Trevor Turned 18 !!

This evening the family (24 total) gathered together at Guadalahonky's to celebrate Trevor's 18th Birthday.  It is hard to imagine that this little boy is now all grown up!!  He has been through so many changes and he has become such a fine young man.  I am very proud to call him my grandson.   For his birthday /high school graduation present - Dave and I are going to take him to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a week in September.  We hope he's as excited about going as we are about taking him.  He has never been out of the United States, and there is so much that we want to show him.  It will be a blast.  We are also taking his girlfriend, Audra.  She is very excited about the trip.                                                     HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR !!

Hot Air Balloon Ride

On Friday, (June 15th), Dave and I took an adventure that neither one of us that ever done before, but both wanted to try.  We did an early morning Hot Air Balloon Ride.

Our pilot, (Kimberly), and her partner from the Morning Star Balloon Company met us at the historic Park City Hotel at 6:00am.  There Dave and I, along with a father and daughter, road in their company van over to "PC Hill"

Once there the basket and balloon was unloaded and everything hooked up and the balloon unrolled.  A large fan was used to initially fill up the balloon.

WOW - LOOK OUT !!  The jets are then turned on and the air is heated in the balloon as it is laying on it's side to completely inflate the large balloon.

Once the balloon is completely inflated, the basket is set upright and the tethers are all checked out.  That is one BIG BALLOON !!

We all climbed in.  I sure hope there's enough hot air to lift this thing off the ground, cause there's a lot of weight in this little wicker basket.  Are you sure this basket is safe for this many people.  Is the bottom going to hold this much weight???  So many questions, and no time left to change our minds.

OK - We're starting to get a little lift off of the ground.  Gonna' need a lot more hot air to get this baby up!!

OK now we're starting to get some more lift, we're about 100 feet off the ground now, but if we're going to clear that mountain, we need a LOT MORE HOT AIR!!

WOW, look how small our van looks from up here!!

The view of the valley is spectacular!!  And the sun is now up over the mountain and so are we.  The air is not to cold and it is so peaceful up here, (except for the occasional burst of fire into the balloon, for more hot air to lift us into the jet stream).  It's like para-sailing.

Dave and I, up in the clouds

Look at this guys ranch !!   He must think he's a Ewing and this is Southfork.  For those of you who are too young to remember, that was a TV show in the 80s.

What can I say, but WOW, so beautiful and peaceful.  Everything looks so different up here.

Another view

 We are now over in Kimball Junction, and the winds have died down, so it's time for us to land.  There's a field, but maybe we can get closer to the road for the van to pick us up.  I would sure hate to walk that far over to get to the road. 

OK now we're getting closer to the road, the grass is greener, and looks like it won't be too much of a hike.  I see houses around us, so we are in the middle of civilization.

HEY LOOK AT THIS LANDING - right on the sidewalk next to the road !!  Is Kimberly a good pilot or what??  The local residents are all out in their yards watching, kids come out on their bicycles to see the balloons.  We are the highlight of their Friday morning.  And our van is parked right there on the street waiting for us.

 Time to get the air out of the balloon and roll it all up.

All the air is out and it's time to roll up the balloon and put it back in the canvas bag.  The neighbors can see the thrill is over and start heading home for breakfast.

As all balloon pilots do upon a safe landing, Kimberly opens a bottle of Champagne to celebrate our victory.  She then tells us the history of hot air ballooning and before sending us on our merry way, she leaves us with the "Balloonist's Prayer": The winds have welcomed you with softness.  The sun has touched you with his warm hands.  You have flown so high and so well, that God has joined you in your laughter, and set you gently back into the loving arms of mother earth.    

We were then each given a "Certificate of Ascension" that declared us an adventurous soul, dated and signed by our pilot Kimberly Whiteman.

Dave walked away with a large grin on his face.  He finally got his balloon ride.

We then went to a hearty breakfast and came home to finish our sleep.  It was a good morning adventure that we will truly remember.

Our Garden

Our neighbors and friends are always asking, "How's the garden doing this year"?? Last week, I took a few photos and thought I'd bring everyone up to date:

 This is the 2nd year for our strawberries and they are doing pretty good.  I keep them covered with netting so we don't have to share them with the birds.  Last year we lost most of the crop to the birds.

About twice a week we get a handful of strawberries from our patch.  We are using them on our morning cereal and in smoothies. 

The lettuce is doing very well this year.  Last year we didn't get any lettuce.  The cabbage and broccoli is also doing much better.  Dave added soil amendment to all the beds which was a BIG help.

The cucumbers are just now starting to sprout.  I started most everything from seed, so my garden is about a month behind everyone else's.  I waited until I was absolutely sure the frost season was over before planting my seeds.  A couple of times I still had to cover the beds the last week of May to save my plants.

