Vacation trip to St. Lucia (11/30/24)

 Once we arrived home from our summer trip, we almost immediately started packing for our trip to St. Lucia.

Paul and I love the Caribbean, and haven’t been able to get there the last few years, so we essentially booked two vacations in one trip.

As soon as our plane started flying over the Caribbean ,  I started to get excited. The colors are stunning.

We spent one week at an all inclusive Sandals Resort on St. Lucia, and spent another week on a small sailing cruise. 

So here is how our two weeks went:

There is really nothing I didn’t like about the Sandals experience.  This is an all inclusive resort, which included liquor.   The refrigerator in our room was stocked with beer and wine. It happened to be a red wine, which I don’t care for,  so a quick note to the concierge got the red changed out to white for the rest of the trip.

The bar was open essentially from sun up to long after we were in bed. Every drink imaginable was available, or they were happy to concoct whatever we wanted. ALL the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.  Paul made a great delivery person when we were hanging out in the water:

As a side note, the sailboat in the background is the one we spent our second week on. We saw her many times that first week, since she is berthed nearby.

Food wise, there were about a dozen restaurants on site, and another dozen at the other Sandals resorts on St. Lucia (there is a shuttle to take to get there). Some restaurants require reservations, and some do not accept them. We did a mix of both. We had sushi at Soy, Japanese cuisine at Kimonos, and seafood at Gordons.

Most of the restaurants are resort casual or no dress code at all, but several require men to wear slacks and closed toed shoes etc.

One frustration was the night we went to the “fancy” Italian restaurant, Tuscany’s. It was hot and humid and we asked them in person, did Paul need to wear slacks and closed toed shoes and they said yes- so he did. When we got there, no joke, every other man was wearing shorts and flip flops.

The weather definitely wasn’t perfect all week- there were many times that the coconut at the weather station was wet.

Paul and I both like a good storm so the rain didn’t bother us too much. We had a great balcony where we started each morning and evening, many times watching the rain.

Our days were pretty much spent taking advantage of all the fun and relaxing things to do…

We hung out in the pool, and the ocean, and took advantage of the kayaks and Hobie Cats…

One of the other included activities was snorkeling- it was one of the few disappointments of the week. The water was so murky I was happy we didn’t pay extra for it.

We both love snorkeling, so we were thrilled that the following week the snorkeling was much better.

There are add on excursions that are not included in the base price at Sandals, but there weren’t too many things we felt the need to add on. We booked a hike to Fort Rodney, on nearby Pigeon Island, but I wasn’t feeling great so Paul went on his own.

Our other excursion that we splurged for was a romantic sunset cruise for two. We made friends with one of the young adults working the beachfront area, and he highly recommended the cruise, so we thought, why not. He assured us he would be taking care of us and  have delicious finger foods for our delight, and any drink of our choice ( but not Margaritas- Paul had to bring his own Margaritas).

We arrived at the dock to discover that our romantic cruise was aboard the dive boat. There aren’t even any comfortable seats, just a metal bench. We already had decided we were going to have a great time regardless.

We were at least allowed up onto the fly bridge for this voyage, unlike when we were on the boat the day before, to go snorkeling.

Once Alex, our deck hand, had us seated with a drink, he sat down next to us and decided he needed to know our life story.  He was so hard working and cute though.

It took about 5 minutes for Paul to leave his seat and start talking to the captain. They immediately bonded over engines, RPMs, manufacturers, props, etc.

The cruise took us out to the ocean, and along the shore into the nearby bay, where we learned a lot about the economy and people of the island. Both of us being lifelong boaters, we had smiles on our faces, just because we were back on the water.

“Dinner” was eventually served, on a towel, on the seat.

Anyway, the seas were calm, and the sunset was pretty- we had an awesome time.

It was actually hilarious. Not romantic, but a blast nonetheless.

Every night there was entertainment of some sort. Many times there were multiple things going on- dancing, dueling pianos, etc.  One evening, there was an awesome water show in the main pool.

What peaked our interest one night was something called a silent headphone dance party. Having no idea what it was, we decided to check it out. Turns out there are dueling DJs. Everyone dances with headphones on, and can choose to listen to the “green” DJ or the “blue” DJ and their headphones lit up, indicating their choice of the moment. It was actually really fun to dance, knowing that other people were dancing to a different song.

