Category Archives: Vacations

About Bailey, Aruba, Vacations

Tuesday at Baby Beach

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Black durgonWe took a drive to the beach, and things seemed to be calming down, so we drove down to the south of the island to Baby Beach. It’s always been a great place to snorkel, with a man made barrier that creates a bowl of calm water, that is never over five feet deep.

ParrotfishWell, it was a great decision! The water was clear, and there were just tons of fish to see! We were very surprised how good it was. The water levels are high, and we were able to easily go further out than we ever have before. We saw all the usual suspects, chubs, yellow tail snapper, parrot fish, blennies, damsel fish, Sgt Majors, plus durgons, Caribbean reef squid and many others.

SquidI took a few nice movies, that I think are worth taking a look at…

They are in high def, so I think they give a better feel of what it is like to be in the ocean here in Aruba. The first movie is of the Caribbean Reef Squid. They hang out in schools, and there were about eight or ten of them together. They communicate with each other by changing color. They are pretty shy, and move off when you get too close to them.

This movie is of a Black Durgon, a type of triggerfish. It is quite a dark fish, but it does have some yellow around its eyes. I like the way to moves, quite graceful.

TrumpetfishThis last movie is a little longer, but I was just drifting along a rocky ledge. When I paused, you can see several fish coming up to the camera. The smallish darker colored fish that is quite aggressive is called a Damselfish. He is the most aggressive – and will often nip at you! haha Delusions of grandeur I guess – or maybe a shark in a previous life!

Just a reminder about the photos: if you click on the GALLERIES link at the top of any page, you will see a new Gallery called Aruba 2010 – that has all the pictures from our trip this year. I have not referenced all the pictures in the blog posts. As of today there are 13 pictures in the gallery, but I have referenced only 10 in the posts. So if you want to see more pics, then head to the Aruba 2010 Gallery.

About Bailey, Aruba, Vacations

Tuesday at Baby Beach

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Black durgonWe took a drive to the beach, and things seemed to be calming down, so we drove down to the south of the island to Baby Beach. It’s always been a great place to snorkel, with a man made barrier that creates a bowl of calm water, that is never over five feet deep.

ParrotfishWell, it was a great decision! The water was clear, and there were just tons of fish to see! We were very surprised how good it was. The water levels are high, and we were able to easily go further out than we ever have before. We saw all the usual suspects, chubs, yellow tail snapper, parrot fish, blennies, damsel fish, Sgt Majors, plus durgons, Caribbean reef squid and many others.

SquidI took a few nice movies, that I think are worth taking a look at…

They are in high def, so I think they give a better feel of what it is like to be in the ocean here in Aruba. The first movie is of the Caribbean Reef Squid. They hang out in schools, and there were about eight or ten of them together. They communicate with each other by changing color. They are pretty shy, and move off when you get too close to them.

This movie is of a Black Durgon, a type of triggerfish. It is quite a dark fish, but it does have some yellow around its eyes. I like the way to moves, quite graceful.

TrumpetfishThis last movie is a little longer, but I was just drifting along a rocky ledge. When I paused, you can see several fish coming up to the camera. The smallish darker colored fish that is quite aggressive is called a Damselfish. He is the most aggressive – and will often nip at you! haha Delusions of grandeur I guess – or maybe a shark in a previous life!

Just a reminder about the photos: if you click on the GALLERIES link at the top of any page, you will see a new Gallery called Aruba 2010 – that has all the pictures from our trip this year. I have not referenced all the pictures in the blog posts. As of today there are 13 pictures in the gallery, but I have referenced only 10 in the posts. So if you want to see more pics, then head to the Aruba 2010 Gallery.

Aruba, Vacations

Sunday in Aruba

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IguanaJust a short post today. Not much to tell. We went to the beach but the waves were very high again, so we retreated to the timeshare and hung around the pool. We tried out the hot tub and had a few drinks.

Parrot The old restaurant called Coco Loco’s has been renovated and renamed the Caribbean Palm Restaurant. The menu is much different, quite a bit more upscale. The renovations are nice too. It changes the ambiance of the place, that’s for sure. It has nice rich wood cabinets and linen covered chairs. I’ll take a few pictures or maybe a short movie of it another day.

The two parrots are still here, as are the friendly iguanas who hang around the pool side.

No parkingThis evening we went over to Paseo Herencia, an outdoor mall open ’til late in the evening, for an ice cream. It’s tough to find parking, but we got lucky. While walking to the mall, we strolled down a street with signs every 10 feet threatening to tow all parked vehicles. In front of every sign, was a parked car! haha

Here is a short movie of Boca Catalina. You can watch these movies in high def mode too. Click on the little 360 button and you will be given the option to watch in 480 or 720 mode – the 720 is full high def. You can even make the movie full screen, and it will give a really nice image.

