Well, it was our first day back at work. Bummer. But I guess if we didn't work we wouldn't be able to enjoy our vacations as much. Maybe. At least, that's what I'll tell myself.
I think I get to be in a corporate "woo-hoo! engineering is great" video. We'll see how it turns out. Maybe I won't have to see it...that would probably be best.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday: pop
While in St. Lucia I started drinking Coke. Usually I'm not really a fan of it, but after a few glasses we realized it was made with real sugar and not high-fructose corn syrup. The can I had on the airplane on the trip home was disgusting after the delicious stuff I had come to enjoy.
Needless to say, we went to Wegmans today to see what they had in the way of real sugar in pop. We found some throwback Pepsi and got some of that, along with some Jones soda. For some reason I thought that Coke was doing a throwback thing too, but I guess I was wrong. :( Well, I can hope that they do it in the future.
Needless to say, we went to Wegmans today to see what they had in the way of real sugar in pop. We found some throwback Pepsi and got some of that, along with some Jones soda. For some reason I thought that Coke was doing a throwback thing too, but I guess I was wrong. :( Well, I can hope that they do it in the future.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Saturday: shopping
Today I had to return some library books and get groceries. (After being gone for so long there isn't much in the house to eat.) First I stopped at the library. They were having a book sale!! I love the book sales that the library has because there are always a lot of books. This one was by donation only too, so they were inexpensive. I think I came away with as many books as I returned. Most of them are just fluffy easy reads, but I did manage to snag "A Prayer for Owen Meany".
Then I went to the grocery store. Usually when I go, especially when I go by myself and am not in a rush, the bill tends to be higher than normal. I think it is because I remember all the weird and expensive things that we need. Like medicine and cleaning supplies. Anyway, I had filled up the cart (how did those donuts get in there?!?) and it came out at a reasonable price. I was excited.
Then I went to the grocery store. Usually when I go, especially when I go by myself and am not in a rush, the bill tends to be higher than normal. I think it is because I remember all the weird and expensive things that we need. Like medicine and cleaning supplies. Anyway, I had filled up the cart (how did those donuts get in there?!?) and it came out at a reasonable price. I was excited.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Vacation day 15: a few last things
So during the month of fun, we had several guides on the different things that we did. I was wondering which would really be the best guide to be. So I rated them in order of 1 to 5 (with 1 being the worst and 5 the best).
For the fun category, it is how much fun the guide would have doing the activity everyday. The best two were the ones where you might see different things each day. Sky diving was next because of the adrenaline rush. The last two seem like they would just be the same thing over and over.
The ease of dealing with people category is how bad things can get if you have a bad customer...scuba was the worst because if something goes wrong while you're down at the sea floor it seems like there could be some serious problems. (Sky-diving doesn't have that because the guide is completely in control. The passenger can do whatever and it won't really affect anything.)
....................Fun.Ease of dealing with people.Pay.Total
Helicopter pilot:....1...5...........................5...11
Tandem sky-diver:....3...3...........................4...10
Scuba diver:.........5...1...........................3...9
Horseback rider:.....2...2...........................1...5
Zip-liner (jungle):..4...4...........................2...10
And the results show...helicopter pilot is the best! However, I also rated it as least fun, so personally I might end up doing sky-diving or zip-lining.
Here are the things we ended up taking home with us. (Betsy, we saw a bottle of banana ketchup in the airport and grabbed it. We didn't have a chance to try any.) The hardened coral was washed up on the beach from our kayaking trip.
Review: Calabash Cove, St. Lucia
Well, I'm on the plane returning from St. Lucia and thought I'd write a quick review...just in case anyone else out there was curious. The resort we stayed at was Calabash Cove. We were in one of the villas. (Follow this link for blog posts starting at the beginning of the trip.)
Overall, it was a great vacation. I'm going to post a few "negative" things, but they really are greatly out weighed by the positive things.
Downside:
1. There were a lot of steps. We only went up and down them once or twice a day, but if you're not in a villa and like the beach it could be more.
2. The one time we took a taxi somewhere "on our own" it seemed rather expensive. (Also check with your hotel about prices getting to/from the airport...if not included they might need to be included in your budget.)
3. A few of the light bulbs were burned out. (I know, now I'm stretching to find things.)
4. The door to the shower was hard to open because the wood had warped.
5. There were a few food inconsistencies...we would order these delicious chocolate pastries for breakfast and never knew how many we were going to get.
6. It was a little hard to find shade in the late afternoon. There were a few places, but sometimes we just ended up going inside for a bit.
7. There was no clock/alarm clock...we woke up an hour too early for one excursion because we had the wrong time zone.
Upsides:
1.The food was delicious.