And then, suddenly, it was time to move on to the second part of our vacation.  The type of cruise we took is called a Barefoot cruise.  We had been seeing the ship, Vela, all week long it seemed.

The company, this time, is called Island Windjammer. Before Paul and I were even married we went on our first barefoot cruise together- and loved it.

The ships are small, usually under 100 passengers, usually sail boats, and they sail to small islands where the big cruise ships don’t fit.  Back then the company was called Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. We took 3 cruises with them before they went bankrupt.  The owners of this new cruise line were patrons of the old Windjammer.

Some things are similar to the old days and some are totally different.  In previous cruises we helped raise the sails and in 2024 we did the same:

There are several relaxing things about a barefoot cruise- as the name implies, there is no “dressing” for dinner.

Barefoot is always fine, as is a swimsuit. Which islands you cruise to usually depends on the wind and the seas.  Its all about the relaxing, meeting new people, snorkeling, exploring and going with the flow.

This boat is a little smaller even than the other barefoot cruises we have been on- just 22 passengers. There were several groups, which made me nervous because they can tend to stick together- but they didn’t- they were there to reach out and have fun with everyone.

This ship, the Vela, is based in St. Lucia at this time of year. Our itinerary involved tooling around St. Lucia, and the nearby island of Martinique. We had never been to either, so were happy with wherever the wind took us. Actually, Paul and his brother Tom went to Martinique to a Club Med many years ago, as single men, and Tom met his future wife while they were there.

Each morning the Story Board would show what the plan was for the day. Our activities director, Debbie, answered any and all questions as best she could. This was similar to the story board of the old Windjammer:

Having very few passengers, there were also very few crew members. The most impressive thing during our entire week was how hard these crew members worked to make everything as perfect as possible.

We did not eat lousy food- the food was expertly prepared, and delicious.

Table settings were beyond what you would expect on a small ship.

One evening we had a wine tasting- each cabin bought a bottle of wine from a store on Martinique, and the crew provided the appetizers to go with the wine.

My favorite part was that they clearly knew where the good snorkeling is. We snorkeled in several locations, all of them excellent!

We spent a couple of days exploring and snorkeling near Martinique.  Essentially no one there speaks English, so sign language becomes the mutually spoken tongue. Paul and I did meet and talk with a shop owner, and spent so much time with him learning about his craft and also his family, that we bought one of the custom model boats that he makes.

After our conversation, we walked the town and had lunch in a local restaurant.

Our final night on the ship was spent anchored just of the town of Gros Islet, St. Lucia.  At Sandals we had the option of booking an excursion to the Friday night Street Party in Gros Islet- but then we realized that Vela was parked there Friday night, so we rightly assumed the passengers would go to the party(without paying extra for it.)  So our last night aboard Vela we all went into shore for the party.

Please don’t try to count life vests on this dinghy because I am very sure there were not enough.

Once ashore we all enjoyed the loud music, dance, food, and drink that makes up this Friday night party.

Although we enjoyed our week on Vela, it wasn’t the same as the old Windjammer, so, I am thinking our Windjammer days are over. WindSTAR could be a different thing though. 

The Last of Summer 2024 (10/30/24)

 Our final area for exploring this summer is Nevada City, California, a historic mining town. Paul has wanted to visit here, so it was a good chance to knock it off our bucket list.

We spent one day visiting Empire Mine State Historic Park. The Empire mine was one of the richest gold mines in California, and was in operation for over 100 years, shutting down in 1956. In 1975 the mine property was bought by the state of California, and turned into a state park.

During it’s heyday, a special room was constructed, called the “Secret Room”.  Appropriately, not many people knew about the room while the mine was in operation. In it was a 3D model of the underground workings of the mine, which covered more than 5 square miles.

 

It’s very difficult to get a picture that captures the intricacies of the model, but it was very interesting to learn that visitors who tour the mine nowadays only descend one inch down on the model, and each inch represents 80 ft. Everything below the 2 inch mark is under water now.

