of a couple of travel sites has paid off and in our eyes paid big.
Our tickets were about $50 less than what we paid last year and we were quite happy with those then. The best part is that there will be no overnight travel stays. Ok one, but I don’t consider a night on ST Maarten before going to Anguilla an overnight for travel purpose. We will spend one night on SXM then head to AXA for three days to include something I have wanted to do for years, that would be listening to the pickup reggae band at Gwen’s on Sunday afternoon. We will then return to SXM for a week.

This will give me more than plenty of opportunities to shoot all the photos I need for an upcoming project.

Did I wait just a bit too long?

2009-06-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

This morning I did my usual perusal of prices on flights from Kansas City to ST Maarten.
We are going! It will be in early November now here is the rum, er rub!! Last week I priced airfare and found the perfect flight…and price for us. KC to Dallas, overnight and see some friends and then next morning Dallas to SXM. Return would all be in one day. Price for 2..rt with taxes $1200. This week, price of gas is up 18 cents a gallon cause it is driving season again. Same flight, $1350. I am experienced enough to know that the prices will fluctuate and will wait a couple more weeks to monitor but I am now ready to make that purchase.

On a more fun note, I am now exploring new products to add to my hopefully soon to be published website. At this point I have photos and some logo wear but my stock is growing. Hope to have a few products other than just photos. More on this one to come in later blogs....

Entertaining Caribbean style!!

2009-05-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend. What does that mean. Usually more time to lay around, do yard work and oh yeah the pools open. This year, we have some friends coming in from out of town. This couple has been asked to go to the islands with us this fall. Actually they are one of two couples we are planning to introduce to ST Maarten D.W.I!!!!

We are going to invite them over for a Caribbean dinner and I am excited. Looking to make chicken on the grill. I will use charred coal instead of charcoal briquettes. We will make peas & rice, coleslaw maybe some plantains…if I can find them here. Rum punch/painkillers and of course some kind of rum dessert. A simple meal really but it will bring us back to the little restaurants on the beaches that serve meals like this.

We will toss in a dvd of pix shot on island and see what they think.. We are really hoping that they do decide to come along with us. That would make three couples around the same age…give or take a few but when you are our age around becomes an ever expanding circle. Same general interests and all three guys have the same sense of humor. That is good for the guys as we will feed off of each other….uh oh….a bunch of late 40 somethings on spring break!!!! The women are all nice and should get along as well.

Been following flights and trying to bring my wife in on the decision about what day to leave and what time. Including where we will overnight on the way down or if we will.

There are several options…leaving in evening after work….overnight in Chicago…this is November so I don’t like that idea. Overnighting in Miami with a flight that is thru Chicago or…..leave KC at 6am and get to SXM at about 10pm. The last one has a 5 hour layover in good ole San Juan. Then for a few dollars more, we can fly thru Dallas, that would be a much easier flight for us as I don’t want to go north in the winter or late fall to head south.

Hold it…hold it….almost, not quite!!

2009-04-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

We came close to buying two tickets to paradise this week. Found a pair of round trip tickets from Chicago O’Hare for $375 including tax. This is for a November trip so we have a little time. (even with acceptable departure and arrival times)

There are three reasons I didn’t pull the trigger,
1. tickets will go on sale again.
2. we are traveling with two other couples and would kind of like to go together …they aren’t ready to buy tickets yet.
3. there is concern for jobs right here in river city especially mine…LOL.

If the new management of the company that is buying us wants to keep me then rock on….Nov travel it is. If not…it may be travel in June. I have a list of tasks I need to do on island and I will do it for sure sooner or later.

Needless to say I didn’t buy the tickets but like the white shark hunting seals…I am out there and waiting for that one fat slow seal to slip into the water for dinner…Hey air fare I’m out there and I’m waiting!!!!!! I will be successful and capture my prey.

The clock keeps moving forward towards our trip!!

2009-04-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Ok we have 28 weeks from today….man, that sounds like a long way off….we will be in ST Maarten!

Looks as if we have two couples going with us.

The couples differ in interests but will I am sure get along just fine. Besides, this trip is not an all join hands and do everything together type of trip. As a matter of fact my thought on this is there will be probably 2 or 3 times when we will all be together. First will be a day trip to Anguilla unless one of the couples just doesn’t want to go and the second will be watching a sunset from the fort above the French town of Marigot.

We may all go to the same beach the same day and have a few adventures together but I just don’t see this being a lock step vacation. One couple eats gourmet…and are they in luck!! The other golf and wants to Scuba. Honestly I feel real good about this trip and think that we will have lots of fun and I will get a lot of things done that I want to do!

Rob’s list of things to do is pretty simple.

Each morning I will be on a different beach either as the sun comes up or not too long after taking plenty of landscape pictures. Every day from about 9:30 to 4 I will do what my wife wants ….as in she picks the beach and we RELAX. After 4 till the sun goes down I will again be shooting lots of pix of the island. Then dinner and drinks and repeat only difference being it is another day.

I am going to the island for two purposes, one is to relax and the other is to get some specific photos so I can put some creativity to work and put together a special photography project that may be marketable.

Have been watching flights and the prices are good right now but will hold out till a bit later in the summer to purchase our flights. We are going to try to fly with either one or both couples, something we have never done but which would add to the general excitement for at least the arrival leg of our journey.

You can’t get there from here

2009-04-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

Ok you can but not in a very direct or at all thrifty way.
What am I talking about you might ask? Getting to ST Maartin (airport code SXM) from Kansas City (KC or airport code MCI).

We are looking to book our annual trip to the islands mon!! My preference is to head immediately south or southeast of KC especially in the fall of the year. It can be a bit chilly otherwise and frankly I just don’t want to pack cold weather clothes.

My search of airports going into SXM have led me to the following key airports….
Airport Flight price
Kansas City (MCI) ** $557
Chicago OHare (ORD) ** $365
ST Louis (STL) ** $512
Detroit (DTW) ** $501
Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) ** $602
Minneapolis (MSP) ** $501
Washington DC- Dulles (IAD) ** $415
Atlanta (ATL) ** $562
Orlando (MCO) ** $536
FT Lauderdale (FLL) ** $475
Boston (BOS) ** $485
Philadelphia (PHL) ** $358
New York (JFK) $425
Charlotte (CLT) $402
Newark (EWR) $414
Miami (MIA) $504
** is not non-stop

It is cheapest to fly from Chicago for us but there is still another $120 each to get to Chicago and then would have to transfer from one airport to the other or an 8 hour drive but then we are looking at work time lost and parking a car for a week at the airport.

I did not look at cut rate airlines like Jet Blue as they don’t book that far out yet.

Working the battle of my bulge!!

2009-03-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

What a weekend. We got a nice little snow storm that dumped 5” or so of snow on Saturday and Sunday it was close to 50. The nice thing is all the melt has turned everything VERY green here.

While snowed in CB and I got into a conversation ….uh oh…. Actually this was a good one. We decided to both make a conscience effort at losing some very unwanted pounds. With this we decided to incent the process. Don’t have all the incentives laid out but CB is looking at about 10lbs while king chunk is looking at about 40lbs. So at every 10lbs there will be a reward for the chunkster…where they will be every few lbs for the lady of the house.

We have since thrown ourselves into a workout plan that has left me happy but a bit sore..LOL. I have even hit the treadmill, this is the thing I dislike the most but will drop more weight than lifting which we are doing too. It helps that she has personal trainer background…but when she gets into business mode I tend to fade as I prefer to see my wife as a nice and sweet lady not the drill instructor that comes out in her when we exercise. Our eldest has joined us so that helps to keep it a bit light and our youngest is discussing doing the same. Family time is a good thing….ha.

The deck has been re-shuffled

2009-03-26T13:17:00.001-07:00

I made my last post confirming that we had booked our rooms for ST Maarten. Had two other couples scheduled to go with us. One couple had a contingency plan that was enacted so they decided to back out but another couple may be stepping up to take their spot. Here is the rub for a couple of us. I think I shared before the same issue that is happening all over America may be hitting home. Our company has been purchased so 4 of us wont know if we have jobs or not for the next 4-6 weeks. Based on that outcome I do believe we can start looking to purchase flights.

If we are let go…the trip goes from three couples to one…us, and will be moved to a much earlier date than November. Like as soon as I can book!! I do have some business ideas that will take a bit of time to develop…but once up and running I am pretty sure will provide at least some income for near term…and hopefully support me in the long term. That said some of it will be based in ST Maarten so I need to get back there to complete the next level of my plans. I hope beyond hope that things work well and all three couples can go. This will make for a very fun trip.

Still watching airfare and waiting on sales to hit. It looks as if I had to book today we would fly from Chicago rater than Dallas or NYC or even Charlotte. So would be commuter flight from KC to Chicago and then Chicago to Miami and on to the island.
I have a magic number set in my head and if they get there I pull the trigger even if I am not sure about weather or not I will still have a job.

Step one complete

2009-03-16T13:40:00.001-07:00

Its starting to happen! Woo Hoo!!

Have gotten a hard conformation from one set of friends and a soft one for yet another to come along to the islands with us this November. Today I booked 3 rooms at our resort! Rob is a very happy camper. We have rooms, next up is the flights!

I needed this today, things are good but at this time of the year we are used to tanning and getting ready to pack for our trip..now the wheels are in motion. Look out island we have you in our sites and are ready to head that way.

