Walking

I like going for walks.

I enjoy walking for the same reason I enjoy doing yoga: it nourishes my mind, body, and spirit... as my yoga instructor would say.

There is a jogging trail near our house, making it so easy to tie on my sneakers and sneak out the front door and I'm on my way.

As I walk along I encounter other walkers. Some walk because they choose to, like me. Some are getting paid to walk behind a lawn mower or to deliver mail. Others are walking dogs or pushing strollers.

Sadly, I occasionally pass a walker who isn't walking for pleasure or exercise like me, but because they are homeless and must walk to move along to who knows where. Gratitude washes over me that when I complete my walk I will be returning to my home.

When we first moved into this neighborhood after living in England, I was so wide-eyed during my walks, taking in my new surroundings and studying each house I passed. Over time, the newness has worn off and now I get lost in my thoughts as I walk along. I take the same route each time, freeing my mind from focusing on where I'm going. I once got lost on a walk in England. I was talking to a friend on my cell phone and not paying attention and I got so turned around on those winding streets that I had to ask someone for help. Embarrassing! So a set route seems to work best for me.

I find when I walk with others, the time passes by faster, which is nice. But when I walk alone, I get a lot of thinking done. I've written some cool blog posts in my head on these walks. Most never got formally written down, but in my mind, they were quite good and that was good enough for me. 

Sometimes my walks turn into a walk down memory lane. I might be listening to music and a song takes me back to another time, a friend from the past, an event, a memory. As you can guess, I have a lot of oldies on my iPod.

Even just seeing a passerby that looks like someone I know or knew can spark a memory. A mom pushing a stroller takes me back to the 1990s when that mom was me. Joggers bring me back to the present as I think of my kids now.

I recently discovered a phone app that turns the miles you walk into a charitable donation. It's called CharityMiles. The app tracks your distance as you walk and then makes a donation to a charity you select from a list. It also works for cycling and running. Check it out: http://charitymiles.org

While I'm plugging products, I find a product called a FlipBelt works well to carry my phone with me when I walk. I tuck my phone in it and slip it around my waist and flip it over to hold my phone securely. It fits any size phone.

As I wrap this up, can you guess where I was when I dreamed up the idea for this blog post?

Happy Trails!

Virgin Island Hopping

A Return to the Virgin Islands

Honeymoon, St Thomas, 1987 

Thirty years ago, Chris and I discovered the beautiful U.S. Virgin Islands when we honeymooned on St. Thomas. A decade later we made two more trips with some other couples on a chartered yacht that let us island-hop and explore the British Virgin Islands as well.

The Indians, BVI, 1993

Life progressed; our kids grew up and four years ago we had the pleasure of introducing them to our beloved islands on a chartered sailboat. We have just returned from a second 10-day BVI (British Virgin Islands) sailboat trip with our kids. How fitting that we were able to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary back in the Virgin Islands.

Cooper Island, June 27, 2017 - 30th Anniversary

Our trips in 1987, 1993, and 1995 were documented with old-fashioned photo albums and typed-up Captain's Logs detailing our voyages. It was fun looking through them after we returned from our most recent adventure.

The pictures from our latest trips are all digital; like I said, life progressed. It's interesting to compare the photos. In the 90's, we weren't using digital cameras so we didn't have the luxury of taking multiple shots and choosing the one where everyone looked the best. Instead we had to just wait and see how the pictures turned out once we were back home and got the film developed, resulting in several shots of awkward smiles and closed eyes.

On our 2013 trip, we were living in England and I was blogging about our experiences living abroad. Here are my blog posts from that trip:

http://russellsabroad.blogspot.com/2013/07/sail-away.html

http://russellsabroad.blogspot.com/2013/07/boat-trip_9.html

BVI Trip Version 2017

Harvey and Marley on the Ma Ha

Our sailboat this time was a 57-foot catamaran named the Ma Ha. Our captain was Harvey from England. Our First Mate / Cook was Marley from Vancouver, Canada. We enjoyed Harvey's dry British humor and hearing about all their experiences. They joked that the boat was named for them: MArley and HArvey, but actually the owner named it after a Three Stooges skit.

Being on the boat versus staying at a hotel in one spot gave us the opportunity to see and do lots of things. We spent the ten days going from island to island, anchoring in a nice cove for lunch, stopping at various good snorkeling spots, going ashore sometimes to a bar, or for a hike, or so the kids could play spike-ball on the beach.

Spike Ball on Cooper Island

The boat had toys for us like a kayak, paddle boards, water-skis. We might spend a morning hanging out on a picturesque beach or checking out a nice island resort. Those that wanted to got to go on four scuba dives. We had flexibility but it was also nice having a captain who knew the good spots to visit and would plan out our days for us. 

