2012 Caribbean Cruise, Day 4 Costa Maya

This was probably the warmest day of our cruise with the temperature in the 80's. This was our second time to visit Costa Maya. The first time, we decided to take a tour of the Mayan ruins which took just about all the time we had on shore for the stop. This time we decided to take a trip to a little fishing village called Majahual which was supposed to have a great beach.

We took a bus to the little village and was happy with our decision to visit the town. It is a small village which was mostly a beach with a few shops and restaurants. We walked from one end of the village to the other in just a few minutes. We passed a couple sitting at a table on the beach drinking a beer. The man walked by us and asked if we liked beer. We said that we did and he said that this was the best and cheapest place in the village to have a beer. They were from our ship so we ordered our beer and talked to them for awhile. He said that this was his 374th cruise and they had enjoyed them all.

After finishing our beer, we walked to the other end of the village and stopped at a restaurant table on the beach. Their menu listed a fish called Boca Negra which was a fish we had eaten when stationed in the Azores. The fish was very good so we decided to order the fish for lunch. We asked if one order would serve 2 and the waiter said that it would. It took a very long time to get our meal. I began to think they were having to catch the fish. When they finally brought our order, there was a huge mound of fish, french fries, vegetables and probably over a dozen tortillas on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. We thought this was our order and felt it would easily serve two. However, much to our surprise, they brought another cookie sheet the same size with the same amount of food. They also gave us 2 glasses of tequila which was the best tequila that I have ever had. The cost of everything was around $25.00 which was a great deal. If we ever wander that way again, we will have to go back for another fish dinner.

By the time we finished our meal, it was time to go back to the ship. The owner of the restaurant got us a cab and we returned to the ship and relaxed until dinner. The night before, our dinner partners had gotten an invitation to a special function for the Royal Caribbean Anchor Society Members who were in the upper tier of their loyalty program. They were telling us about the function and that one individual there was ranked number 3 in the Anchor Society for the number of nights on cruises with almost 2800 nights. The captain said that they had more nights at sea then he had. We described the couple we had met earlier in the day and found out they were the individuals ranked as number 3 in the society.

The entertainment theme for the evening was "the 70's". We found good seats on the second level and watched the Disco Party in the Centrum. There was great music and the ship singers and dancers were in costume, including wigs of the 70's. Everyone had a great time as the music took us back several years.

2012 Caribbena Cruise Day 3 Cozumel Mexico

We woke up to another beautiful day--sunny and warm. The high was projected to be in the 80's. After another leisure breakfast, we departed the ship and headed to the area where we were to catch our excursion. As usual, the check point was in the middle of the shopping area at the port. We took a stroll through the shops, but didn't buy anything since we were going to catch a semi-sub for a tour of the reef. It really wasn't a sub. It was a glass bottom boat that you entered and sat 4 to 5 feet below the water level.

There was some debris on the ocean floor from the last hurricane that had come through. There were a few fish in the area, but not many. When we got to the reef, we expected to see all the bright colors of the fish and coral formation, however, we mostly saw shades of grey. The tour guide said that the reef was actually brightly colored, but because of the depth of the formations, they did not show the color. This was true of the fish also. When we first saw them, they were mostly shades of gray, however, when they got close to the window of the boat you could see the different colors.

After the tour we went back to the shopping area around the docks. We then decided to walk outside the dock area to see what was there. We started walking to the center of Cozumel which was 3 miles away. Along the way, we stopped by the Dolphinaris, an area where you could swim with the dolphins. We watched the dolphins for awhile and continued our walk into Cozumel.

We arrived at a town square that was well designed and very clean. There were many stores to shop at, but, we did not go into many. You could not walk by a store without the clerks approaching you and trying to get you to come in and buy something. Linda did shop for some t-shirts, but that was all.

We eventually made our way back to the ship and to our cabin to rest for awhile. We spent what little time we had before casting off just walking the deck. The weather had been perfect and continued to be. This was our first trip to Cozumel and found it to be a very pretty town.