Getting a room is pretty small but I cant believe how happy it made me…is like the first robin you see late in the Winter that tells you Spring is on its way. Next up is coordinating flights for 3 couples….heck I should open a travel business..LOL

I’ve got what may be a terminal case of RIF!

2009-03-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

It has bee ll months since our last visit and Rob has a bad case of RIF! What is RIF? It is Reverse Island Fever. I say reverse because we used to live on Oahu and Island fever was the want to get off that rock! This is Reverse of that….I think Jimmy Buffett said it best….”I gotta go to ST Somewhere” and my somewhere is ST Maarten.

We usually go in April but this year it just isn’t the best of ideas (see interpretation as not enough money and hoping to hang on to my job in a merging company) so we are looking at traveling in November instead….Oh NOOOOOOOOO! Hope I can make it that long.

This does however give me the opportunity to put together some photo-art sales ideas. I have a couple up my sleeve and now that it is getting warmer outside I am starting to get a bit more motivated about getting things set up and hopefully get my little business off the ground.

So now we have picked the month and I am looking at our flights….prices are pretty reasonable. Next will be pull the trigger and start the official countdown to return. Yes I have invited some friends but at this point have no idea if they will accept the offer and go or not. We shall see!!

Trip time is getting closer….

2009-03-02T13:23:00.001-08:00

We have discussed travel to the island this year with several friends and have two couples that may be interested. We will pay our fees within the next week and look to pin down a date in November and then book the rooms. This little positive change has made things look up for us both.

We got about 5 or so inches of surprise snow this weekend and spent a lot of that time discussing our trip. Rob feels as if there has been some stress lifted off his shoulders.
I am facing the possibility of a layoff but at this point I am trying to get a business up and running. I have the ideas and now need to follow thru to turn my little venture into a hopefully profit making company. A big part of that will be another trip to the island so I can capture the photos I need to put some real teeth into my business. Right now I am selling one off pictures and only in SXM. That makes things a bit tuff to make it big but I have the right ideas and plans now I just need to put things into place with a follow up trip , unfortunately it looks as if November is as soon as I can get back on island.....better Nov than not at all though!!!

We also found a new toy this weekend, ok, not new but new to us. Wife and I have stepped out into social networking and have put up pages on facebook. Lots of fun!

Battle of the Bulge

2009-02-10T10:43:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I started my own Battle of the Bulge. No not a World War II slug it out battle with the Axis powers rather a slug it out battle with my waist or is that waste line.

We have just over 8 months till we board a plane to the tropics again and today the only being I would be able to swim with might be Shamu! Rob has gotten a bit round in the middle. So here is what I am doing about it. I am cheating!! Have successfully lost some serious weight in the past….well, it took years for it to come back but I did lose it!

I always have an issue with the start of my change of eating habits and exercise. Seems the first three weeks nothing comes off no matter how hungry I keep myself and how much I run, jog, walk or even lift. So this time I am cheating a bit. I have gotten one of the over the counter appetite suppressants. It is in many of the fitness magazines and have even seen ads for it on air. Point being it is a booster shot to start. They recommend 8 weeks on their product along with exercise and diet. What the heck if I can get an extra 5 lbs at the start it is worth it to me.

Daily I am drinking about 120oz of water…10 glasses. Started on 9 Feb with some exercise and will get in at least 3 days a week and try to get on the treadmill daily. Guess if I get on the treadmill before I log on to my computer or turn on the tv that might motivate me a bit. The appetite suppressant has so far worked, I am not hungry much at all however there is a bit of side affect. I wont be getting much sleep. Woke at 430 this morning. If this happens tomorrow morning, I may just go and get on the treadmill and knock that out earlier in the day. Now eating habits have to change, I need to cut out sugar and most starches and eat veggies (yuck) and lean meat with a bit of whole grain to supplement. My weaknesses are sugar and starch….so no fun for Rob on this one. Goal is at least 40 lbs by fall. Hoping for a loss closer to 50 lbs. Yes I certainly have 50 to shed.

If you do read the blog and you are around me in the next probably 4 weeks…then please cut me a bit of slack cause I am sure I wont be the most pleasant of people as I get accustomed to my new eating lifestyle. The reward for me is not only cosmetic but I do have a family history of diabetes and heart conditions so carrying an extra 50 lbs is not doing me any favors at all.

Travel tip we picked up from a friend

2009-02-04T13:23:00.001-08:00

This weekend we visited with some friends that frequent ST Maarten too. In fact his brother owns Halsey’s a very good restaurant in the Simpson Bay area. We met them for dinner and drinks. While talking about the island we moved to “who do you use to book your airfare”. He shared that he built his own profile for flights to SXM via Chicago. I told him that Chicago O’Hare is one of my least favorite airports. Actually it is not so much the airport but rather where the city is located and the time of year that we travel.

We normally head to the islands as you may have read….in April/May or November. Both being months in the midst of seasonal changes in that part of the country…can end up with pretty ugly weather from wind ( it is the windy city you know) to big thunderstorms and even that ugly snow and ice. Ok have digressed enough.

My friend John shared that they use Travelocity and via their profile have set price points and get email when the fares drop to or below those points. So guess what Rob did then next morning…yup you guessed it. Logged on and went directly to Travelocity.com to set up our profile. I set up three…woo hoo. KC to SXM Chicago to SXM and my favorite, Dallas to SXM. We can get to both big D and the windy city pretty cheaply so I set all three up. Sure enough this morning Travelocity sent me an email alert. Fares from Chicago at $269 + taxes. Much better than I have ever gotten them. We have been to the island several times and never for less than $600 and that was without the expense of room in NYC or Charlotte for an overnight layover.

Ok, so I wont pull the trigger today, but here is to hoping that with fare price fluctuation I hit it again on a day in which it makes it worth my while.

Been a while this is a long one!

2009-01-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hi all or maybe the one or two that read my blog.
It has been a long, long time since I have blogged. Made it thru the holiday season though we are probably one of 4 families left in the US with their tree still up. We went from holidays to the cold, flu and repertory distress season. Seem to be just surfacing from that so now we can look forward to the more positive.

The bride and I have been in discussion about our yearly trip to the islands. By now we usually are paying for our fake bake tans to prepare us for out April trip. This alone sometimes gets us thru the end of January and all of February before the longest and to me worst month of the year MARCH.

Tangent…..why Rob doesn’t like March. I don’t like March for many reasons. In the planes states the weather goes crazy….snow, sleet, ice, hail thunder storms return ….strong winds and 50 degree temp swings are just a few of the crazy weather issues. Oh yeah 31 calendar days of this mess with no vacation days involved. It usually is the month we are trying to get thru so we can head to the islands too so I pretty much am not a big lover of March. Now for the good parts of March….march Madness, the ST Pattys Day beer tour at Old Chicago and at least a day or two where Rob and a few others can wear shorts outside without freezing your proverbial backside off. That’s about it!!! Tangent over….

On a 3 hour car trip that the two of us recently were on we discussed great things like the economy and our jobs as we both are working for a company that is going thru a merger. This led us to the decision that we both simply despise. Time to postpone our trip….Noooooo. As of today I have officially been given back my shoe laces and even belt and hear rumors that the Rob suicide watch may be cancelled. (ok folks I know that wasn’t in the best of taste but I do try to add a bit of humor in my posts).

We have settled on the month of our return to the island but still need to pick out a week.

That is being hampered by our fantabulous new timeshare company…seems that they think a 40% increase in fees annually isn’t much of an issue and of course they are due the same time our car tags, Christmas and worst yet property taxes on the house are due, so bet you cant guess who gets the last check!!!! And on another sad point, the money tree that we planted in the back yard has either gone dormant or gulp..died! So the timeshare will just have to wait their turn cause we settled on a new plan in September…no more credit card usage. This means we will use what we have at hand and spending will come from our debit card for major purchases like airline tickets. Ok, that was tangent #2, back to regularly discombobulated ramblings.

So we know we will be going back to the island in November. Have been there before in Nov and though a bit wetter than in April, the water is warm and everything was very green so we have tentative dates set…at least in our heads for Nov. Woo hoo now I know that previously discussed watch has been cancelled.

So here comes the lists……

1. we want to bring at least one couple with us….but who
2. pay timeshare fees no matter how exorbitant they may be
3. book room
4. watch flights
5. see what friends will be on island (this will lead to decision making on activities we will do during our visit)
6. my small (ok at this point microscopically small) business is off the ground so will be time to see where we can get some of my items in some of the boutiques’ there on island
7. prepare samples for island visit

There will be more listing I am sure. I do go out of turn on my list as I will as you know from previous posts follow airfare between Feb and probably summer time when I will eventually pull the trigger.

My resolution to my blog….I will post more frequently than once a month ……ciao!!!

I don’t care what the calendar says!!

2008-12-15T13:17:00.000-08:00

I know the official start of winter is 6 days away but when we woke up yesterday it was 60 degrees, when we went to bed there was half an inch of sleet and snow and the temp was single digit. It is now lunch time the following day and is a balmy 4 degrees today.

This is February weather, not December! It is officially winter here..GRRRRRR

Now the Caribbean jonesing really starts. Rob and Mary don’t have an official trip booked and planned yet but trust me about two more days of this cold crap and I will be trying to figure the cost of a 200+ pound package to ST Maarten via UPS….will of course have to be an overnighter…probably as much as a freaking plane ticket…..