Paddle Boarding

Amidst all those activities we somehow squeezed in three full gourmet meals each day prepared by our cook as well as our much-anticipated daily 5:00 snack with the Captain's Cocktail of the Day.

Ready for dinner on the boat

Captain Harvey had many roles. Obviously he drove the boat, but he was also boat mechanic, dinghy chauffeur, food server, bartender, table-setter, our tour guide at The Baths National Park, even our social director, radioing in our menu selections in advance to the Wonky Dog restaurant on Anegada Island where we feasted on fresh lobster. 

The Baths

You could tell some island practices tested his patience. We sympathized with him when he called a nearby marina to check on their gas price, which they told him. Sadly they didn't tell him they were out of gas until he took the boat over there to fuel up.

Anegada Island

I don't know about that

This accounting of our adventure would not be complete without a mention of the joke of the trip. We definitely overused the phrase "I don't know about that!" but with my experiences with our Amazon Echo and the fact that Max will soon be working for Amazon... on the Echo project... it just fit.

If you haven't seen the Saturday Night Live skit for the Amazon Echo Silver, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvT_gqs5ETk&ref_=MP_AUCC_MX_HV_Sub_Fri_echo_crm_05_19_watch-snl-video

Little Things Add Up

Overall, it was one of those epic vacations that we'll remember fondly. For me, it was the little things that added up: a spectacular sunset, watching the moon develop from crescent to full over the week, amazing stars lighting up the night sky, the feel of warm sun and the scent of salty air. I even found wonder in the way our captain was able to produce a different dinner table setting each night using various seashells, beads, rope, sea glass, placemats. Our anniversary dinner was made special with a black tablecloth, white cloth napkins, champagne, and jazz music. But the best "little thing" was just the opportunity to spend time together as a family.

Lost Luggage Letters

To: Barbara's Suitcase

Care of the Ma Ha Sailboat

Somewhere in The British Virgin Islands

Dear Floppy Black,

I'm sure you're wondering by now where I am. For some unknown reason, someone in the Houston airport decided I should be sent to Chicago instead of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands with you. The United baggage department keeps saying they are working hard to correct the problem, but with it being a weekend, nothing is happening. I miss you guys and hope to join you soon!

Missing you,

Chris's Suitcase

To: Chris's Suitcase

Chicago O'Hare Airport

Dear Rolling Black,

So good to hear from you! We were so disappointed when you didn't show up with us in St. Thomas. Chris is not happy that the United baggage people don't seem to know what to do with you. He has been spending a lot of time on the phone with them and they keep assuring him they are doing everything they can to correct the situation but Chris thinks that's a bunch of baloney. You know you're holding all his scuba diving equipment and it's not doing him much good in Chicago. He has bought some touristy shirts and a new swimsuit so he can at least start his vacation.

Come join us soon,

Barbara's Suitcase

Dear Floppy Black,

It's Monday now so apparently the United baggage people have returned to work. The people on the 24-hour hotline in some other country tried to make it seem like something was happening, but don't believe it. The update is that there is no direct flight from Chicago to St. Thomas so I'm getting on a flight today to Dulles Airport in Washington D.C.

Heading in the right direction now,

Chris's Suitcase

Dear Rolling Black,

So happy to hear you're on your way. Hope you don't mind we got our charter sailboat trip underway without you. Luckily, Chris stashed his toiletries and, most importantly, his contact lenses in me. And how convenient that his sweet kids brought along a most appropriate Father's Day gift in Lexi's bag: a new bathing suit.

He's out scuba diving right now; luckily the dive shop will provide all the equipment he needs for this dive. They are planning on taking him out again when you arrive so he can at least use the gear he planned on lugging all the way down here.

We're all having fun kayaking, snorkeling, hanging out, drinking the captain's cocktail of the day, and feasting on our cook's gourmet meals. This morning, a dolphin and her baby kept swimming back and forth past our boat. Ryan snorkeled with them and the mom looked right at Ryan under the water. They came quite close to me while I was paddle-boarding. It was so cool.

We've already visited several snorkeling spots and a boat bar where some of us jumped off the top. As we travel from island to island in the beautiful turquoise Caribbean water, the captain sometimes lets out the sails and we get an invigorating ride with water occasionally splashing up through the mesh trampolines on the front of the double-hulled catamaran boat. 

I'm currently all rolled up and stashed away in Chris and Barbara's cabin, but I hear all about what's going on.

Peacefully yours,

Barbara's Suitcase

Dear Floppy Black,

Well I made it to Dulles airport and am now en-route to St. Thomas. Sounds like y'all are having a blast. Glad you didn't wait for me. I'm counting on the St. Thomas airport staff to get me on the ferry from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Not much other news on my end. I love hearing about the adventures on your end.

Caribbean bound,

Chris's Suitcase

Chris and his rolling black suitcase reunited after our captain picked him up on our dinghy and brought him to us. Yay! 

