Tahiti...

To celebrate the life of Todd's parents, we decided to splurge on a once in a lifetime trip to Tahiti in February.  The trip included charter flights from Los Angeles to Tahiti (Papeete) where we boarded the Oceana Marina cruise ship for 8 days of cruising that included stops at 7 islands in French Polynesia.  French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic and the only overseas country of France.  It is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over an expanse of more than 1,200 miles in the South Pacific Ocean (roughly half way between the US and Australia).

 

Our itinerary focused on the Society Islands which are one of the 5 groups of islands that make up French Polynesia.

 

 

After dropping off Chip with Todd's cousin's wife Susan in Denver and parking STEV at the airport, we headed to Los Angeles, California for an overnight stay before taking our charter flights to Tahiti the following evening.  While in Los Angeles, we were able to catch up with Todd's cousin Matt and his girlfriend Gina for dinner.

Having most of a day in Los Angeles before our flight to Tahiti, we decided take in one of the newer (2015) museums in Los Angeles.  The Broad is a contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. The museum is named for philanthropist Eli Broad, who financed the $140 million building which houses the Broad art collections. And the best part is that the museum offers free general admission to its permanent collection galleries

While researching excursion options prior to the cruise, we came across a transparent kayak excursion and thought they'd be a fun way to get a little exercise while exploring the underwater life off the island of Moorea.

Our kayaking excursion in Moorea included a stop for snorkeling where we were able to swim with these black tip sharks and stingrays (below).

One of the many stingrays we got to swim with during our kayak excursion in Moorea.



Fakarava is know for being one of the best scuba diving locations in all of French Polynesia.  Todd spent the day diving the "south channel" where a wall of sharks meets the current coming out from the lagoon.

This little island near Fakarava looked so much like one of the built in Microsoft screen savers, that Todd just couldn't resist getting a picture with it in the background.

Todd, Mario and Shonah at the Disco T-Dance, one of various theme parties during our cruise.  Mario was our seatmate on the flight from Los Angeles to Tahiti and became a fun companion on many of our excursions.

John, Todd, Shonah and Randy at the Disco T-Dance.  This cruise ship had about 1,200 guests which made it easier to meet people and make friends than on some of the larger ships we've been on.

 

Shonah & Todd posing for a photo on the beach at the blue lagoon near the island of Rangiroa.

 

Todd standing in the shallow waters of the blue lagoon with the many black tipped sharks circling.  The sharks seemed to be trained to wait around near the excursion groups for the lunch scraps that were eventually thrown into the water for them to devour.



Shonah is not known for being the biggest fan of open water and especially not in the water where sea life is in sight...especially sharks & stingrays.  But, he gradually became more comfortable as the week went on and soon jumped in the water to swim with the sharks without hesitation.

Shonah, Todd, and Mario during our excursion to the blue lagoon near the island of Rangiroa.



The final part of our excursion to the blue lagoon near the island of Rangiroa including an amazing meal prepared on-site by the guides, including a very yummy coconut cake for dessert.

Our new friends Randy and John stayed in Bora Bora for a few days after the cruise ended back in Papeete.  This aerial shot of Bora Bora is from their flight over from Tahiti.

Randy and John stayed in the classic over water huts at the Black Pearl Resort in Bora Bora.



One of the many incredible views of the harbor in Bora Bora from our ship.  With most of the islands being quite small in size, we had to use the ships smaller tenders to transfer to the islands.



Shonah posing in a little electric car that we actually rented through Avis to drive around the island of Bora Bora.  He's always wanted an electric car AND one with gull wing doors!!

Shonah loves turtles, so on our second day in Bora Bora we arranged an excursion to the Ecological Center at the Le Meridient Hotel where they have one of only two turtle sanctuaries in all of French Polynesia.  Our private tour where we became junior biologists for the day, taught us about the sanctuary's mission to rehabilitate injured turtles while offering us the ability to help feed, clean and care for these amazing turtles.  We even had an opportunity to swim in a private lagoon with two of the turtles that were close to fully rehabilitated and soon to be released.