The evening entertainment at the Coral Theater was Bobby Arvon, singer/impressionist/pianist. His claim to stardom-he sang the opening song for "Happy Days". He was very entertaining. After the show, more strolling the deck, checking out the photo gallery and sitting awhile at one of the bars listening to the music.

2012 Caribbean Cruise Day 2

What a great day! After a good night's sleep, we woke up to a mostly sunny day with temperatures in the high 70's. This would be a day at sea so there was no rush to get ready to go somewhere.


We finally got dressed for the day and went to breakfast. We found a table by the window and had a gorgeous view. The selection of food was overwhelming, but we did finally decide on what we wanted. I had thought about getting an omelet, but the line was too long. They had everything from biscuits and gravy to steak and eggs. The fruit and pastry selections were also great. We could have sat in the dining room and just enjoyed the view, but decided to tour the ship.


We couldn't get over how beautiful the water was. The sun sure brought out the color of the water and it was this way most of the day. We took a few pictures, but not as many as we should have. We went back to the center of the ship where the glass elevators were. One set of elevators faced the Centrum (an open area that covered probably 8 decks) and the other faced the ocean. You had a great view either way.

Throughout the cruise in the afternoon and night there were bands playing on the first level of the Centrum. The design of the Centrum allowed the music to travel through all levels of the Centrum and you could sit on different levels and watch the band/people on the lowest level. We quickly discovered that it was too crowded on the lowest level so we usually sat on the second level.

The ship was well designed and had a lot for the teenagers to do--water slides, rock climbing walls, basketball courts, miniture golf, video game rooms and many more activities. Linda and I did play a few games of shuffle board, but after the tour of the ship, we found lounge chairs and sat on the deck and read our books. It sure made for a restful day and we thoroughly enjoyed doing "nothing" for the rest of the day. We get so wrapped up in our volunteer activities that we very seldom have time to sit back, relax and enjoy each other's company.

We had a great day and a very enjoyable dinner. This was a formal night so everyone was supposed to dress up. However, there are a few in every crowd that will ignore the rules and come as they are. The food was great and our companions for dinner were interesting as usual. Good food and great conversation--it doesn't get any better than that.

After dinner we went to the theater to watch the nights entertainment which was the ship's singers and dancers putting on the show. We enjoyed the performance and then went to one of the lounges to listen to the music. A perfect end to a very enjoyable day.

2012 Caribbean Cruise

It is a little late to update the blogspot with our cruise information and pictures, but, I guess it is better late than never.

We started 2012 by taking a five day Western Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas. We had leisurely days at sea and stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya.

We flew from Cincinnati , Ohio to Tampa January 7 for a cruise to Mexico. We normally fly out of Dayton, Ohio, however the cruise package we bought, Cincinnati was the airport we had to use. This was the first time we had flown from Cincinnati and the airport was easy to get to and clearing security was much quicker than the Dayton Airport.

After an uneventful flight, we arrived in Tampa and took a shuttle to the ship. This is the second time we have taken a cruise from Tampa and once again, we had an easy boarding. This was our first cruise on Royal Caribbean and we were impressed with how quickly we were processed.

We boarded the ship and expected to have to wait awhile before we could check out our cabin. However, it was ready by 1:00 PM but our luggage hadn't arrived yet. We then went to the dining room for lunch. We were impressed with the layout of the dining room and their buffet. We were able to find a table immediately and get through the buffet line quickly. The food was great and we thoroughly enjoyed a nice, quiet lunch by ourselves. We arrived early and got on board before the majority of the passengers.

After lunch, we took a tour of the top decks of the ship. All our other cruises have been on Holland America and their ships are smaller than the Jewel of The Seas.

We departed around 5:00 PM and had planned on staying on deck to watch the cast off and the passage under the bridge. The captain said that there was only about 6 feet of clearance from the top the the ship and the bottom of the bridge. However, we had the 6:00 PM seating for dinner and had to get ready for dinner.

