More Cuba Pictures

One of the three excursions we went on was to a town on mainland Cuba called Moron (Morone). It was interesting to see what parts of Cuba looked like off of the tourists resorts. Included in the excursion to Moron was a boat ride through a really interesting ecosystem. Above are some wild growing orchids.

A look at the waterway ahead of us with the tree branches making a canopy over the water

One of two termite nests the boat operator showed us. These were huge. This one looked over 6 feet tall

Our guide. He was funny and made the ride a lot of fun and showed us many interesting things. None of us expected the boat ride to be as interesting as it was.

A classic American built car - they call them American taxis. There were lots of them

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A side street in Moron

People in Moron going about their Thursday afternoon

This picture sums up Moron. Somewhat poverish, compared to Canadian standards, with a classic American car on the street. They had many newer cars as well, none from the United States, but there were still a lot of 'American Taxi's' on the road.

The girls enjoying a Mariachi band in Moron. This group came to play some nights at the resort and were also very good live. We bought their CD

Could've listened to them all day

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One of the excursions we went on as a group was to this spa.

Four of us got rubbed down with mud imported from Spain...........we told them it had to be from Spain or not to bother. White swim suit? Bad choice.

Darcie and I on the catamaran excursion the group also went on

Group pic under the hut on the beach. Surprisingly, there were three and were fairly easy to snatch up.

Enjoying the sun on the beach. What a beautiful area of the world.

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Here's the view from our room looking toward the ocean. Wish I could be there again right now

Celebrating "Parcie's" birthday. Guillermo was nice enough to arrange a cake for us to eat, but part of her name got lost in translation I guess. Happy Birthday Parcie!!

Eating at the Italian Restaurant for Darcie's birthday. From left - Stephanie, Mandy, and Mike

Enjoying an amazing sounding quartet at the Italian Restaurant. Two violins, a clarinet and a guitar. They played many beautiful well known songs. We bought their CD.

Group shot on the bridge over the pool

The Ch-ladder

So here's some pics of the chair/ladder I made using spec's from one of my Popular Mechanics magazines. It can be flipped from a chair into a step ladder so Darc and I call it the chladder. It's made from 1" thick red oak. I stained it, then put a clear coat on it which gives it a bit of a shine but also helps protect it from wear and tear. All the pieces are screwed together and then covered with plugs and sanded flush so none of the screws can be seen which I like. It's feels pretty solid. I stood on the top step as a test and it was able to hold my weight. I was nervous at first because I didn't want it to break after all the time I put in making it, but I stepped on one step at a time, listening for creeks and it held my weight which was a relief.

Mr & Mrs Picaso

Hey it's been a while since my last post. Got some random photos for people who've been asking to see them. First off is 'The Sea' poster which I started coloring when I was about 10 and finally got it framed to hang instead of being rolled up in a cardboard tube stuffed in a closet.......much to Darcie's dismay. The picture framer kept the bottom of the poster and placed it on the back which was a nice touch. As you can see, my initial intentions were to give this to dad for a Father's Day present, which didn't really happen. Sorry dad, I'm keeping it for myself - it's that good!

Look how well I kept inside the lines!

This is Darcie's oil painting. It's on a 24" x 48" canvas in our dining room

This is Jason's acrylic painting. It's on a 30" x 36" canvas above our couch

This is also Jason's acrylic painting.

(Note: sunset photo is actually not a painting by Jason. It is a picture of a sunset from our deck)

George Strombolopolous Tonight set

Darcie and I have had the opportunity to watch a live taping of a tv show. The show is George Strombolopolous Tonight which used to be called The Hour. It was neat to see how the show is produced with time for commercial breaks and lots of behind the scenes stuff. The tickets are free and is taped in the CBC building downtown. The first time we went, George interviewed two guests over Skype. We were kind of bummed there wasn't a guest interviewed in the studio so we went again the following week and got to see Billy Connolly who is a fairly well known comedian from Scotland. It was cool to watch the taping of the show and then watch it later on tv that night. On a side note, Plas-Tech made some plastic parts for the set.
These red chairs are the only things they brough from the old set when his show was called The Hour

See the green screen and the big boom camera