2. Room service didn't cost extra.
3. House keeping came twice a day with fresh towels.
4. The view was gorgeous.
5. There is snorkel gear at the front desk (and fish to see by the pier).
6. The excursions are very well organized...you get a ticket with where to meet and when. The taxis were always on time. The same taxi picked you up at the end.
7. The excursions we went on were very fun.
8. The villas have their own little pool...we used ours a lot. The pools were kept clean.
9. There weren't many pesky bugs (at least compared to my backyard in upstate NY).
10. The tap water is safe to drink (which saves a lot on bottled water costs).
11. There were kayaks that we could use at the resort.
12. The private dinner was very romantic.
13. There was free wi-fi. I know it sounds dorky to want to be connected to the Internet, but it helped keep us occupied.
14. I could swim and read at the same time...what can be better?
15. The villa had an outside bed, outside table, outside hammock, inside sitting room, and air conditioned bedroom. There were plenty of places to sit depending on my mood.
16. The outside shower was a lot of fun. During the day I could look out on the ocean. During the night I could watch lizards.
17. There were lizards all over the place! They were fun to watch.
I'm sure there are more things, but I can't think of them right now. :)
Overall, it was a great vacation. I'm going to post a few "negative" things, but they really are greatly out weighed by the positive things.
Downside:
1. There were a lot of steps. We only went up and down them once or twice a day, but if you're not in a villa and like the beach it could be more.
2. The one time we took a taxi somewhere "on our own" it seemed rather expensive. (Also check with your hotel about prices getting to/from the airport...if not included they might need to be included in your budget.)
3. A few of the light bulbs were burned out. (I know, now I'm stretching to find things.)
4. The door to the shower was hard to open because the wood had warped.
5. There were a few food inconsistencies...we would order these delicious chocolate pastries for breakfast and never knew how many we were going to get.
6. It was a little hard to find shade in the late afternoon. There were a few places, but sometimes we just ended up going inside for a bit.
7. There was no clock/alarm clock...we woke up an hour too early for one excursion because we had the wrong time zone.
Upsides:
1.The food was delicious.
2. Room service didn't cost extra.
3. House keeping came twice a day with fresh towels.
4. The view was gorgeous.
5. There is snorkel gear at the front desk (and fish to see by the pier).
6. The excursions are very well organized...you get a ticket with where to meet and when. The taxis were always on time. The same taxi picked you up at the end.
7. The excursions we went on were very fun.
8. The villas have their own little pool...we used ours a lot. The pools were kept clean.
9. There weren't many pesky bugs (at least compared to my backyard in upstate NY).
10. The tap water is safe to drink (which saves a lot on bottled water costs).
11. There were kayaks that we could use at the resort.
12. The private dinner was very romantic.
13. There was free wi-fi. I know it sounds dorky to want to be connected to the Internet, but it helped keep us occupied.
14. I could swim and read at the same time...what can be better?
15. The villa had an outside bed, outside table, outside hammock, inside sitting room, and air conditioned bedroom. There were plenty of places to sit depending on my mood.
16. The outside shower was a lot of fun. During the day I could look out on the ocean. During the night I could watch lizards.
17. There were lizards all over the place! They were fun to watch.
I'm sure there are more things, but I can't think of them right now. :)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Vacation day 14: home
Today we made it home. It was cold.
But Flurry was happy to see us! Laura also happened to be in town and so stopped by for a while, which was nice.
I was going to take a picture of Flurry but I'm rather tired now and the camera is downstairs. Maybe I'll get one tomorrow.
But Flurry was happy to see us! Laura also happened to be in town and so stopped by for a while, which was nice.
I was going to take a picture of Flurry but I'm rather tired now and the camera is downstairs. Maybe I'll get one tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
vacation day 13: washington dc
Since we were so close to Washington DC, we thought we would spend a day at the museums.
We started at the natural history museum.
We also watched a 3D movie. The movie itself was really good...especially these birds that bombed the water. The 3D part we have mixed feelings on...some was really good and looked cool, but some of it just was blurry and made us a tad sick. I especially had problems with birds flying through the air.
We had a few more hours before everything closed so we also stopped at the air and space museum. With a heavy emphasis on the space part. Below Ben is holding his phone, which now has more computing power than the big thing behind him. Ah, how times have changed.
oh, one more picture.
I haven't had any Flurry pictures lately and am missing her. This is the closest I found.
We started at the natural history museum.
We also watched a 3D movie. The movie itself was really good...especially these birds that bombed the water. The 3D part we have mixed feelings on...some was really good and looked cool, but some of it just was blurry and made us a tad sick. I especially had problems with birds flying through the air.
We had a few more hours before everything closed so we also stopped at the air and space museum. With a heavy emphasis on the space part. Below Ben is holding his phone, which now has more computing power than the big thing behind him. Ah, how times have changed.
oh, one more picture.
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