The dining room was much larger than the one on Holland America and we were seated on the first floor of the dining room. On Holland America, we always sat on the second level and had a great view of the ocean while dining. On this cruise, we could not see the ocean which was a little disappointing.


The couple that were seated with us were from Florida and were a very friendly couple. Our first night dining turned out to be a very pleasant dinner. The service was great and the food was outstanding.

After dinner we made our way to the Coral Theater for the Welcome Aboard Show, starring David Orion, who has been Jerry Seinfeld's opening act and a Star Search winner. He was very entertaining and kept the crowd laughing.

After the show, we checked out the ship some more, strolled on the deck and watched the waves go by.

Shauna Danielle Dufon

We had an exciting day yesterday...Shauna Danielle arrived and all the family joyously welcomed her.

South Carolina Vacation Day 3: Plantation

Today we decided to visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, a plantation near Charleston . Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Founded in 1676 by the Drayton family, Magnolia Plantation has survived the centuries and witnessed the history of our nation unfold before it from the American Revolution through the Civil War and beyond. It is the oldest public tourist site in the low country, and the oldest public gardens in America, opening its doors to visitors in 1870 to view the thousands of beautiful flowers and plants in its famous gardens.

It was a beautiful day and the plantation was supposed to have one of the best gardens in the United States. We were a little late for most of the flowers and a little early for the camellias that were planted in the woods. There were a few varieties blooming and they were pretty. We were told that the best time to view the woods was in February when all the camellias were in bloom. They have planted thousands of camellias of many different varieties throughout the woods and with the layout of the walks and other little gardens they would be gorgeous. As you walked through the woods, there were gardens of different flowers and herbs usually behind a manicured hedge or a growth of camellias. Throughout the woods, you would see many different statutes nestled in the gardens and camellias. The plantation grounds had many ponds and small lakes and there were wooden bridges over some of them. There were also gazebos and benches strategically located in the woods and gardens so if you wanted to rest or just sit and while away time you could. They were many secluded locations that would be great to sit in and read a book.

We toured the house, but, unfortunately, we could not take pictures in the house. The history of this property is very interesting and the history as well as a short video and pictures can be found at http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/

South Carolina Vacation: Sunset

Linda and I decided to go to the beach and watch the sunset. It had been such a good day that we thought a beautiful sunset would be a fitting ending to the day.

We arrived at the beach and it looked like others had the same idea. While taking pictures we noticed some dolphins swimming along the coast. Unfortunately, I was not able to get any good pictures of them. I have included one showing a fin.

We watched the sun set and I took over 70 pictures. I have included a few, but there are others that are just as pretty.

South Carolina Vacation: Day 2

Today turned out to be a great day. The drive to Charleston was uneventful. The traffic wasn't bad and it only took about 1 1/4 hours to get there.

We parked in the visitor's center parking lot and looked at a lot of the tours being offered. We decided to take our own walking tour; got a map of Charleston and got on our way.

We walked to Market Street--taking pictures along the way--to visit the old market. We have been here before, but it is always worth a visit.

After going through the market, we decided to go to lunch. We ended up eating at a place called Hyman's Seafood. Once again, we had a great seafood lunch. I had the Charleston style fish and chips and Linda had a Buffalo Shrimp Poboy. We also tried the local craft beer and it was great also.

We continued our tour of the city after lunch and took many more pictures of the area. The houses were very unbelievable and made the tour of the
city worthwhile.

South Carolina Vacation: Day 1

Getting to Edisto Island, South Carolina was an easy, although long (12 hours), trip. We had great weather most of the way. We did run into foggy conditions in the mountains, but it did not affect the driving. It did make for some beautiful views. The fall folage was very pretty and we saw many miles of the turning leaves.

We left Trotwood around 6:30 AM and arrived at Edisto Island around 6:15 PM. Edisto Island is very isolated with very few people except for the visitors to the resort. You drive down miles of two lane roads with Spanish moss hanging from the trees. In some areas there are trees on both sides of the roads with overhanging branches. It looks like a tunnel from a distance. We probably drove over 20 miles without meeting a car or having a car behind us.