Speaking of plane tickets, a few short months ago a ticket to our beloved SXM was in the range of 1400 a person. No I am not calculating this in Yen but in good ole devalued US Dollars. Last week I was looking on line and the same tickets were 540 each….much better. We are used to 550 to 700 rt per person. This is however the holiday and tax season for us and we are like many in America, at this point we are refusing to use credit cards so I will have to wait to buy our tickets for a while.

I think we are going to ask a couple of other couples if they would like to go the same time we do. It is fun to travel with others. While on island, it is go and do what you want as we will be doing the same but traveling to the island is so much fun when planning together. We will see how it goes, if they say they would like to go or not.

Bitching, Moaning and Complaints

2008-11-21T11:04:00.001-08:00

Hi all, Been falling down on my blog a bit.
Guess when there isn’t much nice to say we shouldn’t say much at all.

Complaints…
Is the holiday season again, so many folks get geared up and all excited…Rob gets the blues. I think it is more seasonal affective stuff as in….less sun, no warm weather and a huge outlay of money from November thru January. We have same things others do…car tags, house taxes and they holidays, then comes the thing I am most steamed about this year. The dreaded (yes, we did it to ourselves) Timeshare maintenance fees.

When we purchased our timeshare 10 years ago it was pretty reasonable…as in under $500 for dues, fees and what ever else. During that time we have twice “upgraded” Ha!!
Now we still are paying off the timeshare and our fees have seriously almost tripled in the last 3 years. Doesn’t help that the TS company is now owned by a different company that wants to compete with the likes of Hilton but can only do that by hammering those who own currently.

My two cents worth…….what ever you do….DO NOT BUY TIMESHARE!!!!!!!!
Lesson learned, Don’t get me wrong we love the place we stay and enjoy going there and yes do use it each year but OUCH….am not a rocket scientist….the price of staying and yes we fly from KC to the Caribbean, is as much as two round trip tickets to the island of ST Maarten. What we pay to pay off our loan will more than pay for a nice hotel or maybe even a small villa on island….leaving me with the same out of pocket…BEFORE I have purchased the tickets now. Rob has learned an expensive lesson.

Ok now for the good…
We will be hanging out with some friends tonight that frequent the island as well. We will be talking about going back in most likely May of 09. This couple is fun and like us self sufficient while on island so we can all cut loose and have our own great time and hook up for a day or so and probably a couple of dinners. We are also working on seeing if another couple may be interested as well. More to come on this but it does look like we will be heading towards the tropics late this spring….

Is the HMS Antilles Treasures the new Flying Dutchman?

2008-10-29T09:00:00.001-07:00

Doubt it!!

We had our third annual Pirates and Wenches party last Saturday evening.
It was fun but ye ole cap’n felt like at the end of the party that the ship had been scuttled and sunk, now lying on some un mapped reef.
If it is to reemerge from the depths of Davey Jones’s locker for a fourth year, at this point the cap’n would be totally shocked.

No the party wasn’t bad but like the trilogy of Pirates of the Caribbean movies…this one may have played out ….run aground. We had a good time with only a few minor incidents but what party that is based on costumes and booze doesn’t have a hiccup or two? Some of our regular crew attended and some of them were shanghaied. We had some new visitors too and I think for the most part they had a pretty good time. I will soon be posting a real story and pix of the party on line at my website.

Now on to the next adventure….time to start thinking about our return to the islands. This time it will be a bit more business. I have been fortunate enough to place some of my pictures in one of the shoppes in Grand Case on French ST Martin, so when we return it will be to shoot even more pix and find new places that I can work with to host my prints.

Looking to return in late May of 2009 so if there are any out there that still read my blog….I will start posting about my Caribbean obsession soon. Already looking at prices of flights and they are running in the 6-700 range from my home town with an overnight layover in either New York or Chicago….am hoping to wait it out and find one thru Dallas and or Miami…but we shall see.

Been a while

2008-10-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

Its been a couple of crazy weeks for Rob. The new baby in the house is lots of fun but he has pretty much captured our focus day in and day out. This has led me to let a few things slide. 1. posting weekly on my blog, 2. updating my website and 3. working on my personal business. The third of the three is the most concerning to me as I was hoping to be further along with it than I am today.

We do have an upcoming event that has in many ways become a beast to us. Our annual Pirate Party. This will be our third year to host. The ship’s crew grows yearly and this year is certainly no exception. Looks like we may have to open a second deck for this one. We will have guests from all over our home port of Kansas City as well as some other ports a bit further away. We have found out that a couple of our long distance pirates wont be making this year’s sailing. One had a much better offer and is off to sail Lake Tahoe that week and the other just couldn’t get out of some plans in Dallas to make it up for this event. While in discussion about the upcoming party one of my friends pointed out that we will be 9 days from the Presidential election. That being said we will have crew members from both sides of politics so we created some party rules to keep from having a battle royal. Politics and liquor make for a bit too much party…

The rules are pretty much common sense but I will have no mutiny on my ship…LOL
Here be the rules;

Pirates Code III

1. No INK No Entry….this is a non negotiable. If ye arrive for this cruise without ink, ye will be provided with opportunity to partake or receive the dreaded black spot.
2. Grog provided and dispensed by the Cap’n, ye don’t like rum? Ye may wish to bring yer own spirits.
3. Grub is the price of entry, bring enough to share with yer maties and be creative (but no Salmagundi……)
4. The HMS Antilles Treasures is a no smoking ship…Don’t want the grog to ignite nor any of the stores in the hold to be damaged so if ye need to exchange the air in ye lungs for that be a bit more cloudy….all smoking must be done on land and away from all points of entry
5. Leave yer politics on the dock, Ye talk politics…..yer choices be to get marooned or ye walk the plank…..there be no brawling over donkeys and elephants on this ship.
6. No, and the Cap’n means, NO porcelain party crashers or any similar ballast shall be brought aboard nor dockside!! There be no need for a ship’s buffoon or jester. Don, ye filthy bilge rat ye reading this?
7. Please bring a designated oarsman the grog be stout and plentiful and we want no DUI’s once ye go ashore.
8. Ye be flogged for excessive or overt displays of affection. Though we be pirates we be discreet ones, if ye get an itch that ye need scratched….shove off and set sail for another port. All booty will be surrendered on shore only.
9. Landlubbers (no pirate costume) be welcome but be required to lead a toast of the Cap’n & crew
10. Ye break it ye buy it!!! See Cap’n for inflated pricing information….remember Rob's a Pirate!!

More Drake

2008-09-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures of baby Drake. He is such a joy and a very good baby. His only bad habit is he likes to be awake from 3 to 6 AM each morning. There are more pictures here... http://picasaweb.google.com/AXARob05/Drake#

Hello Grandma and Grandpa

2008-09-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

It finally happened. The stork has landed. Our bundle of joy came into the world last night. Yes, our first grandchild blessed us with his arrival last night. Everyone is healthy and very happy.

For those interested
Born 9:15 PM September 11, 2008
Boy
Name; Drake
Weight; 7.6 lbs
Length; 19.5 inches

I tell you all this because I truly want to yell from the mountain tops that we are new, first time grandparents. We are proud of little Drake and I am sure will spoil him rotten. Drake’s mommy and daddy are doing quite well and both giddy as well, however, I do understand that the D-man likes to play at night and kept his parents up quite a bit last night.

I got to hold him last night…not much more than an hour old….Grandpa had his first baby teachings. I shared with Drake that he should save his first poo for when mommy was out of the room for a min or two and fill his diaper as full as he can then smile big at his daddy so dear ole pops could have to change that nasty little toxic waste dump in his diaper. So now that lesson one is taught, it will be time for more teachings…..like no dinner until you eat all your candy. Ok, I’ll save that one till he is at least two LOL.

Lots of Planning

2008-08-26T12:34:00.001-07:00

Hi all, I took a little break from blogging and even updating my website.
Have lots going on and just didn’t have the umph to take the time to do updating.

We will be first time grandparents any day now. We love the kids but they are currently living with us….and it is a bit more difficult than any thought it would be. Have had other personal stuff going on as well and most is starting to wind down so I have a bit more spirit today than have had for a while.

We are looking to make a return to the islands in late May 2009. Hope I can survive that long…LOL. It is looking as if we will go to the island with a different set of friends this year. This couple is very experienced at travel to ST Maarten so would be more of someone to eat dinner with or have cocktails with in the evening. Perfect for us, allowing us lots of time to ourselves as well as some company. Both couples have started small businesses so we will spend part of our time working on our businesses as well as some time soaking up the sun.

Our business is getting off the ground, had a meeting with a business owner who has an on island shop but lives in Dallas TX. Flew down and spent a couple of hours with him. He likes my product and is coming to KC in October to view and make a decision on his interest level. All looks positive at this point.

We also have our yearly Pirate (don’t read this part Mary) and Wenches party. It will be October 25th. This is a hoot but takes some planning and costuming on our part. This year I have decided that part of the theme is everyone will be tattooed, this could be either a temporary or permanent or there is a third option…..a sharpie tattoo…
This will be a fun one and will be lots more coming on the party front.

Be careful what you write, you never know who is reading

2008-07-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hi Mom!!!! LOL, that give you all enough of a hint??

I recently documented my adventures in adding a bit of ink and getting a new tattoo.

I didn’t give it a second thought…heck I’ll be 45 in a couple of weeks. I called my mom the other day and she caught me a bit off guard and asked “How come you didn’t tell me about the tattoo?” Wha???? Oh yeah I posted it on my blog…duhhhh

I laughed and she said that my sister was poking around on my site and gave my mom one of those…..”do you know what your son did” statements. Ahhhh sibling rivalry even at our advanced ages…LOL Just kidding ya, Princess Pontiac!!!!

