stubsadventures

Poncho and Stubs take Kauai

I never did post any pictures from this fun trip with Poncho I loved the sleepy island of Kauai. Amazing food, fun adventures and great snorkelling made for another amazing trip.

Stubs

My Unusual Library

This room was basically empty for years. It has a sweet Murphy bed, so it was always a great bonus room but it never really had another function. Very quickly, I called it the library, despite the fact it contained no books. I just always knew one day, it would be a library.

It may have taken a decade but it is done and even more unique and beautiful than I ever could have imagine.

This entire project was designed, the wood harvested, the planks plained and installed by Twisted Log, the brain child of Larissa herself. I made a concept drawing, she made adjustments and then went with it, I don’t think either of us fully knowing how this would turn out. The results speak for themselves.

Stubs.

Two corners

Downstairs Bathroom

Long awaited renovations are good for the soul. I have always loved this house but it has taken some time to finally start to make it my own. Big things are coming but for the last year, I have been pecking away, starting with the downstairs bathroom, which has never really worked well (plumbing issues) and was really outdated. I usually just offered up my bathroom to guests but it was time to create a little oasis down there and this is the result.

I can’t say enough about Larissa at Twisted Log. She’s just a badass and I love everything she creates. She found the barn wood for the counter top and mirror frame and created the cedar shower —- put her link here

Soup for Days

The last few months is the first time, in a very long time that I was not working. Starting this new chapter has been exciting, and needed but it took some time to adjust. Early retirement came as a bit of a shock to the system, so I learned quickly that cooking was a much needed outlet. With a pantry full of worldly spices, random ingredients from over the years and things I had never heard of and had to google, I went to work making soup and a few other experiments.

I made so much soup, I had to buy a deep freeze. And this week, I made more soup and now have to stop because there is literally no where else to put it. I had no idea making soup was that fun.

Stubs

A Few Red Sea Diving Videos

Just a few videos of the diving the Red Sea. Up next, some blogs about diving the great SS Thistlegorm.

Stubs.

Diving the Red Sea

The reason Egypt was so perfect for this moment in time was it was a terrific land adventure but just as importantly, checked another important destination off of my diving bucket list: the Red Sea. After years of doing crazy shore diving all over the world, I have come to appreciate a liveaboard (you sleep on a boat that is constantly moving around to new sites, this trip I did 7 nights). You can dive the same site every day and it never be the same dive in a place like that, so saving yourself the daily long boat rides allows you do just do more diving in a shorter period of time and makes night diving more accessible.

I really enjoyed my time on the Red Sea Aggressor II. The crew was awesome, the boat was comfortable, and the food was amazing and I’m still in awe of what came out of the tiniest kitchen you could ever imagine. Getting on a boat of strangers and sharing my cabin with someone I’ve never met before is extremely outside of my comfort zone. As the years go by, I am used to spending days at a time alone with the dogs and more comfortable with my introversion than ever. I was really pleased as it was a pretty fun group of people on the boat and at the end of the day, I felt really lucky to spend time with such interesting people from all over the world and my bunkmate Kim was awesome, I couldn’t have asked for better.

I’ll break the blog up in to fish and reef pics in this one, and a separate blog about my wreck dives.

Stubs.

Red Sea Diving, Egypt

My Last Day in Egypt, Exploring the Temples of Luxor

Finishing the trip off at Karnak and Luxor temples was pretty chill. The size of these is breath taking and because they’re part of the New Kingdom, there is still lots of color, and then you start to see later influences, with old graffiti carved into places. What I liked about these temples was the scale of everything. That, combined with the minimal crowds when I was there was a very connected experience. I am used to feeling short but, in these temples, you felt like an ant.

Finishing at Luxor Temple was a treat. There was a nice breeze which certainly helped but I was lucky to visit during a very quiet time and enjoyed much of the temple in quiet reflection.

Stubs.

Figured I’d Try Hot Air Ballooning.

Of course it wasn’t normal, why should it be?

Many people had told me that a balloon ride over Luxor was a must. Although it was never anything I really pictured myself doing, the opportunity to fly over the Nile and the valley of the Kings, I could not pass up .

The flight itself was pretty cool, although the real adventure it was all in the landing. We had the first touchdown in the middle of a field of sugarcane. We took off again, and found ourselves landing at the tops of banana trees. We finally came to rest on the banks of the Nile and based on the look on the guys faces who came to pick us up, this was not the plan. Overall, I have to say it was an awesome experience wild landing and all.

Stubs.