Dean & Ginny's excellent adventures...

Eclipse 4/24 · Viking Carib. 11/23 · Tui Cruise 10/23 · World 1/23 · SFlorida 5/22 · SW Parks 2/22 · Weber's 12/21 · S.America 1/20
S.America 10/19 · Amazon 3/19 · Hawaii 12/18 ·  Cuba 12/18 · World Cruise 01/18 · Hawaii 10/17 · Peru-SD 03/17
Med Cruise 03/16 · MD&DC 11/15 · FL Panhandle 09/15  · World Cruise 01/15 · North US 09/14  · Alaska 05/14
Lilies 02/14 · Carib. 11/13 · Vikings 7/13 · Panama 10/12 · MD & NY 08/12  · World Cruise 01/12 · Texas 04/11 · FL 02/11
Cruise 01/11 · SW US 12/09 · DC & WV 05/09 · Hawaii 01/09 · Antigua 09/08 New Eng. 05/08 · KeyWest 04/08 · 
Home Tour 03/08 · HI & MD 11/07 · Keys 10/07 · NW 09/07 · Chihuly 05/07 · SW Desert 04/07  ·  The Galápagos 2/07
Wedding 10/06 · Nova Scotia 08/06 · Sicily&Spain 07/06 · Hawaii 05/06 · South FL 02/06 · Big Bend 02/06
Bahamas 11/05 · RV pickup 11/05 · Honduras 09/05 · Diving 04/05 · Snorkel 03/05 · Key West 12/03 · Guam 09/03

  We decided to take a camping trip to see the total eclipse of the sun on April 8th. At first we had planned to go to Texas, but the ten-day weather forecast didn't look good, so we ended up in a very charming town, Paducah in western Kentucky. Here's the link to this short, but interesting trip.

We had our eclipse glasses -->
and were ready for this celestial event.

 This Viking cruise assignment was originally to be from San Juan to Manaus, Brazil, but 9 days before go time, it was changed to a Caribbean-only cruise because of lack of water in the Amazon River. There were several new ports for us, so join us on these 2 back-to-back Caribbean cruises.

<-- In Barbados, we saw a bunch of these impressive frangipani hornworms, also called plumeria caterpillar and the rasta caterpillar (Pseudosphinx tetrio), which matures into a large, but plain brownish sphinx moth. The caterpillar feeds on toxic plants in the dogbane family and its bright coloring is a warning to potential predators.

Artists working on a mural on the front of a chocolate shop in Grenada.-->

 This was an interesting cruise assignment from Port Canaveral to Nova Scotia and back for Marella, a British cruiseline owned by Tui, a German travel company.

<-- Newport, Rhode Island was a new port for us. We walked several miles along the cliff walk, which runs beteen the rocky shoreline and the famous, over-the-top mansions. This was a tunnel to the next bay. 

We saw a lot of red squirrels on our hikes and walks in New England and in Canada.-->

 We did it again! Our fourth World Cruise with Holland America! There were more than 20 new ports for us on this cruise, so come along with us on this fabulous trip.

<-- We love finding and talking to the real people in the places we travel. This "Rasta Man" was cooking his lunch over an open fire in a small fishing community in Falmouth, Jamaica.

We spotted a beautiful passionfruit flower growing on a vine just off the trail in a municipal national park in Panama. -->

We spent two weekends with Dori's family in South Florida and then during the week we stayed at an interesting campground near Lake Okeechobee, so come along with us on this short family & camping trip.

Suvi found a flower on the ground and stuck it behind her ear.

This beautiful rose myrtle was in the Jonathan Dickinson State park.

We were in need of a full-on adventure, so we decided to head out to some parks in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico that we had not visited before and to do it in the winter when they were not crowded. We loved our interactions with the ravens. We started calling them our spirit guides because they seemed to keep a watch on us as we hiked along the various trails. This pair in Bryce Canyon was especially attentive.

Dean had worked out an interesting itinerary for our camping spots out and back, so come along with us on this winter camping trip.

We decided that it was time to visit our grandson Weber Stibolt who had moved to Columbia, MO to take a job at Beyond Meat, an up-and-coming company that produces vegan meat-like products. He had bought a house at on the north side of town a few months before. We pitched in on some chores around the house.

