Tag Archives: movie

Safely arrived in Aruba

November 6, 2010 Maurice 1 Comment

We 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!

The 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

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.

Holidays

Halloween Night

October 31, 2010 Maurice 2 Comments

Well, Halloween was UNREAL this year. Never dreamed there would be this many kids. It’s been twenty and thirty deep all night long. They started coming about an hour before we regularly get kids, and it has been non-stop all night long.

Honestly, we never dreamed there would be so many kids. There had to be close to 300 tonight. I’ve never seen it so packed, for so long! It’s a good thing we went and got a few “extra” candies, just in case! We ran out of practically everything.

Here are a couple of movies I took – one is quite early in the night – so you can see the display a bit better. Hope it gives you a sense of the place.

This is a game that Pam plays with all the kids… it’s a little dark, but you get the idea!

Holidays

Halloween 2010

October 29, 2010 Maurice 1 Comment

Here is a movie that I took tonight. It didn’t work out that well, but I uploaded it to youtube anyway. Somehow, I managed to get a light to emit from the camera sometime during the movie. It wasn’t on at the beginning of the movie, but somehow came on during it… I guess I better try and figure out how the heck that happened, so I can turn it on! haha Might come in handy while we’re taking underwater pictures.

The pictures aren’t that great either, but they give a sense of the place. We made some changes this year – went with a total graveyard theme. We’re not quite done, but I’ll get it all done tomorrow. Since Halloween is on Sunday, I guess that’s a good idea huh?

It’s been fun doing some things early this year. I didn’t realize how many people get a kick out of it. I think we’ve almost had more people stop and talk to us about the Halloween yard than when we do the Christmas yard!

Vacations

Smooth Landing

October 24, 2010 Maurice Leave a comment

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!

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Max IN the lake!

September 22, 2010 Maurice 1 Comment

Here is a little video we took with the new Panasonic camera. We were at Green Timbers park, and we’ve often gone to the little lake there. Max always charges the ducks in the water, but he has never actually put his foot in the water. As soon as he feels the damp, he chickens out.

Well, today was different! As you can see from the picture, he splashed a little into the water, so I started the camera, and this is what happened next! This Panasonic also has a much better audio capability than the old Olympus camera. It records in DOLBY sound, and you can definitely hear the difference.

Something About Us, Vacations

Coming through the Rockies

September 1, 2010 Maurice 1 Comment

We 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.

I 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.

At 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.

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Crescent Park, redux

May 4, 2010 Maurice Leave a comment

I took Pam down to Crescent Park, so she could check it out. Max and I have been there before and it’s a great park, lots of trails, lots of open spaces, some great water, terrific views… just a great space.

We entered through the main entrance this time, and it opens on to the very large sports fields. There are baseball diamonds, soccer fields and other play areas. We struck out across the fields to the trails, and met a couple ladies with two cute Duck Tollers. Max had a nice romp with them. They were just sweet dogs!

We headed over to the duck pond and sat watching Max have his fill of chasing the ducks. The ducks are hilarious, coming close to the shore and teasing him! He won’t go in the water and they seem to sense that, so they come near and that sets him chasing.

Loved the color of this duck – so many ducks have a green head, but this guy was a pretty blue color.

There were lots of turtles out sunning themselves, as usual but this time we heard some load “honking” noises. I couldn’t figure out what they were, but Pam was convinced they were frogs! Well after searching the rushes, we finally spotted one and he was HUGE! The pictures I took didn’t really show them clearly, but wow, I didn’t realize frogs grew that big out here!

Nice park, nice day!