pybusoft

The Summer of 2009

2009-07-04T19:22:00.011-05:00

The summer of 2009 will go down at the Pybus house as a medical anomaly... at least I am hopeful. We literally don't need another year like this. Whenever you put off medical procedures from one year to the next, be prepared to have all the stops pulled in honoring that request.

Emily needed her wisdom teeth taken out and Savannah required a small procedure on her ear. We figured that would be all but just in case, we'd meet our deductibles. We didn't count on a critical bone of one of our children to be in three pieces.

There won't be too many images to go along with this story as the patient insisted that we take no photos. The patient for our major medical event of the summer would be Emily. Just before her 17th birthday

After it was all said and done, Emily's jaw was being held together with three titanium plates and 12 screws. She's pretty sure the worst of the pain was the cracked molar that went undetected for several days after the surgery. Once that was diagnosed and treated, things really started improving.

Emma Nettie Warden Pybus

2009-06-21T21:26:00.006-05:00

Last week, our family said goodbye to my grandmother, Emma Pybus. She was certainly one of the most humble people I have ever known. Her husband, and my grandfather, J. E. Pybus, took this picture of her in 1934. She was a hard working woman who never saw much of this world but has left a huge impact on it with how much she taught about love for family. I know I can speak for all of us that we deeply miss her presence.

NYC

2009-05-19T22:15:00.049-05:00

Before this month, the last time I was in New York City was February of 2005. I know it was then because Lisa and I were there the day Christo unveiled his Central Park work of art called The Gates. The past five days, Cameron and I have been in the Big Apple at the invitation of his grandmother, Sandra Pybus.

Her desire is to take all of her grandchildren on similar excursions as they graduate from High School. Possibly, not all of her ten grandkids will want to go there. I really hope she gets to do that. We really enjoyed ourselves. It was great to spend time with her and with Cameron after he was away all year at Texas A&M.

We did all the things everyone does when visiting New York. We went to two plays: Wicked and The 39 Steps. Both were very entertaining in completely different ways. We took a boat over the the Statue of Liberty. We walked through Central Park. We ate way too much including calzones at a NY deli and tons of cheesecake for desert. I think the only picture we took of all three of us was this one at the Bubba Gump restaurant in Times Square.

One highlight of the trip was our visit to the Guggenheim museum. I had noticed that during our visit, they were going to host an exhibit by the museum's architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. So just like Lisa and I were for The Gates, Cameron, Mom and I were there for the first day of the exhibit. This was particularly sweet as Cameron had just been accepted to study Architecture in A&M's College of Environmental Design. You can see the two of them seated on a bench in the center of this picture I took with my cell phone.

Nana did one thing just for us boys. She took the two of us to a Yankee's game in the new stadium. This of course, meant I had to add to my ballpark panoramas. I made my way around to home plate and tried to step out from under the overhang to take some good shots. The security there made sure I didn't. I stood there for the longest waiting for the game to be over and for the second game in a row, Alex Rodriguez hit a walk off home run. In the pandemonium of celebrating Yankee fans, I stepped up and took the three pictures I've stitched together and have posted here.

Work Day with Savannah

2009-05-02T09:06:00.002-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, Savannah and I helped out clearing brush in the field behind the church. She was a trooper. The only teen girl there. One of the only teens period. We both paid for it though with cuts and scrapes. I should have made her wear jeans but I made the same mistake of wearing shorts myself. Although this wasn't the worst of the thorny plants, this tree had huge spikes. Quite fun to pick up an armful of these limbs and carry them to the wood chipper.

Muster 2009

2009-04-22T12:00:00.014-05:00

Muster is a moving event. There's no way to describe it to someone who hasn't been a part of it. This post is not meant to explain what Muster is. Only to make note that we went and that we are proud of our son and the things he's accomplished this year. I do have to explain that there are several Muster ceremonies, not just the one on campus every April 21st. Muster is held all over the world and there was one in Tarrant County where we live but the one on campus is most certainly the largest.

This year's speaker was Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense and former President of Texas A&M. We sat to the speaker's left as this cell phone picture indicates. In the section just to our right and only a few rows up was Bush, 41. We also got to sit behind Cameron's good friend Sara Alex. (Wish I'd known she was in Maggies... I let something slip I shouldn't have.)

The other reason to write about attending Muster is to relate Cameron's involvement. Muster doesn't just happen every year. It takes planning. And like any major event, there's a committee. The Muster Committee has a huge responsibility to make sure one of A&M's most hallowed traditions goes off without a hitch. It's a great honor to serve on the Muster Committee and there were only two freshman that asked to serve. Cameron was one of those two freshmen. This honor came through his involvement in Fish Aides, a Freshman Leadership Organization.