Dean had worked out an interesting itinerary for our camping spots on the way up from Florida and back, so come along with us on this short winter run to MO.

We received two back-to-back assignments as a guest presenter for South America. We did the first leg of the HAL World Cruise, which left Ft. Lauderdale on Jan. 4, 2020 and sailed down the east coast of South America. We stayed in Montevideo, Uruguay for 20 days in a boutique hotel while we waited for the HAL Grand South America cruise, which had circled the continent in a counter-clockwise direction. We boarded it for the last leg of that cruise back to Florida. So click the link to the first of our great adventures there.

We encountered South American Marmoset monkeys a few times on our adventures into the rain forests. >>

<< Sharing photos of some girls who were in Rio celebrating Carnaval. We had four days in Rio--two on the way down and two on the way back.

We received an assignment as a presenter for a 17-Day Panama to Chile cruise. I gave eight presentations and one was totally new. Again, we filled auditorium several times. Join us on our trip to western South America from Ft. Lauderdale, FLto Santiago, Chile.

We did a lot of bird watching and went to some fantastic fish markets and more. The birds for sale in this Lima, Peru market were nearly as big as Dean.

We got up close and personal with the amazing sea lions in San Antonio, the port for Santiago, Chile.

We received a lecturer assignment for a 23-Day Amazon & Caribbean cruise that went 1000 miles up the Amazon River. I gave ten presentations and four of them were totally new. It was hard work, but so rewarding, because several times, there was standing room only in the 534-seat auditorium. Join us on our amazing Amazon cruise from Rio de Janeiro to Ft. Lauderdale.

We hiked and boated through the jungles of the Amazon where we saw an amazing array of plants and animals including this porcupine and learned that the Portuguese name for this animal translates to spined pig.

This waterfall was in a rainforest preserve near Rio de Janeiro.

We received a lecturer assignment for a 17-day holiday cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii and back over Christmas and New Year's. We'd already prepared the ten presentations for our assignment in 2017, so it was not as much work as last time. We had a wonderful time in the Aloha State. There's always more to see and experience, so join us on our Hawaiian holiday cruise.

We visited the famous Rainbow falls and the King Kamehameha statue, and as always, we learned more about the Hawaiian history and culture. We never stop learning.

We took advantage of this lecturer assignment for a 10-day cruise to Cuba and other Caribbean ports. I'd modified my rainforest and coffee presentations to center more on Cuba and Jamaica and then I created a new presentation on Cuban and Jamaican crops and farming.

So click this link to see how things turned out on this fascinating Cuba adventure.

This was our third around-the-world voyage with Holland America. We continue to be amazed at how much more we know now than back in 2012 when we started these fantastic adventures. We'd jumped in with two feet with only 2 one-week cruises and 1 three-day cruise before that first grand voyage. We've been to a lot of ports since then, but out of the 40 ports on this voyage, 20 were new for us. The Itinerary skips Europe and goes around Africa! Third time's a charm, so join us for this grand adventure.

<< We loved seeing wallabies in the wild on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

Most of the time in this adventure, we moved a lot faster than the sloths we spotted at our second port of call, Puerto Limón in Costa Rica. >>

This was our second assignment as a guest lecturer, but this time we went to Hawaii sailing from Seattle to Vancouver and then 5 days at sea, 5 days in Hawaii, and then 5 more sea days back to Vancouver. We needed 10 presentations for all those sea days. We immersed ourselves into various aspects of Hawaiian culture. Come sail with us on this working cruise to Hawaii.

<< Taro was and is an important Hawaiian crop, so I immersed myself into this stand.

This beautiful star-shaped seed pod belongs to the autograph tree, which is native to south Florida. >>

This was a different type of cruise for us. Ginny was a cruise lecturer for the second leg of the 30-day, Holland America Line, Inca Empires Cruise. We flew to Lima Peru, the halfway point of the cruise, and then we sailed for 15 days to San Diego. There were 7 sea days during this leg of the cruise and that's when presentations are given.