 The peas are doing fabulous.  They are taller than me.  And this morning when I went out to check the garden, looks like I will need to harvest fresh peas this week.  Dave will love this - his favorite is fresh peas.  I picked one and popped it in my mouth, it was so sweet and delicious.

This year I decided to try growing tomatillos.  The plants are doing very well and this morning I have little tomatillos on the plants.  Can we say yummy green salsa in about a month?!!

The tomatoes are also doing so much better this year, and I noticed this morning that I now have baby tomatoes.  We will also have some fresh garden tomatoes in about a month, if all goes well.  My favorite is to pick a tomato out of the garden, sprinkle some salt on it and eat it while it's still sunshine warm.  mmm so good.

 The green peppers are still small and struggling, but I noticed that they have blooms.  So there is still hope for them.  Maybe a shot of Miracle Grow if they continue to struggle much longer.  I try my best to be organic, but sometimes the little guys need a shot in the arm to get growing.

The darn birds got to my green beans and dug up most of them, so a couple days ago I had to replant 2/3 of the section again.  The good thing is green beans are pretty quick to sprout.  The first planting of corn did not come up at all.  I think my seed was just too old and the weather was too cold.  I purchased new seeds and replanted this week.  It takes 63 days till harvest, so that will put me at mid September with corn, if I'm lucky.

Now my potatoes are just going WILD this year!!  In fact 1/3 of the planter box was volunteer plants from last year!!!  I thought we dug up all those potatoes, but I guess we missed a couple.  I planted just a few carrots, but they are covered over by the potato plants.  Once I harvest a few potatoes, the carrots will really take off.  When I looked this morning both potatoes and carrots were doing very well.  I will probably do a test dig next week to see how the potatoes are doing and harvest a few new potatoes for dinner.

 All in all I think my garden is doing much better than last year.  And as with all gardens, they are a work in progress.  It took about 5 years at the other house before we had our garden producing the way we wanted.  We are already far ahead with this garden.

Of course where would I be without my trusty little pot of basil. My old basil plant finally gave out and went to "basil heaven" after more than 4 years.  So I am now starting a new one. I always keep this on the patio just by the door, so I can always step outside and snip a handful for cooking.  I can't think of anything that taste more wonderful than fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese with just a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar... oh my gosh!!

Dave and I purchased a couple of raspberry bushes and planted them this spring.  We have already gotten a few berries to taste, very yummy.  In a couple of years when these grow and really start producing, we will have some good tasting treats.

Well that's the update on the garden this year.  Dave will be surprised when he reads about the baby tomatoes.  I haven't even updated him about those.

Caribbean Cruise (Our 100th Post !!)

So many of our friends keep asking, "When are you going to post photos of your cruise to your blog?"  and "We miss reading what you've been up to".  So I decided to try and catch up on the last few months.

After turning Balsa into Canine Companions for her Professional Training, we decided to take a week's cruise during the middle of March to the Eastern Caribbean, leaving from Ft. Lauderdale Florida, visiting the islands of Puerto Rico, St. Marrten, St. Thomas, and  Eleuthera, then back to Ft. Lauderdale.  Our first day was spent at sea, very relaxing - just sleeping, walking around the ship, eating good food, watching the shows and eating some more.

.Our 1st stop, Puerto Rico, it's 77 degrees today.  The ship docked in the evening hours, so we only had from 4pm until 10pm on the island.  We decided to take an Old Town New Town tour, (trying to see as much as possible in as short of time as possible).  Our guide drove through the new downtown section, (pointing out all the government buildings and hotels - pretty much all there was to New PR).  Then up the hill to the famous PR fort, build by the US to protect the southern US region from invasion.  Very impression how it was designed, (mostly under ground and in the mountain).

The views from the fort of the town of San Juan were spectacular!!  We had a 360 degree view.  Then down to the beach to watch the sun set, can we again say SPECTACULAR !!     Next stop - Old Town San Juan. 

The buildings were all very well constructed, and as is traditional in PR, very colorful all painted pastel.  I love viewing architecture from different countries when we travel.  Then when I come home, I can look at an area of town and say "aww - that's just like such as such a country"..

Next we were lucky enough for our guide to stop in the Old Town Square, where there was a crafts festival being held.  We did some shopping for souvenirs, then walked around popping in the old shops and purchasing more trinkets.  After an hour of browsing, we needed to head back to the tour bus so we could head for the ship to set sail for St. Maarten. 

 2nd stop on our trip - Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, (on the Dutch side), it's 77 degrees today.  We have most of the day on the island, and we signed up for a Segway tour.  We cruised up and down the boardwalk and along the beach.  Our tour guide took this photo of us on the beach with our ship in the background.