In February, two months before Muster, by chance I happened to meet Rusty Thompson, A&M faculty advisor to Muster and he was very complimentary toward Cameron and his involvement. Rusty is an Associate Director for Student services and it was great to hear that out of 47,000 students, Cameron was already making a mark.

As for the ceremony itself, it was moving. Muster's purpose is to remember the Aggies that have passed in the previous year. Secretary Gates made a point in his speech to read the names of every Aggie soldier that lost their lives in Iraq where he had signed their orders. It was painful to hear him talk of how hard that task has been. Most Aggies who are remembered that night had family present to light their candle. Cameron held a candle for one such Aggie who could not be represented by a loved one.

The following morning, Cameron and the rest of the Muster Committee got to have breakfast with Secretary Gates. Ironically, that was Secretary's Day. And yes, I think Cam wished the Secretary of Defense for the United States of America 'Happy Secretary's Day'.

CORRECTION: ... oops...

2009-03-19T19:00:00.003-05:00

Possibly it's my age... trying to think what to blame it on... but a recent conversation with my sister made me aware that indeed she did NOT get a vehicle her freshman year in college. All faith has been restored in my parents' sense of fairness. :)

The Motobecane

2009-02-22T21:17:00.022-06:00

When I was a freshman in college at ACU, I was a depraved child. My parents decided that it will not be necessary for their kids to have a car during their first year away from home. Oh the humanity! Of course this steadfast rule held true until our little sister went off to school... but that's another story. I gained something special as a result of that rule and this begins a documentation of an attempt to restore it to it's original luster.

I'm talking of my 1978 Motobecane Super Mirage. I put hundreds of miles on this beautiful piece of machinery. From trips around Abilene, all over College Station, riding with my older brother in Austin and a 500 mile 'vacation' he and I took from Houston to Corpus and back in May of '82. It even helped me win a coveted Intramural Championship shirt.

Dave picked this bike up for me in Austin in the Fall of '81 from an actor needing some cash. At least that's how I remember the story. I had been borrowing my roommate's Schwinn to get places and it was killing me. I had to do something. Abilene is a small enough town that you can ride a bike from campus to the mall in about 15 minutes but not on a Schwinn.

I've taken the wheels to a local bike shop to be rebuilt. The front will get new spokes, tube and tire. The rear will need a new hub and gear set as well.

I'm stripping the bike down to the frame but I'm not sure what I'll do about the paint. It's rather chipped and pealing in places.

'tar baby

2009-02-22T14:05:00.015-06:00

From the time Savy started telling us what she wanted for Christmas... I think this was way back in September... until a few weeks before, the desire remained consistent. Years ago, she had begun picking up my old guitar and teaching herself little bits and pieces. She'd get on the Internet and figure out chords and short pieces of songs and really displayed some natural talent. So when she consistently kept asking for her own guitar, I was very willing to oblige.
The shopping was quick. Quicker than I thought I would be happy with. We drove over to Mr. E's, just to look mind you, and sat in their guitar room for a little over an hour. There were several upper end toys in there but right in the middle of the room were several starter guitars. The sound of these were really quite nice. We left there with a little black beauty made by Ibanez.

When Savy told me we had to come up with a name, one immediately came to mind. First of all because of the instruments color but second, how from the moment we got it home, it was stuck to her side. Of course the name, that has also now stuck, is 'tar baby. I had to explain the name's origin to our 13 year old because Disney has completely locked away in 'the vault' that politically incorrect film and any related paraphernalia. Why the apostrophe-tar, you ask? It's a guitar... 'tar baby... do ya guit it?

Valentines Day Massacre (of my diet!)

2009-02-14T22:29:00.018-06:00

Lisa has a fun tradition of making chocolate covered heart shaped brownies. These things are to die for. That's exactly what my diet did this weekend.

Valentines Day always vexes me. I never quite know what to do to show her that's she's special to me. I don't think I've never given her white roses so this year, that's what I did.

It's hard to compete with sixty school kids that want to shower her with everything from candy to bath soaps. Actually, compete with sixty school kid's moms. This year, I took a picture of the candy stash alone...

Vanity of Vanities, All is Vanity

2009-02-04T23:27:00.008-06:00

Several people have recently asked about the vanity in the room addition bath so I thought I'd brag a bit... what, me brag?... :)

When we started designing this bath, we definitely didn't want standard cabinets and a counter top. We pretty early in the process decided on some type of vanity. As soon as I saw this piece in the Pottery Barn catalog, I knew we had to have it. The only problem was that it was way too big. It was two sinks and there was no way it would fit in the area we had set aside for it. That and it was ump-teen gillion dollars.