Long and short is my Mom, sister and her friend have been added to the list of guests….now how about it Bob? You gonna dress as a pirate and come to the party too???

All is good, honestly I never thought that they would be interested. A great time will be had by all……and if not then; be it mate or wench they be walkin the plank….those scurvey dogs that they be.

We will be hosting in KC and will have pirates from Missouri, Kansas and possibly Texas as well.

Happy Anniversary to AXARob.com

2008-07-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today is AXARob.com’s second anniversary. Yes two short years ago I first published the site with a few pix. It has grown up a bit since then and now has several stories, a few maps and lots of pix of ST Maarten, Anguilla and San Salvador Island in the Bahamas and my bit of local flare…Pirate parties. Have had just a bit over 18,000 hits in the two years the site has been up so must have something of interest here….

I do it for no other reason than I enjoy it. It is fun to create and hopefully my sharing will make others smile and get a few minutes of escape. I’m no Jimmy Buffett but I do enjoy that escape syndrome that keep so many of us coming back to the islands over and over and over again.

If I can share something that helps another smile or gives them an idea that may save them time or money then I have in turn done at least a bit of good with my little site for fun. Besides when I am messing with my site I am not finding any trouble out there..ha.

As I have posted several times we are on the verge of posting another site that will be on the business end in hopes that maybe just maybe I can sell some pix to help me find my way back to the islands and to share with others the beauties of the islands thru my eye.

Again happy anniversary to www.axarob.com

No Ink No Entry

2008-07-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Pirate party is set and an invitation has been posted to my website.
http://axarob.com/18.html

The party theme this year is No Ink No Entry and I do mean no ink no entry....but we will provide an "artist/ink slinger" armed with several sharpies. Refusal of ink means you dont get in! You can either have perma-ink like many of us or a temp you choose if neither of those works out...hang on for the sharpie..

Here is a sample of what one could display;

Several of us went out and had this permanently applied. Mine with a captains hat eldest son with a red bandana and his girlfriend with just the skull and crossbones. There is a fourth, one of son's friends with crossed rum bottle.

We are already discussing set up of the part. This year we are expecting a bit more diversity and a larger attendance too.

There will be plenty more to come on this subject....

Drink up me 'earties yo ho!!!!

Time to plan our annual party

2008-07-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

It is time to plan the third annual Pirates & Wenches.

We have a title for the party and have two weekends in mid to late October chosen.
Still have to narrow to one weekend.

Title….. No ink, no entry.
I will provide temporary tattoos for all who have not dared to see a tattoo artist.

We will of course provide the grog again this year but the wench of the ship has convinced the ole cap’n to tone town the punch a bit. It is both very expensive to make as well as it catches some of the crew a bit by surprise…have warned all that a designated driver is essential but some didn’t listen so we will have to ease up on the quantities of liquor in the punch bowl.

Looks like this years party will be a biggun too. All the regulars from the past and sounds as if several more of our friends would like to attend…who knows maybe we will make the requirement for real ink. That would limit the crowd significantly. I know we have friends from Dallas and St Louis that are talking of making it out to the party.

I truly don’t understand how it has grown so much. The party has become a legend of its own. We enjoy hosting but I am honestly thinking this year we may have to open different parts of the house to accommodate all.

More coming I am sure

Piratude!!!

2008-06-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

What is piratude? For me it is a combination of a few things…one that desire to be somewhere in the Caribbean sipping on some kind of rum drink with my toes firmly entrenched in the sand. Two is that devil may care attitude….life is short and I wanna live it to the fullest…sometimes that fullness spills over the edge just a bit. Three, fun, challenging and different are the keys…if it is fun then it is worth investigating…if it is something personally challenging I may be interested and if it is different than I can do or be here in flyover country it may catch my attention As long as what ever activity it is hurts no one else, is not offensive to others and isn’t illegal or immoral then I will consider it.

This can include a list like;
Scuba diving then going over 100’ deep, swimming with sharks
Repelling
Swimming in a cenote and underground river in Mexico
Ziplining
Tattoos
Piercing ..ok only ear but still

Basically I have faced some fears big or small and working thru them and for the most part found that I had a great time working thru them.

I did the piratical thing last night full tilt….I went out and got a new tattoo….one of a skull and crossbones…wearing a captains hat. I got inked with our eldest son who got a very similar tattoo as well as some of his friends. This wasn’t one of my most mature actions but I did it none the less. Have been talking of getting a new tattoo for years.

I don’t regret the tattoo nor its location….on my ribcage just below my arm pit. I will however say it was not the easiest place to get inked. It hurt a bit more than I expected it to but was not by any means unbearable. Pix to be posted later.

Good News!!

2008-06-17T06:42:00.000-07:00

I want to keep all my friends that read this blog updated.....

All none of you…LOL!

I have finally filed paperwork with my home state and now am the proud owner of my very own LLC. Antilles Treasures LLC. My business will consist of photo sales…done thru a professional printing studio, calendars and a coffee table book or two about ….yup you guessed it. The Antilles, (specifically Anguilla and St Maarten at this point) I will also have some logo wear for sale. The offering will be hats and shirts with the logo stitched on them to start. Along with the logo the shirts will have a small lizard stitched somewhere on each shirt the stitching will be the same color as the shirt resulting in a camouflaged entity in a different spot on each shirt.

I am now moving forward to work on the website and delivery of the products. I have picked a vendor to put together the photo products and one to provide seamstress work too. Now it is up to Rob to get things up on the web and get things running. Yes I have already purchased the website name. The site will be antillestreasures.com There is nothing there yet but that is one of the next two or three things I have to do.

This will be a fun business opportunity. It may not grow much at all or it may take off.
I think the key for me will be to get product into some stores on the islands.

As I look thru the masses of my pictures I have recognized one thing for sure, I don’t have enough pix…LOL. This means our next trip will be much more of a working trip than even the last one was. Oh well, Mary has bought in on the business so back to SXM and AXA we will go. Woo Hoo and so the obsession with traveling to the island continues..

the Vacation Race has begun

2008-06-11T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hey, I didnt know this was a high hurdles race!!!

Hi all, Its been a while since I have blogged. There is lots going on but only part of it is aimed at our next trip to the islands. We are still thinking of next April or May for our return but there have already been some hurdles tossed out onto the vacation track. Guess Rob will learn the hurdles quickly. The Airlines seem to be the ones that have snuck out and placed these gargantuan hurdles on the track. They are cutting routes, decommissioning planes and now charging for everything but use of the bathroom. Hey don’t get any ideas there!!!! Unfortunately this is the price of doing business today. I will be watching pricing on airfare from now till I choose to pull the trigger on tickets.

Part of the issue is it looks like they are changing our favorite route..the KC to Dallas leg looks as if it will now go thru….ready for this? Chicago!!! So in order to fly 500 miles south I now have to fly 500 miles north…I know this somehow makes business sense to AA but not so much to Rob as I will now have to make one more connection and add several hours to my flight time. We in the past have tried to avoid O’Hare if at all possible because of the chance of heavy storms when we usually travel and we have had to land in heavy wind as well as sit on the tarmac for hours waiting for a storm to pass. We like going south first. Limits those weather issues. Guess my choices are fly a different airline or get over the hurdle. Ok I am stretching and warming up now…LOL

We will have an addition to our family in September and am not too sure how the lady of the house will feel about leaving a grandchild for a couple of weeks but we will see here too….Ok stretched out and now jogging in place…but just about ready for the race.

Will be touching base with some friends this weekend…we shall see if they are interested in going the same time we go to the islands.

We are now fighting a bit with our timeshare folks as some things happened that were unacceptable while we were on island. I sent them a letter pointing out the issues as well as what I would like to see and they have not yet been kind enough to acknowledge that they even got the letter…..but Rob sent it return receipt requested so I do know that they got the letter. I am a patient man but will take action if they wont work with me.

So at this point I am stretched out warmed up and ready to run the vacation race even with some substantial hurdles in the way. I will explain some more of the hurdles in later posts.

Tick, tick tick…..

2008-05-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Is the sound of my mind gearing up for another season of planning our next vacation. There have already been a few obstacles thrown in the way but it is very early so those wont be too hard to sidestep or hurdle.

We have learned about taking friends and will still be inviting others to go with us. Each trip we discuss this very issue and every time we agree that it is more fun with friends there.

My buddy BBDJohn has accompanied us twice and will most likely continue to travel to our vacation getaway with us.

We are in negotiations…LOL ok, discussion with another of our friends about going together. If we do it will be into May that we will return to the island instead of or normal April journey. I don’t like waiting a few more weeks but would love to travel with this set of friends. Jeff and Bonnie are another couple from the Kansas City area that we hang out with. We get together once every two or three months and converse about family and our obsession with (ok the guys have the obsession) the island. When we are going back and what we are going to do. We are both developing business that is based on the island/s and are having fun with that too.

Soooooo we will either be going back to the island around April 15th or May 15th only issue I have with going later is we are starting to build a group of friends that are on island in mid-April and want to see them again next year. If Rob is forced to choose…..it will be….drum roll please…….. Our KC friends. To all my on island friends, sorry guys.

I am thinking this year of getting a group of studio rooms at our resort as we had some difficulties with last year’s reservations. If we get a studio I know what I will be getting and wont be disappointed. Besides I can wait till later in the year to get the studio rooms, as in once our airfare is booked.

