Puerto Rico or Bust!!

This is it - our last night in Houston before getting on the plane in the morning to fly to Puerto Rico. It's been a very nice but too short visit seeing family and friends for sure. Today, Jennifer and Dan took us to the Houston Museum of Natural Science which was really cool and they had an exhibit about the Faberge jewelry. Then, a little later, we met up with Diane and Wayne, a couple of friends that Jim used to work with in Dallas who moved to Houston. Jim certainly had a great time catching up with them and reliving old times since he hadn't seem them in 14 years. When we got back to Jennifer and Dan's, we were treated to a wonderful dinner of marinated grilled turkey, tasty sweet potatoes, salad and all the fixins. Dan truly is an amazing chef and both he and Jennifer truly know how to make you feel right at home. Thanks to both of you for being such great hosts!!!!

I have to say for this entire trip since we drove out of Seattle almost two months ago, we have pretty much caught up with everyone we know and love and have been wanting to see which is a REALLY great feeling. In other words, no stone has been left unturned and now we're ready to fly off for the next chapter. Our alarm is set for 3:45 a.m.....ugh........for our 6:25 flight to San Juan via Atlanta. We should get into San Juan around 2:30 p.m. and are fortunately, staying at the Best Western which is connected to the airport so we'll be able to have a relaxing afternoon and evening before flying over to Vieques the next day. Rory and Jess, the current caretakers, will be picking us up and we'll have about 5 days of overlap for them to show us the ropes before they head off and we're left to run the place.......yikes!! So, it may be a few days before a new post once we get down there but don't worry - we'll just be getting settled in and then I'll catch you up on what's been happening. Until then........bienvenidos!!

Hanging Out With the Yerigans

Today Jennifer and Dan drove us up to see my other sister and brother in law (Wallis and Randy) who have a great house on Lake Conroe which is about an hour's drive north. What a great time we had!! Wallis and Randy really know how to make you feel welcome in their home that's for sure. Because of the extensive traveling they've done with Randy having been in the navy, they have some of the coolest furniture and artwork you could ever see. I could have probably sat for hours more and listened to more stories about the places they've traveled. When it comes time for us to visit Asia, I definitely know who I'll be contacting for suggestions!!

In addition, Wallis is a superb quilter (along with Jennifer and Randy) and she has been making beautiful art for years. In their living room is a huge - and I mean huge - quilting machine that can be used for really big projects. I would say it roughly measures 12 feet long by 4 feet wide. Randy calls it his Harley, but unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it at the moment. At any rate, we all got a chance to give it a try and that was a hoot! It was also a real treat to see my nephew Danny, who I hadn't seen in I can't tell you how many years. Wallis and Randy are planning on moving up to Bozeman, Montana in six months or so to enjoy their retirement and be closer to Randy's family. We're really happy for them and wish them the very best for the future!

(in the picture of the four of us is - from left to right - Jennifer, Randy, Wallis and me. You can see Dan with Jennifer in the other pictures of the two of them at the quilting machine.)

Hello Houston!

Our Texas saga continues........we had a terrific last week in Dallas spending some more quality time with friends and family. Tina and Sharon, we can't thank you enough for being the amazing hosts that you are and putting up with us staying in your home for so long!! You two are certainly gems in our lives.

We dropped the Subaru off at Jim's parents place who will watch over it while we're away. It is really reassuring to know that it will be in good hands and waiting for us when we're ready to have a car again! We picked up the rental car and after a farewell breakfast, we headed on down to Houston which is about a 4 hour drive south. It's really amazing how much more humid it gets the closer you are to the Gulf of Mexico.......man, we thought a hot, wet blanket had been thrown on us when we got out of the car! On the upside, however, it is much lusher and greener down here than the Dallas area with a lot more tall trees.

Jennifer and Dan (my sister and brother in law) live in northeast Houston, near Lake Houston. You may recall from a previous blog entry I made about how their home was struck by lightening and caught on fire. Well, they've moved into a rental house in the same subdivision and took us by to see the progress on the rebuilding of their house. You can see by the pictures on this page that it's coming along well and they hope to be moved back in by October. Keep your fingers crossed!

A Cool Video from the New England Aquarium

The New England Aquarium in Boston had a really interesting exhibit of jellyfish and we took the video below of them (feel free to mute it.....there were some screaming kids in the background!):

There's a Zebra in the Car!!

Jim's dad took a couple of days off so we rented a minivan and drove to Glen Rose, about 75 miles south of Dallas. There we visited Dinosaur State Park where we looked at actual footprints in the riverbed of dinosaurs that used to live in the area. That was really fun, except for the part where Jim stubbed his toe pretty well. We had a picnic lunch there and then went on to Fossil Rim Animal Park. It's a really fun and interesting animal park set on 1700 acres where they have some species that are endangered in the wild and they're trying to increase their numbers. The best part of all, though, was getting to feed the giraffes by hand!!

Of course, no Texas road trip is complete without a trip to Dairy Queen.........

