BVIs: Part 3

Sailing vacation continues...

The next day was my absolute favorite! That morning we sailed on to do some snorkeling at the Dog islands, but we ran into some jellyfish that scared us away despite the other great creatures.  Dmitri suffered from a sting and felt terrible all day. We quickly left the jellyfish land and headed to Virgin Gorda to see the famous Baths

You can see our boat in the distance

Me, Haley, and Suzanne

Lon and David

We had lunch at the Top of the Baths - perhaps the restaurant with the best view in the world.  It was incredible, while we were waiting on our food we swam in the pool and took in the views.

We ate at that table in the corner in the shade.

After lunch we headed down to walk through the Baths to Devil's Bay.  Along the winding trail we saw hidden baths full of crystal clear water as we climbed up and down the rocks.

David on the rock

On Devil's Bay



Back on the boat we spotted Pirates!

That afternoon we sailed on to Cooper Island where we had a lovely dinner by the ocean at Cooper Island Beach Club.

View from our dinner table

The next day we sailed on to do some snorkeling and a little scuba diving at the Rhone Shipwreck.  It was really neat to see - not too deep. The Rhone was a 310 foot steam sailor that sunk in 1865. It is incredible to think that it has been there that long.

Dmitri and Erin dove deeper than the rest of us who just gazed on the wreck from close to the surface.

After some great snorkeling we sailed on along to Norman Island.

David furling the jib.  He loves sailing and keeps talking about buying a sail boat. 

One of the best snorkeling days was spent at the Indians off the coast of Norman Island.  We stopped on the way and saw quite a few fish.  We even had a sea turtle swim up to our boat.

Mooring at the Indians

Lon and Haley found a live conch. Don't fear - we didn't eat him

More surgery on the boat



To be continued

BVIs: Part 2

Sailing trip continued...

We successfully sailed to Jost Van Dyke on Day 2 of the trip where we had to check in at customs.  St Thomas and St John are both US Virgin Islands, the rest of our trip was spent in the British Virgin Islands so we had to make our presence known to the officials.

Jost Van Dyke was beautiful.
Pulling up for a mooring ball

Customs was on the beach and very easy - really just paying a fee and getting our passports stamped. 
After checking in with went to Foxy's for lunch, a cute little outdoor restaurant famous for the delicious chicken roti and pain killer drinks.

We rode the dingy back to the boat where we took a dip in the water before cleaning up for dinner.

Suzanne and I loving the ocean

Before dinner

David doing a back dive off the boat

Ready for our dingy ride to dinner

The husbands being serious

Buffert style dinner at Alibaba's

The next day we sailed on to explore around another small island, Guana then ended up at Marina Cay - a beautiful little island off the coast of Great Camanoe.  It was very small but had a general store, restaurant, small huts for rent, and a happy hour bar with live music.  We spent the whole day and night on Marina Cay and really had a great, relaxing time.

Looking for a mooring - you can see Marina Cay in the distance.

 Cute little store next to the dingy dock

 We walked around the island (which didn't take long) and discovered the Happy Arr Bar on top of the hill

 The whole gang on the beach

  Good music, great view, and delicious cocktails before dinner.

 We watched as the sun set then went down by the water for dinner.

View from dinner

 Suzanne looking at the dessert menu - isn't it cute?  And yes, we ordered one of each for out table. How can you resist that menu?

BVIs: Part 1

Catch up from spring...
We spent the last week of April on a sailboat in the US and British Virgin Islands. It was absolutely beautiful and one of my favorite trips yet. We went with friends and spent a week sailing wherever we wanted. I know you're probably thinking we must be crazy doing this without a captain, and I thought so too before we got there. I admit I was worried we'd be lost at sea or stranded on a deserted island or eaten by sharks, but we all survived and had a fabulous time - no major injuries sustained.
Day 1 we flew to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands then headed to the Frenchtown Marina to pick up the boat

We all needed a few lessons in sailing, so we got the quick run down on how to stay alive for the next week.

Then eight of us prepared to spend 7 days on lovely Sarah Sue exploring the islands.

After a few turns around the harbor we're off on our own

Praying we make it back to St Thomas alive 

Our captain and his first mate had a few sailing trips under the belts, but had never been in charge of the boat before. They did a great job navigating us around the area.

That first night we stopped off the coast of stunning St. John.

First sunset from the boat.

Later that night, Dmitri and Dave thought it would be fun to snorkel by moonlight.  That didn't end well when Dave stuck his hand in a sea urchin.Thus we had our first surgery on the boat.

Good thing we came prepared with enough medications and equipment to run a small clinic!

The next morning we snorkeled along Cinnamon Bay in St John.

Snorkeling in the BVIs was incredible.  We saw tons of tropical fish and sea turtle.

 

During the week, we parked the sail boat off shore and used the dingy to get to and from the islands

That afternoon David and Dmitri dropping us off on Cinnamon Bay

 The men worked hard to get a coconut

Then worked even harder to get it open...

Beautiful beach, crystal clear water

 Back on the boat raising the main sail

 Heading to customs on Jost Van Dyke

 Another great snorkel spot on the way

Back on the boat 

To be continued...



Greetings from Florida

 On the beach yesterday

That's right, I'm in Destin with my parents, sister, niece, aunts, uncles, and cousins! I spent last week in Fort Worth, TX at a medical conference where I presented a paper I recently submitted for publication.  All I can say is Texas is HOT.  No really, it was very nice and I got to see my best friend from high school, Katie, and meet her beautiful daughter, Avery, who is now 1 month old.  My hospital put me up in a fabulous hotel and financed the trip for me so I can't complain.  Luckily, after the conference I was able to fly down to Destin to spend some time with my family.  Perfect timing, too because yesterday was Father's Day which I got to spend with my great dad and tomorrow my growing like a weed niece turns 6.  We'll be having a birthday bash at the water park.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

I have the best daddy in the world

My dad with his grandaughter

Me with the birthday girl!

My brother and Maggie

He sure loved her!

Back to the Grind

We just returned from an amazing vacation sailing around the Virgin Islands with friends.  At first I was hesitant to go.  In some ways it felt wrong to go on a fun vacation after all that has happened, but we booked the trip back in December and had already spent too much money to back out.  It turned out to be great and I think just what I needed.
I'll share more about the trip later.  Right now we're getting back to work and settled in to our routine.

David is now on his trauma rotation - which he loves, but it means longer hours. He'll be working on this team until July when the new residents start and he officially becomes a 3rd year resident- Wow - time flies!  We're excited because Barton (my cousin's cousin, also from Tennessee) has matched in Utah and will begin his residency in orthopedic surgery too.  David still hasn't decided on an area to specialize, but for now he likes Trauma, Pediatrics, and Upper Extremity.  I'm sure he'll change his mind a few more times. He doesn't have to decide for another year or so before applying to fellowship programs which are 1 more year of training. Yeah - these doctors work looooong and hard to provide the best care to patients. When David is finally done with training and working on his own he will have had 4 years of college, 4 years of med school, 5 years of residency, and 1 year of fellowship. Geeze thats a long time.

Besides the massive pile of laundry and very dusty house I need to tackle, I'm feeling very relaxed.
The crystal clear blue waters, bright sunny skies, and white sandy beaches we gazed at for 8 days were good for the soul.  We did a lot of eating, snorkeling, exploring, and relaxing.  I was able to clear my mind and take in all of god's beauty on a daily basis.

I promise to post pictures soon.

Thank you all for the contiued love and support.