Aruba, Vacations

Safely arrived in Aruba

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Pam, Seattle AirportWe left home this morning, thinking we might have a long delay at the border, but we crossed over into the States the quickest we have ever done it. There was absolutely no wait at all. The border guard chat took about 10 seconds and we were done.

With the recent problem with potential bombs on some flights we expected some delays at the airport, but again, the delay was the shortest we’ve encountered. We simply walked right through security – there was no line, no standing around, right through!

Car wash muralThe flight was fine, a little rough on the landing, but we arrived about thirty minutes early. The inflight movie was Salt, with Angelina Jolie. I thought it was an interesting movie, but she was horribly miscast. She just doesn’t strike me as being a very tough actress. I didn’t believe her beating up several men at once. Anyway, it was entertaining.

We grabbed a hotel close by, with a free shuttle. Listened to some bad karaoke (is there any other kind?) had a drink, and got a decent night’s sleep.

Back to the airport for another crack at check in/security and it was again smooth as silk. This time security took at least five minutes tho! A tedious delay! haha

Arashi Beach We were pretty impressed with how smooth everything went, both with the border crossings, and airport security.

This airport in Atlanta is huge – close to a million flights a year. Very well signed, and lots of friendly staff to help. We were standing there looking confused, wondering where to go after we’d checked in, when a nice gentleman stopped and asked if we needed help. He pointed out where we needed to go, and off we went.

We’re waiting here to board our flight to Aruba. I’m going to have to post this from Aruba, since the Atlanta airport charges for WIFI. And I won’t pay for WIFI – it’s just not right. We’re hoping that Hurricane Tomas won’t affect the flight too much.

ADDED LATER:

The flight to Aruba was very nice. Terrific landing. Landed ahead of schedule, too. So all in all, a great start.

We got the rental car, checked into the timeshare, and headed to the beach! But WOW – the waves are incredible! We simply didn’t think we’d get much snorkeling in, so we came back to the pool and did a few laps.

We’re going to head downtown for dinner – keshi yena, natch –  but I wanted to post this little movie of Arashi Beach.

Vacations

Smooth Landing

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About 30 years ago, we had a winter vacation in Mexico. While returning home, the pilot came on the intercom and said the weather was so bad in Calgary we were going on to Edmonton and we’ll land there. About an hour later, he comes on the intercom and says the weather in Edmonton is so bad, we’re heading back to Calgary to land!

We circled the airport for about an hour or so, which we learned later was to partially empty the fuel tanks in case of ummmm an “accident.” Well, I stumbled on this video of our landing!

Now that’s smooth! I bet the passengers were happy to get off that plane!

Something About Us, Vacations

Coming through the Rockies

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Big Horn sheepWe drove home from Calgary yesterday. The roads were very good, and we made very good time. The construction didn’t really affect things, even though there is a lot of roadwork going on just after Banff. As we approached Golden I noticed a herd of Bighorn Sheep and we quickly pulled over as soon as we could.

In the RockiesI was able to get a short movie of them. It’s a bit jerky, but fun nevertheless! Where you see them jump over the barrier, one of them ran across the road and up a steep slope. The traffic all stopped to let him go across.

herd_of_bighornAt the end of the movie, you can see several of them looking across the highway. They were looking for the single guy who ran up the slope. They waited for him on the side they were on, looking quite concerned, until he came down the slope and scampered across the road to rejoin his mates! Quite sweet…

The whole bunch of them then left the highway and descended quickly down a slope.

Vacations

Whales in Newport

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Pulling crabsToday we decided to do some “crabbing,” a popular activity here on the Oregon Coast. There is a long dock here at the resort, dedicated to crabbers. So we got our ring, attached some raw chicken and tossed it in the ocean. Every 5-10 minutes you pull it up and hope you get some Crabsdungeness crabs. There are always a lot of crabs in the net, but most are red rock crabs, not the greatest eating, but still lots of fun and excitement every time you pull up the crab trap!

WhalesThe talk of the day though, was the pod of killer whales who made their way through the inner harbor here in Newport. It had the town in a tizzy, that’s for sure! All the locals were in shock… one guy told us that he’d been here twenty nine years, and no whale had ever been in the harbor, let alone a whole pod of orcas!

Whales tailThe whales were right off the break water, less than 30 feet from us on the crab dock! They were obviously hunting, looking for the seals that are all over the harbor. I tell you, it was really amazing to see them so close. I’ve been to orca shows, but nothing comes close to the experience of seeing them “in the wild” so close, you could almost touch them.

WhalesWhales breachAfter they moved off down the harbor, we came back to the room, and were getting ready to go for dinner, when the pod came back into sight, moving back towards the harbor exit! They smacked their tails on the water, breached and rolled and came so very close to our deck it was unreal! Totally fascinating to see whales, just unreal.

After the “show,” we headed to dinner and our waitress wanted to know if we’d seen the whales! She talked about what an honor it was to see them, how she’d lived here all her life and never seen a whale in the harbor. It was a really special day, that’s for sure!