St. Maarten

John and I traveled to the Island of St. Maarten/St. Martin the first week of December along with 3 other couples. It is a beautiful Island and rather unique because it is half Dutch and half French. It is the smallest country in the world to have split government.

We went diving, of course, and saw string rays, sharks (in the distance), turtles, lobster, shrimp and many varieties of reef fish. On Monday, we flew to Saba, another Dutch Island, 12 minutes away, that has world famous diving. This island has the second shortest runway in the world and the landing and takeoff were pretty interesting. There are submerged pinnacles to dive on there, covered with corals, sponges and lots of schooling fish.

Diamond Rock- Above and Below and The Landing Strip on Saba

Island side, a tourist hot spot is a beach at the end of the airport runway where the planes come in literally right over your head! When the bigger jets take off, they have been known to blow people off their feet with the jetwash.

We also spent a day on the French side, starting out with breakfast at a French bakery...yum!! Then we strolled through an outdoor market, visited an old Fort, and did a zip line course at Paradise Peak, the highest point on the island.

Our Hotel was on Simpson Bay and the dive shop was across the bay about 2 minutes by water taxi.

Run Like a Girl

Bethany, Sarah and I did a trail run in Portland on July 15th. It was sponsored by Montrail, and it was the first event like this. The course was in a forested area outside of the zoo and we actually ended the race inside the zoo. There were plenty of hills, some of them switchbacks and the the trail was only wide enough for one person in some places. There were almost 700 runners. Sarah and I never saw Bethany till the finish- she was waiting there with Mylo and John to watch us finish, 20 minutes later!! It was challenging, but fun and we got a cool t-shirt and water bottle.

Bethany, Me, Sarah

Roatan, Honduras April 2007

We were lucky enough to go on a trip to Roatan in April, which is one of the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. We went with a group of 30 people, most of whom are divers. Our accomodations were in a bungalow built out over the water. We did a bunch of dives, some from a boat and some with a shore entry right in front of the resort. There were wrecks of a boat and an airplane right near the resort, plus two reef walls to explore. The highlight of the trip in terms of creatures, was a group of 8 inch squid that we saw frequently in the waters straight out from the resort. They were beautiful- irridescent colors on them and they were curious enough to let us get pretty close. There were also some little fish on the shipwreck that are called Secretary Blennies. They reminded me of muppets- sort of commical looking with large mouths and what look like little tufts of hair on their heads. We also saw a huge school of silver shad- it was like a curtain of little fish that would part on either side as you swam through them.

On the land side of the adventure, we did a jungle zip line tour. It was very fun and ended way

too soon.

We also visited a butterfly farm and an iguana farm. There were Hummingbirds that fed during the day and at the same feeders, Bats at night!

Inspired by Heidi and Bethany...

I have enjoyed so much reading Heidi's posts and of course reading Bethany's, and feeling like this is a really good way to share thoughts and feelings and pictures with people I care about, I decided to make a blog. I read a lot and like to write down things that strike me from my reading. One of my favorites is Henry David Thoreau and he says "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." I don't want my life to be like that! I don't want to just slog along feeling unfulfilled and like my life means nothing. I don't want to have regrets about decisions I've made or the way I've treated people. I also make it a point to find one simple thing that made me smile or be happy each day. Sometimes its just seeing a quail on my way to work in the morning or sometimes its laughing at the cute antics of a little kid whose hearing I'm testing.





Monday, Memorial Day, John and Sarah and I went on a short hike in Ellensberg Canyon. It was along a creek that is inhabited by beavers. We didn't see any beavers, but we saw plenty of trees that are gnawed by them. We did see wildflowers, birds and butterflies. Here are some of the pictures.