April 11th will find Kip and I on a dive trip to CoCoView Resort on the island of Roatan. Can't wait to get wet and start taking pictures with my new underwater setup. Upon our return, pictures will be posted to the flickr website. Temperatures should be between 78 and 86 with water temps around 80 degrees.

Epson Photo website closed 1 April 2008 so all photos have been removed from that site but I've posted some great pictures of Kip, me and the dogs on the Flickr website. Check out and enjoy the slideshow..

New Pictures of Haley O'Bailey on Flickr.

Haley O'Bailey stayed up with Kip for a week when I had my last eye surgery and she is now officially a Mountain Dog! Trina (my Urban Princess) came home with Momma. They loved their weekends in the country, running along the back fence by the stream that borders the property, hiking on the mountain and hiking along the Greenbrier river. It was also discovered that Haley just will not be able to get along with Cats. She tried to eat a kitten last week, she caught one of the barn cats....... bad dog. She learned her hunting instincts from watching Trina. In the last month, Trina has brought home birds and a Possum!!!!! So disgusting. We're all looking forward to lots of snow for a great ski season. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!!!!

October 2008 in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. I had a fabulous 12 day vacation, enjoying two different resorts, Carib Inn and Eden Beach. This was my first dive trip to Bonaire. I arrived late Saturday and met up with other friends of mine from previous dive trips to Roatan, Honduras. Also met some new folks from Chicago and hopefully they will be joining us in Roatan this coming April. Got a couple of dives in on Sunday then Monday, what was then Tropical Storm Omar struck the island. By Tuesday it had been upgraded to a Hurricane. Mind you, hurricanes are NOT supposed to hit Bonaire as it's below the hurricane belt. We had a great time being out in the hurricane, taking pictures. Some of the pictures from our vacation are posted at the flickr website. We got back into the water on Wednesday and from then on, we were lucky enough to get in 3 dives a day. It was a very relaxing, fun and exciting trip.

You rent a truck, throw your tanks and gear in the back and head off to whatever dive sites you want to do at that particular time. Kip is a natural in the water as he grew up on the water in upstate New York and also spent many years on the beaches of North Carolina. By the 5th dive, he was such a natural! By about 1/2 way thru our vacation, his air consumption equalled mine. We were as perfectly matched in the water as we are on land. We ended up spending an hour in the water for each dive. What a perfect dive buddy! After every dive, one must do a surface interval time of approx an hour of off gas the nitrogen build up in the blood. Kip would be out of the water approx 5 minutes and ask "Can we dive yet?" So yes, we'll so enjoy our next trip to Roatan, Honduras where we'll once again be diving with friends.

January 2008 in Snowshoe, WV. Check out Snowshoe's website, an awesome place, to be sure. Didn't think it would be possible, but after 20 years of not skiing, Stella got her groove back! Last year I stayed on Intermediate slopes but this year decided it was now or never and did some expert slopes. After a couple of runs, it was actually much easier than I thought and so much more fun! Decided to get my own Head skis this year and they're fabulous. Next year I will join a local DC ski club for some ski trips both locally and out West.

October and March 2007 trips to CoCoView were fantastic. March of 2008 found me back at CoCoView with Chris for a wonderful week of diving. CoCoView is on the Island of Roatan which is part of the Bay Islands and is about 40 miles off the coast of Honduras in Central America. The other islands are Utila and Guanaja. Roatan is the most developed, it even has a paved road. What an awesome place to celebrate a birthday and dive at the same time. Great food, great people, great location, great weather, and incredible diving. If you're interested in a very comfortable, homey environment visit the CoCoView website for more details. Be sure to check out the chat room and the web cams of the dock and the front yard areas. The boats leave about 8:30a.m. and 2:30p.m. local time (10:30a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) I was actually able to get 25 dives in. The Divemasters and Boat Captains are all wonderful as is all the staff and even got to see seahorses. I now understand why divers keep going back to CoCoView year after year. I have two return trips planned and hope to make at least one a year.

Update on Chris. Finally getting his townhouse back into livable condition after the renters got moved out. He sure has learned alot about woodworking and has spent quite a few hours/days at the wood shop. He's still enjoying his job at General Dynamics and also still with the National Guard. I'm sure hoping he can get thru the next year and a half without being called up again.

Shawn really enjoyed the challenges of working at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service as a Contractor with Northrup Grumman for quite awhile. However, he decided it was time to move on up. He is now an internet developer/programmer for Ruckus (check out their website and is keeping very busy between his job and doing all sorts of add-ons to 2000 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 and keeping his Jeep in top condition as well. He's a happy camper and is thoroughly enjoying life.

Now about the two additions to my family. Trina is a black standard poodle that adopted me in September of 2003 when she was 5 months old. I had gone with a girlfriend to check out a dog that she was interested in and I came home with Trina that night. She sat on my lap and started giving me puppy kisses and the rest is history. February of 2004 Haley O'Bailey came home as a 7 week old puppy. She's a Goldendoodle, which is a first generation cross between a Golden Retriever and a Standard Poodle. She does not shed and is an absolute clown that has me well trained. They now have their very own webpage up, so pay a visit. I also have some great pictures from their beginnings until the present. Trina immediately took over the role as mother and teacher. The two dogs are inseparable and get along wonderfully. They do however, keep this place hopping. I enjoy my daily walks with them and they are always up to something that makes me laugh. Haley O'Bailey is the featured Goldendoodle at Dogbreed Info.com and also check out Page 3 of that website, which is entirely of Haley.