Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Home From Vacation

We spend a considerable amount of time between September and the end of December at our vacation home in sunny Florida.  We flew out to Florida on October 2 and returned home on October 23.  It was wonderful to get away!  Family joined us for the first week followed by friends the second week then we spent two days at Disney World with our oldest and spouse before finishing up our vacation by ourselves.   We arrived home in the early morning hours of October 24, happy but beyond exhausted.  It had been a funny vacation in that we were on the go almost non-stop plus we had to deal with a couple of problems there but that is to be expected any time you own property.  It didn't help that I was physically under the weather most of the three weeks.

At any rate we had a wonderful time.  We spent time with family and friends, ate a lot of great food and just all around enjoyed ourselves.  We are very much looking forward to our return to our vacation home shortly.  For now, we are enjoying the peace and quiet of being home.  Both of us are exhausted but we have a couple of weeks to recoup before heading back to our vacation home.

Wordless Wednesday - I Love Aruba

I Love Auba

(Oranjestad, Aruba)

May 14, 2012

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Eagle Beach, Aruba

Eagle Beach, Aruba

May 12, 2012

We stayed at the beautiful Costa Linda Beach Resort on the northwest side of Aruba.  It is on Eagle Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches on Aruba.  It is a safe, sheltered beach with cool white sands, shallow waters and plenty of shade.  The resort provides shade huts, sun loungers, and beach chairs on a first come first serve basis.  However, it is a public beach with no lifeguards so swimming is at your own risk and you should pay attention to the water conditions caution flags.

During our stay, the flags remained yellow meaning that conditions exist so caution should be used.  We enjoyed walking along the beach and we did a bit of swimming in the Caribbean Sea as well.  It was very pleasant sitting on the beach listening to the waves while the sun set.  We were able to enjoy this gorgeous view for seven nights!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Preparation for Landing in Aruba

Government of Aruba

International embarkation/disembarkation Card

May 12, 2012

Midway through our flight, the flight attendants handed out the Government of Aruba international embarkation/disembarkation card.  On one side there is a place for the card to be stamped when going through customs at the Aruba airport.  On the other side, you have to fill out your personal information, passport number, flight number, duration of stay, home address and signature.  Next to that, you have to fill out occupation, main purpose of visiting Aruba, number of visits, type of accommodation, how you booked your visit, main source for choosing Aruba and your email address.  The card is perforated down the center.   When separated the half with occupation et al and the written notice is kept by customs.  The side with the stamp and personal information is returned to you.  It is taken when going through the initial screening at the Aruba airport when departing the island.

I had never seen this type of information collection before as we usually fly interstate.  It is an interesting way to collect personal information as well as information pertaining to their tourism industry.  Tourism is Aruba's largest industry!  The official island languages are Dutch and Papiamento (a blend of Spanish, Portuguese, African, Dutch, French, English and Amerindian) but most people on Aruba speak English and/or Spanish.  What is interesting is both the US Immigration Office and the US Customs Office is present at the Queen Beatrix International Airport.  When departing the island by air, you go through an initial screening process then through the Aruba airport security.  Those traveling to US destinations proceed to an area where they pick up their checked baggage, go through customs with their declaration and then go through US security before proceeding to their gate.  Once you have cleared customs you are considered to be on US soil so there is now customs to go through when you land in the US.  It is best to allow plenty of time to get through all these check points when departing Aruba.  The lines are quite long and while they do move fairly quickly it can take well over an hour to clear the checkpoints.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Beach Rescue Vehicle

Beach Rescue

(Cocoa Beach, Florida)

May 10, 2012  

The beach is perfect for people watching!  As I was walking back to the restaurant, I spotted a beach rescue 4 x 4.  Florida's beaches are heavily used which means from time to time rescue response is needed.  Folks don't always heed beach warnings or behave in a unsafe manner and sometimes they just simply get into trouble in the water.  Of course, there are always unforeseen medical emergencies as well.  It's quite impressive to see how well these beach rescue vehicles are equipped!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Settling In

My gosh, we arrived home from our spring vacation in the early morning hours of May 30^th and have been going full tilt ever since.  My husband is back at the office, in meetings and has already played golf.  I'm back at the breakfast club, working on my new community garden project, trying to get my own gardens going and dealing with various service personnel working on the house while canning.  My medical tests came back surprisingly better than expected which has been a huge relief even though I ended up dealing with a very nasty reaction to a newly prescribed drug.  We opened the pool and while there was a lot of running between the pool shop and back for parts and chemicals, it cost less than expected and went fairly well.  This weekend we held the last of the season games night with eighteen in attendance.  I feel a bit overwhelmed yet surprisingly calm.  So we are settling in after being away for three weeks.  The sun is warm just perfect for getting a bit of outdoor work done and my husband surprised me with  a Jacquemonti birch!  Life is good :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

A Nice Ending to a Problem - Thanks Alamo!

A few days ago I wrote a little about our spring vacation.  While I still have a lot of pictures and stories to share with you from that three week period, I have to say we ended the vacation on a bit of a sour note.  We stopped at the casino on the way to the airport where my husband won $600.  Before going into the casino, we put the GPS, iPod, iPod Touch, SunPass and house keys in the console between the two front seats so we would not have to carry them in the casino.  After the plane landed and we were about an hour away from our home we realized all those items were still in the rental vehicle.  So my husband called Alamo who told him to fill out an online form.  The confirmation email said we would get a response within one to two business days.  We didn't hear anything back last week or yesterday so he emailed them with no response.  This morning he called them.  They had all our belongings and made arrangements to ship them to us via ground carrier!