It was a lot of work getting destination-oriented presentations ready, but we had a good time and the presentations were well received.

<< The first presentation was on coffee since all the countries on this cruise grow coffee. Join us on this working cruise...

We loved this 55-day cruise to the Mediterranean and back. We climbed to and explored many ancient castles and forts, walked old cities, and we usually found interesting out-of-the-way places far from the madding crowds. So join us on Ginny and Dean's excellent Mediterranean adventure.

Whether we were exploring the white villages atop the rim of an old crater on Santorini or climbing to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar, we took a lot of great photos.

It had been years since we'd spent Thanksgiving with Dana and his family, so we made the trek north. We took our bikes and spent some time in Washington, DC, too. Come with us on this short holiday excursion.

Dinner at the Weber's (Christa's parents) is self serve with donations from each branch of the family and included both traditional and vegan dishes. Weber and Ginny discuss vegetables and food science. >>

We took a lovely mid-book tour* mini-adventure to Florida's Panhandle. Kayaking at sunrise was magical, so join us on this cool adventure to Wakulla County. (*Ginny's 3rd book, "The Art of Maintaining a Florida Native Landscape" was published in Aug. 2015 and the @Flowered shirt book tour included 35 events in 11 weeks!)

So come with us on our second grand world voyage. 

One of our best days was Easter in Katakolon, Greece where we shared food and wine with 2 generous families. >>

We did it again. We took the 2015 World Cruise with Holland America! Only 12 of the scheduled ports were the same as the 2012 cruise and those were mostly great ports like Sydney, Singapore, and Athens where we were able to find lots of new things to do and see. Ultimately our route was changed in several places, but oh what a great trek this was.

So it was September and it was time for a van trip to parts of the country we'd not experienced before. We worked our way to Chicago for the first planned stop, then we headed up the eastern coast of Lake Michigan, on up to the Upper Peninsula, worked our way along the shores of Lake Superior, finally over to the headwaters of the Mississippi River before we traveled down the charming river towns.  Join us on this fun road trip to the north/central US. 

<< A charming Lake Superior lighthouse was one of several we visited. 

This is part of the Mississippi that you haven't seen. Here a beaver dam blocks the mighty river. >> 

Ooh, it was hard to pick out the stars of this 2-week cruise to Alaska. Was it the eagles, the ravens, the glaciers, the surprisingly good weather for Alaska this time of year, the amazing wildflowers, or the sea stars themselves? Probably all of these and more...

We flew to Seattle and boarded the Amsterdam, the same ship as our world cruise, so it was like coming home in a way. This was their first trip of the season, so join us in our country's largest and most rugged state. As usual, we found our own adventures and avoided most of our shipmates in the ports.

We headed out on Valentine's Day to see an exceptional population of trout lilies in southern Georgia that had been saved from development and then we continued west to Falling Waters State Park in Florida's Panhandle. Join us on this short trek. 

<< Dimpled trout lilies (Erythronium umbilicatum) were spectacular. There were acres of them in bloom.

Florida's Falling Waters State Park has Florida's highest waterfall, which falls 70' into a rocky sinkhole. Plus this is the state's highest park with an elevation of 324'. >>

We headed out to the Caribbean on a 21-day cruise starting in November 2013. Many of the ports-of-call would be new for us and the ones that we'd been to before, we managed to find new ways to enjoy them.  So join us on this eastern and southern Caribbean adventure. 

We found groups of really, really pink flamingos in the salt flats of Bonaire. Also note the windswept mangroves. >>

We decided to go north for the summer on a Voyage of the Vikings with Holland America. The average high temperature in the summer for many of our destinations on this cruise is 55 degrees. No snorkeling gear was necessary.

We marveled at the interesting cultures with their unique architecture. We admired the ingenuity and the generous spirit of the descendants of the Vikings in these chilly climes. We did cross the Arctic Circle and experienced some really, really long days of summer. So come along with us on this summertime  cruise, Voyage of the Vikings!

Since we went through the Suez Canal on the Grande Voyage earlier this year, we decided we'd like to go through the other major shipping canal. 

Come with us on our cruise to exotic places to see exotic animals and vicariously experience our adventures  on our 28-day Panama Canal cruise. 