We needed the vanity pretty quickly, so I set out to make it myself. Since the only thing I had to go on was the picture in the catalog you see here, the design part was a lot of fun. This is where SolidWorks was a big help. All of the drawer fronts and cabinet doors were cut rail and style from red oak. The columnar legs are fir.

The crowning jewel on the piece is the granite top. We had that made from a remnant that we found at a local granite counter top place. The colors in the stone were perfect so I can't take all the credit for how it turned out.
(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Superbowl XLIII

2009-02-04T15:28:00.008-06:00

pictures by ::brandi:: (thanks bt!)
Sunday night was Superbowl Sunday if you missed all the hype. It was also the first Sunday of the month and that means a teen devotional. Although we didn't change our worship plans we did work the devo around the game. Thanks to TiVo, we didn't miss a play.

The Peugeot

2009-01-29T23:08:00.006-06:00

Cam emailed me today to tell me that the old Peugeot was working well for him. 8 minutes from his Duplex to class as opposed to 16 minutes riding the shuttle. He knows how to make is Dad proud as I rode my Motobecane everywhere in college.

The Force

2009-01-29T20:55:00.005-06:00

So, today is actually January 29th, 2009 and I haven't updated this since Nov 9th, 2008. I decided to update this blog since I just found myself with SO MUCH extra time on my hands. (HA) So, why am I writing about Halloween? Actually, a call from my cousin kicked me in the tail for not doing this. Since she was my motivation, I thought I'd start with a picture of her two little ones when they visited me at the office for Halloween. Does this make Darth Vader and Yoda my first cousins, once removed?

MLK@A&M

2009-01-19T22:00:00.000-06:00

We had a nice visit with Cam at school. His birthday was two days later and Mom was not going to be happy if she didn't get to see her boy. Just so you know... tough guy... in the blue shirt... freezing!

A North Texas Christmas

2008-12-25T12:00:00.007-06:00

It was really nice this year to have all of our family up to our house for the holidays. Well, almost all. The Ruez family couldn't make it and neither could Terry but it was almost 100%. We had to celebrate with my family without Em as her ski trip overlapped the celebration.

Here's our breakfast nook, inhabited above by some of my family, then here by several of the Harvey cousins.

Thanksgiving in Houston

2008-11-27T22:24:00.006-06:00

As our family gets older, getting everyone together gets harder and harder. But family is important to all of us so we each put forth the effort as often as we can. This Thanksgiving, we were all able to make it to Nana's & Daddy Jack's house in Houston.

Not to take away from any of the other family colors... but aren't the brown's cute!

The Catapult

2008-11-24T21:36:00.012-06:00

Tonight was Physics Project night. Em. had her partner over and we commenced to making a catapult that would propel a ping pong ball some ridiculous distance. Why would someone want to send a ping pong ball any farther than the length of a ping pong table? I don't know. Possibly that's the engineer in me always asking why.

Their design used a bungie cord for the catapulting and a mouse trap for the release. Unfortunatley, the girls didn't get an A. :( I'm losing my reputation.

Duke showed up to entertain... How come my guitar sounds better when he plays it?

Because he's such a show off, I picked the goofiest picture of him I could find.

V-Day

2008-11-09T23:05:00.012-06:00

Last Monday was a bit of a milestone for sports in our family. Both Em and Sav. have enjoyed playing volleyball but it appears that after 8th grade, neither wishes to continue. Em has gone the Stuco / Spirit Team route and Sav seems to want to pursue soccer.

The last game of the season was against a team that just won a tournament that we played in. Our girls split two games and held on into the third game until the final point. The final score had to go into a tie breaker, but we lost, 26-24.

Sav had lots of support from church friends. I got pictures of the folks that sat around Lisa but missed pics of the Bryants who had to sit in the other bleachers.

Aggie Game

2008-11-03T20:28:00.021-06:00

Well, we finally made it to an Aggie game during Cam's freshman year. Since we had worked it out for Em' to sit with her brother, we let Sav. bring a friend. J.J., I'll call her, had never been to an Aggie game even though her sister is a student and her mother, a former student. Come to think of it, Sav. & Em. had never been to an Aggie game at Kyle field.

We could actually see Cam & Em over in the student section on the third deck. Cam was sitting with some friends from Fish Aides, a freshman student government group he was accepted into. Before the game, they were all serving lunch at a pre-game reception where President Bush (41) was supposed to attend. Cam said he didn't show.

After the game, we picked up J.J.'s sister and we all went to dinner at Fuddruckers.

