Week 8 - day 1 of BZ adventure

Saturday, February 15


We awoke in Moshi, Tanzania (pronounced Tan/zania) not Tan/zah/knee/ah like we have been saying. We are stay an extra night at the Stella Maris lodge because we knew jet lag would kill us. We have breakfast in their restaurant which was included and it was a buffet of fruit, bread, coffe, tea, and a crepe like pancake or eggs if you wished.

We then introduced ourselves to as many people as possible to find who was on our tour - we found none but a lot going on the extended climb tour including a Dr. from Switzerland and 4 Canadians.

We then took a tour of the lodge and walked to the gate to see an 8 year old and his 2 year old brother with their 23 goats. It was sad as one was missing shoes and the other wanted to use the school yard slide inside the compound.

We then met some more people and enjoyed a lunch of chicken fried rice and a couple of Serengeti beers.


We went to the room for a nap until our team meeting at 6:00pm where we met our 12 people climbing team. Steve from Melbourne, Penny and Alicia from Queensland, Adam from Toronto, Alex from NYC/Hong Kong and 5 teachers from Coventry England; Daniel, Rachel, Sinead, Claire, and Alice. What a wonderful group.


We were also given all the paperwork to complete and route instructions. We ate dinner, went to bed after packing all our belongings into 3 bags; day sac to carry, suitcase to leave at the lodge, and the bag for the porters to carry up the mountain, tons of planning as your bag must be below 20kg and that is not much with climbing gear and all our 4 seasons of clothes.
We didn't sleep much as I think we were excited.

Week 8 of BZ adventure

February 7 - 14

We made it home safely from Florida and spent the week resting, packing, getting our shots, hitting the dentist, bank, lunch with friends, and getting organized. I even tried my new sleep bag to make sure it fits. Will take a bit of getting use to but I will be warm.


Thursday we had our friend Rich drove us to Toronto to catch our flight to Africa. We landed in Ethiopia and then transferred to Kilimanjaro.

We have a hotel for Friday night and then start the first leg of our tour on Saturday.


The vacation is over and now it's time to travel.

Bring it on.

Week 7 BZ adventure

January 31 - February 7

 What a week, another Norwegian cruise, this time from Tampa to the Western Caribbean.  Here is a photo of us with the 2 ships we sailed this trip.  Both were parked in Mexico for the day and we were able to snap a quick shot.  Both ships were amazing, similar entities but different experiences.  One was huge and all Europeans and the other smaller with many North Americans.  We will cruise again for sure as we loved the service, food, people, shows, casino, and island hopping.



Sunday - Superbowl on the ship with 2500 of our crazy new friends.  Lennie's team got killed but we had a great time.  It is so nice to have cruised before so we knew what to do and where to go.  Unfortunately, the ship was late arriving and the check it was a nightmare but we didn't care.



Monday - on the water for the day heading south to Central America so hit the pool and casino.  We went to the shows again this cruise; comedy by Second City, Tim Kaminski, Newlywed game, etc. etc.

Tuesday - landed in Roatan, Honduras for a day in the sun and para sailing. The beach was beautiful and there were fish everywhere! We got a great deal for $25 for a tour and day at the beach.  They had security, showers, and a bar.


Wednesday - landed in Belize City, Belize where we had to tender (take a boat from the ship to the shore) where we just sat in the sun and drank beer at a Canadian owned bar called the Thirsty Pirate


Thursday - landed in Costa Maya, Mexico for a day on the beach and a lot of snorkeling - we need to practice for our trip to Australia. We caught a cab and for $25 bucks got a day at the beach, open bar, snorkel equipment and lunch - good deal.


Friday - landed in Cozumel, Mexico for a day at Paradise Bay beach resort and we went banana boating. We had met some wonderful ladies from New York earlier in the week who had been to Paradise Bay before so we just caught a cab with them and had a riot.


Saturday - back on the ship for a day of fun and pool side.

Sunday - back to Tampa for the long drive home to London and wait for Thursday the 13th for our flight to Africa.