We decided to go to Beaufort, South Carolina today. The pictures and descriptions on the internet made it sound interesting and it was. To get an idea of what we saw, go to
http://www.beaufort-sc.com/history/bfttown/tour/walktour.htm for a virtual walking tour. We stopped at the visitors center when we got into Beaufort. Once an arsenal, this building was constructed in 1798 of brick and tabby. We left the visitors center and drove to an area where the restaurants were supposed to be. We walked along the river which was a beautiful walk, but we did not find a restaurant that we wanted to eat in. An individual was delivering visitors guides to the local businesses and we asked him where was a good place to get a fish dinner. He suggested a restaurant called Steamers which was on an island about 2 miles from where we were.

We visited the restaurant and had a meal that was very delicious. The special of the day was grouper—fried or grilled--, dirty rice and corn on the cob. We chose the grilled grouper and washed it down a draft beer. The grouper was grilled to perfection and the dirty rice was the best we have ever had. Linda told the waitress that she could just give her a plate of dirty rice and she would be happy. The tartar sauce was very good. Linda asked if it was homemade or bought. The waitress said it was made by the restaurant, not bought. She also said that there was a lady that worked for the restaurant who made the dirty rice and everyone who ate the rice said it was “the best ever”. We would agree with that.






We left the restaurant and went to Harbor Island visit a light house which was well worth the visit. However, the beach was another matter. There were a lot of trees on the beaches which was probably the result of the hurricane earlier this year.

OREGON VACATION DAY 8

Day 8 was an easy day for us with little planned. We went to the little town of Prineville. There was an overlook and you could see the entire town and valley below us. There was a beautiful golf course outside of the town and we stood on the rim and watched for awhile.

We drove into town and got a cup of coffee and took a few pictures. We decided to drive to a small state park that had a good view of a bridge build over the river gorge in 1926 and an new bridge built in the 1990's. The bridges are 300 feet above the river bed. When the first bridge was built, it was the highest bridge in the United States.

We took a small road across country to the town of Sisters, Oregon. We had already been there, but Linda wanted to do a little shopping. After a brief shopping trip, we went back to Eagle Crest to relax and pack for our return home.

OREGON VACATION DAY 7

The weather today is perfect for site seeing--sunny and warm. As we were driving off the resort, we saw Mt Hood for the first time from the resort. It was always cloudy when we left and either dark or cloudy when we got back.

We decided to go to Crater Lake since the weather at the park was supposed to be sunny; high 50's and calm wind. I told Linda with that kind of weather, the bright sun on the snow would make it feel a lot warmer. People were walking around the area in short sleeved shirts. I wore a long sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt and
got too hot. As we climbed the road to the summit, we were driving between snow that was up to 10 feet deep on each side of the road.

We arrived at the rim of the lake and the view was fantastic. This part of the park is open year around, but the road around the rim (32 miles) does not open until June. If the weather doesn't warm up, it will probably be late June before it is opened. We walked to the top of a snow hill to get these pictures.


The buildings were still covered in snow with only one entrance into each building. When you entered, it was like walking into a cave because there was no light coming through any of the windows. We were looking for a restaurant to get some lunch, but, other than the small food service--cold sandwiches, hot dogs, soup--there were no restaurants opened in the area. We asked the clerk at the gift store and he told us we would have to go back about 40 miles to find a restaurant. We finally found a small restaurant and had hamburgers and a Reuben sandwich which were very good. The fires were fresh cut homemade and were very good also.


We returned to Eagle Crest and decided to drive around the resort. The resort covers over 1800 acres and there are miles of roads and trails. The pictures in the slide show are all pictures taken at Eagle Crest.

We took a 2.2 mile trail along the creek that runs behind our unit. It was a pleasant walk and the view was great. We met a woman on the walk who said there was a pair of nesting swans up ahead that she checks on each day to see if the eggs had hatched. So far they had not. We watched the swans for awhile and took some pictures.