Now for some good news….. Mary started back to work this week. This after a 6 week forced hiatus. I think she liked being away from work for a while but was ready to go back. Not so sure that this contract is for her but is only 5 months so we will be fine with it. Even better news. We are to become first time grandparents this fall. Will be early September. Mary and I couldn’t be happier as we are still young but ready for the Grandparent mode. I have already determined that I will be Grandpa Candy once they are old enough…..

Well enough for now…

Edit, Edit, Edit....Proof, Proof, Proof

2008-05-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

Life has gotten to a place where I can now spend some "qulity time" looking at all the pix I took while on vacation. I shot somewhere between 1500 and 2000 on this trip. Yes, I am a photo-bug. I find shooting pix a great way to relax and to see my vacation thru a different eye.

I had a great time and even got a few chuckles from my wife as I looked like a monkey going berserk changing filters and lenses to catch the same shot in different ways. No I won’t be shooting with two cameras in the future but I can see why folks do. Process was set camera take pic, change lens, take another then change filter....repeat, repeat, repeat!

Because I shot in burst mode, there are many duplicates, I have trimmed out the ones I am not fond of and am now going thru and pulling out the ones slightly out of focus or not framed correctly.

Last night I did a quick keeper review and copied about 200 pix into a new folder and will work with them to make those pix the best I can. I will be burning a disk or two to share with some friends to help me narrow down this list further. My goal here is to select about 100 pix or so of the two islands to merge with some pix from years past.

My thought process is to then make a coffee table book of our “Antilles Treasures” memories.

I know I am not a professional photographer but do very much enjoy shooting and will be taking my hobby to a new level in upcoming weeks, months and years.

With our previous trips I had a lot of editing to do to my pix to sharpen images and bring out some colors. I am amazed that with the new camera there is very little I have done or will do to the pix other than possibly to crop and Photoshop out some people. I like to see the beauty of beaches minus the heads bobbing in the surf if possible. Photoshop lets me do this with just a little effort.

Oh, what a difference a good camera makes

2008-05-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have followed my little odyssey thru this blog, you know I got my hands on a D-SLR camera for our trip to Anguilla and ST Maarten. I went from a little point and shoot Sony 3.2MP to a 10.1MP Canon with the standard lens as well as a 55-300mm zoom. On previous trips I have shot somewhere around 300 pix. This time, with the assistance of the burst mode I shot over 2,000 pix. Yes I do have a goal and purpose for shooting 30 pix of the same sunset but that is the fun of digital.

The good,
Quality of pix with 10.1 mp wow!
Bust mode, very nice make sure I can capture a shot
Obvious ability of being able to change lenses
Used a small portable tripod for night shots

The bad,
As good as the shots could be with the 55mm lens they were difficult with the 300mm lens. Too big and hard to steady. Burst shooting helped a lot. Was able to get several good shots but lots were out of focus because of movement.

Lack of large tripod, when using large lens the small tripod could not handle the weight and would move.

The ugly,
Rob hadn’t used more than a point and shoot in years so was a bit rusty working with aperture and exposure times.

The constant cleaning of lenses and filters….we were around sea air.

I have posted some pix from Anguilla and ST Maarten on my website. www.axarob.com

Comparison of shots from previous years….wow much better quality.

What time zone am I in now???

2008-05-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today I checked back in to the office after three weeks of travel for business and fun. Wow what a journey.
First the fun;
We started with a flight to Dallas from KC ( still on Central Time Zone) over-nighted in Dallas and had dinner and way too much wine with a good friend. Early morning flight from Dallas (DFW) to Miami…no freaking decent coffee in DFW at that hour even Starbucks wasn’t open. From there we were off to ST Maarten (SXM) and then on to a ferry to Anguilla (AXA) for a few days (Eastern Time zone). We then went back to ST Maarten for a week of “relaxation” (still Eastern Time zone) we ran and did more than we would have liked to.

When it was time to leave SXM the fun started. American didn’t have a plane ready at 7AM so we decided that rather than swim to San Juan….not that good of a swimmer…that we would try the lovely Philadelphia airport in route to KC. What a nightmare that was….including losing luggage that we had in hand in Philly for our flight home to KC (Central Time zone once again). I got up the next morning and left for business in Lost Wages..otherwise known as Las Vegas (Pacific Time zone). While in Vegas we entertained customers so the nights were pretty late…one case 2:30AM PST which will either convert to my home time of 4:30AM CST or vacation time of 5:30 AM EST….hey that is when I get up…..now I’m so confused.

I am back home in KC but my morning internal clock says I am on east coast time and my internal go to bed clock says party on dude it’s still early. I figure by the end of the work week I will either be sleeping at my computer or getting things back to normal….

Stay tuned…have lots to share about my trips…both fun and business…

Snatched from the jaws of de-foot!

2008-04-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Visited the doctor yesterday, yet again…..New surgeon, new and much more satisfactory outcome.

This time I actually got to see the surgeon instead of one of his male interns that was hot to impress the young female intern he was working with....ok intern II was kinda cute but intern I was supposed ot be working on my foot not his moves with the cutie.

The real surgeon poked around a bit, the only issue I had with him poking around is that he used nothing to deaden the area, hey you are digging around under my skin, as in, YOU ARE IN MY TOE, with no sign of any medicine to ease the pain, buddy this freaking hurts and if I wasnt so desperate to go on vacation I may have had some not so kind words to share with him and maybe even display for and on him the different levels of pain that accompanied his treasure hunt in my toe,but I played nice and just bit the bullet.

Then I hear DR Painful say a few words that truly made the pain not only more bearable but ease and almost totaly go away he said.... hmmmm I think I've found the issue. He dug around a bit more, hey doc, if you find any gold dabloons in there you have to split the tresure with the host, being Rob of course....his digging proceeded for what of course seemed like 5 minutes when in all actuality was I am sure less than a minute. Luck was on Rob's side, well kind of, he didn't find any dabloons but did remove a cyst from the crater that he had been working in. Once he removed the cyst the pressure and for the most part the pain had been nullified and I was able to hop down from the table and stroll out of his office with but a hint of annoying ache in my foot. Way to go doc! I'll toast you with a cold one when I am on the beach next week.

Wooo Hoo Vacation is a go again!!!!

Saturday morning comes the foot is much better. I peel back the band aide to view the dammage and immediately recognize that we will now have to pack in our luggage a small pressure washer to get beach sand and maybe small crustations...out of the crater that once was the top of one of my toes. I will be on the look out for small to medium sized hermit crabs that may be looking for a new home. But lets not sweat the small stuff....I am going on my trip!!

I decided it is time for Rob to do some last minute errands.

It is 37 degrees outside…yes I said 37! and yes this is the 12th day of April and yes we are in Kansas. No it isnt supposed to be this cold and to add insult to injury it is snowing outside, You have to be kidding me... No it isnt sticking but yes it is snowing. I may have been one of a hand full of people in Kansas City to laugh at the weather this morning....folks I have 3 days till Calgone takes me away from what has been a cruel winter in our fair city and safely deposits me on a beautiful beach. OK, it isnt Calgon, more like American Airlines, that is as long as they get the MD-80 issue solved before Tuesday otherwise it will be my big black gas guzzling Tahoe taking me to Dallas so I can make my first flight on Wednesday morning. Heck a round trip to Dallas in the Tahoe...there goes my "$600 refund check from Uncle Sam". Now that is one way to stimulate local economy. You should try filling one of those things up at the pump. Almost bad enough to make me want to trade it in for a mini-cooper. I have nce again digressed...sorry, now back to my regularly scheduled tale for today.

I threw on a sweatshirt with my shorts and off I went to the bank and then to tan… We then ran some last minute errands and I am still in my shorts, I truly don’t care how cold it is. We leave on Tuesday and I refuse to wear big boy pants….except of course to work on Monday which is my last day before vacation. I even have a special T-shirt I will be wearing on Monday under what ever I wear to work. The shirt has two pictures on it, the one on top is of a donkey that says This is my ass. The picture below it is of the same donkey lying on a hammock between two palms nursing a boat drink with the caption This is my ass on the beach….any questions!!

Well, you have any questions????? LOL

A day closer but may be much further from leaving.

2008-04-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Rob is less than a happy camper today!! Went to the doctor yesterday about a staph infection on one of my toes….I have had a couple of pretty good bouts with this already that have landed me in the hospital more than once. Doctor sent me to a surgeon…uh oh!! Surgeon said was going to lance and drain and should be all better and healed by the time I get on the plane next Tuesday!!! Wooo hooo, do your best there Mr Saw Bones sir!!! Filled my toe full of numbing agent…ouch…nothing numbing about that it freaking hurt…but as I said before I am experienced at this so I knew it was coming.

Rob got luck of the draw today and got a resident that was showing off for another pretty young first year resident. Mr I have a crush didn’t wait for the pain killer/numbing agent to work and proceeded to open up the boil and drain it……hey buddy wait for the meds to work…this hurt like hell! I had a much more intricate surgery for a similar issue in Sept and that doc let the meds work…I didn’t feel a thing then. Next the bleeding wasn’t ready to stop so they put some silver oxide stuff in it to stop the bleeding….worked like a charm. Commented to the docs hey, not so sure this is a good thing….I am limping more now than when I came in… Shut up Rob, the big man upstairs heard me and today my toe is worse than it was before the procedure.

