O Deer!

Its been a while since my last post - mostly b/c not a lot is going on! With no school, I have been spending my free time really cleaning and organizing the house. Whoopee-doo!

The Christmas decorations are all down and put away, the office is organized and the papers are filed. The kids room is cleaned out and I finally felt ready to rid myself of all the swimming ribbons, trophys and medels I received over the years. It's amazing how many 6th and 7th place ribbons I kept. :)

Over MLK weekend, we had another snowstorm, and this time we actually saw deer in the yard! We often see their tracks, and Sox likes to bark to show them it's his terratory, but rarely to they come so close to the house! We got some good photos of them exploring the bushes.

Later that day, Sox and I went out to play in the snow. He was adorable, especially since the snow was all the way up to his belly. He liked to chase snowballs, but had a hard time "retrieving" them. He would just bury his face where it landed and then look up, confused as to where it went! Silly puppy.

USVI Christmas

Dec 24-27 we traveled to St Thomas USVI. From Dec 27 to Jan 3, we traveled all around the British Virgin Islands with my parents, brother and his girlfriend, Holly. Jan 4 we spent Mike's birthday alone together at a beautiful resort on Tortola.

There was so much to see and so many beautiful shots, it's going to take a while to get them all up on the blog. Please be patient as I work to get things in order! Look for more posts further down - I'm working to tell the story in order, so I'm backdating new posts to keep the week straight.

Enjoy our sights and stories from the Caribbean!

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Christmas 2008 was very special. On Christmas Eve, Mike and I spent the day traveling to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. It was a long day, including flight cancellations, rerouting, lost luggage and a random taxi drive in the middle of it all. We arrived at our condo around 11:30 pm; we didn't see Santa in the sky with us as we flew from Florida (and we were watching for him!) and we quickly fell asleep in case he was nearby.

On Christmas morning, we woke up in a warm, tropical paradise....to the sound of roosters and chickens. Not an ideal wake up call, but one that got us up and ready to start our vacation. Mikey made a delicious breakfast of coffee, bacon and eggs (all found in the fridge) and I brought some Swedish cardamom buns as is tradition in the Johnson Family.

We stepped outside our condo to take in the sight of Sapphire Beach. The weather was certainly gorgeous and we laughed how our "white Christmas" was now a "white sands Christmas."


We took a walk around the grounds of the condo complex as we decided what we would do that day. Along the way, we ran into a number of rather large iguanas that were not as afraid of humans as I thought they might be! The first one we approached allowed me to get right next to him (or her)?

As we traveled along the path, we saw a few more bathing by the salt pond:

Although they are professionally cared for and many signs asked guests not to feed them, one of them must have thought it was feeding time because he came right toward me! Yes, cameras have zoom, but this was not a close up!

They really were beautiful lizards!

After our little hike around the compound, we decided to make our way towards town and the airport - partly for sightseeing, partly to fetch our bags. Along the way, we stopped in Red Hook to see the marina and the shops there - many were closed for the holiday, but still beautiful.

Once we got to town, picked up luggage, yada yada yada...we enjoyed some time on Sapphire beach.

Our next few days on island were momentous - between the dollah ($) bus, Mike's mountain-side cactus hike and dodging the crowds from the cruise ship, we were ready to move on to the next islands. As we packed up to leave, we found we had a visitor in our bedroom! Should have closed the window a bit tighter! We got a few shots of our little gecko friend before we scooted him out the window from whence he came. We enjoyed our last dinner on St Thomas at "home" in the condo. The breezeway/patio offered a perfect place to enjoy our "fins" (salmon for Amy) and "feet" (steak for Mike). More on our trip to the British Virgin Islands in the next installment!

Sailing Days 1-2: Tortola, Norman and Cooper Islands

Dec 27: We ferried from St Thomas to West End, Tortola to begin our week long sailing adventure. It was a gorgeous morning with the sun shining through the clouds.

On the way over, we did see a rainbow coming across the bay
We arrived in Nanny Cay before the rest of the crew to see the row of sailboats awaiting charter for the week. The blue skies and turquoise waters just begged us to get out there, but we needed to wait on a few things - the food, our captain, etc!
So we sat patiently on the sidelines waiting to leave
Once we got some paperwork done, we were finally able to board Blue Water Bound.

I quickly found my spot out on the trampoline out front.

This was a very comfortable place to lounge, even in the harbor! Captain Billy navigated us out into the Caribbean at about 5 pm
Mike got comfy on the back - hanging on until the sea legs kick in!

