ON TO NEW PLACES

Sun Rise



Sun Rise



Sun rise in Punta Cana




 Three months in Punta Cana flew by this year.  The weather was beautiful the whole time.  I think we only had 2 days that were cloudy all day.  Most of the rain occurred at night or in very early morning.  Our weather was mid 80’s & breezy the whole time.   It didn’t get humid until about the last 10 days. 

Beautiful Colored Water

On my last blog I left off the day our son Doug arrived.  It was nice having him around & he & Collins enjoyed many games of Chess while he was there.  As he was leaving, daughter Pam & her husband Aaron arrived.  They also spent a couple days at a nearby all- inclusive, enjoying a little together time.



Doug & Collins



Doug, Pam, Aaron & Collins

 

Pam relaxes on the beach

Aaron relaxes at the pool

 We had a 3 week break & enjoyed more socializing with our increasing group of friends. 

Karen, Sue, Collins & Joe out for a night at the Casino

Relaxing around the pool with friends

Some of the group were Irish so we had a St. Patricks Day celebration.  Some even took part in a parade around the pool.   



St. Patrick's Day Parade around the Pool



March 19^th brought the arrival of daughter Collina & granddaughter Lexi.  They enjoyed the pool & beach & took a couple excursions. 



Lexi enjoys the pool





Collins & I joined them on a trip to Saona Island.  We took a couple hour bus ride, then a 1 ½ hr trip on a catamaran to get to the island. 

 

 The water colors were beautiful.  After a few hours on the island we took a speed boat back.  On the way we stopped in a shallow water area with absolutely clear water.  There were jellyfish in the area, along with other sea urchins.  That was the only excursion Collins & I took while there.



Saona Beach



Beautiful Blue Water

   

Karen, Collins, Collina & Lexi



The day after Collina & Lexi left, daughter, Paula & her husband Dave arrived.  They enjoyed a week of relaxation, including a couple days at the all-inclusive where Pam & Aaron stayed.

Paula enjoys a fruity drink

Dinner with Paula, Dave, Collins & Karen

Dave, Paula, Karen & Collins

Hopefully, they all went home more relaxed than when they arrived.  After Paula & Dave left, we started packing to go home. 

Views of our complex

 We left April 4^th & headed to IL.

We spent 2 weeks in IL, mostly freezing.  I think there were 2 days in the 70’s & 80’s. the rest were mostly 30’s & 40’s.  The day before we left, we had snow flurries & the kids said they had snow the week after we left.  We just aren’t cold weather people any more.  While we were there, we did have a chance to visit with the kids & grandkids.  One night we rented a hotel room in a place with an indoor pool.  We had all the kids come there & the grandkids had a ball swimming.  We bought pizzas & Kentucky Fried Chicken & had birthday cake to celebrate Becca (13) & Aaron’s (40) birthdays.  It was a fun evening!!  We were very lucky & were able to stay with my brother Rob & his wife Lisa while we were in IL. 

Karen & Brother Rob

It was fun being with them.  We also had a chance to visit neighbors & friends.

April 17^th we headed for FL.  It was 38 when we left IL that morning.  The next  afternoon  we were arriving in FL to high 80’s.  We also discovered our AC wasn’t working, not a good surprise!

 Larry & Deanna, my brother & sister-in-law were gracious enough to allow us to stay with them while we got the RV ready for travel again.  It also gave me time to spend a few days with my mom, who also lives in FL.  Larry & Deanna had a big gathering for Easter dinner, which was really nice.  Everyone brought a dish so we had plenty of great things to enjoy.



Larry, Karen & Mom



Larry & Collins





Lexi, Collina, Karen & Collins



 Aaron, Pam, Doug, Collins & Sue - Dinner at her house



Pam, Aaron & Doug at the Casino



Life In Punta Cana

Our Beach

We arrived in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on Jan 1 to temperatures in the low to mid 80’s, some blue skies &  rain every few days. 