Now for the funny part, We are tanning for our vacation so I went off to the tanning booth to catch some rays and relax a bit. The band aid came off my toe on one side. No biggie I made sure that part of my foot stayed off the tanning bed. When tanning was done I got out of the bed and looked down and then I saw it…the dreaded black spot. Seems that the silver oxide and a tanning lamp mixed to oxidize and turn into a large black spot. So I promptly yelled black spot, black spot and wiped my hands on my chest three times spun in a circle twice and made a spitting noise…no real spittle. Flash back to Pirates of the Caribbean II. I then laughed , got dressed and proceeded to tell my wife about it.

On a serious note, I have yet another doctors appointment tomorrow with a surgeon to see what they are going to do with me. This is a bit concerning as my airfare is not refundable nor is one of my hotel rooms. Oh well guess it would be better to keep the toe than to risk serious infection in the Caribbean. More on this to follow..

A week out and now there are hurdles!

2008-04-09T09:45:00.001-07:00

We will be in the islands a week from today and now I am seeing some roadblocks and hurdles. The first is the McDonald Douglas 80 airplane. We fly on a Tuesday evening from KCI to DFW on one of those planes. Should not be an issue as they rounded them today expecting the planes to be in the air in the next couple of days Don’t get me wrong….if there is an issue..ground the darned plane. I have a 6AM flight from DFW that I will be on come hell or high water. We will either purchace a same day flight down on Southwest or I will get in my car and drive the 8 hours to Dallas. Could leave my car with a friend …. This can be overcome with some planning, frankly there is nothing I would rather do than plan travel…..LOL.

Second issue is that in the last year I have been hospitalized on more than one occasion with a staph infection. Going to the doctor today because it has yet again reared its ugly head and I am sporting a nice boil on one of my toes. The biggest infection I had was two toes over and caused me to spend a full week in the hospital followed up by a month of IV drug therapy. This could be a big problem if the infection I now have becomes larger. On my way to the doctor today to get this taken care of. At this point; dude could just lop off the toe and bandage the area and I would be fine with that …..ok kidding but for those that Jones for travel like I do…you get my point here.

One week from today is our big travel day that will culminate with my gorgeous wife and I lying on the beach watching the sun set while the sounds of the breaking waves lull all the stress from our way too stressed out bodies. I cant tell you all how forward I look to sitting my butt in a seat on a plane in Dallas next Wednesday morning for a 6AM flight….then my vacation truly starts to rock! We have put a lot of energy into this trip and I hope that it is all we are expecting. Our journey will be busy for sure and that is not like us, we usually relax a lot. I think we will have the relax time it will just be a t different beaches each day.

6 days and counting……woo hoo!

My Trip Schedule....

2008-04-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

Day one; Head to Front street to purchase my wife some big shiny rocks.
Have her wear the rings and necklace everywhere we go. We must park along the street in front of a no parking sign I hear those are the best spots

Day two; A visit to Pic Paradise with our brand new high end digital camera and lenses.
I know I’ll get some great shots. We will leave our rental car in the lot with all of our beach stuff in the back seat.

Day three; Spend the day at Orient beach, where we will leave our beach bag full of cameras, IPod and billfold with lots of cash and credit cards on the beach as we both swim out to a floating dock and sun ourselves….maybe catch a bit of a nap while there too. Finish the day off with a long stroll down Orient while our beach bag sits safely between the rented chairs that we have spent next to no time at all day .

Day four; visit one of the ATMs on island and do some serious damage to my account at home. Later in the evening we will visit a couple of casinos and celebrate our winnings by counting the money while on the casino floor and once again just outside the doorway. We will of course count it together out loud so we make sure we have the same totals.

Day five; After spending the day in the sun, we will head to Grand Case where we will proceed to drink a couple of nice bottles of Bordeaux along with dinner and after dinner rum drinks then drive back to the Dutch side.

Day six: Hang out in Terreses basses at Baie Longue (naked of course) until late in the evening then we will go into Marigot for dinner and take the lowland route back to our hotel of course we will stop along the golf course for a midnight walk on Mullet beach, afterwards we may even assist that car full of young men that are having issues with their ride.

Day seven; Re visit with both the French and Dutch side police to once again go over our numerous crime reports before we board our plane to return home and then bash the island on TTOL as well as other helpful websites.

The most daunting task!!

2008-04-03T08:01:00.001-07:00

For me, the most daunting task as a big vacation comes up is…..wanna guess?

Nope not getting everything organized!
Nope not packing!
Not even waiting for the faithful day to come.

Ok, ok…the task I am referring to is, drum roll please….staying focused at work!!

It has been two long years since we were on island!! Many things have changed there that we have missed. The airport we remember is gone and now replaced with a 21st century airport. There is good and bad to that for us. I loved getting off of the plane and being greeted by a blast of tropical air and the smell of the tarmac followed by the nice stroll to immigration station before getting out into the crazy crowd in front of the terminal to find our rental car friends. I am sure some of that will still be there but SXM has joined the modern world with an acceptable airport. The Cupecoy area I am sure is incredibly over built by now. Last time we were there we enjoyed the beach at Cupecoy with just the ugly wall of Shore Pointe behind us, now I have seen pix of the area and am completely saddened by the building that has occurred at this once pristine beach. Ok, I have digressed just a bit here.

Yes, it has been 2 years almost to the day since we have been on island. I booked our trip 14 months ago and got airline tickets when there was a fantastic sale in October. I have had a countdown on my whiteboard at work since I booked. Now I am down to just a few days and my mind wanders to comfortable beach chairs with my beautiful wife of 25 years by my side as we soak up the sun and recover from a long and very cold Kansas City winter. In fact as I write this the temp today will be a high of 45 with rain.

Every day I have a couple of friends that come by my cube and ask me how long I have left before I log off my computer, walk out the office doors and don’t look back for two weeks. Today I shot them the number 12!!!! I am so close to single digit that I am beginning to believe that if I sit still for just a few seconds, I can taste that first ice cold Carib as sweat from the bottle rolls down and kisses my hand while the smell of the sea air fills my nose with pure pleasure, causing an auditory exhale that drains bits of stress out of my body with each and every breath cycle.

Thankfully, I have a big presentation that I am preparing for that occurs the first working day back…well not back. I will be traveling to KC only to get on a plane the next day for Las Vegas and will be hosting a large group of customers….gee there is a trifle bit of reality at reentry!! The presentation is all that keeps me in any way focused on work and away from visualizing the fish we will see while scuba diving in my imagination as I sit at my computer waiting for days, hours and minutes to slowly fall from the calendar until that faithful day that we head for the airport.

Getting stuff together to pack

2008-03-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! We see the light at the end of this tunnel….oops sorry that was the tanning bed lights I saw. Seriously, we are getting excited. My dear wife is showing signs that she is planning for our trip. She is making mental check lists of what needs to be done before we go….things at home that Rob wouldn’t think about. I as you know have been in trip planning mode for about a year, so between the two of us I think we will have everything covered….at least I hope so.

We did our Wal-mart run to pick up necessities for the trip. Things like snacks for the plane, travel size toiletries and sun tan lotions and sprays.

Tip for the day; We have found this to be a good way to avoid sunburn…other than not lying out in the sun…In the morning apply your first application with nothing on…. (Obviously this works better if not traveling with family) this gives you total coverage with lotion and a bit of help from your partner to get the spots you cant reach, let dry and then get dressed. Take a bottle of the continuous spray sunscreen with you for the day and re apply with that. There is no scratching from sand or dried sea salt, the spray on covers very nicely.

Our bedroom has become the gathering place for all the crap…er stuff we will be bringing. There are multitudes of books. If you want a spare book, hang out near us and I am sure the boss lady will have one for you at the end of each day. I on the other hand will be bringing along only 2 books. When not sunning I will be out walking and shooting pictures. Fear not folks, I am not a picture taker of people…I like to capture the natural beauty of the island. I usually photo-shop people out of my pictures unless of course the picture is of my bride.

Packing is a lot of fun, he says facetiously, Rob grabs 4 pairs of shorts, 4 shirts, 4 pair of underwear, 2 pair socks, 2 pair of swim trunks. My flip flops, sandals and tennis shoes. I am also contemplating a pair of linen pants with an aloha shirt for a nice dinner out.

For the bride….we had a swim suit fashion show, a shorts fashion show, then a tops fashion show to go with the shorts. Then a discussion about dresses and activities in which she would wear a dress followed by then the dress fashion show. Rob isn’t complaining…after all he got to watch the show as well as the model changing between runs on the catwalk. Then there is the discussion of correct undergarments to wear with each dress…. We haven’t even gotten to the shoes yet…which turn out to be the easiest part…she gathers up some flip flops for the beach, some nice sandals to go with her dresses and tennis shoes. All piled into a quickly expanding pile of stuff that is going with us. In years past we have done this trip carry on…I now see that I am glad we are taking a bigger suitcase for dive equipment as it too will be a bit full! I told her go ahead and bring what she wants as we have extra room and I wont be bringing much in the way of clothes.
I have been posting once a week but for any of you out there that may be reading…I bet the posts will be a bit closer together over the next two weeks.

Three weeks till lift off

2008-03-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

The final component of our pre trip planning fell in place this weekend. The trip to the tanning salon to get some light on this pair of Midwestern WHITE bodies…..LOL.