It was good to see Cam. Not long until Thanksgiving, so I think his Mama will survive.

The Plate

2008-10-20T21:10:00.007-05:00

I had to travel for work this week so before I left, I decorated the plate to remind the girls what a great mom they have...

27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
- Prov 31:27-29

Let the Games Begin

2008-08-24T20:10:00.010-05:00

It's that time of year. From the title, you probably think I'm talking about the Olympics. That, after tonight, is now over for a few years. Actually, I've got fall football on my mind. And not just NFL or NCAA but good ol' high school football under the Friday night lights. This year is a whole new ball game. For the last two years, we've had a first string player to cheer on but they do grow up don't they. So this year, our middle child is there to keep our interest. This will be her first year on the school spirit team.

Over the last week she finished decorating her overalls. These will be worn at all of the games and several events throughout the year. She really did a great job and I'm proud of her willingness to show her school spirit in such a public way. Here's a close up of some buttons that are sown along the front pockets. These came from her great-grandmother, Elizabeth Thompson or Mullie as we call her.

Welcome Home

2008-08-03T22:00:00.006-05:00

Trek Update: It's always nice to know you were missed back home. Cameron decorated 'the plate' for us. Here's a pic of his art work...

Heading Home

2008-08-02T22:00:00.005-05:00

It was an early rise at 3:30 am for everyone so that we could leave Salida by 4am and get home before too late in the day. Everyone handled the exhausting nature of the schedule well. Even Hayden, who had the bunk bed directly beneath mine, didn't complain. He did inquire as to what time did I finally go to sleep?

The drive home went very smooth. No flat tires was good. Randall and I had arranged for a new tire to be ready by the day we got back down the mountain. We put the spare back in the trailer and felt much better on the way back. I drove the mountain roads and I think I was able to keep just about all of the adults awake with all of the turns. Randall took the second shift from Raton to Amarillo where we stopped at the famous Big Tex Steakhouse.

Rachael again took the leg from Amarillo to Quanna and Jessy took us home from there.

Down and Out

2008-08-01T22:00:00.002-05:00

Wow. What a week. I have to admit, the whole experience was even better than I expected. Sure, the full pack was heavy but nothing any of the kids or us old people couldn't handle. One last circle around where the campfire had been and it was back to the trail.

On the way down I snapped a picture of the back of Shelley's shoes. The image doesn't do justice to how extremely muddy she had gotten but that wasn't the purpose of the photo. On Trek, you spend a great deal of time slightly bent over in deep study of the steps that the hiker in front of you is taking. Not particularly exciting but a fact of the matter none the less. Shelley was a great pacesetter and one of the reasons I liked to study her shoes.

When we got to the trail head, we all gave some love to the van. Matthew's version of that involved a huge face plant on the passenger door window. The imprint lasted almost all the way home.

Jessy did the honors of driving us back down the dirt road and the almost two hour drive back to Salida. After everyone had showered and changed, we took one final group picture. Actually, we took about 13 final pictures. I think everyone present had their own camera to get a picture.
All in all, it was a great experience. You don't have to be in Olympic shape to enjoy the ride. You do have to be prepared to ache a bit. If you can climb from the bottom of a football stadium to the very top without thinking you're going to faint, you'll probably make it.

Summit Day

2008-07-31T22:00:00.014-05:00

Summit day on Trek starts very early. Of course you don't know exactly how early because your wristwatch and all timekeeping devices have been confiscated before you left base camp. You mostly know that it's early because when they wake you for the day, there is absolutely no sign of the sun whatsoever. The other sign is that to wake us our guides 'sang' us awake and they felt it necessary to do so at the top of their lungs. The theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey will, in my mind, never be same. (Dave? What are you doing, Dave?)

The good thing about this day is that you don't have to carry all of you belongings, only your food for the day, clothes to keep you warm at an unnatural hour and maybe a camera to show what a goofy group you belong to. Yea Ian!

On normal hikes, you start out the day with a few extra layers and shed down to shorts and t-shirt by midday. On this hike, I found myself having to layer back up almost at the end of every stop. I also found that Andrew liked to explore while most of us were taking a rest. Come on already, Andrew. At least act tired!

Here's Emily wishing she had more of those Vienna Sausages. Should have let me know. I would have sneaked some in YOUR day pack!

The hike yields one fantastic scene after another. At one point, these mule deer paused perfectly atop this ridge and watched as we made our way their direction. Once they tired of witnessing our sluggish accent, they turned and descended the mountain face as though it were flat ground.

I took this picture of Jessy a few minutes later at just about the same spot where the deer had been.

