Cartagena Volcano Mud Bath

The Volcano Mud Bath was spectacular. We had no idea what to expect. Bob had read a little bit about the tour but nothing major. Our shuttle picked us up at 9:00 a.m. and we'd be dropped back off around 3:00 p.m. A father and daughter from Medellin Colombia were part of our tour group as well. So, it was just the 4 of us plus our guide. We had an hour van ride to the volcano. Once we arrived we had a short walk to a small volcano that had a mud pool at the top.

A few steep stairs to climb, but it wasn't bad.

The view was nice once we made it to the top.

Large lagoons surrounded the volcano.

And Wha-la. The mud pool. Wasn't what I had envisioned but it was a mud pool. They say the pool contains 28 healing minerals. The guide rattled them all off in Spanish. Did I understand any of them? No! But who cares. This girl & boy could use a little healing.

Here goes. The mud is so soft and thick. It felt cool between my toes. The stairs were a little slippery but I managed to get in with out falling. That's a nice change.

Check out Bob! Nothing to it. He just jumped on in.

I think he really enjoyed it!

Can you believe of our group I was the only one who wanted a massage? Sign me up! As you can see I had a little difficulty relaxing at first. Relax, lay back and enjoy I was hearing the guy tell me. Am I going to sink? Nope, this stuff was thick. It was pretty wild.

While everyone swam in the mud. I had no problem relaxing during my massage in the corner.

This is what it feels like to a pig. Not bad! I truly enjoyed the experience.

We had so much fun playing in the mud. When a large tour group showed up; we all decided to call it quits and headed to the lagoon. The water was so refreshing. There are ladies who want to bathe us of course. Everyone looking to make a buck but we decided to dive in ourselves and wash off. We were able to wash most of the mud out of our hair, swimsuits and ears. After we dried off we boarded the van and drove 30 mins to the town of Boquilla for lunch.

This is a typical Colombian meal. Whole fried fish (we both love it prepared this way), white rice made w/coconut milk, Patacones (fried plantain), and salad. You know I'm a Mexican when I'm missing my tortillas and beans. Not a staple here in South America.

After lunch we enjoyed meeting our new friends and hung out under a huge Palapa.

Take care!

Bonnie & Bob

Cartagena Chivas Tours

This was the party get down tour. The Chivas tour start at 8:00 p.m. as soon as they picked us up from our apartment. We were one of the 1st people to board the party bus so, we had a quick tour of the city picking up people at all the various hotels. We had live music on board which kept our booty's moving. We didn't know the songs but everyone else on board was singing along, playing maracas and we could just feel the energy onboard.

This was our

party bus which

chauffeured us around town.

The bus was open air and it was

happening.

Each row was given a bottle of rum and bottle of 7up. Once we were through with our bottles we'd just past them to the front and they were replaced with new ones. Woohoo!

Wish I could

remember the

name of the Rum

It was good!

New friends from Venezuela

Most of the crowd were from Chile,

Peru, Argentina

and Venezuela

Everyone was having a great time jamming to the live music on board

These guys were part of our party bus and kept the rhythm moving.

Part of our tour included stopping

at a park where

some street dancers

entertained us.

My Mom is going to hate these next pictures. While in the town park; I had the opportunity to hold a Sloth. He was so stinking cute and I just couldn't help myself. Look at how cute these little creatures are. They spend 90% of their lives sleeping but this one awake and so lovable.

What a cool

experience.

From the park we boarded the bus and headed to a bar for Salsa dancing.

The bar was in this old Colonial building. It was beautiful.

Lot of dancing as you can see. We had a fantastic time.

We were so wound up from all the energy that we weren't ready to go home after our tour ended. In route to our apartment happens to be Rio Casino. We decided to play some Blackjack and chill out for a bit. Luck was on our side and we took a little extra cash home.

This particular casino was really nice. It's very small but not crowded. Best part; no smoking allowed. What more can I say. We enjoyed our evening and looking forward to our next tour.

Enjoy your day.

