A trip to Virgin Gorda, by way of Wisconsin; June 2008

(I'm just going to pick a random place to start...)

At the end of May, I flew 'home' to Wisconsin for a long-ish visit.  (Little did I know at the time that it might very well have been the last family gathering for a while in Walworth!)  Chris gamely drove the 8+ hours from Ohio as well, although he could only stay for a short couple of days.  (Ali and Will and Nick weren't able to be there; in fact, she was picking them up from their schools on the east coast for the start of summer hols.)  Here are couple of photos, courtesy of Chris and Dad:

L to R: Rico, Viv, Mom, Chris, Deb, Julie, Jaz, Dad, Tiki

A super photo of Viv, Tiki, and Jasmine at the end of the garden

(Tiki belongs to Chris and Ali)

In order not to overwhelm the parents too much, I took myself off for a week in the middle to visit friends who were vacationing on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.  Eleanor, my best friend from nursing school (15 years ago, sheesh!) and her husband John love the Caribbean, and have graciously said 'we'd love to have you' whenever I've invited myself along. (Twice now!  Funny, they haven't let me know where they are going this year...).

The Caribbean is hot and humid in June, which is why it is imperative not be too far away from these essentials (sorry, no photos of me in a bathing suit here, for which you are very grateful):

The house pool, which overlooked the beach.

John Ramage at work.  The best internet connections always seemed to be at a bar!

Mahoe Bay.  Our villa was somewhere in that lot, right on the beach.

There was lots of time for snorkeling, reading, eating, and generally watching one's body turn lumpy.  We all need those kinds of holidays from time to time, no?  Click here for more photos.  (John's daughter, Kim, and her family were there as well.  Kim's son, Mason, was only 2 months old...)

But eventually I had to go back to the real world, and when I returned to Wisconsin, I returned to this:

The view from Mom and Dad's front door (in Walworth); water is pouring off the roof!

More photos from the second half of this visit with Mom and Dad are in 'Part 2'.

With lots of love from Deb