The great thing is we all made it: the boys and their toys, the girls and their signs, the adults and their dignity (except for Rachael and that Dragon shirt! Boo!)

On the way down we had a bit of fun with a group that was about to summit the same peak we had just come down from. We got to see their ridge dance and then did the wave from our ridge.

After we made it all the way back to high camp, everyone was ready to relax. We had a great devo around the fire. The aspen trees here were magnificent.

Solo Day

2008-07-30T22:00:00.004-05:00

Solo day is a time to recuperate from the hike up, acclimate to the altitude and rest for summit day. It gets it's name from the time you spend on your own and in spiritual reflection.

I spent most of my solo time sitting on a bed of pine cones that had built up next to the stream over years and years. It appeared to be at least a couple of feet deep and was very comfortable to sit on. I sat here for over an hour reading the story of David and Goliath and contemplating David's quest for 5 stones in a brook by thier camp.

After an hour in the shade and next to water that not long ago was snow, I needed to sit in the sun. Unfortunatly, reading the story of David includes details of his defeating lions and bears. This was no comfort while sitting in an open field in bear country.

Hiking Day

2008-07-29T22:00:00.020-05:00

I don't know about most people, but for me the second night sleeping on the ground is always the worst: the excitement of being back in nature is still very fresh, you haven't really worked hard enough to be very tired and the aches and pains of the first night have yet to heal. Needless to say, I've slept better.Very quickly after waking up, eating a bit of food and packing everything away it was back on the trail with everything on your back. This day is all about reaching high camp. There is very little time for rest until then. The problem is you really don't know how much farther you have left to go. The most difficult part of the journey are the low water crossings on logs that have been placed over the streams.

The hike up is where Ian got his nickname 'The Mountain Goat'. It's also where the implications of being assinged to carry the condiments bag become all too clear. One of the jobs of the crew leader is to assign each team member something to carry that will benefit the whole crew. I was assigned to carry two different meals as well as the condiments bag which includes povisions for cleaning up after meals and some additional items that don't go with any particular meal. Our crew had two large containers to add flavor to drinks. Neither of these got any lighter during the whole week. Unfortunately, I was also assigned the 'Hike Lunch'. The bad thing about this meal is that not very many hikers are a fan of the main course, vienna sausages. At the end of the meal, uneaten portions go back in the bag they came from. Unoppened portions then get added to the condiments bag. Here's where I realize that the condiment's bag gets heavier and heavier as the week progresses and that I will have to carry uneaten vienna sausages until we reach base camp four days from now. Ewww. (What happend to kids who ate everything on their plates?)

Before we knew it we were at hight camp, which was beautifuly framed on three sides by aspen trees and to the south by a little stream.

Repelling and Low Camp

2008-07-28T22:00:00.024-05:00

It's Monday and that means two things: first you repel and then you get a crash course introduction over several miles to the equivalent of having a small person on your back. It's also your first day after sleeping on the ground all night. Luckily, I had invested in a Therm-a-rest pad and not just the thin one but the 1-1/2" thick old man version. Here's a pic of Randall, my tent mate for the week, and his wife Rachael who bunked with the three girls. I took this picture as we climbed up the back side of the rock we were about to repel down.

We waited quite a while for our turn and all the kids were very patient. James here works on the Bible lesson for the day. Just as Emily was getting ready to repel I rushed back to my pack to get my camera. When I got back to take the picture, she was gone.

Oh well. I was ready though to document the beginning of Shelley's decent. She had gotten on Hope's line and a portion of the wall where you back over a precarious edge. Once you repel half way on this line, you free fall without touching the wall. All of our crew went down without a hitch.

Our crew leaders were Becca and Andrew and they did a great job at the bottom of the ropes not only communicating with the top of the rock but encouraging the repellers as they made their way down the rock face. This is Becca getting psyched up for her enormous responsibilities. Little did she know that she would soon be at the end of her rope.

After a short drive south on US 285, we headed west on CO 114 to a long dusty dirt road that took us to the trail head. This is where the work began. For the next two days, everything we were going to need for our stay was going to have to be hiked not only in several miles but up several hundred feet.

Thank goodness the first day is only a short sample of the main hike. Getting to 'Low Camp' wasn't too bad. This is our group dropping our packs in the pack area and getting ready for the night. Just after this came the rains. It probably rained for two hours. We had already set up our tents as well as the tarps over the crew areas where you cook. By the time is we were ready to 'hit the sack', the rain had stopped and we didn't have to deal with water seeping in the tent during the night.