More of our beach

Collins Enjoys the Beach

The latter is typical for the first half of Jan and then turns to consistent blue skies & gentle breezes.  About half of our North American friends were already here when we arrived & the rest arrived over the following 20 days .  We celebrated Collins Birthday jan 6 with our friends Joe & Sue.  We had planned to eat at our favorite Thai Restaurant.  However, it decided to POUR that evening, we got drenched & ended up at another restaurant. 


Collins, Karen, Joe & Sue



They still had the Christmas Decorations at the Casino

After that we made our first trip of the season to our favorite casino for a few drinks. 

Karen & Joe test a drink at the bar

 With most everyone now here, we decided to have a steak cook out at the pool a couple weeks ago, with some 26 attending.  This is a great crowd, & although we spend a lot of our time with Sue & Joe Radice, there is continuous interaction amongst all of us.  Between going to the beach, pool & restaurants, plus dinner parties at various units, time flies by & we can hardly believe we have already been here almost 6 weeks.

Pizza Party

All set for Turkey Dinner



Pasta dinner for 13



Collins enjoys the pool



Collins takes a nap





Our Pool



Our apartment



One day we went to a large town, called Higuey,  about 40 minutes from here.  They have all kinds of stores there.  It's very unique.  There are all kinds of places that sell meat, just hanging there on the street.  There are also a lot of fruit stands. 

Fresh Meat Anyone?


Fresh Fruit

Our friend Sue from TX arrived a couple weeks ago, she left Friday.   It was great having her here.   We've been friends since 8th grade.   While she was here we had a Turkey Dinner at Joe & Sue's apartment.  There were 14 of us.  We all brought a dish to pass & Sue made the turkey on their BBQ.  No one here has a stove big enough for a turkey.  It was delicious & we all had a wonderful time. 

Joe & Collins



Sue & Collins





Sue, Karen & Sue







Karen, Collins & Sue



We're talking about having a pasta night in the next couple weeks.  No one would believe it, but we go out to the Casinos at 9:30 or 10 at night. 

Hard Rock Casino

 We go over to one of the nice Casinos that is close by, listen to their music & drink their liquor.  They serve top shelf stuff & don't care if you gamble or not.  It's really fun.  Every time we hear the weather report from the US we're very glad we aren't there!!  

Today our son Doug arrived.  We're looking forward to spending time with him.  About every other week we have, each for a week,  our 4 kids & their spouses, but only one grandchild.  At least for this year it was decided this was to be an adult recharging the battery time.  Then before you know it, it will be April 4th & we head back to IL for a few Doctor appointments, see the grand kids.  We'll leave for FL on April 19^th, at which time we pick up the RV & start this year’s  journey up the east coast to as far as Port Edwards Sound, British Colombia.  Life is good.

Merry Christmas - Happy New Year

Dec 21^st-  Can’t believe it’s almost Christmas!

Camping at Fort Wilderness

We spent 3 nights in Orlando at the beginning of December.  The weather had turned cooler, so that wasn’t so much fun.  Our friends had suggested we stay at Fort Wilderness Campground at Disney & check out all the decorations at the Disney Hotels.  Apparently they decided to cut back there too, because none of the hotels were overwhelming.  A couple of them were nice.  I’ll include some pics.  The Grand Floridian had a huge tree & a huge Gingerbread House that was very intricate. 

 The campground there was very nice & some of the campers had put up a lot decorations.  They were better than most of Disney’s.  Our daughter  Collina & granddaughter Lexi, who live just outside Orlando, came one evening to see the sights.  It was nice to spend time with them. 

Lexi, Collina, Collins & Karen at Disney

Collins, Lexi & Karen

Mickey & Lexi

Ginger Bread Gazebo at Disney

Collins, Collina & Lexi



Collins & Karen at Downtown Disney



 Collins & I also browsed Downtown Disney one afternoon.