I am already a bigger than average guy and would hate to have my big white body bobbing up and down in the surf and be mistaken for Melville’s great white whale.
At least this way the throngs of beach goers may only run into the surf yelling “Free Willy” as they amass to try and push me back into the ocean. LOL Ok I’m truly not that big but am larger than I would like to be. Lying in a tanning bed for 10-20 minutes almost daily till I become golden brown…is very relaxing and getting some color before we head out always cheers me. We have had like most of the rest of North America a cold long winter so I am ready for spring for sure.

The lady of the house ordered and received a set of new dive fins and is excited and ready to dive. This is a surprise to me as I have always seen her in the mode of going along to dive but not really wanting to explore too much. She even hinted at the idea of a dive vacation in the near future. That excited me since I went on a dive vacation last January and loved it.

My concern for this trip is last week’s big surf on AXA and SXM, I intended to take lots of pictures and still do but the beauty will obviously be different than what I remember……oh well, maybe a few ti-punches or a bit of good rum will make it all better. Honestly, just being on island(s) will be much better.

29 days and counting!!!

2008-03-17T09:31:00.001-07:00

I didn’t blog last week because there really wasn’t anything to blog about.

This week we broke thru the 30 day countdown and have actually re-visited our checklist of things to do and purchase before our trip. Without going thru the entire list…and with our weekend purchase of some dive equipment for the lady of the house we have completed our list of things to do before vacation. Only things left, get a base tan via tanning salon, hit the bank for a big withdrawal and of course pack.

Since we are bringing fins with us this year…..I am sad to say no carry on only. This will ad some significant time going down as we have to check in on two separate days as well as on the way back in San Juan when we will have to gather our bags for customs.

We have discussed a general vacation itinerary.
This is purposely vague, as in beach….we won’t know till the mood strikes us which beach we will hang out at. There are lots of folks that will only go to Orient Beach, we are not those folks. We will visit Orient but there are so many other beautiful beaches on island and we are not naturalists we feel that parking at Orient the entire trip would not do our souls justice so we go to a different beach daily.

We are not big foodies so we won’t plan but a couple of meals, one being our anniversary and the other is to meet some folks for dinner. Otherwise, what ever the mood strikes is where we will go.

Here is a fly over plan for our trip.

Day one; Leave KC for Dallas in afternoon, overnight in Dallas and meet a friend for dinner.

Day two; 6AM flight from Dallas to Miami and on to SXM will be on island before 2PM, cab to Marigot and then a ferry ride to AXA check in at Alamanda that evening.

Day three; Relax walk Shoal Bay East, shoot some photos and maybe snorkel a bit.

Day four; Our intent is to rent a car and tour the island, find some photo ops, hang out at a few beaches and catch a nice meal for dinner.

Day 5; Friends join us via a day trip, will dive and check out ….then check in at Flamingo on SXM.

Day 6; First full day on SXM will hit grocery store and then a beach, most likely Baie Rouge.

Day 7; Most likely head to Orient today and a snorkel to caye verte. Then again we may end up at another beach….who knows.

Day 8; Beach day but may get in a visit to Fort ST Louis in Marigot and a beach close by like…Friars or Rouge

Day 9; Take friends to airport then beach day, this is our Anniversary….wife wants to go to Peg Leg Pub for dinner…ok by me.

Day 10; Beach day will meet with two other couples for dinner. We have not met before but I though it would be fun as all three couples will celebrate anniversaries that week

Day 11; Beach day, we will pick our favorite beach of the week and spend the day there getting all the sun we can.

Day 12; End of a great vacation, early flight to San Juan on to Dallas and then KC. If all goes well will be home by 5PM.

On Island Photo session may be happening....

2008-03-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

I had in an earlier blog commented on having a photo session done while on island.
We even kicked around the idea of a trash the dress scenario. My wife did try on her wedding dress and I kind of thought that was the end of that idea. She has since brought the idea back up and seems interested so I contacted photographer on island. Jerrol James at Jerrolsphoto@hotmail.com. He comes highly recommended by some of our friends that had an outdoor sitting with him a year or so ago.

I sent Jerrol a quick run down of our interest, as in the type of pictures….all outdoor and some may include the wedding dress my wife wore 25 years ago. I also expressed the desire for photo op location. Jerrol said he was interested and would check out the site I asked about and get back with me about if it is something that can be done or not.

My lovely wife is looking for ways to modify her dress. We were married in the early 80’s and though the dress is very nice some alteration may make it a bit less dated and lead to some fun shots. She said if we do go thru with the trash the dress component that she is truly willing to do some trashing as in getting it wet in the ocean….covered in sand and the likes. What a good sport she has been with this. Rob regularly comes up with hair brained schemes that usually lead to a …NO! for a response. She heard me out on this one and actually has given it some serious thought and is very much considering going thru with this.

I know Jerrol will do a nice job, have seen his works before. The site I have in mind may be the hurdle that we have to overcome here….as in can he get the necessary equipment to the location we are looking for without any “issues”. The usual way to reach this place is via jet ski but we may have to find someone with a zodiac to ferry us to our destination.
I truly believe that if this works out like my mind thinks it will we could have a lot of fun and have some incredible pix to cherish for the rest of our lives.

Stay tuned…there will be more, lots more to come on this issue for sure.

Ahhh finally, a taste of Spring

2008-03-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

This weekend Kansas City came out of it’s deep freeze for an, all be it too short, peek at what is around the corner. The weekend was the best we have seen weather wise since way before Thanksgiving. Friday thru Sunday were all in the 60’s or 70’s a bit windy but I don’t think anyone but the golfers minded. I did however see a few youngsters getting drug down the street by run away kites.

What a weekend. I haven’t in the past used my blog to document my weekends but this one is worth it. Thursday afternoon I was gifted with some logo wear direct from the seamstress that I have contracted with. I was very happy with what I got. So those of you that see us in SXM will get to see some of this merchandise. Friday being casual day at work and fairly warm allowed me to wear one of my new polo shirts to work. The logo got a warm reception from those who noticed. There are a couple of things I will do differently going forward but I like what was provided….Remember, be careful what you ask for you just might get it. I did and it proves that doing due diligence is worth while when being creative.

Friday evening the lady of the house (found out she isn’t fond of CB (child-bride), go figure) and I went to visit some friends that had returned from the island a week previous. We always have a great time with them so we listened to their adventures and shared some wine for the girls and rum for the guys. They broke out a bottle of MaDouDou Banana Vanilla rum. Mmmmmmm Several shots later the lady of the house…(mine) reminded me that I was the one that would be driving home. Oops. That meant a quick switch to water and a bit more conversation. I will not drive after drinking unless I know that time has passed and I am completely sober. Friday was wonderful.

Saturday I spent the afternoon with our youngest son at an Arena Football League game. We had a great time and had a very interesting concoction…No wonder KC is one of the fattest cities in the country. It was a KC dog. ½ lb hotdog with shredded BBQ beef brisket and fried onion rings on top and then had to wash it down with a giant beer. Now that will give anyone a bit of indigestion. But the game was fun and spending time with my son…priceless.

Sunday started great….warm and windy but ended with a huge deluge of rain and temps in the low 30’s The lady of the house and I ran some errands while it was nice then later in the day spent some time with eldest son participating in an Old Chicago St Patty’s day beer tour. Where we pondered the meaning of life and the future over a few pints of Guinness.

While out with the lady of the house we picked up some vacation supplies to add to the ever growing pile that we have in our room and then got the liver in tune with a bit of libations this weekend too. Nothing too much but a pretty good start. We have also scoped out tanning specials and will be snapping up some tans soon. We are down to 6 weeks so the focus of our free time is vacation based. Look out AXA and SXM here we come.

Rob's Ramblings

2008-02-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

I don’t remember the last time we went an entire week with daily highs above the freezing mark. This week it just might happen. Monday was nice, snowed last night just a bit and today will be close to 32 degrees…we are hoping that this is a change in the jet stream….if those lovely Canadians (no offense) would just keep their arctic air those of us in the plains states would be much much happier. Don’t get me wrong…in comparison to those in other winters we plains states folks have pretty mild winters but when not used to it. It SUCKS!!!!

Second thing is business. I am slowly doing well, have talked with an attorney and now need to speak with my accountant …. Fill out the proper forms and submit. Then off for some business cards. I have the logo as I said before and will have in hand some shirts and hats this week. Rob is getting excited.

This trip will be about introducing the name in the market. Will not be max exposure since we are headed to the island about 6 months too early but we shall see. This will be a sample tour for logo wear but will be a gathering tour for photos that will make up the beginning of the second part of my business. Intent here is to make some reasonable photo work in calendars and the likes as well as the opportunity for customers to purchase photos in more of an art form. Imagine yourself shooting a picture you love and then having it mounted on canvas like a painting.. My goal is to have a product that will touch those who love the islands with something everyone can afford.

Awesome but COLD

2008-02-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

Last night we watched the total lunar eclipse. It was incredible, we took our DSLR outside with a 300mm lens and a starlight filter and got some nice pix. I did finally thaw enough to pull out a couple of pix and to put them here for you to view.....wooo hooo!!!

The temp last night was in the single digits and a bit windy too….We (eldest son and I) froze! The experience however was worth it. Want to also thank my youngest son for if it were not for his lens donation the pix above would not have been possible. we shot a couple of shots at 75mm and you could hardly even tell it was the moon. So thanks for the loan of the lens Andrew.

This morning we woke to sleet falling and a whopping 14 degree temperature. I think I wrote in a previous post. I hate winter. That opinion certainly hasn't changed.