Arriving in Salida

2008-07-27T22:01:00.000-05:00

The second day of Trek we arrive in Salida, Colorado. I had never seen Salida's historic downtown even though we'd visited this town several times. We circled downtown avoiding the areas roped off for a bicycle race while a heated discussion coursed through the van: "It's an 'S'!".... "It's a '5'!"... I sided with the letter group while the number group proceeded to sulk till they got food. We spent a bit more time at the pizza place than necessary but everyone left full and ready to eat like squirrels for five days.

At 2:00, we showed up at the Riverside Lodge. This is when you meet your guides. These are the 'kids' in whose capable hands you place your entire well-being for the next week. We feel we drew the long straw in this deal. Our guides were great.

First, we got assigned Daniel Anderson. He was a 2008 graduate the same high school as a couple of the teens in our youth group. This was his first summer as a guide and really seemed to enjoy the work. His dad John came as well and spiced up the trip with countless humorous moments.

Our female guide was Hope Miller. A four year veteran of Trek, she was a natural at both the mountain side and the spiritual aspects. I seemed to be more impressed by her ancestry than her younger sister, Heidi. To be Jule Miller's granddaughter should be a badge of honor.

Wilderness Trek 2008

2008-07-26T22:00:00.015-05:00

This was the year I finally signed up to join the teens in their annual quest to summit a mountain in Colorado. I knew this would be difficult on an old guy like me and I had every intention of working out and showing Cameron that his dad is still pretty tough guy. But a couple of things got in the way. The first being either my schedule at work or my uncontrollable laziness. There's something about getting home late in the evening from 12 hours at the office and looking at that treadmill that causes all gladness to leave me. The other thing that got in the way was a small child's foot. Let me explain... Cameron's summer job requires him to supervise children and lead them in various activities. Two days before we left for Colorado, this entailed a game of soccer. To avoid stepping on small feet with his shoes, Cameron decided to play soccer barefoot. Fourteen years of rec., competitive and High School soccer were no preparation to avoid rolling his ankle and causing him to miss out on this years trip. The ER doctor said it was broken but two weeks later, we still wouldn't know the actual damage due to the fast paced world of Workman's Comp. The good thing out of all this was that I could spend more quality time with Emily and she could easily show me how it's done.

We left for Trek early on a Saturday morning. I had rigged the church van just like the ski trip to have a monitor on which we could play movies or display my laptop's GPS mapping software. This year I added speakers to the front of the passenger area. This way we didn't have to crank the speakers in the back of the van just so the front van passengers could hear. Unfortunately, I took everything down before taking a picture. I did however snap this photo of several happy Trekkers. Note the enthusiasm. We'll see how they look after a week of no showers or toilets and having to carry the equivalent of a small person on their backs for several miles and up and down several hundred feet of altitude.

This trip we made sure all of the adults were on the church insurance. This way we could split the driving up a bit. Rachel grew up in Amarillo so her driving leg was like driving home.

Once we arrived in Raton, NM, we made our way to the KOA campground where we'd rest for the night. The sponsors and girls got the cabins while the boys were relegated to Marcus' 8 man tent. The rain during the night would prepare them slightly for parts of the hike up the mountain. A little football before bed for those with the energy

Traveling Home

2008-07-02T23:07:00.006-05:00

Well, all good things must come to an end as did this wonderful experience in the Spanish Virgin Islands. The first ferry off the island was at 6:30am. We wanted to have as much time as possible to visit Old San Juan and we wanted a good parking place to leave the Suzuki so we were there just before 6 o'clock. The ride back to the big island was much smoother and thankfully, nobody got sick.

Once in Fajardo, we had a short wait for a car to pick us up. The place was a mad-house with hundreds of Puerto Ricans headed to a long weekend on either Culebra or Vieques so the show was quite enough to entertain. Once we were on our own, we headed straight for food. I had seen a Duncan Donuts a few miles back so we headed there and finished off a dozen donuts in no time. I only add this mundane detail because while there, we ran into soccer friends from back home. Isn't it a small world.

The drive to Old San Juan from Fajardo was easy. I didn't even break out the GPS. I had spent most of the evening beforehand, looking into the layout of the town so I was able to drive straight to parking which I had heard was a problem.

Our parking place put us at the start of the Paseo de la Princesa. This picture was taken looking north along the wall toward El Morro. One of the famous garitos is in the background. It was definitely a hot day in Old San Juan. We wanted to explore it but time didn't permit. We caught a quick lunch at Cafe Mallorca, a restaurant famous for sprinkling powdered sugar on just about everything, including the burgers we had.