We have dealt with Alamo for a number of years.  Until now we have never had a problem.  We are very, very pleased that they found our belongings and are getting them back to us as quick as they can.  It's nice to see a company that still actually cares about their customers.  Thanks Alamo!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - A Wonderful Vacation

We left on May 8 with another couple on our spring vacation.  We arrived at our vacation home in the sunny south late that night then did a bit of relaxing and sight seeing until May 12 when we flew out to Aruba.  After a wonderful week spent in Aruba we flew back to our vacation home.  Our friends left the following day so we had about ten days of togetherness.  All in all, it was a wonderful vacation filled with laughter, giggles, good food and amazing eye candy!  Over the three week period of being away, we took almost 1,500 pictures!  I'll share some of those pictures here over the next couple of weeks.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

The Twenty-Two Buick Skylark

The Twenty-Two Buick Skylark

December 7, 2011

My Mother-in-Law's birthday was on the twenty second so one of my husband's lucky numbers is 22.  He always plays 22 straight up when playing roulette.  Surprisingly he often wins as well.  I spotted this old Buick Skylark that had been nicely restored.  The combination of green with the number 22 was an omen for the good fortune we would enjoy during our winter vacation!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Atrium at Orlando International Airport

The Atrium

December 6, 2011

I love atriums, glass houses, greenhouses and window walls.  They add natural light, warmth and a structural beauty that is hard to describe other than a geometric element to the space.  Atriums have been extremely popular building additions since Victorian times.  We are planning on adding a glass sunroom onto the east side of our house just off the kitchen this year.  It would be a cheery spot to great the day with a morning cup of coffee.  Quite frankly I really don't understand why these glass spaces are not used more in modern homes.  Yes, there is the energy efficiency to be concerned with but I will tell you there is absolutely no way you would feel depressed and mood swings would be alleviated simply by spending an hour in a glass space each day during the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere.  It is a heck of a lot cheaper remedy then anti-depressants and you can take advantage of the solar gain during the winter months!  Besides the glass spaces are simply delightful

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Arrival at Orlando, Florida for Our Winter Vacation

Tram View Heading from Gate to Main Terminal

(Orlando International Airport)

December 6, 2011

We arrived at Orlando International Airport for the second leg of our winter vacation a bit ahead of schedule as they put us onto an earlier flight.  It is a good thing we arrived at the airport in Milwaukee earlier.  We would have had time for a leisurely breakfast had our flight not been changed.  As it was we ended up with just enough time to grab a coffee and board the plane.  The flight was pleasant with a smooth take-off and landing.  We arrived in Orlando about 4:30 PM then once at the gate took the tram to the main terminal where we headed to the car rental area to pick-up our rental car.  We have got it to the point that we can fly between home and our vacation home with no checked baggage as well as print our tickets ahead of time so we only have to head to security when boarding then straight to the rental car area after landing.  This saves a considerable amount of time.  It was a beautiful late afternoon, perfect for picture taking.  The sky was a gorgeous azure with fluffy white clouds marking the promise of a wonderful and pleasantly warm winter vacation to unfold.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Over the Wing

Over the Wing

December 6, 2011

My husband and I left here on December 4, flying out of Detroit into Milwaukee for the first leg of our winter vacation.  It really wasn't all that cold when we left but I will tell you Wisconsin was cold.  We spent a couple of days there then flew out from Milwaukee to Orlando, Florida.

It was a good thing we arrived at the airport early as the flight we were supposed to be on was cancelled and they bumped us up to an earlier flight.  We had time to grab a quick coffee then board the plane.  The flight was uneventful so I amused myself looking out the window and playing with the television.  We few Delta so they had individual televisions for ever seat but we only had one set of headphones with us.  My husband was interested in the golf and I was so, so about HLN so decided to snap pictures out the window instead.

Flying above the clouds is always quite nice.  I so love their fluffy, comforting look!  At the same time they hide what is below and since the cloud coverage was rather heavy most of the trip, I didn't get a lot of good shots out of the window.  It was a very nice flight though with a smooth landing.  And so our winter vacation in the sunny south began...
 
Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Wordless Wednesday - Signs

Signs

December 6, 2011

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Wordless Wednesday - Little Walking Men

Little Walking Men

(Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee, WI)

December 4, 2011

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Wordless Wednesday - On Maneuvers

On Maneuvers

(Tampa Bay, Flordia)

September 27, 2011

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Wordless Wednesday - Beached!

Beached!

September 27, 2011

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Wordless Wednesday - The Magic of Micky

The Magic of Micky

September 19, 2011 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Wordless Wednesday - Pink Flowers

Pink Flowers

May 11, 2011 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Wordless Wednesday - Pretty in Pink!

Pretty in Pink

August 27, 2011

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Lexington Harbor

Lexington Harbor

August 27, 2011

Lexington Harbor lies at the bottom of a rather steep hill.  The only way to get to the restaurants or shops is to climb that hill.  On average we climb the hill three times a day and I do have to say that it is most annoying to get back to the harbor only to realize you forgot to buy a needed item so back up the hill you go.  It makes for a wonderful mini-vacation filled with a fair amount of exercise.  Pictured is Lexington Harbor flags on the harbor.  The stone wall separates the harbor from Lake Huron.  There is a paved walking path along the top of the stone wall to walk from the harbor to the lighthouse at the mouth of the harbor (southern end of harbor).  It is a rather popular walk to watch the sunrise over Lake Huron.  There is a public beach on Lake Huron on the north side of the harbour that is quite popular. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011