Bonaire Shore Diving 2016

Bonaire. February. 2016

It's a desert island.

When I look at the pictures I think...there was a lot of wildlife.
And diving. A lot of diving.
And driving around in a truck that was made in China
over rough, dusty roads,
the truck filled with nitrox tanks,
where the view on one side was cactus and rock
and on the other
it was clear blue water.

We had some equipment failures.
But, you know, divers help each other out. We had my regulator working again in less than an hour. Labor paid in beer. To a shop manager who wasn't even getting our business that week. That's how divers do it.

Rob made his 100th dive.
Then we celebrated with caipirinhas.
Later in the week, I made my 100th dive. Off La Dania's Leap.

Shore diving is something you should do.
It makes you a better diver.
We planned our entrances and exits over rough coral,
and through surf.

We did some amazing night dives,
sharing the reef with two tarpon as big as me.

We lost a camera.
In the ocean.
the OCEAN.
And we swam our search pattern and found it.

Then we celebrated with caipirinhas.

You should go there.
To Bonaire.
Do the Leap.
Do all the dives.

Take pictures of the blue waters.
Be nice to the donkeys
And cats
And epic iguanas.

Be gentle with the reef.

The bushes that surrounded our porch were home to this guy and several of his friends

We stayed at The Caribbean Club

The fence around our cottage

Check out our incredible patio!

This is pretty much where we lived when we weren't diving. The view. The breeze. The iguana....

Rob's 100th dive!

The caipirinha!

Bar side pool.

Oh yes, There was also Heineken. 

Hello, friend!

One of the bar cats.

Caribbean Club

That water

It's a SCAP. Google it. Keeps your hair in place. 

1000 steps. Ok...maybe 72. But you try carrying your gear up after the dive!  This is a Don't Miss dive site. 

La Dania's Leap

My 100th dive!

So, we weren't huge fans of the Cactus Spirits...

But, it was fun to visit the distillery, nonetheless

Chinese truck filled with Nitrox tanks.

Six hours in St. Louis

I had been missing my girlies in a bad way.  I had been promising a visit down to SLU for weeks. Last Saturday, we made the trip, Rob, R and I, down for a quick visit. Do the math: the four hour drive down + the 6 hour drive home (through snow and ice) for a 6 hour visit?  It only makes sense if you are a mom missing your kids. And, if you have a fabulous hubs willing to do ALL the driving!

We arrived around 10am, picked R and K up from R's apartment and drove over to Rooster for brunch. Rooster!  So FUN and So Delicious!  If you live in St. Louis, you don't need me to tell you about it, apparently most of the city had the same idea for Saturday brunch as we did. But, if you are visiting, please brave the lines and the family/cafeteria style seating for the Rooster experience. Their specialty is crepes and they do them fabulously with locally sourced ingredients. The breakfast menu was so enticing, I already have plans to return to try more of this amazing food! 

After brunch, we took a leisurely stroll through Soulard Market.  It was sparsely populated with vendors, a shadow of its warm weather self but it was an act of hope going there on such a grey and blustery day.  Another "Don't miss" when visiting St. Louis.

With the weather being what it was: cold and grey. We opted for indoor entertainment to round out our afternoon.  After reviewing all the free venues St. Louis has to offer, we chose the Science Center.

It had been years since we'd been to the Science Center.  The last time, R, K and R were a more typical age, but I don't remember it being this much fun.   Everyone played with the hands-on exhibits:

 

Enjoyed the overpass: 

 and obliged me with some photo-ops:

 

After a few hours, we noticed that the snow coming down was heavier and so we decided to grab a quick early dinner and get on the road home.  R recommended Tortillaria in the Central West End, for their happy hour.  Our waiter was super attentive, the food was excellent and the happy hour prices were a great deal. 

Just a short day's sampling of all St. Louis has to offer.  If you haven't been in awhile, take your kids and enjoy a weekend.