The trail ended near the Sports Bar and convenience store located on the resort. We went in to check it out and wished we had done it at the beginning of our state. It was a great bar--I guess part of the golf course complex--with live entertainment. We had a pint of one of the locally brewed beers and relaxed for awhile. We discovered that the bar had a dinner special each day of the week. Friday night's special is fish and chips for $6.95 which is cheaper than any restaurant around. We plan on being there for dinner.

Another great day and tomorrow is supposed to be better. Linda wants to go back to the town of Sisters to show. I think we will then go to the fossil park that we missed because the river had flooded. It all depends on how long we stay in Sisters.

OREGON VACATION DAY 6

I guess you noticed that there was no Day 5 on the blogspot. Everywhere we went, the sites were closed so no pictures were taken. Linda and I did go visit friends who were stationed in Azores with us. We had not seen them since we left the Azores in 1976. We had a great visit remembering old times. We left their house for a 2 hour drive back to Eagle Crest. We ran into a blizzard on the way back and at times we could only travel 20 miles per hour.

Wednesday turned out to be a great day. Linda had mapped out a trip to the Columbia River Gorge. The weather was great and the views were fantastic.

On the way to the gorge, we took many pictures of Mt Hood. The mountain was covered with clouds for most of the day, but the view was still beautiful.




Once we got the the beginning of the gorge tour, we drove down I-84 for aways. The river is so wide that it looks more like a lake in places. The views along the river were great.

We then went down historic highway 30 and saw a series of waterfalls. The first waterfall we saw required a 1 1/2 mile walk down a narrow trail which at times was about 18 inches wide. A slip or misstep would result in about a 250 foot drop in a lot of places.




We finally got back to Eagle Crest around 10 PM. We had a very tiring 14 hour day, but enjoyed it very much.

OREGON VACATION DAY 4

What a difference a day makes! We got up and the sun was shining--perfect day to take a long walk. We had decided to go to Smith Rock State Park for a visit if the weather cooperated. After a light breakfast in our room, we packed a picnic lunch and headed for the park.

We arrived at the park around 8 AM and there were only two cars there. Unfortunately, the park is not manned and there were no trail maps to guide us for our walk. There were about 4 or five trails so we chose 3 that would form a loop which would bring us back to our car. The overall length of the trails were about 4 miles, but, when by the time we got around back we probably had walked 5 miles.

We took a trail to the river which was in a valley and began our walk. At places the trail was about a foot wide and wrapped around some high, steep cliffs. One misstep and you could fall hundreds of feet. There were some steps in some places, but they were not in the best of shape as seen in this picture.

We followed the river trail for at least 2 miles. After about 1 1/4 miles, the trail had been washed out and we had to either climb some rocks or go back. I climbed over the rocks without too much problems and asked Linda if she wanted to try. She climbed the rocks without too much trouble. Unfortunately, on the other side of the rocks was a lot of loose shale type rocks and a small path about 1 foot wide.

We continued on for another 1/2 mile and had to climb a rather steep small trail up the side of the mountain. Some places the trail was just wide enough to walk--one foot in front of the other and not side by side. Linda said that it was best just to watch your feet and not look up or down. We made it all the way around in a little over 4 hours. After the walk, we were reading an article that said Smith Rock was about 3200 feet high. We had walked over that route. and realized why we were so tired at the end of the walk.

One of the articles we read said that this park was a favorite place for rock climbers. When we were going down the river, we did see one climber on a rock wall that was not too high. After we got back we saw rock climbers on the higher walls. If you look closely, you can see the climbers on the wall in the picture to the right. Blow the picture up to full screen and you can see them better. We drove to another section of the park to eat our lunch and there were climbers on the rocks at the end of the park also.

