2013 - The Year in Review

    After we left Fiji for the Solomon Islands we seemed to drop out of the wired world. There was no connectivity on the Bilikiki and, by the time we got back to Mana Island in Fiji, we were so far behind in our travel updates and so frustrated by the system restrictions that we put everything aside and took an extended hiatus. Now that the year’s end is upon us, I thought I’d try to get back on track. As well, this is partially an attempt to make up for the lack of personal commentary on our Christmas cards - the postal deadlines caught us unprepared because of our early visit to Atlanta.
    All in all, 2013 was a very good year. The only real downers were health issues that affected other family members. Doreen’s older brother, Roy, has slipped further into dementia and has lost the ability to live independently. At the same time, his wife has been battling cancer. I lost a third brother to cancer this year. Derm’s funeral mass was held on what would have been his 64th birthday. (We lost them all much too young - Ed at 51 and Aiden at 60.) I managed to get home for the wake and funeral but it was a short visit (only 40 hours between landing and takeoff) as we were already committed to being in Atlanta before the end of April.
    Doreen and I have managed to stay reasonably healthy, albeit with some of the usual aches and pains of aging. Doreen keeps busy with her gym workouts, her badminton and her quilting and other fabric crafts. I’m still going round-and-round on my roller skates as an addendum to a regular workout program. We manage to pass our annual physicals and eye exams so we keep on ‘keeping on’. Of course, it’s great to have an insurance plan and a national medical program to subsidize the costs of prescriptions and vitamin pills.
    It’s nice to have Stacy so close. We see her and Jim every few weeks - usually for Sunday brunch. They were here for dinner on Christmas Eve and we shared a Christmas dinner with Jim’s extended family. We also shared a weekend in cottage country when Travis and family visited the Mansworth’s on Charlestown Lake for the Labour Day weekend. That’s the first time we’ve all been together since Stacy’s wedding.
    We spent time with Travis, Wanda and our grandkids in Atlanta as well as on their visit to southern Ontario. In February, we did a sitting (they’re too old now to call it baby-sitting) stint as Travis and Wanda went to Aruba with friends. We were back in April/May for another session as Travis and Wanda spent 10 days in Ireland. That gave us an opportunity to experience May Day at the school and to see Julia’s gymnastics show and Jacob’s karate finale.
    We were back in Atlanta in October for our trip with Julia. We had promised our grandkids a special weekend trip anywhere they desired when they turned 10. Julia was very interested in Harry Potter and decided she wanted to return to Orlando for another visit. We had a wonderful long weekend with her as we explored Universal, the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. I know we’re somewhat biased (more than somewhat, probably) but she’s growing into a delightful young lady.
    Our final visit to Atlanta was for an early Christmas celebration. We drove to Buffalo, overnighted at Microtel (as we had in February) and flew Southwest (Buffalo to Baltimore/Baltimore to Atlanta and return). The travel gods must have decided to make up for our good fortune in one fell swoop. The Baltimore/Atlanta flight was cancelled due to weather in Baltimore and we were re-routed to Orlando to connect with a later flight to Atlanta. Both of our return flights were also weather delayed. So, a 25% success rate. At least our bags showed up on the carousel in the Buffalo airport! The direct flight with Delta in February was a much better idea.
    We were also fortunate enough to host visits from Doreen’s siblings. Her brother, Tom, was here for an overnight in January on his way to his annual mission trip to the Caribbean. Her sister, Bonnie, came for a visit in late September. She flew into Buffalo and then, a week later, we drove her back to Virginia Beach on our way to Atlanta. We also visited Virginia Beach in May on our way back from Atlanta.
    Our first trip of the year was a two-week jaunt to Cuba in February/March. We flew into Varadero and bussed to Jibacoa. Our friends from British Columbia, Laurie and Sandy, were already there. The weather wasn’t as nice as we’d hoped and this affected the snorkeling which was somewhat disappointing (not up to the usual standards, or at least that’s how it seemed). We did get a chance to renew acquaintances with some of the Cuban workers but it feels like it’s time for a change or a rest.
    Our major trip was to the South Pacific with a couple of weeks in Fiji and a 10-day live-aboard snorkel tour in the Solomon Islands. Our time in Fiji was split between Waya Island, Mana Island and the Raffles Hotel. You can read about it in some earlier blog postings. Our time on the ‘Bilikiki’ was magical - a great group of fellow snorkelers, a great crew and a wonderful opportunity to visit some small villages. The snorkeling was surpassed only by Raja Ampat and the other aspects of the trip (boat, amenities, interactions with crew, fellow ‘Wendy’s Wanderers’ and villagers) were as good as it gets. We made some wonderful memories.
    Back home, we’ve discovered two new (to us) restaurants. “Caz’s” has satisfied my years-long quest for a decent fish-and-chips spot. (Ches’s doesn’t do long-distance takeout.)
We first tried it in October when Bonnie was visiting and she also gave it a more-than-passing grade. We also found “Thai Coconut” as a replacement for the closed “Vietnam Pearl” to satisfy our taste for ‘pad Thai’ when we’re not in southeast Asia.
    2014 is shaping up to be another busy year. We’re joining Laurie and Sandy for two weeks in Akumal in early January and we’re spending some time in Hawaii in May/June where we’ll be joined by Travis and family. We’ll split the time between Maui (our favorite island) and Oahu. We’ll celebrate our anniversary in August with a snorkel live-aboard in Indonesia organized by our California travel guru, Wendy. We’ll be sailing in the Komodo National Park in the ‘Coral Triangle’. We’ll spend some time before and after the boat trip on the island of Bali which has quickly become our second-favorite island.
    We wish all of you a wonderful new year, full of happiness, health and fulfillment. (And great snorkeling!)