Getting through customs at SJU was an experience. Everything in this area moves at a slow pace. Then, Miami, probably the ugliest, worst laid-out airport ever, was way backed up due to weather and we sat on a taxiway for an hour and a half. Unfortunately, our connecting flight was delayed and we didn't reduce our 2 and 1/2 hour layover in MIA. Did I mention it's the nastiest major airport I've seen? The delays also meant we got home over an hour later than planned. Thanks again to Katie who went by the house, picked up the van and met us at the airport.

Last Day in Culebra

2008-07-01T23:11:00.007-05:00

For our last day, the kids decided to go back to Flamenco Beach. The waves didn't seem to be as large but it wasn't high tide either. Cameron and I walked all the way to the east end of the beach to the remains of some military shark tanks. From there we snorkeled out and to the reef up the right side of the coast. Seemed to be a decent reef. The most spectacular thing we saw was a huge school of blue fish. Lisa got a picture of the girls playing in the sand.

For dinner, it was time for Mamacitas. We showed up early since it's only open from 6pm to 9pm. The rain was coming down and a local art vendor was telling us this was the most they've seen since February. As we entered the restaurant, there was the yellow Thing, seats dripping, and there were we, thinking how great that had worked out. We had the waitress take a family picture but that turned out blurry so I'm relegated to posting a picture of me and Lisa. But then again, if you read the whole blog, you can see that she looks good with or without a tan.

We had wanted to visit Melones Beach for our last sundown on the island but as I blogged several times, things on Culebra just go at a different pace. By the time we got finished with dinner, the folks on the east end of the big island were enjoying the setting sun. We were in total darkness.

Culebrita

2008-06-30T17:25:00.034-05:00

Today we said goodbye to the 'Thing'. The guy we rented it from need it back for another commitment. It was fun to drive that 1200cc VW engine again and luckily, it never rained while we were out in it. The night we got the Suzuki SUV, it rained gatos y perros.

Weather reports last night said 30% rain. I set my alarm for 6:30 and checked again and all the weather sites were saying sunny. That meant we were on for a water taxi ride to Culibrita, a small island just off the east coast of Culebra. We met our water taxi driver at 9:30. He operates off of a tiny dock just across the street from the restaurant we went to last night.
Culebrita was amazing. The boat dropped us off on the west side of the island. The main two beaches are north and south-east. We hiked a short way to the main beach to the north and walking out on to this beach was like walking onto a postcard. There was one boat anchored way on the east end of the beach so we took over the middle. It was like having a huge swimming pool. The surf was gentle and there was similar breeze blowing. I snorkeled while everyone else slept and swam.

Before we left, I wanted to explore the abandoned lighthouse at the peak of the island. Built in the 1870's by the Spanish, it is now in disrepair and falling apart due to years of neglect. Locals say that once people start talking about renovating it, the scope gets out of hand and the preservationists pull their support. It was a hot, humid climb before the cool breezes whistling through the door-less and roofless structure. Looking back down to the beach, I found the view spectacular.

Snorkeling

2008-06-29T17:40:00.011-05:00

Today we hiked to Carlos Rosario. I thought it was as strenuous as the Brava hike but Lisa didn't think so. We sure had a lot more company. I guess when some of the day trippers see the crowds at Flamenco Beach, they head to Carlos Rosario. To get here you have to park at the Flamenco Beach parking lot.

The snorkeling here was pretty good. My only real experience to compare that to was Maui and that was many years ago. It seamed there were more types of fish in Hawaii and more vibrant colors. To get to the good reef, you have to swim out about 100 yards then head north. The kids and I swam quite a ways. Next time we invest in a bit better equipment for Savannah.
I think the thing we liked the most about this beach was the complete absence of surf. You could swim just a few yards from the beach just like you were in a swimming pool.

Zoni Beach

2008-06-28T18:42:00.008-05:00

I wanted to hike today and snorkel where there was a live reef. I got out-voted. Maybe tomorrow. Instead, we spent most of the day today at Zoni Beach. It's the closest beach to the house and a leatherback turtle sanctuary. We didn't see any turtles but saw several roped off areas where turtle-eggs had been laid. The surf here is light because the beach is blocked from the ocean by two smaller islands: Cayo Norte and Culebrita. This picture is one that Emily took and has Culebrita in the distance. We've scheduled a water taxi to take us there on Monday.

After a late lunch we went into town and did some shopping. This included our daily trip to the grocery store. Here are the kids as we walked back to the car. To the left is a Methodist church where they were holding some sort of VBS on Thursday and across the street is the Pandeli Bakery.