Week 6 of BZ adventure

January 24 - 31, 2014


We returned from our awesome cruise to my parent's house in Bradenton for a week of relaxing, shopping, recovering (from the cruise) fun, plus got ready to head home after next week's cruise.

We also booked the rest of our hotels and spots for our trip. I also checked the airline sites for our flights plus bought some stuff for our Africa trips; special body wipes, toilet paper, and more dry fit shirts.

We are excited for Sunday for the Norwegian Dawn to Hondorus, Belize, and a couple of spots in Mexico. We are bringing less stuff this time as we didn't need any fancy clothes as Norwegian is very casual.

I finished a sweater I had been knitting and we played a lot of poker at the One Eyed Jacks club in Sarasota. Lennie won huge twice.

We also did something we always wanted to do in Bradenton, we went to the Drift-In. We have seen this sketchy bar for years and said we would check it out, well we did, and it was awesome. People were wonderful, cheap drinks and slot machines too (I won $30 in 5 minutes).

We know the weather sucks back home but we continue to enjoy warmth and sun. We love having FaceTime so we can chat with the Purvis too - see you all after our next cruise.

Week 5 of BZ adventure

January 17 - January 24, 2014

Lennie and I had the wonderful opportunity to go a cruise. I had earned a cruise through Caesars Windsor and we got to travel on the cruise line Norwegian and their ship the Epic. We drove to Miami to meet the ship and boarded at 2:00pm. I have watched way too much Love Boat and my fascination with the Titanic came into play often thinking of passengers and adventures at sea.

Saturday - we checked into our room, went on deck to grab a fancy drink and then the boat launched. I didn't even feel it till about 2 hours in when we hit some strong winds but after 12 hours I got use to the rocking. We had a terrific room on the 12th deck and we moved in right away.

The casino opened and I hit the slots while Lennie checked out the ship and then found the poker tables.  We went to one of the game shows; Who Wants to be a Billionaire.  It was hosted by a funny Canadian but we didn't get our names pulled to play but helped the people who did.  Loved the "turn down" service each night and they made a towel animal - so fun to come home to each night.

Sunday - we got up and ate at the garden cafe. We ate everyday at the same table, outside, and in the beautiful sun and sea breeze. We meet a ton of people from all over the world and even some from St. Thomas and Chatham. I had registered for a slot tourney so played in that but sucked.  I found the jogging/walking track and enjoyed time exercising outside with lots of other people.  That night we went to the Newlywed game and it was hilarious - we were hoping to get picked to play but we didn't. The host was very good and the couple married for 61 years won.

Monday - we were at sea one more day so we sat all day in the sun by the pool meeting people and getting a tan.  I also attended some health seminars.  They publish a newspaper everyday with lots of activities and I made sure we attending lots of stuff.

Monday night we had tickets to Blue man group and got to sit in the front row. It was a fantastic show and we have seen them many times.  This was Vegas quality and I even got hit with flying banana.

Tuesday - went up to the cafe for breakfast and we had docked in St Maarten - so beautiful. We got a cab to Orient Bay beach and spent the day in the sun sand! and amazing ocean. We took some awesome photos of people swimming, sailing, snorkeling, and just relaxing.

Back on the ship, we had tickets to the show Legends and enjoyed the singers and dancers. Impersonators of Steven Tyler, Katy Perry, and Elvis performed and they were very talented.



Wednesday - we docked in St Thomas Virgin Islands. We caught a cab across the island to Magden beach and spent the day floating in the ocean.

Back on the ship, we had tickets to a comedy show by Second City and they were very funny.




Thursday - spent the day on the pool deck meeting more wonderful people then hit the casino for more fun. Lennie participated in a golf putting event and won it!

We also got to go to this awesome Vodka ice bar. You wear a parka and get vodka drinks with lots of other people. Felt like a hockey arena but we were wearing flip flops.  

That night was the White Hot Party in which everyone wore white and danced at the back of the ship. We stayed for 3 hours dancing and partying up a storm. Had the best time.


Friday - we landed in Nassau, Bahamas and got to explore the downtown and beaches. We also grabbed some drinks at Señor Frogs on the beach. 