After lunch we drove to John Day Fossil beds. there are different sections of the park to visit. The first section we were going to visit was some fossil beds which covered many miles. We drove through part of the area and the scenery was great, but we did not see any fossils. We were driving down on mountain to get to the other part of the fossil beds and thought we saw a lake which was not on the map. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, we discovered that it was not a lake, but a river which had overflowed its banks and the road was covered with water. There was a lady near a house and she came over to talk to us. She said that the building was a museum she had opened. A friend had called her and told her she needed to come to the museum because it was flooded. We talked for awhile and found out she lived in the same resort that we were in.

There was no other way to get across the river without making about a 100 mile loop so we turned around and drove about 60 miles back to Eagle Crest. If we have time, we may take an alternate route and visit the rest of the fossil beds.

We are back at the condo very sore, but happy for how the day turned out. We stopped on the way back and bought a pizza for dinner. Plans for tomorrow will be a little dependent on the weather. We do plan on going to Bend, Oregon. I think there are about 7 small breweries in the town and we plan on taking a tour of a one of them.

OREGON VACATION DAY 3

Sunday's weather started out with cloudy skies and rain. The weather was supposed to clear around noon so we decided to go to Redmond and eat breakfast, then go shopping for food items for the week. We went to a restaurant called "Country Nook" which was supposed to have good old country cooking. We ordered their special which was sausage gravy and biscuits with scrambled eggs and bacon. The food was great although service was a little slow because of the number of people eating breakfast. They kept our coffee cups refilled so the wait wasn't two bad. I commented when I checked out that they seemed to be pretty busy. He said they were, but not like last week-end. He said they had a line of people for breakfast that lasted for over three hours.
After breakfast we went shopping and then back to Eagle Crest to put away our purchases. We decided to go to the town of Sisters to visit some of the shops. A lot of the buildings have been around for awhile. The Hotel Sisters which was built in 1912 is now a restaurant called "Bronco Billy's". Many of the other buildings are around the same time period.


We visited a very unique furniture store. All the furniture was made by local artisans who made the furniture from old juniper trees. The furniture was beautiful, but very expensive. A set of bunk beds sold for almost $1,300--too expensive for my budget. They had just about anything for the home made out of juniper wood.


We visited an antique shop which had a lot of vintage items. Prices were a little higher than in Ohio, but, it was fun to look.

Linda found a book of Oregon breweries and one was located in Sisters. The name of the brewery was Three Creeks. We decided to go there to sample their beers and eat a late lunch. Unfortunately, the beers we wanted were not available because they were bottling the beer. I selected an Irish dark beer and Linda selected a blonde. Both were good, but not as good as the amber and the dark beer that we had wanted.

We decided to try a couple of their burgers. Linda ordered a mushroom burger with Swiss cheese and I ordered their spice southwest burger with jalapeno peppers. The southwest sauce was a little spicy but tasted very good. The jalapenos also added a little kick to the burgers.

There were some very nice cottages near the brewery which looked like a good place to spend some time and most of the cottages were full.

(picture is the view from our bedroom deck)

We decided to go back to Eagle Crest to take a hike on one of the walking trails along the river. There are three trails; a 1.6 mile trail; a 2.2 mile trail; and a trail that is over 3 miles long. We decided to try the shortest trail first.

Getting to the trail was a little tricky. It was a pretty steep decline and a sign warned you that you should be in good health to begin the hike. We walked down to the river and along the trail for awhile. I took a lot of pictures which are included in the slide show. We saw a sign that said south trail end. We thought it was too early to be at the end of the trail, but when I looked at my watch, it had been almost an hour since we started. The hike was so enjoyable that time flew.

We went to our condo and Linda read her book. I was going to work on the blogspot, but the couch was so inviting that I laid down for a nap. The day is almost over and we both have had a very relaxing day. Not sure what we will do tomorrow. I guess it depends on the weather.

OREGON VACATION DAY 2

Day 2 started out on a very wet note--rainy and foggy. We were still a little tired from the day before and were not in a hurry to start down the coast. The picture of the lighthouse was taken around 12:00 and, as you can see, it looks like it was taken at night. The weather was this way most of the way along the coast. Fortunately, there were periods where the clouds and fog lifted a little and we did get some good pictures. The pictures of this lighthouse that we took while at the state park were fairly clear.

