Great Turtle Picture

We have been very lucky with turtles on our last few snorkel trips and here is a great shot we got of a hawksbill turtle that swam just below us and that we are using as our background on one of our lap tops.

National Heroes Day

Today is a national holiday in the Cayman Islands celebrating National Heroes Day. The first national hero of the Cayman Islands is James M. Bodden Sr. who actually donated the land on which ICCI sits. He is a national hero for his work in making Cayman a tourism destination in the 60's and 70's. We took advantage of the three day weekend to do a getaway to the Reef Resort on the Northeastern tip of the Island. On Saturday morning we got up very early and drove home to get our bikes and bike back to the resort. The 22 mile ride was into a headwind and for the first time we got to deal with the hilly terrain of East End. Yesterday we biked back home to complete the loop. We returned by going across the north end of the Island on the Queen's Highway to Frank Sound road before turning south and then west again when we got to the southern side of the island. The return trip was a little over 22 miles but much easier because of the tail wind. We had a very restful weekend at the resort, aside from the biking. We are hoping to do the entire loop in a single ride soon but will need to factor in the hills in East End which really affected us. They aren't big hills but there are so many of them one right after the other that they really strain you. We are also doing more jogging to get into shape for another half marathon and both of us are seeing some changes. Last week Scott fit into a pair of shorts that he hadn't been able to use for six months because they were too tight. Katie has hung up a pair of jeans on the bedroom door which is her goal to get back into and she is getting close. We are getting fit and looking better and it is really improving our outlook.

33.12 Miles

This morning we decided to take it up another notch in our biking and try to go an hour and a half out and an hour and a half back. We left early getting out the door at 7:45 a.m. after our breakfast of eggs, spinach and mushrooms for energy. The weather cooperated with overcast skies but a very strong head wind as we made our way east on the main road did not portend good things. In spite of the headwind we headed out through Red Bay and Prospect on to Savannah and then Boddentown, past Pease Bay and Breakers, beyond Frank Sound Road and Heritage Beach to the outskirts of East End. We had rest stops about every thirty minutes for water and granola bars. Eventually, we stopped at the Blow Hole 1 hour and 42 minutes into our ride, the furthest East we have ever gone. The trip out was some 25.5 kilometers. The return trip was actually a little longer because we took the bypass back requiring a trip up Hirst road from Savannah and the return trip requires us to go past the house to a roundabout where we have to double back to get to the entrance to our street. The return trip with a tail wind was much easier though an intermittent cross wind kept psychologically affecting us. We pulled back into the house 3 hours and nine minutes and 33.12 miles of riding later. The actual time was some 3 hours and 45 minutes when you included our rest breaks. We were very proud of ourselves but exhausted having pushed ourselves close to the breaking point.

Next weekend we are doing a getaway weekend out to the east staying at The Reef Resort where we stayed during our first month on the Island to celebrate belatedly our firt wedding anniversary. They are running a 25% discount for locals over Heroes Day which is a national holiday on Monday the 26th so we are taking advantage of our status to get the good deal. Our plan for next Saturday morning is to get up very early drive home from the resort and then bike back to the resort. We would then bike home Sunday morning. Today proved we have the stamina to do the one way trip and with not much more work we will be ready to do the full loop of the eastern end of the island which has been our goal since we got here 20 months ago. Had we not gotten distracted from our biking the past year we would have been able to do this some time ago but everything happens in its own time so we guess now is just the right time.

Back in the saddle again

After several months of almost daily rain and very little opportunity to go bike riding the weather since Christmas has been great and we are cross training with one day walk-running and then the next day biking. We are resting one day in seven and thus getting three runs and three bike rides in each week. Today we decided to kick it up a notch on the biking and did a two hour bike ride from our house in Red Bay east out to Moon Bay. The almost 20 mile ride really pushed us but as we finished we were both pleased to note that we were not exhausted and that building up slowly to this longer ride had been successful. We both came out of Christmas overweight and feeling sluggish but in the last three weeks have both dropped weight with Katie dropping almost 6 pounds and Scott (who had ballooned up to 215, dropping 8 pounds). Our goal is not so much weight loss as it is getting into shape, though the weight loss that comes with it is happily accepted. We would both like to drop 10-15 more pounds each. We were very proud to finish the half marathon in December but distressed at how much it took out of us particularly considering we walked it at a pretty slow pace. We want to do another half marathon this year and shave at least 45 minutes off our time and also do our bike around the east end of the Island. Both of those goals require us getting into shape so we are hard at work on that with daily exercise.

Justice Finally

Texas wins a heartstopping thriller 24-21 Monday night and tonight 24-14 Florida beats the cheating, should never have been in the game, land thieves. Justice delayed but justice finally served. Another college football season in the books, only got home for one game this season, will look forward hopefully to going to many more in person next year.

New Grant of Accreditation

When we first arrived on Grand Cayman in June of 2007 we knew that our first and most important task was helping the college get ready for an accreditation visit that would happen sometime that fall. Several months of work leading up to the visit and almost a year of subsequent work were rewarded yesterday as ICCI received a new grant of three years accreditation through December 31, 2011. With the new quarter starting on Monday this was great news to start 2009 and has given all of us a nice shot in the arm to go forward.

First Snorkel Trip of 2009

This morning we headed north to the Queen's Monument for our first snorkel of the year. It ended up being a short swim as the current and waves were too strong to be swimming as close to the reef as you do up at that site. We headed back to the western end of the Island and went to the Sunset House site where we were treated to a Hawksbill Turtle (pictured with Katie at the left) and a Southern Ray. The rest of the day will be watching football and some work related tasks as we get ready for the quarter to start on Monday.

Happy New Year to everyone, lets hope 2009 is a great year for all.