This area favored hydraulic mining, where a high pressure cannon essentially spewed water at huge banks of gravel, breaking it apart so the gold could be more easily separated from the rock. Unfortunately this created a huge debris field that traveled downstream, clogging rivers and streams and changing the path of the water. Farms suffered to the point that lawsuits were filed, and essentially a cease and desist order was given by the courts, mostly ending hydraulic mining.

The other park we explored while in the area was Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park. Like many mining towns, during the gold rush, there were many buildings here, including 8 saloons, two churches, a school, and daily stage coach service. Like the Empire mine, the debris created by mining in this area caused the shut down of hydraulic mining.

Once we left Nevada City, we worked our way south through California, stopping several times along the way. One of the stops was Sacramento, where we attended Paul’s 50th high school reunion, and met up with his friend Robin and his partner Kim, and had a great time celebrating.

Robin and Paul were Eagle Scouts together back when they were teens. (More on Kim and Robin in a future post).

Leaving Sacramento we headed through the Fresno area, meeting up with Paul’s fraternity brothers, as usual.

Our final stop for visiting was Los Angeles, where we spent a day or so with our daughter before moving on. She is getting married in March of 2025 so, I have been shopping for “outfits” all along the western coast.

Once we got back to Lake Havasu, we had very little time to relax before preparing for our next adventure.

Lassen Volcanic National Park (10/10/24)

 Lassen Volcanic National Park, located in California, is the 50th national park I have visited (there are 63 total)!

Of the ones I have not been to, 5 are in Alaska, and I will likely never get to them. We did go to three in Alaska, but the other 5 are much more difficult to get to.  Most of the other ones on the list are places I might get to- two are in Hawaii- and since it’s the only state I haven’t been to, I see a visit there in my future.

Isle Royale National park in Michigan is not high on my list of “must see” places, but who knows.

Lassen Volcanic National Park actually contains all 4 types of volcanos- shield, cinder cone, composite, and plug dome. The last time a substantial eruption took place here was over 100 years ago, but its a very active volcanic area nonetheless. 

There are many active and colorful boiling springs, steam vents, and mud pots. We stopped by one of them on the side of the road at one point and met a lady who said that 40 years ago the mud pot was 30 yards away from its current location.

When we looked online, the campground had tons of availability for the 4 nights we wanted, so we didn’t worry about booking it. When we got to the entrance, we found out that reservations are actually required- and the only way to make them is online. Ugh, and of course, we had no cell service here.  We stopped at the park store and  were told if we drove 1 mile up the road, there is a pull off where most people get signal, and sure enough, we had just enough to log on and make our reservations. That spot was pretty much the only place we had cell signal the whole time we were in Lassen.  Each day we stopped once or twice to make sure nothing catastrophic was happening.  It was a busy pull off and usually had a couple of cars and people walking around holding up a cell phone like a divining rod looking for water.

We had enough time the day we got there to make the two mile loop around Manzanita Lake, where the campground is. The views of Mt Lassen were awesome.

Our first full day we packed a lunch and drove the scenic drive through the park. We stopped to hike the 3 mile Bumpass Hell Trail.  The trail leads to and through a geothermal area with mud pots.

 We continued down the road to the visitor center, and on the way back we stopped at “hot rock”. Hot rock isn’t hot anymore, but it was, back in 1915. Two days after Lassen erupted on May 19, 1915, this rock, which is a piece of dacite lava, was still hot and steaming.

 

An avalanche carried this 300 ton rock 5 miles down the side of Lassen Peak.

Speaking of Lassen Peak, one of the hikes is a 5 mile hike to the peak, with 2000 ft of gain.  We really wanted to do this hike but we have done so much hiking the last few days, we felt we needed to take a full day off ahead of it. So, our second day in the park we did some house keeping, read books, and played cards.

It was worth doing nothing because the following day we packed a lunch and headed up the peak.

It was so warm when we got to the trailhead that I almost left my jacket behind, but I remembered a sign that says its always windy at the top, so I (thankfully) threw it in my pack.

The views started out pretty good, but of course they got even better the further up we went.

About halfway up, the trail became tight switchbacks.  One side was out of the wind, but the other end was unbelievably cold, and blowing so hard, you couldn’t keep a hat on.

At the top there was a pile of lava to explore, which we did, for a bit. We took advantage of the wind protection to eat our lunch.

Our stay at Lassen was pretty short, and we moved on the following day.