Aruba Trip Part Eight

There is one special aspect to every vacation that I go on that must be mentioned here. Whether it is the Dominican, Jamaica, Cancun, or even Aruba......as wonderful as these places are, I would not enjoy being there without my wife Supernurse.

Nothing makes me happier than to spend these times with her.

I am a lucky man. Here we are cavorting around in the pool at the Occidental Grand Hotel in Aruba. It just doesn't get much better than this.

As to the rest of the group...........it was decided that everyone would meet on the beach for the annual vacation photo for Chesapeake Medical Staffing. They do this every year. It was Monday, right before the majority of us loaded up onto the Rumba for that snorkeling excursion.

This is a great group of people and it is always a pleasure to be in their company.
Nobody ever takes a picture of the people that take the picture.........that is until now. You have seen the group together and now you can see what they were looking at......hehehe. If I remember correctly, the dude in the dark blue shirt was not a part of our group......he was a NY Giants fan. Even though he knew everyone in our group were Raven maniacs, he offered to help out with the pictures. Nice guy...........and a testimony that no matter where you go....you will encounter people that you become friends with..........even if they are Giants fans......hehehe.

Okay.......so I didn't take the final group shot........I was part of the group.........but I did take a side shot...........yes.........yet another "action photo" moment. Get the impression that these folks enjoyed themselves?

I know that my wife, Supernurse, was enjoying herself. Nothing makes me happier than to see her doing what she loves to do. One of the things she loves to do is lay on the beach.......soaking up the sun......while reading a book. Occasionally, she will pick up the camera and aim it in my direction.

Of course that direction would be in the water where I loitered around with a bubba-keg full of Balashi. I spent alot of my time in Aruba, right there doing exactly as you can see in these pictures.

When I wasn't in the water, I was under a palapa taking a break from the hot sun. I did not want to burn into a crisp, as others did. This was my view as I looked straight in front of me.

This is the Rumba.........the 70 foot catamaran that took our group snorkeling. It was docked at a pier located in front of the Hyatt Hotel........right next to our hotel.

Along the beach there was the Rumba................

.......and the rump-ba..........hehehe.

There were these small huts located on the beach.....very colorful.

The only hut that really mattered, though, was the beach bar. Since this is all-inclusive, we could continually get refills all day long. "More Balashi, please!". I managed to get the bartender to give us an "action photo" pose..........click!

There was one creature that probably drank more than the vacationers...........this bird. It is called the "Sugar Thief".......and it loves things that are sweet........particularly assorted flavors of booze. These birds swoop down and perch themselves on the tops of the liquor bottles and go for the gusto. I wonder how they are even able to fly......is there such a thing as flying while under the influence? These are brave and daring little birds and are found throughout the isand of Aruba.

Meanwhile, back on the beach.................can you spot Ole Signtopia in the water?

...........yeah......that's me........the smart one in the t-shirt.......hehehe.

Balashi gets to tasting pretty good after a few days.............and I had more than my share of it.

This is the life!.........No stress...........No problems.......beautiful weather..........warm water.........no rocks..........no seaweed.............no sharks..............no undertow..............I am a lucky man.

No.......I wasn't staring at the woman walking along the beach.........I was looking at Supernurse as she clicked away on the camera aimed in my direction.

Hmmmm......it looks like I was thinking hard about something.......nahhhhhh......I had just realized that I needed a Balashi refill......hehehe.

Some people go swimming.....some people actually float in the water effortlessly.......me?........I simply did whatever I could do to enhance the pleasure of the moment...............I headed for more Balashi.

Ahem..........I know it is difficult for some of you readers out there to see the "pond scum" ......but I assure you that it is there.

I really like this beach....it is one of the best.

Okay.......here is a closer look at the "pond scum". Often, while in the water, large numbers of the Chesapeake Medical Staffing group would interlock their floats and gab away as they drank and burnt in the tropical sun.

This ain't no Ocean City. This is MY kind of beach.

And look at God's artwork..................if I never go anywhere again, at least I can safely say that I saw this with my own eyes.

It can be a cruel world out there..........but seeing this kind of thing gives me more "hope" than an Obama speech to a group of ACORN workers. I would not hesitate to make another trip to this place.

So here I am, writing on this blog, at home, preparing for yet another adventure. This one won't be anywhere outside of the United States and it certainly won't be a strange place unknown to me. I am heading to Florida for a week beginning Friday.

I can only wonder what I shall encounter.