ok, we've been back almost a week and the trip started about 3 months ago so let's see how much i remember.

we left cleveland on time on feb. 7 on AA. temp here was about 5F. got to miami on time and then on to sju right on schedule. in the sju airport we met up with debbie babcock and her in laws as well as our neighbor's friend jim. debbie was smart enough to put in a pizza order with pasa bon so we'd have food when we arrived. the sju-bon flight kept getting delayed and debbie called pasa bon at least three times from the sju airport rescheduling our pickup. finally, we decided that we weren't going to be there before it closed and she cancelled the order. we finally arrived on bonaire about 1130PM....but we had all our luggage so it wasn't a bad start.

BT'ERS AND OTHERS
it was great seeing all our old friends again. and we made some new ones too. between gibi's, the woodwind cruises, and just BT'ers looking each other up we had a great time. it was great to see tom and darlene again...they kept us out later than ever as we sat at their house after a gibi's dinner. and mary and debbie and i helped (?) jake with the reefcam cable a few days after we got there so we got to see jake, linda, and the kids. chet and jean had sent BT buttons to me to distribute at gibi's and then chet and jean showed up about our second or third week. we got to meet ernie and marge, constance and lee, and others around the time of the sunset cruise. also, ed and liz met us at gibi's one night and we saw them a few other times around the island. kate hickson and her sister patty were there and it was fun seeing them...kate only had a week this time so she didn't have time to kick my butt on her bike. i'll have to look at my pics again and see who else was there. the sunset cruise went really well. thanks to ulf and dee for helping arrange it...and to their wonderful helper amina (sp?). cam and cheryl and friends put on a great barbeque at karpata one night. ladonna finally brought andy with her...i think he's hooked now too. and we got to meet mike, karen, brad, and kristin at gibi's and they stopped at our house to visit...that was fun. also david and vivian stopped by. special thanks to julia and bob for opening their house to us for a lunch in april. and we got to meet babs (kelly, lighten up, she's nicer than you say)and allison, and rosanne and her family. like i said, this is part I so i'll keep adding names as i remember them.

DIVING
as always, the diving was incredible. we dove just about every site on the west side at least once. we only did karpata and ol blue once each tho. we love the sites but i won't take our truck on the dirt road shortcut and don't feel like driving thru rincon all the time. also, since my DCS last year i limited myself to one dive a day this year...and didn't do any morning dives if i'd ridden my bike that morning. we saw eagle rays and stingrays a number of times. for some reason we hadn't seen stingrays in a few years.

highlight dive of the trip was one at front porch on a sunday morning with our neighbor, karen. our original plan called for us to dive at something special but there were no parking spots left so we went to front porch. good choice. on the one dive we saw a small turtle, a large octopus (classified in my dive log as a BFO), and two frogfish. mary had never seen one and i had never found one on my own so that was really great. karen found the first one at about 50'. if it hadn't been walking on some coral we never would have spotted it. about 15 minutes later i found another one (i still can't explain how) at about 30' blending in with some tunicates.

vis, waves, and currents weren't usually too bad. however, we did one dive at fish hut south that we made into a drift dive. as soon as we submerged we started getting swept south so we signalled each other that we'd do a drift dive...there was no way we could have gone into the current...we probably could have kicked north for 45 minutes and never left our entry point. when mary got down to 800# and i was at 1000# she signalled that we should start for shore. it was a real struggle but we made it with even a little air left. we ended up exitting south of vista blue. most dives weren't that difficult and we were able to dive our usual plan for every other one.

ok...that's part I. i'll take a break and talk about dining and other island activities on another post. and i'll work on resizing some of my pics too.

Pat/Mary..Boy are you are both lucky to spend 3 months down there! Hope to follow in your tracks someday

Welcome home Pat! Great first part of your trip report.

thanks mary, i'll have to go thru all my pics and see who else was there. i know i'm forgetting dozens of people and i feel bad about it but i'm still pretty much brain dead from the trip. i need to take some tips from other people and keep a log while i'm there so a trip report would be easier once i was home.

LOL Pat, pretty good memory for a fellow SEA HAG (or is is HAGMAN for a guy???? (thanks for that designation Kelly....you're next! )
It was great to meet you and Mary at last! Hope to see you both next trip!

Great report Pat, We look forward to seeing you two again.

It was lovely to meet you both, we all had a good time at our BT mini meet.!

Pat,
Thanks for the great report; we also experienced the swift current (drift dive) conditions in that area on the 4th of April, it was fun as soon as we realized how quickly we were going!

Marge,
The cactus juice bug and sun is the greatest; I didn't get burnt or bitten the entire trip...I'm sold...www.cactusjuicetm.com

Pat,

Great report. I am leaving to Bonaire in one week and I am so psyched to see my very own BFO!!! Definitely on my list of things to see.

Hey Pat!
Great report! It is always a pleasure meeting up with you and Mary. I just realized that you are going to know every single BT'R cause you are there for so long!!! How nice is that? Glad you had a great trip!

Hey Pat & Mary - welcome home

Sure was nice meeting up with you & Mary again And thanks for the buttons & thanks to Chet too :
Really enjoyed the sunset cruise on the Woodwind.
Great report - thanks.
Going to check out your pics!

That was a fun report Pat - gosh 3 months!!!
Your pics are great too!
Can't wait to see it all in person!

Hey Pat! Great report and thanks for the "shout out"! A week was a horrible tease, especially when I'm really used to my 2 months on Bonaire. I promise to be back to kick your butt on the bike, but I swear, all this time I thought you were kicking mine! Maybe it was that headwind that was kicking our butts. I am counting the days til I can get back. It was great to see you. Too bad we never have any laughs though. Work on that, ok?

kate, i still remember the night last year when mary and i were driving to dinner...first we passed jim on his bike then we passed you. when we mentioned that we saw your husband behind you you laughed and said, "yeah, and i'm kickin' his butt too"....you're brutal. you're right, we have to work on loosening up and laughing a little. wait till next year.