Thursday, July 12, 2007

Stingrays!

I've finished writing in our travel journal (explanation in a moment), so now I can start to edit some pictures. So far I've managed to load a total of five pictures onto the computer. Obviously, I don't have much ambition for anything at the moment, I'm just trying to get through the week! It'll get better, but I'm just keepin' a Jamaican frame of mind and going with the flow.

I have a picture for you. This was at Grand Cayman, where we checked out Stingray City. It was pretty cool--they take you out to a sandbar where you stand about waistdeep in water (a little higher on me), and I liked that. Have I mentioned that I can't swim? Anyhoo, we get out there, and all these stingrays come swarming around us. It's quite startling at first (one lady completely freaked out), but also kind of cool. They're very gentle creatures, and they bump into your legs and back, rub up against your legs, and want to be petted. I told Ken, "They're like big flat housecats!" Their backs are kind of rough, like mild sandpaper, but their bellies are silky-soft. The captain of the boat took out a bucket of squid so we could feed the rays. You hold a piece of squid in your fist, keep it kind of low in the water, and the rays come up and suck it out of your hand (their mouths are on their underside). It was like a vacuum cleaner with lips! I was laughing so hard, because it was just such a neat experience, and they really are the coolest creatures. I think we all loved this particular excursion, and it was one of our favorites.

You can see how huge they are--this one spans all four of us!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention our travel journal. When we first got married, we were visiting Ken's Mom and stepdad in Missouri. She was talking about some of the experiences they've had over the years, and she said she wishes they had kept a journal, because it would be so much fun to go back and read about their various escapades. That sort of struck both of us, and we decided to start the travel journal. Every trip we take, I try to jot down a few things on the trip, and then I make my entry when we get home. This particular trip took about 14 pages, and resulted in some serious hand cramps, but I did it over a few days, and now it's done! Why don't I do it on the computer? I've thought about it...but there's something special about writing it down in a nice hardbound journal. It's become kind of a ritual, and it really IS fun to go back and read about a trip we took 5 years ago!

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