We also stopped at a national park that has the highest point on the Oregon coast. We started to the top and turned around because we were not sure we were in the right place. We stopped at the visitors center and visited their museum. I asked about the way to the highest point and was told that we had gone the correct way and if we had continued would have gotten to the top. After touring the museum, we went back to the highest point. However, the clouds and fog had moved in and you could barely see the coast line.

We continued our coastal tour heading towards Florence, Oregon. The weather was constantly changing along the coast. We arrived in Florence and drove down to the port area to tour the historic section of Florence. We had asked the ranger at the state park if there was a restaurant he would recommend and he said that the best in the area was the Bridgewater Restaurant in Florence.

We went to the restaurant and I ordered their fish and chips with a pint of their locally brewed dark ale. The fish and chips were the best I have had since we left England and the beer was also very good.

Linda ordered fried calamaris and chips and a locally brewed amber ale. Her calamaris were very good and the best we have had since we left Spain. Linda said that she should have taken a picture to send to Kim. The portions were large and the beer was cold and we managed to consume all without too much trouble.

After lunch, we took a walking tour of Florence. Just as in Newport, every building that had the space had some kind of Muriel on them. The artists that did them did an outstanding job and it added a lot to the looks of the town. The old section had a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, galleries and other business relating to the fishing industry. The traffic wasn't too bad, but I sure would hate to be in the town during the major tourist season.

After touring the town, we headed inland to Eagle Crest which was about a 4 hour drive. The roads were narrow 2 lane roads and you could not travel very fast. The speed limit was 55 miles per hour the whole way with the exception of slowing for curves. The problem was all the curves and loops where the speed limit dropped to 25 t0 35 miles per hour. The road followed the rivers for a lot of the way and the view was fantastic. These roads were perfect for motorcycle trips.

We did pass one covered bridge which was still in use. I took a picture and thought about driving across it, but decided that it was not worth

We finally got to McKenzie pass road and took it. We got about 7 miles up the mountain road and it was blocked because of snow at higher elevations. We turned around and took another pass over the mountains. We did find snow on the grounds at higher elevations, but the roads were clear. I am not sure how high we were, but I do remember passing the 5000 feet elevation marker. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees when we got to the bottom of the Cascades.

We arrived at Eagle Crest a little after 8 PM and checked into our quarters. These are the best quarters we have stayed in. I can see why it is so hard to swap for these quarters. The resort has over 1800 hundred acres with four 18 hole golf courses; many tennis courts; soccer fields; swimming pools; sports complexes and miles of walking trails. So if the weather is bad, we can at least suffer in comfort.

OREGON VACATION DAY 1

We arrived in Portland around 10:15; picked up our rental car; and drove to highway 101- the coastal road. Getting to highway 101 was a trip--mostly 2 lane roads through small towns. We passed through Oregon wine country and there must have been over 100 wineries. We plan on doing a wine tasting trip in the Redmond area--not as many wineries, but still enough to make it tasty and interesting.

Oregon also has a lot of micro-breweries and we sampled a few of their local beers. All were great. We also plan on touring some of the breweries in the area.

We drove to Lincoln, Oregon to pick up highway 101 and to stop for lunch. We had our Garmin with us and looked for restaurants in Lincoln. Mo's, which is a seafood restaurant was on the list. Linda had looked up restaurants in one of our travel books we have and Mo's was highly recommended.

It was on the beach overlooking the bay which was in front and the Pacific Ocean was a little to the right. We were seated next to a couple who were staying in a time share near Lincoln. They were extremely friendly and talked to us throughout lunch. They were from Walla Walla, Washington and must come to their time share about every year. I finally asked the man where he was originally from because he had a slight southern accent. He was from New Orleans and had been in Washington for many hears, however, had not completely lost his accent.