Weber was heading off to the University of Delaware and invited us to his going away party. While we were in town we took a tourist's tour of Annapolis, saw Olivia run her horse through a series of jumps during her lesson. After the party we headed up to Cayuga Lake in New York State. 

This was a short, but memorable trek, so come along on this road trip.

A 112-day cruise with Holland America around the world, literally. Who knew that we'd find a waterfront in Brazil that looked like Amsterdam? 

We walked both Ipanema and Copacabana beaches in Rio--does this mean that we are now tall and tanned and young and lovely? No. But do join us for this fantastic World Cruise!

This tour of the Texas state parks included biking, birding, hiking and the discovery of the fine craftsmanship done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.  So pack up your picnic and come along for this month-long Texas road trip. Yee-Haw!

<< Black swallowtail on a Texas thistle.

An Indian shaman sculpture at Seminole Canyon >>

It had been cold for a while. While here in north Florida, it's not terrible compared to northern states, we still decided to head south on a Florida road trip. 

We had a great time exploring The Disney Wilderness Preserve, A Nature Conservancy property; Lake Kissimmee State Park; Lignumvitae State Park; and our favorite--Key West. This is a great state with wonderful natural (and man-made) resources that we never tire of. We're on the road again...

<< At Lake Kissimmee State Park we reprised our "Dean & Ginny's Excellent Adventures" shadow.

It had been more than a year since our last adventure, so it was time... We drove down to Cape Canaveral on New Year's Day and took a seven-day cruise to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and Saint Maarten.

So come and stow away with us aboard the Norwegian Sun for this freestyle cruise to the eastern Caribbean Islands.  You'll see some parts of these islands that you haven't seen or noticed before, even if you've been there numerous times.

We took the opportunity to drive across the southern tier states during Ginny's holiday break in her speaking tour to promote her book Sustainable Gardening for Florida, which has been an adventure of a different sort.

We knew the weather would be chilly in December, but we were prepared and really enjoyed the beauty and the fact that the parks were mostly empty.  Join us for this trip across our great country.

<< Snow on a Joshua tree in the high Mojave Desert.

We drove to Maryland to visit with Dana and his family for a few days the week before Memorial Day.  On Thursday we drove into DC to take in some of our favorite places and new ones including the striking Air Force Memorial, (See photo to the right.) which overlooks The Pentagon.

After our visit we headed out to Sugar Grove, WV.  From there we explored the territory including the nearby Seneca Rocks formation, (see left) which has attracted rock climbers for years.  We didn't come prepared for a technical climb on the rock face, but we did hike the trail to the top of the hill. 

We packed a lot into this short adventure.

We took a military flight to Hawaii and thought we'd continue on to Guam or Singapore, but the weather was stormy in Guam and the flights to Singapore didn't work out, so we decided to spend some more time exploring the islands and booked a 7-day cruise.  Join us on this great Hawaiian adventure. 

We saw these bluestripe snappers when we went diving off the Kona Coast (western side) of the Big Island. >>

We took a military flight from Melbourne, FL to Antigua.  The military travels there because of its satellite tracking station.  Antigua is located on the northern end of the Lesser Antilles and is more or less circular island that could fit inside the Washington beltway. 

There are many reminders of its days under British rule: driving on the left side of the street, Yorkshire pudding on the menu,  British-style phone booths, and tea time at 4pm each day--shown in this photo. 

Since its independence, Antigua has been transforming itself from a sugar plantation island to a tourist attraction.  We noticed quite a few Brits vacationing here.

We stayed at The St. James Club, one of many all-inclusive resorts.  We rented a car for our 9-day stay and toured many parts of the island.  Come along on this excellent adventure...

Spring in New England beckoned, so we packed our long pants and windbreakers and headed north the third week of May.  We traveled up the eastern-most route across the Bay Bridge-Tunnel from Norfolk up to the Delmarva Peninsula, across the Lewes Ferry to Cape May NJ and then headed up to Massachusetts where we spent time in Scituate and on Martha's Vineyard.  Finally we headed over to West Point and Ithaca, NY and then down to spend some time with the grandkids in Maryland.  It heated up as we came south--it felt good to put on some shorts!