Much love from B&B

Cartagena Colombia

Hello everyone! We've made it safely to Cartagena and have been here a couple of days now. Our first night was spent in a hostel ($25/nt, private room, american cable, internet and very nice). Hostels here aren't like the ones back in the states. We went into several of them to check them out and most of them were very clean and offered all the amenities listed above and cheap. But why stay in a hostel when you can rent an apartment on a daily basis. We walked a good 6 hours looking at apartments and we found this great little apartment literally on the beach and fully furnished for $45/night. Can't beat that. We have a kitchen, living room, bedroom and 2 full baths plus we're on the 5th floor with a balcony that overlooks the ocean and partial glimpse of our pool. O'yes, there's a pool. We're only going to be here another 4 nights but it's nice to spread out rather than hangout in a small one room place. O' get this....The TV in our apartment is HUGE (52" plasma). So far we've walked miles and miles getting to know a little bit about Cartagena. It's very pretty here and not a large city. There's miles of beaches, a colonial feel in some parts while others have towering modern buildings. The people here have been very friendly. In fact, I met this lady, Alicia at the airport while standing in the Customs line and we communicated as best we could. My Spanish is a little different from the Colombian Spanish but no problem. She was so nice. She gave me her phone number and told us to call her if we had any questions about Cartagena or any problems. She said her husband spoke English very well and we could call them anytime. I may surprise her and give her a ring to meet up for dinner. She reminded me of my Aunt Luz. We all know how much I love my Tia Luz! We found they have several casinos in the area. One not too far from our apartment...YIKES! Bob says he'll put a leash on me if I get out of hand. We walked into Rio today to check it out. Their sign is very similar to the Rio sign in Las Vegas. They had table games of Texas Hold'em, Black Jack, Roulette and tons of slot machines. Bob can't get too mad if I play a few hands of Hold'em or Black Jack. Minimum bets start at 5,000 pesos. Which is equivalent to $2.50 USD. I'm having a little hard time dealing with such large numbers. It's crazy. Our grocery bill was 1 Million Pesos.... The exchange rate is $2075 pesos to $1 USD. Bob told me to drop the last 3 zeros and divide by 2 to get close to the USD. So, 5,000 (5 divided by 2). Works for me. Well, I took my first fall today. I'm already sore. I can just imagine how I'm going to feel the next day or 2. I was being nice and move out of the way for a group of ladies walking on the sidewalk. I decided to step up onto a curb and lost my balance. When will I learn...I have no balance. That one hurt. It took me a minute or 5 to get back up. My left ankle and my right calf will be bruised. I tried to break my fall by placing my hand down and that send instant pain to my elbow. But, I guess it could have been worse. I could have easily broken my arm. That's what I get for being nice. At least the ladies I was moving out of the way for stopped to help me and didn't leave till I got up. I'll just take a couple of Naproxyn and a hot shower. If I need to hang out by the pool to take it easy....guess, that's what I'll have to do. We did check into some "tourist" things to do. There's an excursion to a volcano where we can take warm mud baths. They say it's therapeutic. I'd like to do the city tour by bus also. We walk all over but doing that only covers so much area and since we're only here for a few days. That may something for us to consider. There are island tours to do as well for snorkeling but, for some reason Bob & I aren't feeling it. But who knows what tomorrow brings. We'll keep you posted. I'll start posting pictures as soon as I take some. We love you very much. Hope you have a wonderful day. Bonnie & Bob