We all enjoyed a lovely sunset as we set the front sail to take us to our first overnight in a small bay off of Norman Island.
Dec 28: We woke early with a plan to get to Cooper Island so my brother and Dad could make their scuba excursion. It was a windy day - good for sailing, but with choppy seas it made me a little queasy. The sails were up in full force making for a really cool site -

With the sails up, Mom and I took our spot up in front on the trampoline. We were moving quite quickly, so we're laughing at the splashes coming up to infringe on the photo op (Holly did a great job capturing this moment!)

When we got to Cooper Island, the picturesque harbor looked especially surreal when viewed through the window of our cabin.

The beach was a bit rocky, and provided a great resting place for a number of pelicans (one seen here). There were many fish and oceanic creatures in the waters around us and it was fascinating to watch the pelicans hunt and dive for their food. They were mostly successful while we watched from the safety of the boat. While Eric and Dad were scuba diving, we snorkeled around the cove. It was our first chance to test our new underwater camera together - and it worked well! We saw sea urchin, a turtle and what we think was an eagle ray that was over 8 feet long! I think our underwater shots were pretty cool - do you?

For dinner, we all enjoyed traditional burgers and dogs - it was our turn to cook, so it was a relatively easy night. Grilling burgers on a cookie sheet was a bit of a challenge, but Mike persevered and a tower of meat was served.

Sailing Days 3-4: Virgin Gorda & Anegada

Dec 29: Monday we awoke with a plan to get to Virgin Gorda. It was a debate how to go about it - we wanted to visit the Baths, but with sailing traffic being so heavy with the holiday, we needed to get up toward the Bitter End before sunset so we could have a mooring that positioned us well for our trip to Anegada the next day. We decided to forgo a stop at the baths and head right to the end, with the plan being to catch a cab back down to that part of the island when we arrived. The trip was long and wind was not cooperative so we motored most of the way. I missed much of the trip b/c of a nasty head cold that forced me down below deck and into bed for most of it. We made it to Leverick Bay only to find that the dingy was really not working properly and we'd need to call in a repairman. We never made it to the Baths, but that just gives us a reason to return someday. At Leverick, there were some shops and a couple of bars/restaurants that we were able to see - it was nice to get on land and wander around for a bit.
Since we didn't leave the area, there weren't many photos. My brother got this shot of a distant ship that had decorated its mast to look like a Christmas Tree - it's a little blurry, but can you make out the green triangles topped with a red star? It was very festive!
Dec 30: Tuesday was our big trip to Anegada. This is a small little flat island that is actually a coral atoll - great snorkeling, friendly people and a 12 mile trip from the next closest island. Our day started with a nice sunrise over Leverick as Dad set out the bumpers for us to get more water and ice at the dock.We sailed all morning to arrive around 1 pm. Getting there was a nice sail, smooth seas and gentile winds. It was pretty relaxing!

Looking back, we could see how Virgin Gorda got its nickname as the "Pregnant" island - can you see the outline of a lady lying in the water? We debated whether her head was to the right or left (we think right) - but who can be sure?

Looking ahead, we tried to make out Anegada. It is so flat and unlike many of the other islands that you really had to strain to see it. Basically, we were looking for trees in the middle of the water. Crazy...but doable!

We navigated into the shallow channel and found our spot outside Neptunes Treasure - the restaraunt where we had reservations for New Years Eve dinner.

Once we got anchored, it was again time to explore by land. We all piled into the digy, Dad as our chaufeur and Mom as the on-board photographer as we went ashore to see what there was to see.

Mike and I headed off to the left while Eric and Holly went right (to the bar!). We walked the road to Pomato Point, hoping to catch a glimpse of the flamingos on Flamingo Pond. Unfortunately, no pink birds, but the beach was incredible.

Along the walk, I found a home with the perfect relaxation spot - outdoor bar, hammock and palm trees all just overlooking the waters. You might even put a massage table out there...Gorgeous!

We headed back toward "town" which was a couple of restaurants and the Anegada Reef Hotel. This was a shot of the excitement from just down the beach...

Along the way to "town" we stopped for an obligatory shot climbing a coconut tree - there were little steps on it and everything! Unfortunately the steps were a little wobbly so we never actually reached our coconut. I think they might have planned it that way...

We found Eric & Holly and stopped at a colorful bar for some afternoon cocktails. Behind us were a group of guys from the midwest - Indiana, Michigan and Ohio...I guess you never really are that far from home! Also in the white tanktop was our favorite bartender, Sam, who entertained us thoroughly with his rendition of Please Don't Go Girl by NKOTB. Island men singing New Kids...now THATS entertainment!

We got the dingy back to the boat for some stunning shots of the sunset - and us in front of it...

So ends another day in the Caribbean!