 We heard that Key West celebrates its Independence Day for a whole week: it is The Conch Republic.  This was not a long trek, but we packed a lot into just a few days: A stop in Orlando for a stockholders' meeting, an afternoon of diving, a parade, some nice meals, and a butterfly conservancy visit on Key West. ·  Join us for a vicarious trip to Key West.

<< It was a crazy parade!

This butterfly landed
on Dean's head to lap up some salt.  There was a large butterfly population in this enclosed space.  Beautiful! >>

While this was not a trek per se, it was an adventure.  We were volunteers for Dori & Aaron's home tour on March 2, 2008.  Their neighborhood in Lake Worth FL is called Parrot Cove because of the wild parrots that live there.  11 houses were on display to raise money to buy trees for the neighborhood. 

Parrot signs greeted the folks on the tour.  >>

<< In the back courtyard there was food and wine.  Plus Aaron had artfully placed a few Bocce balls on the lawn area. 

Dean found a series of military flights that could take us to Guam.  The last leg of the trip from Hawaii to Guam was full, so spent a week in Hawaii.  Then we surprised the kids (and ourselves) by showing up for Thanksgiving in Maryland.  A "Space-A" adventure.

<< We revisited the Audubon Park in Hawaii where a white-rumped shama posed for us.

The day after Thanksgiving we went into D.C. to tour some of the monuments.  It was cold and windy.  Dean and I froze our butts off because we'd packed for the tropics. >>

We find ourselves being drawn to Florida's Keys for diving and ambiance.  Here are some photos from our October adventure.

Sunset on Mallory Square on Key west is a celebration most every day.  It makes us happy to be a part of it.  >>

The Great Northwest including US and Canada beckoned to us.  We left in August, so we would not miss out on the season for Glacier National Park (It closed 9/17.) and the best season for orca watching from the San Juan Islands in western Washington.  After those two adventures, we were on the road through most of September.  What a wonderful trip!

We had a great time photographing the wildlife.  Isn't this prairie dog that we saw in Glacier National Park cute?  We also just loved all the beaches where we were the only humans.  There are many parts to this adventure, so take it one or two pages at a time, or grab yourself some "Serious Coffee" and go for the whole adventure in one sitting.  Here's more on this great adventure.

Fairchild Tropical Gardens near Miami hosted a display of Chihuly glass sculptures.  We made it down to see it just before they took it down in June, the beginning of hurricane season. · That seemed like a good idea.

From the large, imposing configurations like the one one the left to small, almost organic installations like the one to the right, it was fun to see how cleverly the glass was integrated into the gardens.

We'd never been to the garden before, but it's a lovely setting and we were frequently sidetracked from the glass by interesting displays of tropical plants.  More...

When we saw that Arizona and New Mexico had received an unusual amount of rain this spring, we decided to experience the flowering desert and further explore this part of the country.  We were on the road for almost three weeks--we packed in a lot of adventures.

From the heat of the desert to the surprisingly snowy passes, this was a trip of extreme weather.  Here's the link... 

Oh my gosh--what a trip this was.  We saw a program about The Galápagos on public TV and thought it might be fun.  The next week we were there! 

What an interesting collection of wildlife. ·  Who even knew about blue-footed boobies?  Fortunately, we resisted the urge to buy the T-shirt that said, "I love boobies!" Under the words were two blue feet.

We drove to Miami and flew into Quito, Ecuador to start this fabulous adventure: The Galápagos. 

We didn't travel very far for this adventure--only two hours south of here in Mt. Dora, FL for daughter Dori's marriage to Aaron Storonas.  Very exciting.  Wonderful location and it was great to spend time with family and friends.  There are snapshots posted on the wedding website.

Our trip to Nova Scotia started in Maryland to attend Dori's bridal shower on 8/19.  After spending the weekend there, we headed north.  First stop was Brooklyn Heights, NY to visit with cousin Micki and her husband Tim who've recently opened a restaurant there.  Marblehead and Gloucester north of Boston, MA were the next stops.