Orlando Florida

We've had 3 wonderful nights here in Orlando. We haven't done a whole lot really. We thought about hitting some of the theme parks but opted out. The weather has been sunny & Africa hot in the mornings but by 2:00 p.m. heavy thunderstorms were in full force. I was so enjoying it. We had to make a mad dash into McDonald's one afternoon due to the heavy rains and wow. We had never seen a McDonald's of this magnitude before. It was amazing. Listen to this....in addition to the normal items you can find at Mickey D's, they also serve numerous other items you could order off their "Gourmet" Menu. Here's a few examples; create your own pasta station (ex: Chicken Garlic Alfredo or Marina Shrimp); Pizzas, Paninis, Wraps, Chicken Quesadillas, Meatball Parmesan Sandwiches and delectable desserts (cakes, pies, over a dozen ice cream flavors & more). So that was just the food choices....next was the arcade. I believe Houston was the first to have a 2 story McDonald's. Orlando has the largest of them all. The arcade included 2 lanes of bowling for the kids, tattoo station, character drawings and all the video games that you'd normally find in an arcade. Yes, as you can tell...I'm easily amused. We did spend plenty of time researching hotels and things to do in Cartagena and Santa Marta. We've also read several blogs of others who have traveled there. We are really looking forward to visiting Colombia. It sounds amazing. We can't wait to share our ventures with you too. Our plane leaves tomorrow (Sunday) at 8:30 a.m. It's only a 2 1/2 hour flight from here. I'm not sure what time zone they are in but will let you know when we find out. We should have all our ducks in a row now and shouldn't have any problems leaving this time. We'll be in touch and we're looking forward to our next venture. Love you - B&B

Another Lesson We've Learned

We're still learning so much as we travel. Just when we think we have things figured out; we have a set back. We should be in Cartagena Colombia by now but we didn't do the homework needed to board the plane. We've had our One-Way tickets booked for a few months now on Spirit Airlines. We left Houston on a Wednesday (07/09) to Orlando Florida. We were spending the night here and board a plane early morning on Thursday to Colombia. When we got to the check-in counter we were told that we needed to have booked a return flight to the States. What? We're Americans we can come and go as we please. We don't need to check in with our government. We tried to explain to the ticket agent that we were traveling South America for the next 5 months. We have no intentions of staying in Colombia the whole time. We do know and understand that each country has regulations as to how long we can stay without getting special permissions from the Embassy. We told the agent that we would be traveling on by bus and returning to the states from Argentina at a date we weren't sure of. Well, that didn't fly. We could not board the plane without a "returned" flight. We were so upset as you could imagine. Bob & I did some research and made a few calls. Even though we as Americans can come and go as we wish; some countries want to know where and how long we plan to visit and some require some documentation as to us leaving the country. We can understand that. But, all the airlines require return flights in their policy. We still think this is a crazy policy. As long as we follow the visiting countries regulations we shouldn't have to book a returned ticket till we're ready. But, anyway- Bob found a loop-hole. We now have a "returned ticket" out of Colombia back to the States. We booked a full fare, unrestricted and fully refundable ticket. We now have proof to provide the airlines that we are returning as they require. But as soon as we get to Colombia we will cancel that flight, get our money back and continue our travels thru South America. I tell ya....we learn something new all the time. When we left the States to Mexico by bus we didn't have these problems. So, we're still in Orlando Fl. We're scheduled to fly out this coming Sunday. In the meantime; we're having a great time here taking in some sites and I have some down time to catch up on my blogging. As everyone knows; you are more than welcome to join us at any point. We plan to visit Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile & Argentina this next leg of our journey. We'd love to see ya if you can swing. We'll post our next destination as soon as we get things figured out. Best deals are found at the last minute, ya know. Maybe we'll see you very soon. Take care and much love to all. B&B

Bob's Family Reunion - Dallas

The Scott Family Reunion was hosted by Jack & Cheryl Spence in Dallas Texas. Each year a family member takes on the responsibility of hosting this special event and organizing all the dinners, activities and hotel accommodations. The reunion takes place over a long weekend. Most will arrive on a Thursday and we all leave on a Sunday. So, you can imagine lots of prep work goes into this production. Jack & Cheryl did a bang up job keeping the whole family entertained. Activities included a wine tour, a train ride to Ft. Worth for shopping, a night of bumper cars & putt-putt, family games of LCR, Dominoes, Uno, Bingo and a family auction to make money for the next reunion. Not to mention all the food & beverages we had all weekend. Thank you Jack & Cheryl ... fun was had by all. Spence Family Chris, Jack Cheryl & Sarah Cheryl hard at work The kitchen was favorite spot for conversation Who is the Scott family? Bob's last name is Langston. Scott is my Mother N Law's side of the family. Scott Brother & Sisters Richard, Edna Francis, Ida Lou & LeRoy

Family reunions are very special to the brothers and sisters of my Mother in Law. We've lost several loved ones over the past few years and the time is cherished and not taken for granted when we gather. Hopefully all the cousins will continue the family tradition of yearly reunions.

