Snowmobiles and Grinches.

Michele and I were out on the Ski-do's today. It's the first good run we've had with them since they were both stolen. Yep both machines were stolen from us last week. We got them back the same morning they were stolen but of course out of fuel and damaged. The four kids responsible for the thefts were caught the same afternoon. One boy is being charged the other is going to community justice and the two girls involved have not yet been charged with anything. Community justice is just a slap on the wrist but at least one of the kids is going to a real court. It is unlikely that we will get any compensation for the damages. Also on a good note we do have both machines running with help from friends and neighbours. Michele's Ski-do is working almost like new and just needs a new windshield. Mine still has a problem with the tread and I think it is just the drive belt. At least that's what I hope is all that is wrong with it. Both of us were lucky the kids just unhooked the ignition and DESS caps instead of cutting them.

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One of the great things (or bad things..depends which side of the coin you're on.) about living in an isolated, small community is when someone screws up most likely someone knows about it. When we were heading to the tuck, to find the machines, a co-worker of Michele's stopped and yelled out "I know where your machines are and the kids that stole them!". Even when we were fueling up the machines to try driving them home people were stopping to tell us they seen who had stolen them. At least everything ended okay.

Michele standing by her machine a 2009 Scandic 550 Ski-do.

Me standing by mine a 2006 Expedition 550 Ski-do

It is very cold on the machine. I have given up wearing a helmet because it fogs up my glasses so bad I can't see where I'm going. The helmet bi-law isn't enforced but it is still much smarter to wear one.

Off shore ice fog bank
Michele was waiting for me to finish taking photos.

It's Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY

HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!!

(Sorry for shouting but it's Christmas)

Vacation 08 - Animals

This will be the last vacation photo. I had planned to do one more post but I want to get back to blogging about Cape Dorset. The photos below are just some random photos of animals we seen on our travels. The first photo of a bird (help I don't know what kind) is the best photo I have ever taken. This was just a quick snap and it wasn't until later that I discovered it. The detail in the full size photo is amazing. The file size is unfortunately shrunk for the blog. Enjoy.

Jen & Nathan of Nunavut

Congratulations to Jen & Nathan of Nunavut on the birth of their daughter Ezri. She was born today at 5 pm Ontario time. She weights in at 8 lbs, 5oz.

What a beautiful Christmas present.

We can't wait to see and meet her. Were guessing there will be photos on Jen's blog soon.

Vacation 08 - Miami Marina

We had lots of time to kill when we got back into port in Miami so we headed to the Miami Marina. Enjoy the photos below.

We got wet.

Other people got wet.

This flock of birds flew straight at me and then landed on the railing. I didn't get pooped on.

I love my new lens.

The next two photos are in my top 10 favorite photos from the trip.
They had lots of crocodiles and several "Don't go over the fence" signs in the area.

Michele didn't pay attention to the signs!

Vacation 08 - Jamaica

Our last stop on the cruise was to Jamaica. This is were we had the most fun even when we got rained on a bit. Ocho Rios is were Mike Jagger had hung his hat for a bit. We even boated past the home he had owned on the island. The photos below are a mix from Gary and me. I didn't want to risk my camera in the water. As you can see from some of the photos that we did get very wet.

View coming into Ochos Rios.

It was cool and beautiful once we were into the jungle.

This fellow wanted me to give him money for snapping his picture. I told him I didn't have any film in the camera (it's digital).

I like the plant life.

Michele and I on the boat. We were jumping waves high enough that all you could see was sky then bang!! all you could see was a wall of water. Lots of fun. Look closely at the photo and you will see I have a white knuckle grip on the handle. Almost had to pry me lose.

Dunn's River Falls.

We didn't know that we had to walk up the falls and weren't dressed for it. The falls are 3/4 km long and we walked up the whole thing. We were all a bit tired after this.

We'll be back. Ya Man.

Vacation 08 - Grand Cayman Islands

The second stop of the cruise was in the Cayman Islands. Specfically the biggest of them which is the Grand Cayman Island. All we did here was hang out on 7 mile beach and soak up the rays. I actually fell asleep and thankfully Michele had the forsight to put an umbrella over me. The only thing I got burned was my feet. We didn't go to the town of Hell but we half way there. You could say we went half way to hell and back. :)

The Cayman Islands are home to about 500 banks and everyone drives on the wrong side of the road. Very disconcerting when your sitting in the passanger seat of the van.

One of the available tours was to go on a pirate ship. The ship would come up to the cruise lines and fire of a cannon and demand our surrender. Great fun.

This is how you risk destroying your camera. Made for a great shot.

Seven mile beach.

Cruise lines in the distance.

Just for fun. This is actually the name of a famouse slave and pirate on the island.

Vacation 08 - Mexico

Our first stop on the cruise was in Mexico. We actually stopped at an island of the coast but our trip to the Mayan ruins was on mainland Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula. We boarded a ferry to the mainland and it became affectionately called the Vomit Comet by the passengers. I don't get motion sick but hearing that many people be sick will turn any one's stomach a bit sour. Neither Michele or I got sick but Michele was close.

We didn't have much time at the ruins which was disappointing but I still managed to take a couple hundred photos. Since I started reading National Geographic as a kid it has been a dream to see the Mayan ruins. I can now mark that one of my list. A few photos are below and some more from this trip will show up in the animal posts.

The lovely ladies I got to travel with. From left to right it is Michele, Diana (Mom-in-law), Jackie (Sis-in-law), Kaleigh (Niece). Gary's (Brother-in-law) leg can just be seen at the edge of the photo. The ship we were on in on the left called the Liberty and it's sister ship Freedom is on the right.

The water color was amazing.

The next few photos are of the ruins.

The scenery was beautiful.
Every time I photographed a plant it has spider webs all over it. Most I didn't notice until I looked at the photo's on the computer.
I was doing some advertising for Nunavut. I finally had to stop wearing it because people were constantly asking me were it was or what was it. It's amazing when a Canadian is asking were it is and an American from California pipes up and tells them were it is. *sigh*

Anyone need a bottle of Mother-in-law? No? Well I guess we'll keep her then.
A lot of the walls in Mexico were covered in glass to keep people from going over the top. Some of them were very pretty.