We toured The Bay of Fundy Coast with its gigantic 50'  tides, which cause reversing waterfalls and huge mud flats in New Brunswick, Canada. Then we spent a week in Nova Scotia touring the province where we found the world's smallest drawbridge, moose, fabulous scenery, and roller-coaster hills.

Instead of driving all the way back, we took the "Fast Cat" ferry from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor, ME.  We spent two days in Bar Harbor and fabulous Acadia National Park.  We stopped for the Labor Day weekend in Maryland before heading home.  This was a trip of great scenery and major contrasts.  Glad to be home for a while.

Dean found a military flight from Jacksonville to Sicily:  it was an offer we couldn't refuse... · 

On the way over we overnighted on an Azores Island--part of Portugal.  We spent six adventure-filled days in Sicily, then on the way back we spent two days in Rota, an old coastal town in southern Spain.  It's not easy to describe this amazing trip with just a few words or to choose just a few photos to tell the story, but here we go... Trip to Sicily.

Grisly statue with its missing body parts adorns an elaborate arch in Catania, a city on Sicily's east coast. >>

<< All alleys lead to the beach in Rota, Spain.

In May '06, we hopped a series of military flights that carried us from JAX to San Diego, on to island of Oahu in Hawaii, and then back to San Diego again.  This was a "Space A" Adventure.

We spent three days in San Diego, eight days in Hawaii, and three days again in San Diego.  Plenty of time to have some great adventures. · 

<< What tropical flower do think this is??

Dean holds up a palm at "The Del." >>

In late Feb. 06, we decided to take a trek to south Florida.  We stopped in Lake Worth to visit Dori and Aaron and took in Art on The Avenue.  Then went to Bahia Honda Key, Key West, and the Anhinga Trail in The Everglades National Park.

We went diving twice on this trip: once at Pennekamp State Park on Key Largo, and later on Looe Key.

In early Feb. 06 we took off  toward Big Bend National Park in west Texas. ·  We'd skipped by it last year when we went through the area with the new van.  We'd decided that we had to go back.  We heard that the birds would be worth seeing at this time of year. · 

We had a great time, learned lots of interesting tidbits about this part of the country, and thoroughly enjoyed the fabulous scenery, including the birds.

El Rio Grande provides a long serpentine oasis between Texas and Mexico. >>

Friday after Thanksgiving we (along with daughter Dori & her fiancé, Aaron, plus 2,400 other people) boarded The Majesty of the Seas in Miami for a three-day cruise to the Bahamas.

We snorkeled at Coco Cay, a small private island, Saturday morning and dove with about 20 (!) Caribbean Reef Sharks on Sunday morning.  That was exciting... Here are the photos.

Back in Miami on Monday morning, we drove from the tropics to home.  It was raining and cooler in northern Florida.

Here we are  enjoying an Arizona
 ·  sunset and a dinner in our new RV.  >> 
(More photos of this trek.) 

At the end of August 2005, we drove to Charleston Air Force Base and took  the weekly run to Honduras.

A great adventure.  We'll go back.  There's so much more to see.  More of our Honduran adventures here.

In April 2005 Ginny and Dean went diving--certified in January this was the first big trip where the underwater camera worked well. We started with a 3 dives on the dive boat Narcosis off Palm Beach and then we drove down to Key Largo and did four dives in two days in the beautiful coral reefs of Pennekamp State Park, an underwater park.  Seven dives in three days is a lot!  Then we stopped to visit Dori and Aaron on the way back home.  More pictures here.

In late 2003, Dean and Ginny thought it would be fun to celebrate their first anniversary (Jan. 2) in Key West.  Taking the back roads and traveling along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, this was a slow trip south traveling in the minivan.

So join us for the second big adventure.  This time it's New Years in Key West.

The was the first of our big adventures and what a way to start!  We drove our minivan across to the NW to meet up with Dean's sister Judy and her family in Oregon.

We stopped at McChord Air Force Base near Mt. Rainier in Washington after our visit and hopped on a military flight to Japan and took another one to Guam!! · 

We flew back via Hawaii and then drove much more quickly across the country back to Maryland.  So here's the Saga of the Guam adventure