Edna (My MotherNLaw) and her sister Ida Lou

Bob & I

at a family

dinner

Greg & Sandy

Chris

Richard

Our younger

generation

Ellie, Kata & Ethan

Ellie & Ethan

are twins

Bob, Cindy

& Greg having a few laughs in the living room

Kata -

Our strong

swimmer

What's a little poker

amongst family.

Bob & Chris

were the winners

Bob's sister

Debra and her

husband Pat

Pat & Debra

The family host an auction each year to raise money for the reunion. We all contribute 2 gifts to put on the auction table. Don is fantastic at making items sell for top dollar. He's hilarious and loves to entertain us.

Don at his

finest.

Don cooling

off after blowing

lots of hot air

auctioning off

stuff.

Next year Uncle LeRoy and his wife Ruthie will be hosting the family reunion in Nashville TN.

I know everyone is looking forward to the next gathering.

Always remember Family is Golden!

Bonnie & Bob

Texas Tour

Can't believe our visit started May 21st in Houston...here we are July 8th and our time has flown by so fast. We had a fantastic time visiting all our family and friends. Not that we were able to see absolutely everyone but we gave it our all in trying. So where did we spend all our time?

We spent time in Houston celebrating Sandy's 60th Birthday, celebrated Trechell's 40th Birthday, enjoyed Happy Hours w/my co-workers of DCP, my Hastings High School Friends, hosted a pizza party at Selena's, and enjoyed quality time with our family.

Trechell's

Sister & Brother

DCP Happy Hour

Ron Douglas

&

Dora Levy Deborah Yehle

Me &

Poe Reed Bob,

Mike Hoover,

Chris Walters

& Ron Douglas

Trechell

&

Selena

Bob

Me &

Karen Kubenka

Pizza Party at Selena's.

This turned out to be a pretty cool party. I had made all the pizza doughs, grilled them and had all the party guests bring their favorite toppings. We did an assembly line, everyone created their own pizza and brought them back to me to throw on the grill. Delicious!

the doughs kept

growing and

growing and

growing.

Trechell

& Terald

Flagg

Shelly Lindroos,

Louiza & Wes

Deskin

Me,

Nancy &

Trechell

Pete & Nancy

Oliver

Bob &

Robert Morris

Anita &

Thuy

Love u love

time! Hastings Happy Hour

Hastings Gang

Bob &

Troy Tindall

Monika &

Me

I'll continue our Texas Tour in the next few blogs.

Miss everyone. B&B

Family and Friends

Well we've been in Houston now just a little over 2 1/2 weeks and our time is flying by. We've been having a blast seeing all our family and some friends. Bob & I have been truly blessed to have so many good friends in our lives. Our social schedule has been jammed packed with milestone birthday parties; My Step Dad's 60th, My best friend, Trechell's 40th, and my Grandmother's 90th. We've attended BBQ's, had a fabulous time w/ our friends Pete & Nancy at their compound, fished at Lake Livingston w/ Chris & Jodi, and I hooked up with one of my best friends from High School, Stephanie Porter. She and I hadn't seen one another in 18 years. We picked up right where we left off and didn't miss a beat. Just made me realize how much I have missed her in my life. She's one of those positive people and full of life. We still have a family reunion to attend in Dallas, a trip to Austin to visit more family & friends, and our 4th of July will be spent in Rockport. So, you see we're making the most of our time here in Texas and having a great time. We'll be heading to Corpus today to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th. Can't to give her a big hug. She's awesome. Plus, I'll be able to spend time with my family living down there. We've definitely we need 2 computers between Bob & I. He's been so busy researching our next traveling ventures that my time on the computer is minimal. I have tons a pictures to post and lots to talk about but until we buy another computer I'm hosed. It's been good being home and we're enjoying our time here. We hope everyone is doing well too. Until Bob forfeits the computer! Bonnie.