Begin the blog. . .

Some of you already know that Dana and I are leaving on what can only be called (for us) a dream vacation January 2. We're leaving the kids and grandkids behind to cruise with some very good friends of ours through the British Virgin Islands.

We were invited to accompany Scott & Gayle (the very good friends) on a week-long cruise on a 42' catamaran (room for two couples and a small crew), spending our days on the ocean swimming, sunning, snorkeling, or whatever our little hearts desire and docking each evening at a different island to experience the food, people, and atmosphere.

A little history about Scott and Gayle: Dana and Scott met over 20 years ago while both were attending Evergreen Valley College as adults at night (after working their fulltime jobs during the day). They were the only "old, white guys" in their classes (and pretty much the only two people other than the instructors who spoke English). They "bonded" during the Loma Prieta earthquake (1989) that came in the middle of a final they were taking. The story about the two of them deciding whether to finish the exam or dive under their desks is hysterical!!

Scott is often referred to as "Scott, our loud friend". He is forthright, at almost the opposite spectrum of me politically, and yes, sometimes loud, but you never have to guess with Scott --- you always know how he feels. And he's not the kind of person who HAS to have you agree with him. He's okay with agreeing to disagree. Gayle is an angel, and doesn't have an evil bone in her body. I don't think she's capable of being unkind. She will be nominated for sainthood when she's gone, for putting up with (and loving) Scott for all these years. Fortunately, Scott knows how lucky he is!

Scott and Gayle have three gorgeous, sweet, daughters: two are married, one has a BEAUTIFUL new baby girl. They are truly blessed. We have two grandkids to their one, but they have two married offspring to OUR one married offspring. Guess it evens out somewhere. . .

Now, about the trip. We're flying through Puerto Rico, so since we've never been there we decided to spend a couple of days there before getting on the boat. On our way back we'll spend a couple of days on St. Thomas before flying back to San Jose, our everyday lives, and jobs.

I thought about writing a trip journal, decided against that, then decided to send daily or every-other day emails to family and friends to let them know what we'd been experiencing (since we will have a laptop with us). I finally decided on a blog --- that way you can read if you're interested and I won't have to remember everyone's emails fearing I'll forget to include someone.

The only danger will be the number of Mai Tais consumed --- I'll have to remember to write BEFORE I drink!!

Really, I decided to write a blog so I could capture a daily record of the trip. If I waited until I got home I'd spend hours thinking "Did we do that on Wednesday or Thursday?" "Where was that little shop?" "What night did we have that awesome dinner?"

In essence, writing the trip blog will be the only way I'll ever remember all the details AFTER we get home.

If you decide to check in on our adventures, I hope you enjoy reading!