It hasn’t been bone chilling cold this winter but we have been stuck between 5 and 35 degrees for months. Typically KC winters have a couple of weeks of break where we see the 50s and 60s. I think we have had maybe 2 or 3 days in 2008 that have gotten that warm. KC is getting pretty grouchy. There are lots of places with much worse winters than what we have but we simply are not used to this.

A New Venture

2008-02-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

I have decided to start my own company. I will be selling logo wear and some photography works. Have the logo picked out and going to the seamstress today.
This will allow me to bring some hats and shirts to the islands to display.

I am working on things like my LLC license, copyright of logo and hooking up with the photo reproduction folks. I already have purchased the website name and will now be running two sites, one for fun and one hopefully for profit.

Currently I have the logo developed and am working on other ideas for t-shirts but at this point no screen printer so that is temporarily on hold .

I will announce the site name and some merchandise soon, have to get everything set up first.

Getting much closer in our trip planning, we have a general agenda set and will meet with some friends that just got back from a week in SXM yesterday. We are excited to see what they were up to while there. Found a nice dress for CB to wear on the evening of our anniversary, summer stuff is starting to show up on racks at some of the stores and happened to luck into this little dress. Was something that is nice but can be machine washed and easily tossed on after a day at the beach.

Honestly I think we are about as prepared as can possibly be now. Need suntan lotion and to tan a bit then load ourselves on to our ever changing flight schedule and head to the islands. I use ever changing because we have been scheduled for three different flights from KC to DFW and I just noticed that they moved our seats around on our leg home from the island. We had all seats at the front of the plane now on the way home we have been moved to the back….grrrrrr and our original seats have already been filled.

Oh well we still have the flight so I can certainly deal with being in the back rather than the front.

Let the purchasing begin!

2008-02-14T09:57:00.001-08:00

First thing was PhotoShop Pro for my laptop. Rob has yet another toy to play with. Last night I learned how to place a logo on pictures. Was fun and there will be much more to learn.

Have swung into a new mindset, every time we go shopping my mantra is….buy what we need and anything else we spend will be for the trip ie a trip to Sam’s club….wife picked up a paperback book that she plans to read and leave on island. She will easily read 5 books while on island and probably more. Me on the other hand, I will bring 2 one is a hard back that one of my sons gave me that I have been saving and another paperback that can be left with no heart burn. The hardback is a Pirate story….for those that know me …. Go figure!!! When not relaxing I will have camera in hand and be shooting the natural beauty of the islands.

Starting to gather travel sized toiletries. We like having those in our carry on just in case our luggage doesn’t make it with us the first night.

Suntan lotion is the only thing we will hassle with. We have found that once we get out of the shower and dry off we will lather up with lotion and then bring the continuous spray canisters with us to the beach to re apply. We did this last visit and the continuous spray was very nice. Didn’t have to worry about dragging those little bits of sand all over you while re applying the lotion. I have found out that they now carry continuous sprays on SXM. We just have to have enough to get thru our days on Anguilla first.

We have made the decision that since we will dive a bit that we will not do our regular carry on only and will ship a bag underneath. I think it will be one big bag, mostly for our fins and a carry on suitcase along with our backpacks.

There is a pile started in the corner of our bedroom for stuff that we know we are going to bring. So far it is just books and toiletries but if we don’t start seeing warmer weather around here soon, we may start including clothing that we wont get to wear till we get there.

We have some friends that are on island now and they are checking on a photographer for us. I have some ideas that I will need to run by the photog as well as setting a price and time but really am still looking forward to an opportunity to have some portraits shot of us.

Nailing down vacation plans with the CB

2008-02-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

I’ve been working with CB over the last several weekends to start real plans of what we are interested in doing while on islands.

We start with a must list.

Must Do #1 CB and I are certified divers but it has been a couple of years since CB has “gotten wet”. This trip we will dive! Ok cool, now which day(s)? Our buddy’s girlfriend is certified too and he has graciously gone along with the idea of doing a resort dive to see if he likes it. I told him that we are going to dive Anguilla as I was not overly impressed with diving off of SXM the last time I went. No problem they planned to day trip to AXA so that being said…they were in. Some e-mail fired back and forth between frozen KC and Anguilla and we are all set for a Saturday of diving. CB and I will do a couple of morning dives and our friends will join us for a later dive that day. Must do #1 is now out of the way.

Must Do #2 This is a must for Rob only I think so may move down to the would like to do list soon. We have not had pix shot of the two of us professionally in 25 years. It is time to have some more done. Rob has talked CB into trying on her wedding dress and after viewing a photo shoot of another couple that did a trash the dress shoot I think CD has bought into the idea. First things first….try on the dress. Oops, bodies change thru the years. Before anyone jumps to conclusions here. CB several years ago dabbled in body building for a few years while we lived in Hawaii in the 80s and has kept the general physique ever since. So needless to say the top part of the dress where she is certainly more muscled today than a quarter century ago wont zip all the way up. We are still however thinking of possibly having some alterations done to the dress….maybe incorporate some lacing in the back and some sleeve altering too. So idea isn’t lost yet but put temporarily on hold. Still thinking of pictures and have a friend that is leaving for the island this weekend that said he would check out a photographer for us.

Like to do’s

Explore Anguilla more than we have in the past. This year we will rent a car and putter.

Visit Baie Rouge with friends. We like to walk the entire beach. The west end is incredible but want someone there with us to watch our stuff. Have 4 days with friends and are hoping to get this in one day.

Go up to Fort ST Louis again in Marigot …again with friends.

Visit Orient and Cay Verte.. this is with and or without friends so no problem there.

Visit our friend Sean at Peg Leg on a few occasions…this will again be no
Problem.

We will visit several other beaches, I know we will hit Cupecoy and Friars as well as Happy, will try to squeeze in Pinel too.

Will have dinner with two other couples on Thursday April 24th. We are all celebrating our anniversary that week so it should be fun for all.

Plan looks like this…..
Leave KC to Dallas on evening of 15th. Have dinner with a friend there
Early flight 16th to Miami and on to SXM. Catch cab, ferry and cab to hotel in Anguilla
17th….lime the day away
18th Island tour of Anguilla
19th check out, dive Anguilla and check in in SXM
20th grocery store and beach with friends
21st Day at Orient
22nd visit Marigot and fort catch afternoon at Friars and Happy
23rd take friends to airport and relax at beach….anniversary dinner!!!
24th beach day and dinner with other friends
25th catch up on anything we may have missed
26th fly home…early flights that day

So it looks as if our plate will be pretty full from start of the trip until our friends leave on Wednesday the 23rd then only thing we will have left is a dinner out and hopefully a photo shoot.

By the way, we are in the islands MON so this plan can and will change for sure!!

Some New Happenings

2008-01-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

Hi all! Ok both of you that read this blog..LOL Seriously, I was happy to get a couple of notes saying that there are some folks out there that read this drivel.

Hijacking today’s post –kind of- away from my travel fever to business ok monkey business, but something fun for me.

I have been bantering about an idea for some logo wear for fun.
After a few weeks of dinking around a new logo has been created and am in process of getting it digitized. For those who know me, this logo matches me perfectly, it incorporates many of the things I find fun and adventuresome in the Caribbean!!!

I figured that I will get it on a couple of caps as well as some shirts to wear for our vacation in April. No sense wearing someone else’s logo when I can wear my own. I could actually see possibly marketing this one so I grabbed a new domain to host a site with the plan to some day market the likes of logo merchandise and some photography work with even more ideas yet to come. I’m not greedy just having fun and decided that if I like the Caribbean so much I might as well find myself a way to connect visiting the islands and business. I am not investing much in this, and truly don’t expect it to go any where but who knows. It is fun and keeps me out of trouble. Fun and out of trouble was the premise for my website http://www.AXARob.com as well as this blog, so this isn’t too much of a reach for me to venture out to something new past that.

It keeps me thinking about new ideas and adventures. I soon will be getting my hands on the high end Adobe photoshop software to edit pix. Have the domain; logo, means of logo reproduction and a name for the site now will have to develop a new webpage. That will be fun as the one I have now was pretty easy. I will also have to find a way to accept credit cards and need a virtual host for business transactions. All fun activities to me!!!

It’s Winter here but …… Things are warming up!!

2008-01-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

This week KC is in a deep freeze. Not as bad as some other places but for KC it is freaking cold.

Things are coming along very well for our April trip! Friend has booked his flights. We wont be flying together but all is ok there. He has decided to try scuba since the rest of us are certified divers. This works well as I have contacted Shoal Bay Scuba.. http://www.shoalbayscuba.com/ they will provide training and we can do a mid day dive.
Works with travel schedule, I can pick them up at the ferry and drive them to training and then we can head out for a bit of underwater time! Relax on the beach for a while and then CB and I could check into our room on SXM later that day.

This weekend we did a bit of local travel to visit CB’s parents 3 hours away. She for the first time started talking of plans for our trip. Rob was really excited. We decided that there were two have to do events. Dive in Anguilla and we want to go to Cay Verte just off of orient beach.

We have a third thing that we will do but not yet sure at what level. I would like some pictures taken of us to celebrate our 25th anny. I have discussed the trash the dress thing with my wife and she has started to warm to the idea. First things first, she will need to try on the dress….if it fits then we will discuss further. If not we will just have pix done.
So if you see a lady in a wedding dress on a jet ski at Orient Beach in April…wave hi to us! Have a friend going to the island next month that will be checking on a photographer for us.

We are down to 12 weeks now with friends booked so the fun is just beginning.