Mother Mary's 87th Birthday 1/2/14

Just looking at her you wouldn't know. She moves with a grace of a 50 year old and looks 20 years younger then the date on her birth certificate. It's only if you're lucky enough to be privy to her sage advice that you sense the wisdom of an older person.

This morning  Kat, Lori and I got lucky. We were schooled on how the 87 year old birthday girl starts her day. Mom eases into the day with an impressive yoga stretching routine that begins even before she gets up from bed. Here she demonstrates one of the stretches.

Once up its down dog time. You might notice we're still drinking coffee.

A few laps in the pool to really get the day going. Having the condo in Florida is a wonderful thing, enabling an active lifestyle year around.

Moms advice - do yoga,  exercise, eat healthy, love your family,  care, share and contribute, engage life fully…

Page Christmas

Christmas in Florida requires a creative imagination and the willingness to embrace new traditions. For instance not all snowmen are made of snow.

  

Fortunately we have a number of friends willing to share there Florida Christmas rituals. High school friends Richard and Sue like Pink Flamingos and trips to the zoo.

Giraffe aren't part of the ritual but that didn't stop Kat from feeding this hungry fellow. They have really long tongues. 

Other memorable activities included an acre of lit Palm Trees which blinked in rhythm with Mannheim Streamroller's Christmas music.

Of course some traditions never change like making sure to wear your Christmas shirt and socks. 

And what would Christmas be without your stocking? 

 Any holiday is best shared with family and friends. Our buddy Lori joined us for New Years along with downstairs neighbors Marion and Bill. 

Great holiday meals also make the season special. Most of our meals were home cooked and delicious but we did get out for a meal or two. Here we're trying out a new Peruvian restaurant. 

Family time in Florida

Tis the season … for family, friends, music and fun. Here Mom and John rock out. Other activities include the annual cookie bake.

Mother's cookies are favorites in the hood, our neighbors and the condo handymen are the lucky beneficiaries. Kat and I have been placed on a diet. We are exploring new low cal vegetarian cooking. Today however we splurged with crab cakes and mussels.

 There's time for a daily swim at the condo pool and morning yoga classes on the beach.

The Venice beaches are close by and less crowded then most Florida beaches.

The Bradenton Blues festival provided a fun day of music and concluded with a performance by Shemieka Copeland. Other groups included Johnny Rawls, Eddie Shaw and the Wolfgang and Trampled Underfoot.

It was Florida at its best with temps in the 80s... almost too hot.

Warm water & white sand - Exuma Islands 11/12 - 22

It feels a bit like coming home. The Exumas have been our fall retreat for five years now. We consider other plans but find ourself drawn to the warmth and beauty of the area and to another adventure with our friends Steve and Rhonda.

This year it's a 8 day kayak camping trip in the Brigantine Island area. We based on this beach. Each day we headed out to explore a new area via kayak or snorkel.

Never know what you might find… Always one for recycling Kat found a new sign for our office. 

We had a nice mix of paddling and kayak sailing. 

As always the food was wonderful … Here Ronda teaches us to make real southern biscuits. 

The girls even got a little beach time between adventures. Apparently this pool had the perfect sand for scrubbing feet. 

 On our last day we tried out a new property that Steve and Rhonda are considering using for their lodge based trips. Pretty sweet place.

Timing is everything - Salida, Co 11/6 - 8

Good fortunate has smiled upon us again.

It could of happened at Cedar Mesa or in the Yukon but our fuel pump waited until we were two blocks from friends and great music to die. Our goal had been to meet our new friends Rick and Donna at the Roadhouse Bar in Buena Vista for open mic night. The tow truck driver gave us a lift and we arrived at the bar in a unique but fitting style. The Roadhouse building used to house the state road shop…

Tonight it housed musicians.  We rocked our car blues away. Didn't take long to forget the loss of our home on wheels. With good music and friends we settled into the Salida area while the Explorer got repaired. 

 From Salida we headed to Boulder to drop the car at Fowlers and catch a flight to Florida. This involved some repacking of clothing and gear. Rick serenaded us as we packed in his driveway. Packing doesn't get any better then this. 

Our luck continued with our time in Boulder with Barb, Jack, Tom and a big dog named Norm. The Fowlers sent us off in style . It was great to hike the property with Jack, healthy after a car accident. We're now Florida and the Bahamas bound. 

Waterfalls and red rock 11/2-5

Highway 12 leads us from canyon to mountain top with great stops along the way. The little Calf Creek hike was awesome warming us up after a chilly night.

A side trip down  the Burr trail lead to another cool slot canyon.

Arches and Moab provided us with good Utah send off. 

Into Colorado and back onto time with a trip to Mesa Verde National Park.

From here it was a quick trip to Durango. Pam and her husband Tom provided us with one of our best meals of the trip home cooked antipasto and pasta. A musical hike along the San Juan River helped work off the feast.

Deer Springs Ranch 10/29 - 11/1

A rainy night had us wondering if we'd be able to negotiate the red clay road to Tim and Michelle's Utah property. We made it and ended up having an excellent three days settling into a cozy cabin, meeting Tim's dad Will and Pat, hiking the property and checking out the surrounding area.

Lick Wash was far more spectacular then the name would imply. It was an interesting mix of canyon country and ponderosa pine. 

Good fun with friends in an engaging place.