Friday night we ate at the restaurant called Taste. They knew it was our 20 wedding anniversary and they brought us a cake and serenaded us. Embarrassing but delicious.

Saturday - We disembarked very easily by carrying our own luggage, thru customs, and on to the shuttle to the car parking lot in less than 20 minutes. Quick drive back to mom and dad's in Bradenton for another week of relaxing before yet another cruise, this time from Tampa to the western Caribbean.

Great week....and we have another one in a week.

Week 4 of BZ adventure

January 10 - 17, 2014

This week was spent entirely at the Barefoot Beach resort in Indian Rocks Beach Florida. The 2/1 condo (2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom) was awesome and rented from a teacher friend in London. It was a 1 minute walk to the beach or the pool depending on the wind.
Since I really don't remember anything from last week, this felt like our first week together. My tooth is fixed, stitches out of my arm and head and we relaxed. I mean really relaxed. You know when you wake up and say "I don't want to go to work today, please let me go back to sleep"? Well, we did that. We still woke up at 6:00am but were able to go back to sleep till 9. Lennie made us wonderful breakfasts, we hit the beach, lounged, and then ate again.


I was really happy for Lennie this week as he got to rest. With his teaching, coaching, hockey, and second job, I really wanted him to have a chance to just rest. Turns out, he is really good at it :)

This week we had the opportunity to use a wonderful gift from some families and players from Lennie's volleyball team. They knew we were coming near Tampa so they gave us a night at Bern's Steak House. Unbelievable world famous service, food, and atmosphere. We shared chateaubriand, got a tour of the kitchen and wine cellar plus went to the dessert room - 65 pages of homemade desserts and wines. 100,000 bottles, 7500 labels and the biggest private collection in the world. What a wonderful evening.
Wednesday night we invited my parents to the gulf to see the condo and take them out for dinner. We had a wonderful evening of Mexican and live music.


We head back to my parents tonight in order to drop some stuff off then we drive to Miami tomorrow to catch our cruise to the eastern Caribbean. We think the cruise should be really fun with lots to do. We have already booked a couple of evening shows and I have entered a slot tourney too. So happy I am feeling better as we got the most out of this week.

Week 3 of BZ adventure

January 3 - 10, 2014

This week is brought to you by the letter C; beach condo, head cold, root canal, closure, contemplation.

Lennie and I knew on this sabbatical we wanted to see if retiring to Florida would be an option for us like my parents enjoy so much. We rented a beautiful condo in Indian Hills on the beach and moved in this week to experience beach snowbird life. It's pretty sweet let me tell you!

Unfortunately, I had woken up Sunday morning with unbelievable face pain and swelling leading to a hospital visit, diagnosis of a dental abscess and subsequent root canal today. I am a tough cookie but this was unbelievable pain and swelling. It wouldn't stop hurting needing lots of meds and even my eye was shut. It took forever for the infection to die down so I had to wait till today for the procedure.

I received wonderful care from Manatee memorial hospital, Dr. Spice, an oral surgeon, and eventually Dr Duerson and his team and Lakewood Ranch Endodontics. I walked in and everyone took great care to help with my pain and reassurance that I will be ok.

This week also brought us sad news from home that a wonderful family friend, former principal, and curling coach died in London so we drove my mom to the airport to catch a flight home to celebrate his life. Bob Leatham gave Lennie and I teaching placements at his school when we were in teacher's college and we have always been grateful to him for taken a chance on us in his school.





Another thing I wanted to do while in Florida was to see a skin cancer specialist. I got 2 visits with Dr. Kadivar and his wonderful team at Bradentonskincancer.com where he took off 2 "highly suspicious" growths. I have had some basal cell carcinomas before so am not taking anymore chances. Turns out I was right. The one on my arm took 5 stitches and was benign but the one on my head was not. 6 stitches later... It looks bad but he did a great job. Stitches out next week for both.

This week also saw a lot of contemplation. We talked about retirement, our health, careers, stress, and money. When you have lots of down time you can talk lots plus get lots of advice from my parents.

Long tough week but still nice to be with my family and Leo here in the south. Next week brings us more time at the condo and lots of great beach weather.