Another Awesome Pool Party!

We're really getting spoiled here with all this fun - I have to tell you! Last night we were invited with Tina and Sharon's over to their friends Mary and Karen's house, along with some other friends of theirs, Dana and Mel. Mary and Karen cooked up some amazing steaks and all sorts of other tasty food that was delicious! They live in North Dallas and have a lovely home with a really nice pool in back. Believe me, with this heat, any excuse to get in the pool is a good one!

Connecting with Old Friends

We were also able to connect with Janice, who has been a friend of Jim's for many years - I won't say how many - who he went to college with and also worked with when we lived here in Texas. She and her husband Wayne came over to Tina and Sharon's for dinner last week and a great time was certainly had by all!

A Night to Remember!

Last night was a special treat for us - we were able to get together with a really special friend who we hadn't seen since we moved to Seattle in 1996. A little background here: JoAnn worked in the Ph.D. department of the school of Social work at U.T. Arlington where I was an undergraduate. As part of my financial aid package, I had a work study component where I had to work a minimum number of hours a week in order to get my grant. In order to fulfill the requirement, I had to find the work and fortunately, the Ph.D. department was one of the first places I checked for work. There JoAnn was and we hit it off right away and she hired me on the spot. How lucky is that??!!

JoAnn probably doesn't realize the impact she has had on my life as well as Jim's......she is such a totally classy, vibrant and fun loving person and you just can't help but enjoy yourself when you're around her. So here's to you, JoAnn!! Thanks for such a wonderful and memorable evening - we look forward to seeing you again the next time we pass through Dallas!

Back in Texas

We arrived back in Texas last Thursday evening and what a change in weather! It certainly was plenty warm before we left but we're now in full Texas summer weather mode (and it's not even officially summer yet.....Texas, are you listening????) with highs in the mid to upper 90's and high humidity. Ah......gotta love it, right? Thank goodness for Tina and Sharon's swimming pool, that's all I can say!

Speaking of the swimming pool, these wonderful gals threw a fab pool bash for us and invited all of their fun loving gal pals. As you can see from the pictures, a VERY fun time was had by all!

Please Come to Boston for the Springtime.......

......Okay - I think we will!

It's been a fast and furious couple of days in Boston but we are having a really great time. We're staying at a guesthouse in Cambridge that is owned by a wonderful woman named Gina, who is a friend of our friends, Helen and Laura. Helen arrived in town Monday and Laura arrived last night so we had dinner together last night and are headed for a wonderful Italian meal tonight in the North End.

The weather has been superb this week and we've had lots of fun taking in the sights. We took a trolley tour of Boston on Monday and visited the New England Aquarium yesterday.

By the way, did you know that Boston is on the same latitude as Portugal?

We've LOVED using the mass transit here, which like all the cities on the East Coast, is very well established. We're able to catch the bus in front of her place and take it to the T stop (subway) at Harvard Square and ride right into the city. It really makes getting around so, so easy.

Today we walked the famous Freedom Trail with Laura and Rich which, as you probably know, is a self guided tour through all the important historical places in Boston.

Final Thoughts on Iceland

As we look at the light coating of ash in our room that has drifted in from outside (yes, apparently when the wind blows from the right direction, some of the volcanic ash does blow into town), we realize our two weeks in Iceland is almost over. So, I thought I'd post some final thoughts on our time here:

• Our overall impression is that Icelanders are not as open and expressive as other cultures we've been around. Maybe it's a Scandinavian thing, being a little more reserved and "stand offish" until you get to know them better. Don't get us wrong - everyone has been very nice and accommodating, but maybe just a little less open.


• In retrospect, I would have liked to research the location of our hotel a little more and would have preferred to stay on a quieter street. These folks like to party all night long, that's for sure!


• It also would have been nice to explore a little more of the countryside.


• We have REALLY enjoyed getting to be "regulars" at the coffee shop around the corner! It has been a perfect place to hang out and we've felt right at home. In fact, tonight we had to go there one last time to share a piece of that AMAZING cheesecake! Delish.......


• I think it will actually be nice to be somewhere where it actually gets dark at night. I realize this balances out the winters for sure, but it has played havoc with my body clock.


• Iceland truly is a country of unique and unquestionable beauty. The landscape is so raw and prehistoric in places you can't help but feel it in your bones. I can truly see why some people have chosen to come here to get away from it all - if there is anywhere on earth you could do that, Iceland is certainly it.

Not much else to say at this point. We'll be leaving with fondest memories of soaking in the steamy Blue Lagoon and spending some wonderful quality time with our dear friends in a truly amazing place!

Ever Wonder What Icelandic Sounds Like?

I recorded the lottery drawing from the local t.v. station so you could here what Icelandic sounds like:




P.S.: We didn't win anything.........

A Video of the REALLY Cool Waterfall We Visited

You might enjoy seeing the video of this waterfall.......pretty impressive!

Sculpture City

We took a walking tour of the city's sculptures which was actually quite enjoyable......here's some of the sculptures we saw.