 

Todd and Shonah snorkeling in the rehabilitation lagoon with turtles that are almost ready to be released back into the ocean.  It is amazing to watch these turtles glide through the water up close and personal.
 

Snorkeling in the rehabilitation lagoon was like being in an aquarium with all sort of beautiful fish.  One of Shonah's favorites was the largest puffer fish we've ever seen.  He was about two and a half feet long!
 

We rented a jet ski in Huahine where we circled the island with a guide and did some snorkeling.  We even got to see quite a few spotted eagle rays swimming in the crystal clear shallow waters.



 

Just a you would expect, Tahiti and the other islands we visited were picture perfect destinations straight out of a magazine and made for an awesome, once in a lifetime experience.

Snow Birds...

While we knew we wouldn't be able to live on our property in Alma, Colorado through this Winter, we had been hoping to start building a house in the Spring and, optimistically, have something livable by next Winter.  Reality set in 2 days after we closed on the property in early October and got 6 inches of snow that slowly melted over the course of a week before getting 3 FEET of snow the following week!  Instead of having what we thought was going to be 5-6 months of snow to deal with, it now appears that we may have more like 7-8 months of snow, depending on the season.  We're now reevaluating what type of structure to build on the property.  The year round residence is probably out of the plan and our thinking is now more of a "docking station" of sorts for STEV to enjoy the property during the Summer months.  We'll see...

Shonah and Chip working to clear (and burn) some of the dead wood from what will become the driveway of our Alma, Colorado property.

Hanging Lake is a Colorado treasure and a rare example of a travertine geological formation located in the heart of Glenwood Canyon in the White River National Forest.

The 1.2 mile (1.9 km) trail is steep and rigorous, but rewarding once you see the natural beauty that awaits you at the top. It’s a Natural National Landmark and is popular with travelers for its awe-inspiring beauty and gentle Colorado waterfalls!

Shonah and Chip taking one more look at our property covered in snow before leaving Colorado in November.  Poor Chip had to jump from foot hole to foot hole as the snow was taller than he is AND it was hard not to laugh at him when he tried to go to the bathroom in the tall snow.

After leaving Colorado, we headed East to spend time with Shonah's parents in Illinois where we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas early and helped Mom get the house ready for the holidays.  Toledo was next with a quick visit with Todd's niece Angela and her husband Greg who had recently purchased their first (100 year old) home.  A few days in Cleveland after that allowed us to resettle and sort some things from our trailer storage into a climate controlled storage unit for the winter and visit with friends and family for Thanksgiving before heading off to New York for a visit with Todd's Aunt Lou and Lynn.

Chip and Todd taking in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree just before the lighting ceremony later that day.  We chose to visit earlier in the day to avoid the crowds and from being "locked in" the area during the ceremony.

 

Todd, Chip and Shonah in front of the biggest Christmas lights we've ever seen in New York.

 

Heading south from New York, we stopped to visit Todd's niece Emily and her husband Matt in Charleston, South Carolina.

Escaping the cold north, Chip and Todd were excited to get to warmer weather and beaches on our way down to Florida.

 

Heading toward our destination in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, we stopped for quick visits with Todd's cousin Becky and her family in Jacksonville, Florida, Todd's Aunt Linda in Titusville, Florida and Todd's Uncle Art in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

 

Chip and Shonah in font of the Ft. Lauderdale "snowman".  We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in mid-December with a plan to stay for a month or so.  Todd's Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim live a few blocks off the beach and we have a free camping spot nearby that we've used in past visits.

Christmas Parades in Ft. Lauderdale involve lots of lighted boats parading on the canals and intercostal waterway.  This year's Winterfest Boat Parade had a very 80's theme.

Chip getting into the holiday spirit with the help of a hat from one of our Cliff Lake Villa friends, Kathy.