Animalia

Sometimes my blog topics just conveniently fall into one category. Today it is animals. So bear with me while I have some fun with this.  

The RV park where we stayed in West Palm Beach while visiting Astros Spring Training was located adjacent to Lion Country Safari. Online reviews of the RV park said the roar of lions could be heard from the park. We were skeptical of this but sure enough, the first day there we heard definite animal noises, not lions though, more like rhinos. It was the next day that we could absolutely hear lions roaring. That was neat! They could be heard in the mornings and around 4:30 pm when the park closed. Feeding times maybe? 

On our drive back up through Florida we stopped by to see our friends - the Wolf's. It was great visiting with them. They took us to the nearby town of Tarpon Springs for some yummy fresh seafood. We learned that Tarpon Springs was the Sponge capital of the world in the early 1900's. Diving for sponges was a bigger industry in Florida than citrus or tourism at that time. Did you know the sea sponge is an animal?

Our dogs have it a lot better now while we are on the road. They used to be corralled behind a child gate so as not to disturb Captain Chris as he manned the control deck. They are now accepted in the space between our seats and are much happier.

Frog City RV Park near Lafayette, Louisiana was a layover point on our way home. We had dinner nearby in Rayne, Louisiana which is billed as The Frog Capital of the World. The catfish and crawfish were delicious; we passed on the frog legs.

At Chef Roy's Frog City Cafe

While walking through RV parks, I like to note the various names of the campers and motor homes. This is something my daughter and her boyfriend taught me when they glamped with us one time. Along with the adventurous names like Sprinter, Bounder, Pioneer, and Columbus, there's peaceful names of Solitude, Reflection, Destiny. 

Some RV names conjure up the Space program: Challenger, Endeavor, Discovery, while some describe idyllic places: Hideout, Chateau, Homestead, Montana. I can't believe I haven't seen one named "Texas". 

Some names describe scenic images: Open Range, Vista, and Big Country. Some have a solar theme: Sunseeker, Sundance, Sunrise.

Of course there are sleek-sounding animal names like Wildcat, Puma, Puma Den, Cougar, Eagle, Mallard.

Ours is a combination of rugged and sophisticated: "Thor Tuscany".

I hope my animal musings have put a smile on your face and I ain't lion!

Star Struck at Spring Training

Mission accomplished: We made it to Astros Spring Training and got up close to the baseball stars.
   
We attended three games and each one was a different experience.

 
March 1

First game, we arrived about two hours before game time. It was thrilling to walk up to the brand new stadium with the giant Houston Astros "H" star out front. We did the obligatory photo shoot in front of it. Two other Astros fans were also snapping pictures and offered to take our picture. The gentleman took his time, directed us to the best place to stand, tried with flash and without. The other gentleman asked if we were from Houston and then informed us that his companion was his brother and used to be a reporter for KHOU Channel 11 in Houston. I had been thinking he looked familiar! He was Doug Miller. No wonder he knew something about the right camera angle. We talked for a bit about the Spring Training experience at the new West Palm Beach facilities versus the previous digs at Kissimmee. His brother was a military veteran and it was an honor meeting them both.

Chris With Doug Miller

Our seats for this game were right behind home plate, about half way up. In front of us were season ticket holders and baseball scouts researching players. The scouts were all business, holding up radar guns to capture pitch speeds and jotting notes after each pitch. The beer vendor would have no luck selling to these guys. One scout had reading glasses perched over his sunglasses, I guess he's figured out what works for him.

Baseball Scout with radar gun (in striped shirt)

The Florida Marlins took an early lead but there were hardly any Miami fans to cheer them. The crowd seemed to be mostly from New York. Lots of snowbirds down for the winter I suspect.

I'm so glad that I posted on Facebook that we were at the game so a Del Rio friend could tell me to watch out for a player from our hometown who was playing up from the minors. About the 8th inning most of the starting players got rotated out and in comes Jack Mayfield from Del Rio! We watched him play at second base and then we were hoping to see him bat but it didn't look like he would get a chance so we started to leave. Turns out the batting order on the scoreboard was wrong. I happened to glance down on the field as we were literally walking out and I saw Jack Mayfield on deck. We quickly took a seat down near where he was. I wanted to get a picture of him but all we could see was his back. Chris yelled out his name and he turned around and looked right at us so we yelled out "Del Rio" and he smiled. Of course I missed my chance to take his picture. He proceeded to step up to the plate and hit a double! Then another player batted him in to score. And we were right there to see it! Made my day.