Afterwards we wandered around enjoying the beautiful beach, sampling the wonderful foods, people watching, and relaxing.  It is so amazing how blue the water is down here.  The beaches are so clean, just like paradise.

 Some more touring along the shops more trinkets to buy, and souvenirs to take home, more sampling of local foods.

Because the Dutch settlement population is 60% larger than the French population - and the Dutch side of the island is only 40% of the island the buildings are very crowded and there is not a lot of room for outward growth.  On our next visit I would very much like to visit the French side, even though it is said to be very "adult oriented" beaches.   The weather is beautiful and the people very friendly.

 Our next stop - Crown Bay, St. Thomas, (it's 84 degrees today).  The weather is perfect.  We pull into port, spend 2 hours doing some shopping, then catch a ferry over to St. John's island for a whole day of snorkeling at Trunk Bay, a Marine national park. 

Our ferry pulls up to the most beautiful island, and after just a short 15 minute van ride, we are at the beach.  We see the most breathtaking coral reefs and a colorful spectrum of marine life like no other.  And under the water are anchored lighted identification boards with photos and information about the different fish and marine life that live in the area.  It was great - but the water and sun sure do zap the energy out of you.

The ferry trip back to the dock was a quiet one, as everyone was so tired.  But our ferry captain pointed out the celebrity owned islands. This one is owned by Kenney Chesney.  Oprah has one, Madonna owns one, and for a mere sum of $11.5 million dollars there is a small island for sale close by St. Johns - anyone in the market for some real estate??       This was by far my most favorite stop on the cruise and I want to come back again.

Next we spent another relaxing day at sea - sleeping in, getting a couples massage up on the top deck, (this deck was reserved for adults - no kids running around).  Very peaceful and relaxing.  The weather was a beautiful 76 degrees today.  For dinner, we had the most wonderful steak and lobster dinners at the specialty steak and seafood house.  I have never had food so wonderfully good!!!

Our last stop was the island of Princess Cays (pronounced Keys), Eleuthera, today it's 79 degrees and there is just a slight breeze, a typical island day.  Eleuthera is a tiny island only 2 miles wide and 110 miles long.  Our tour will start at Bannerman Town, (which is part of Princess Cays), and travel to the northern tip of the island, to Tarpum Bay.  One of our 1st stops is at an elementary school to visit with the kindergarten class.  Education is very important on the island - the children start school at 4 years old and when they are ready to attend high school must take a ferry to the neighboring island.

 The class of students sang 4 songs for us, (Welcome to our Class, Days of the Week, Colors, and ABC).  Then after coming around the room to shake our hands, they split up into small groups to visit with us.  The 2 girls and 2 boys who visited with Dave and I, were very interested in my camera and how I could take photos and instantly see them on the display screen.  It was so cute to visit with these little ones.

After a couple more stops to tour government buildings, and tour the small little towns along our route, (learning the history of the island), We stopped by Whiteland Beach, one of the more exclusive areas.  The water was so blue, as it was at all the islands on our cruise.  Watching the sailboats was so peaceful to the soul.

Then we stopped at Four Points Restaurant for lunch, the center of town had this make shift destination marker.  The town was so small the police officer, (a cousin of our tour guide), drove a little motor scooter.  Gave everyone on the bus quite a chuckle.

 Next stop Tarpum Bay.  Dave wandered out to the ocean.  Now I know Dave well enough to know exactly what he's thinking...  "How can I gather up enough conch, and where can I find someone to make me some conch salad.  And, can Barbara watch them make it and learn, so she can make it at home"  Oh yea - you know he's thinking that....

Well, what do you know, leave it to Dave to find a couple of women who actually know how to make conch salad right there on the beach.  With fresh, out of the sea, conch!!!  And they explain the process in great detail.  Only 2 problems - we don't have conch in Utah and if we did who's going to shuck it??

Well Dave scores some freshly make conch salad and here's the proof...  But, how does it taste??

Well it must be good, Dave gives it a thumbs up.  I got one bite and indeed it was good.  Sort of like seafood salad.

Then a couple of Dave's girlfriends come over and tell him "Man, if you be eating our conch salad - then you better be doing the Junkanoo Dance with us to pay for it"...  Dave says, "OK, Let's do it !!"

By then it was time to climb back on our bus and head back down South to Princess Cays and board our ship.  Tomorrow we dock back in Ft Lauderdale and that means tonight we have to get all our treasures packed up and be ready for a 7:00 am disembarking.  When we got home, Trevor loved his Bob Marley T-Shirt, Audra oohed over her handmade bag, Ian's tropical shirt was a perfect fit and he said "thumbs up, good job Grams".  Durell, (one of my co-workers), was all smiles that I found his special rum cake that we asked for.  

Our memories are sweet and our bodies were tanned and tired.  Guess it truly was a good trip.