The couple said that they at at Mo's about every time they came to the coast and said the food was great. We ordered fish and chips which were very good, but not the best we have had.

After lunch we started our drive down the coast. The weather was great although a little overcast. However, we still managed to get some good photos. In a lot of the areas, the coast reminded us a little of the Azores. It also looked a lot like the northwest coast of Spain. I think Oregon has made a great effort to attract visitors to the coast. It seemed like there was a state park or scenic overlook every mile. Needless to say, I took a lot of pictures and a few are included in a slide show.

We stopped at many state parks and overlooks. We also stopped at a national park with a light house. While walking to the lighthouse, a park ranger hurried to meet us. She said there were three whales feeding near a large rock a few hundred yards off shore. We rushed to the overlook and saw three whales. We watched them for quiet awhile, then took a tour of the light house which was built in the 1890's. We were fortunate to see it when we did. It is closing for restoration and will be closed for about a year.

We finally made it to Newport around 4 PM and checked into our hotel. Our room faced the Pacific Ocean and we had a great view. Unfortunately, the clouds had moved in and it was a little foggy--still a great view. People were walking their dogs the beach; flying kites; and kids were making sand castles.

We went downtown Newport to a state park with a lighthouse--the one that is a house with the beacon on top. Unfortunately, the lighthouse tours stopped at 5 PM and it was after 5 when we arrived. We then went to the historic Bay front part of Newport. I think every building had a Murial painted on it. This is a quaint little fishing town and well worth a walking tour.

We heard some sea lines barking and followed the sound. There were sea lions on the docks below us. I guess there is always sea lions there.

We finally made it back to our room. We had planned on going back to the lighthouse at the National Park to take pictures at sundown. However we were tired and the clouds had moved in again so we just relaxed at the hotel and went to bed early.

Clifton Lights

I guess the best part of visiting Clifton Mills at Christmas is the lights display. The display was first seen in 1988 using only 100,000 lights and 1,000 Santa Clauses. The display has brown to more than 3,600,000 lights and more than 3,000 Santa Clauses which now takes 12 men all year to install and maintain.



There is an animated miniature village, a replica of the village of Clifton including nearly 1,000 feet of train tracks and more than 100 animated mechanical wonders.



To find out more about Clifton Mills, go to

http://www.cliftonmill.com/

Clifton Village

One of the displays at Clifton Mills is a hand crafted model village of clifton mills which probably has all the buildings of Clifton on display in miniature form. They have ball parks, drive-in movies, churches, gas stations, Churches, etc. From what I could tell, they all must be an almost exact model of the buildings. A lot of the displays are animated--trains, cars, etc. I guess it is a great attraction for all the young children and the old people with young hearts. I know we certainly enjoyed the sights.

Clifton Santa Display

One of the main attractions at Clifton Mills besides the lights is the Santa display. There are over 3600 Santas that have been collected over the years on display. The Santas in the slide show are only a few of the Santas on display. Many are antique/vintage Santas. All are interesting to view and if you really looked at each one, you would probably be there all day. Most are static, but, some are animated and are enjoyable to watch.

Christmas Day

We had a great day Christmas. It was fun watching the girls open their presents. They seemed to enjoy what they received.

Linda cooked a great meal and we had a late lunch/early dinner. As usual, we ate too much and we will probably pay for it after Christmas.

We went to Clifton Mills Christmas night to view the lights. There are over 3.6 million lights in the display and it is rated as the best Christmas Lights display in Ohio. This is the third time we have been and it gets better every year. They have added a musical lights program that is computerized and as the music plays, different parts of the lights are turned on or off. I will post a slide show of some of the lights later.

Sunday Linda took Chris, Suzi and the girls to Dayton Mall to shop and I stayed at home. Today we all went to the Mall at Fairfield Commons. The girls found a few things to buy at each of the malls. I think tomorrow will include a trip to the malls around Cincinnati, Ohio. I may opt out of that trip. Shopping was never high on my list of things to do. I guess that is why Linda always does our shopping.