Uh Oh, Someone Learned How to Use YouTube...It's About Time!

Now that I'm finally starting to write on our blog a little more, I figured it was time to learn how to upload videos to YouTube.  It was pretty simple, I'm not sure what took me so long to attempt it.  Here's my first video.  Greg took it of the dolphins we found while on our friends' boat a few weeks ago.  Enjoy!

Hiking the L'Esperance Trail

The other day Greg and I hiked the L'Esperance trail with our friend Lesli. It was such a beautiful day, and after a long week at work it was so nice to get outside!

Greg hiking the first section of the L'Esperance Trail



A beautiful flowering Pinguin plant

We also finally got a chance to see the Baobab Tree, also known as the "tree of life". There is only one Baobab tree on St. John, as it is usually found in the African savannah regions. The seeds for this tree were brought to St. John by slaves that were brought here. The large trunk of the tree can hold water and can be tapped during periods of drought.

The Baobab Tree at the ruins of the old Seiban Estate

 

 

Lesli with the Baobab Tree

 

The trail has a beautiful view of Reef Bay, and ends at Little Reef Bay. After several miles of hiking we were very happy to be able to dip our toes in the water to cool down.

View of Reef Bay

A cairn found on the Little Reef Bay beach

Lesli, enjoying the cool water and view



Greg, getting ready for a dip

Dolphins, Whales and Fish, Oh My!

A few weeks ago, Greg and I had the most amazing morning with our friends, Mike and Bridget.  They recently got a new boat and invited us to go fishing with them.  Let me start off by saying that none of the four of us know  anything about sea fishing, so right off the bat we knew this was going to be an interesting experience. 

We only had 2 rods, so Greg and Mike got them set up and cast them into the water.  After several minutes Greg decided to add to the bait, and through a couple of Doritos into the water. I'm not saying it was the chips, but about 10 seconds later Greg had caught a barracuda, coincidence, I think not. I have to say, it was pretty funny watching Greg and Mike reel in the fish, unhook it, and set it free. All while trying not to get bit by the barracudas enormous teeth.

 

 

 

We had just thrown the lines back in the water when Mike thought he saw a couple of dorsal fins coming out of the water close by.  So, we pulled in the lines, motored over to where he saw them and found a Mama dophin and her baby.  It was incredible!  The water was so calm which gave us an amazing view of dolphins.  It was definitely the best dolphin experience I've had since we've been down here.

 

 

 

While following the dolphins, we caught a glimpse of something else in the water close by....something big!  We had all heard that there were a couple of pods of whales moving through the area, and were so excited when we saw water sprouting from their air holes.  We quickly motored the boat over to them, but as soon as we got to them, they dove down into the water.  This went on for about an hour or so with us never being able to  get very close, but it was such an incredible experience to get as close as we got. 

We had such a wonderful day with great friends!

8 Tuff Miles (Feb. 23, 2013)

Since finishing the marathon in January, Greg and I turned our focus towards training for a race on St. John, called the 8 Tuff Miles. This is an 8.5 mile race that crosses through the center of St. John. It runs from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay along Centerline Road with an elevation gain and drop of 999 feet. It's an extremely hilly run, and this was Greg and my second year participating. Greg did awesome, completing the race in 1 hour and 6 minutes. I beat my time from last year by almost 4 minutes, and beat my goal of 1 hour 30 minutes by 15 seconds.



At the start line in Cruz Bay


This race just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  When they started this race 17 years ago there were around 20 racers.  This year over 1,200 racers crossed the finish line in Coral Bay.



Highest point in elevation sign!



Our friend Tiffany, Greg, and me at the finish line in Coral Bay.



Greg with our friends Allison and Tiffany enjoying a well
deserved beer at Skinny Legs after the race.

Catching Up

Okay, well so far this year I haven't been doing a very good job at keeping up with our blog. Not much has been going on with us lately, but I realize that I have skipped a few blog worthy moments. The next few posts are things that we've been up to in the past 2 months.