 

Christmas morning mimosas with Shonah, Aunt Sue, Uncle Jim and Jackie before brunch with a dozen friends.

While "bomb cyclones" were wrecking havoc up north, Todd and Chip were enjoying kayaking on the canals in Ft. Lauderdale and checking out the quite large bearded dragons.

We also saw a few manatees while kayaking around the Ft. Lauderdale canals.

As our planned time in Ft. Lauderdale came to an end in early January, we started to head for Texas to help celebrate Shonah's grandfather's 90th birthday.  Unfortunately, STEV had other thoughts and wanted to stay in warmer Florida where he spent a week and a half having very expensive rear axle surgery.

Not wanting to miss grandpa's birthday, we rented a car and drove to Texas while STEV was being repaired back in Florida.  After fixing up a bike that grandpa had salvaged, Todd is trying to help Grandpa prove that once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget....although I am not sure you could call it a success.

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday at the home of Shonah's cousin Megan and her husband Tim and their girls near Corpus Christi, Texas.

Shonah's sister Stacy, her husband Jeff and their family from San Antonio, Texas were also able to join in the grand celebration.  Also helping to celebrate were Shonah's nephew Jeffery Jr, niece Tiffany, and his great-nephew Issac Jr.

 

Since it was still cold everywhere else in the country after our visit with Shonah's grandfather, we decided to spend more time in Ft. Lauderdale after picking up STEV.

We were fortunate to spend some time with Todd's cousin Lisa and her boyfriend Chris while they were in town visiting her parents for the Superbowl.

And because we are fortunate enough to have a pretty flexible schedule, we were also able to stay in town to visit with Todd's Aunt Lou during her weeklong trip to Miami, Florida.

As we prepared to leave Ft. Lauderdale in mid-February to head toward Colorado, Shonah started to have strong feelings about the option of becoming "snow birds" where we spend summers in Colorado and winters in Florida.  The sun and warmth really had an effect on him!  Todd's not yet convinced...

 

 

20 Years of Roaming...

While we have only been roaming in STEV, our EarthRoamer, for a little more than 4 1/2 years, EarthRoamer as a company has been around for 20 years and hosted a 20th Anniversary Rally at Area BFE just outside Moab, Utah in September.  This is the second annual EarthRoamer Rally we have attended and is a fun few days of classes, drives, entertainment and camaraderie with fellow EarthRoamer owners.  In 20 years, there have only been about 200 EarthRoamers built (STEV is #24) and there were about 40 Roamers that joined this year's rally.


Shonah and Todd chatting with other owners while Chip relaxes in one of our chairs.

Todd (seated) and Shonah chatting with EarthRoamer President Tyler Tatro (in red).

Shonah, Chip and Todd enjoying stories around the campfire.



The group assembled around the campfire at sunset.

A view of the Colorado River from Dead Horse Point State Park, near Moab, Utah.

One of the highlights of the Rally was the option to participate in a group drive of the Shafer Trail in nearby Canyonlands National Park.   The road was originally a cattle trail built by John Sog Shafer in 1917.  Later in the 1940s and 1950s, it was constructed into a useable road for trucks hauling uranium ore from the benches below.

Shafer Trail winds its way up (or down) a 1500 foot sheer-walled mesa cliff using a path with multiple switchbacks and hairpin turns.

The 18 mile route is not recommended for sissies. Described as extremely challenging, ego crushing and heart stopping, this is the route where Thelma and Louise drove their car off the cliff edge.

A photo of STEV navigating the Shafer Trail taken by one of the other EarthRoamer owners on the group drive with us.

We stopped for lunch at one of the few spots along the route that was wide enough for parking... and long enough for a group of EarthRoamers.

Chip and Shonah enjoying the view of the Colorado River from our lunch spot on the Shafer Trail

STEV navigating the dirt and slick rock near the end of the Shafer Trail.

Todd, Chip and Shonah posing on the canyon edge.