Wednesday, December 19, 2018

let's get this party started!

Denise and I have been busy on projects for friends on the island since our return so my blog entries have been delayed.

Good news on the island is we received our CZM permit and can start the road clearing and house excavation.  The excavator said he can start work next week but being a holiday week, we shall see.  Our building, electrical and plumbing permit applications were submitted Monday and we're told DPNR has been working quickly and we should have all the permits by Christmas.

Our trip to the west coast was great.  Thanks to all our friends and family for making our stay a warm adventure through the cold weather.  I know it wasn't really cold, but we had spent the previous 6 months not going below 68 degrees, and that was only two nights.  Normal summer low's here are about 75 and winter lows in the past month have been 72 degrees.  Time to find a blanket!  To our friends in Kansas and Minnesota with a high of 32, we know where the heat is, come on down and enjoy it.

Below is the new granddaughter and four generations with Denise, her mom Libby, Jessa and her new baby Lilliah.

She was a 9 pound, and over 21" happy, healthy baby girl.

Denise was going to stay a few weeks longer but changed her flight and managed to get home the day before me.  Her flights were smooth but I got to have a great adventure with mine.  

We had booked our flights over the phone direct through Delta, but when I arrived at the airport they wouldn't let me check my bags all the way home.  We booked a cheap flight so I got the aerial tour of the US mainland and its territories, PDX-JFK-San Juan-STX.  I was told I had to get my bags and go through security then recheck them.  This was going to be a problem because we brought a bunch of stuff home including boxes we'd left at friends houses when we moved.  Very long story short, my flight from Puerto Rico to home was cancelled so I had to get a hotel in PR.  It took a few hours at the airport Delta counter the next morning for them to get me a flight home.  They ended up putting me on a Cape Air flight with 4 other people.  It was a fun flight with great views of the islands from the front window.  Delta did refund my baggage fees and gave me a good chunk of Sky Miles for my trouble. 

We spent some time for lunch on thanksgiving at BJ & Kendra's house on the East end then came back to spend dinner time with Kent and our neighbor Gerry for holiday tuna steaks.  May not be the traditional thanksgiving meal but it was good.

We took a day off helping people and went to Sandy Point which is a long beach on the West end of the island.  It's a very pretty beach where they filmed the final scene of the Shawshank Redemption.  We had some wind and rain the few days before so the water was a bit cloudy and not good for snorkeling.

We also went fishing early one morning with BJ.  The winds were too strong and disturbed the water so fish were not biting, other than a few little grunt fish.  Here's BJ with his prize catch of the day, that went right back into the sea.

Jack and Ivan did well while we were gone and were happy to see us when we returned.  Here they are enjoying some relaxing time together in the evening, after a long day of relaxing.  

Ever lose something around the house and thought maybe it just got up and walked away?  Around here that may be what happened.  Apparently this hermit crab couldn't find a suitable shell and figured the PVC cap would do the trick.  I found a shell for him, put him in a box and in a few minutes he decided to take the trade.  A few weeks later a found one walking around the yard with the male end of a water hose quick disconnect.  Sneaky little creatures.  

The island has been home to a triathlon.  Denise and I took the jeep down the hill to North Shore road and cheered on the bikers as they rode by.  Here's the link to the course that includes "The Beast" which is a 600' climb in 7/10ths of a mile.  Island cars have a hard enough time climbing that hill.  

That's all for now.  Hopefully soon I'll be able to post excavation pictures.  

Merry Christmas!

Kevin & Denise

2 comments:

  1. Love the update. Glad your trip went well.

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    1. Thanks Julie. We had a good time and are happy to be back in the warm weather.

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