It's a beautifully sunny morning in Birch Bay as we ready ourselves to drive down for an overnight stay in SEA.
We'll spend New Year's Eve - starting around 7:00 a.m. tomorrow - flying to IAD and onward to MIA. We hope to meet up with Kathy's brother Tom and family New Year's Day if they manage to fly out of the Colorado snow that caused them to delay their flight by one day.
We board the Eurodam , one of Holland America's larger ships, January 2 for a six-night cruise around the Caribbean.
We're only stopping at three ports, HAL's "private island," Half Moon Cay, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and Georgetown, Cayman Islands before returning to Fort Lauderdale. Tom, our personal restaurant consultant, is in charge of selecting Florida eateries before and after our cruise, and we'll be counting on his suggestions as we try two of the specialty restaurants, The Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind aboard the Eurodam.
Our first New Year's resolution clearly must be to hit the treadmills daily in the Fitness Center to try to burn off a few of those calories.
Kathy and Brian
Two retired educators alternating joyfully between seeing the world and enjoying our eight grandchildren (in order of birth), Jake, Avery, Taegan, Lily, Peyton, Riley, Blane, and Jace.
Kathy and Brian met in the clarinet section of the University of California (Santa Barbara) Symphony Orchestra several decades ago.
Brian's Western Canadian roots and Kathy's Colorado ties resulted in their making beautiful music together along with producing a cross-border crop of descendants.
Kathy spent a year studying in Vienna at the Institute for European Studies and the University of Vienna.
Brian started the school band program in Hope, British Columbia, and later became the high school's vice-principal for 6 years and subsequently principal for 15 years before retiring in 2001.
Kathy, in between raising our three children, taught kindergarten and first grade, middle school, and high school - mathematics, computer studies, ESL, and her first love, band, before retiring in 2001.
We enjoy sharing our travel experiences and providing the odd travel tip to friends, relatives, and visitors.