Karen at Downtown Disney - Walking the dogs

After our Disney visit, we went to Tampa to get the RV ready for storage.  It got really cold while we were there, in the low 30’s. 

We had a chance to visit with my 85 year old mother several times.  We went to a Christmas Party at her new home, which was very nice & we went out for a nice dinner one night. 

Collins, Karen & Mom

 We also spent several nights at my brother Larry & sister in law Deanna’s  home while we wrapped things up.  We were putting it in covered storage just outside Tampa.  Also found a repair place right there where we could get some repairs done & they would take it to the storage place.  That worked out well since we were going to have my brother pick it up & take it for repairs before we came back in April.  Now it will all be done.

We left Tampa Dec 9 & headed for home.  We stopped overnight to visit with one of Collins’ best friends from high school.  He & his wife live south of Atlanta.  The next day we drove 13 hours to arrive in Geneva before a predicted snow storm arrived the next day.  We were so glad to get out of the car.  We’ve gotten spoiled with the RV, being able to move around.  Also, we never drove that far in one day.  Luckily, the storm did not arrive that Sat.  We spent the past week with my brother Rob & his wife Lisa.  We’ve had a chance to get together with all the kids & grandkids here.  It’s been nice to see all of them.  One night last week, we spent with grandkids Katie & Ryan while their parents went to a Christmas Party.  We had a lot of fun.  Took them to dinner, they were so polite.  Also got a chance to spend one night with neighbors.    Everyone asked if it seemed weird not going back to our house & neither one of seemed to miss it. Sunday we moved into a hotel.  It’s really nice – a suite with a frig, micro & small cooktop, sort of like our RV.  I think tomorrow evening we’ll go out to dinner with long time friends.  Today I took daughter Paula to buy a birthday present.  Her birthday is Dec. 3 & she wanted to wait til I got home to go shopping.  She bought a new coat.  We had a real nice day together.  We were hoping daughter Pam could go, but she couldn’t get off work.  Tomorrow, I’m going to get together with all the grandkids (at least the younger ones) & we’re going to make Gingerbread Houses (from a kit).  I promised ice cream when we’re finished!  Collins has been hanging out with son, Doug, so they’re enjoying their time together.

We brought all our trunks & stuff over to pack for Punta Cana.  I can’t believe we have so much stuff to take, although most of it’s food & other things we want there.  It’s been cold & snowy here & we’re supposed to have more snow Friday morning, so we’re ready to get back to warm weather.

We’ll all get together for Christmas.  Should be a fun day.

Merry Christmas  everyone!!

Dec 31^st.  Can’t believe our time in IL has come & gone. 

  We did make our Gingerbread Houses as you can see in the pics. 



Katie, Becca, Ryan & Tyler making the Gingerbread Houses

Tyler & Ryan with finished House



 I must say, they were very creative.   

Katie & Becca with finished creation

Danny, Ryan, Tyler, Katie & Becca out for ice cream

Afterward, I took them all out for ice cream.  

Christmas was very nice.  We all had a great day.  Too  much food & drink, but good.  It’s been great seeing the kids & grandkids.

Christmas was very nice.  We all had a great day.  Too  much food & drink, but good.  We went to Paula's for breakfast, then back to the hotel to clean up & dress up a little.  A little later in the afternoon we went back to Paula's for dinner.  It’s been great seeing the kids & grandkids.

Becca, Danny, Katie, Ryan & Tyler

Doug, Aaron & Collins Christmas Day

 The Monday after Christmas, I did a little shopping with Paula, Pam & Katie.  We had a good day.  Didn’t buy much, but had fun just being with the girls.  This past week, I took Four of the grandkids bowling.  Ryan & Tyler are pretty good.  Bowling alleys sure have changed.  This place was like an amusement park.

We leave bright & early tomorrow morning for Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  We’ll be there until the beginning of April.  I’ll try to update a little more often.

Happy New Year to ALL!!

Ginger Bread House at Grand Floridian