Brava Beach

2008-06-27T20:55:00.009-05:00

Faced with the decision of where to go today, the kids opted for waves. There are two beaches that really provide good surf: Brava and Resaca. They both, from what I read, have equally as good wave action but Brava is the easier hike. To get to Resaca, you have to drive up to the helipad, which is highest point on the island, and hike down to the beach. I wasn't too worried about the hike down but the climb back with a cooler and tired troops might be a problem. Considering all this, we chose Brava, the easier of the two.

One problem was getting to the trail head. Almost all of the Internet postings about hiking to Brava talked about the trail head, the trail, and the waves. But nowhere could I find how to get to the trail. If the post said anything, it said you drive through a neighborhood. But which neighborhood? After driving a bit, we found a road crew that spoke English. We didn't understand everything but 'museum' was enough to get us there. We took the road just to the right of the museum and ended up at the trial head.

We parked on the road almost getting run over by a horse we startled. Part of the hike down, goes up, but most of it is down. There were some interesting sights on the trail. I couldn't tell what these cocoon like things in the trees were but closer inspection revealed there were ants marching in and out. Some of these floating ant beds were directly over the trail. Luckily, we survived.

The kids got way ahead of us on the hike. They yelled back something about turning right but we missed the finer details of that instruction... as well as the white arrow clearly pointing the way. I took this picture on the way back up.

Brava beach was a lot of fun. The waves were really great. A bit rough for Lisa but Savannah couldn't get enough. We even snorkeled out past the breakers without a problem. Not much to see but it will give the kids something to compare to when we snokel at Carlos Rosario.

Day 2 in Culebra

2008-06-26T21:36:00.006-05:00

The kids slept pretty late this morning. I guess it's from the long travel day. Or wait... It could be that they're all teenagers. That might have something to do with it. Never mind that they are minutes from some of the best beaches in the world! Lisa and I used this time to run into town and pick up some provisions. Coffee was high on the list.

We first stopped off at a little bakery, Pandeli. I had a chicken empanyada and sweet roll. Lisa had a cinnamon donut. That took just long enough for the grocery store to open up. We picked up some things for the kids and I headed down to Culebra Divers to pick up some fins for snorkeling. Buying was cheaper then renting (I've never really understood this business practice but I didn't argue.) so I bought. We returned to the house to many questions: Where have you been, why were you gone so long, why didn't you get me up? When we provided food, most of the questions stopped. While they ate, I took this photo of a sailboat, moored near the house. The house we are staying in has a magnificent view of the Puerto del Manglar. This panoramic image was stitched together from five individual pics using a 35mm digital camera.
So, what do you do on your first day in Culebra? You go to Flamenco Beach, what else. Frequently rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world, this beach is beautiful. I got this picture of the kids body surfing.

Day 2 was a Thursday. We also chose the first day to be Flamenco because we figured it wouldn't be until Tuesday that the crowds would be thinned back down. I cropped this picture down to get the kids a bit larger in the frame but even the original doesn't have anybody else in the image. Don't get me wrong. There were still to may people there but it wasn't too bad.

Flamenco beach is also famous for some abandoned army relics. The military used this place frequently for training up until the 1970's. This is me next to an old tank that rests at the West end of the beach.

Again, we had to run by the grocery store before heading to the house. This time, with everyone present, everyone could get what they wanted, more or less. This is Culebra, you know.

Dinner was a last minute decision by yours truly. El Batey, a hamburger joint on the way back to the house. Great burgers. The service was tropical island typical: slow. Not much moves in a hurry on Culebra. That's why we came here so I didn't complain.

Culebra

2008-06-25T22:00:00.005-05:00

So we are finally on our way to a week in the Caribbean. We loved our vacation last summer in West Texas on the Frio River. The main reason was how we had our portion of the river all to ourselves. For a 'last big vacation before Cam goes off to college', we thought we'd try something less close to home and somewhere very few people we know have gone.

The place I found is Culebra. Culebra is a tiny island off the east end of Puerto Rico. It boasts some of the best beaches in the world, very few visitors, and lots of locals that speak English.

We flew into San Juan and had a driver take us to Fajardo where there are ferries to Culebra and Vieques. The ferry ride from the 'big island' to Culebra was pretty choppy to say the least. This is Lisa while she was still smiling.
We got to Culebra around 8:15pm.

The streets around the town roll up at sundown so it was quite an experience figuring it all out. We had reserved a vehicle and it took a while for the owner to show up. We all piled in and then waited for the lady to show up and take us to the house.

It all worked out and we settled in after a long day that started at 6:00am and ended around 9:00pm. Many thanks to Katie who rode with us to the airport and drove the van home. She also went back and checked on a straightener that was thought to have been left on as well as putting thermostadts on vacation mode. Thanks Katie!