Del Rioan Jack Mayfield

March 2

The next day the game was against the Washington Nationals who share the training facilities with the Astros. Although we were the home team, we were outnumbered by Nationals fans. Once again the Astros lagged behind in the score. Chris assured me that the purpose of Spring Training is not to win games but to try out pitchers and for the players to work on specific mechanics. Yeah, but it's more fun to win!! Our seats for this game were in the outfield but we never actually sat in our seats as it was too sunny so we moved in a little to sit in the shade. No Del Rio players, newness had worn off for me, so this game wasn't as much fun. But I snapped some pictures of the beautiful stadium.

March 3

The next day, the Astros were playing an away game. I took a break from the baseball scene while Chris chose this day to go early to the fields and watch practice and maybe get some photos. His goal was to get a picture with Carlos Correa.

The practice fields have viewing areas for fanatics like Chris so he got to watch some batting practice and chat with some of the team. I wonder if the players ever feel like animals in a cage with spectators gawking at them.

The players move around to different fields for various drills. Sure enough, who should walk right past Chris but Carlos Correa? Star-struck Chris could only blurt out to him "Have a good season!" And there went his chance for a picture with him. When Jose Altuve, another idol, walked by shortly after, Chris composed himself enough to ask for a selfie with him. As Chris struggled with his phone camera, Jose offered to take the picture. Here it is. Cute isn't it?

Chris and Jose Altuve 

March 4

Our third and final game was against the New York Mets. This was on a Saturday and there was a much larger crowd, mostly Mets fans of course.

We got there early to watch batting practice and for one last chance for that Correa photo. There were more fans in the viewing area this time and as the players would walk down the sidewalk, they signed autographs and were happy to pose for pictures. This time when Correa walked by we were ready, no stressful selfie, just me taking the picture. Success! Even I was a little star-struck and took the picture too soon; didn't want to miss the chance.

Chris with Carlos Correa

Correa and Altuve working the crowds

Our "seats" this time were on the Lawn, a grassy sloped area in the outfield. It was a beautiful day, we spread out a blanket and watched from this different perspective. We could hear the outfielders talking to each other and watch the pitchers warming up in the bullpen.

The Lawn was a fun area, very family-friendly with little kids rolling down the hill as I'm sure our kids would have (when they were younger of course). The only issue we had was where to set our beer on the sloped ground. Easy, kick off your shoes and use them as a holder.

So our first Spring Training trip was a great experience. Chris got some up-close time with the Astros. I know my dad was there in spirit, loving every moment.

Astros Spring Training RV Trip

• Retrieve Thor from his country home (storage)...
• Procure food for two weeks of meals on the road...
• Hitch up our new Jeep Cherokee...
• Attach bicycles to the back of the Jeep...
• Load up the dogs...
• And we are... On the Road Again!

Chris even started off our travel playlist with Willie's iconic "On the Road Again" song. I love it - seems like something I would do!

We are heading to West Palm Beach, Florida to take in some Astros Spring Training games. Chris has been wanting to do this for years; it just never worked out until now. Retired life is great!

I'm hearing echoes of my dad's voice from years ago... "Only xx more days until Cocoa Beach!" He was an avid Astros fan and would count down the days until the team was in Florida for Spring Training; sometimes starting the countdown as soon as the regular season ended (in defeat). Since then, the Astros moved their camp to Kissimmee and now, for the first time, to West Palm Beach.

It is also the first time we are towing a vehicle. It will be nice to have easy mobility when we arrive. But now Chris has the extra challenge of making sure the caboose on our train safely makes it around the corners when turning. No backing up allowed unless we unhitch the Jeep first. Plus our rearview camera now shows this a-hole car constantly tailgating right on our bumper.

Sunday, February 26

Day one went smoothly enough. Even when we missed the entrance to the RV Park and had to turn around in a neighborhood. Luckily no backing up was required and we didn't have to take any shortcuts through yards.

We spent the night at Reunion Lake RV Resort in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. This was a fairly new place, very clean, with two swimming pools. We reserved a premium site on the lake but somehow ended up paying for two spots, side-by-side. So it was an expensive stay but nice to have lots of open space around us. Our Jeep got to spend the night in his own RV spot.

Luckily we were on relatively flat ground when we unhitched the Jeep without the parking brake on and it started rolling. Strong Chris held it with his arm until I could jump in and set the brake. It was a lucky and learning experience.

What we noticed about this RV Park was all the golf carts. It seems to be the thing there to drive your golf cart around. They have a whole list of rules for golf carts. Some were decorated up for Mardi Gras. We were fine with an old-fashioned stroll around the grounds.

Monday, February 27

We started the day driving through heavy rain in Louisiana, past a string of misplaced Mardi Gras floats on the Mississippi interstate, then clearing skies through Alabama, and finally we were greeted with palm trees when we reached the Florida state line.

Photo from Jacksonville.com

After encountering more rain in Florida that quickly turned to sunshine, we made it to our Day 2 resting spot in Lake City. Tomorrow we travel to our destination at West Palm Beach.