I took a vacation from blogging...

Sorry... We've been taking things really slow and enjoying our time here lately.. I honestly just forgot to blog about some of the things we've been doing. And, the times I have thought about it, it kinda seemed like work. But, here's another update.

Hmmmm.... what's happened? LOTS of snorkeling! We really love snorkeling. The reefs here are beautiful and there are fish EVERYWHERE! We even saw a SHARK!!!!



That's not actually the shark that we saw while snorkeling. The one in the picture ^there^ was actually at the Cayman Turtle Farm. More on that place in a bit. The shark that we saw looked a lot like that one, though... It was a Nurse Shark. It was young and small.... probably 3 feet long. But, it was AMAZING!!! It wasn't big enough to be really scary. And, they're bottom feeders, who feed on shellfish. So, their teeth are for grinding and not tearing. But, it would probably be a real drag to have one of these suckers get hold of your finger or toes!

We also saw a stingray while snorkeling. It was beautiful! And, we finally saw a turtle while snorkeling, too! I've been dying to see a turtle for years. I've seen just about everything that I wanted to see so far. But, we still can't get enough. We're snorkeling twice a day. It's so much fun and great exercise, too!

Speaking of exercise, we've been playing a lot of tennis. Neither of us are very good. Krystal's never played. And, I haven't played since high school. But, we're discovering that we really like it. So, we'll probably dive in head first and make this part of our exercise regimen when we return. Here's what we look like pretending to play tennis:











And, yes, that is a tennis ball in my pocket. ;)

We checked out the Cayman Turtle Farm. It would be awesome if this place was just there to help replenish the declining sea turtle population. But, it's not. They do release a lot of turtles into the wild... but, they also raise them for food. Turtle steak is a popular food item on Grand Cayman. But, don't worry.... We refuse to eat those cute critters! The park was waaaay expensive for what it was. There were some tanks where you could see turtles in various stages of growth. You could even pick them up and pet them. Apparently, they like to be petted under the chin. I don't speak turtle, so I couldn't really verify this.









They also had a predator tank, with some brown sharks, some nurse sharks, and some other predator fish that were much less interesting. We got to see a scheduled feeding for the nurse sharks. They're training them to be fed by hand. It seems pretty scary. They feed on shell fish that typically live just under the sand on the ocean floor. They have a very powerful sucking apparatus. They suck crabs, conch, lobster, and other shellfish out of the sand and grind 'em up. So, it looked like it would be pretty easy for one of the biologists who were feeding them to lose a finger. It was fascinating, though... Like some live Discovery Channel shit. Very cool.
Here are some more pics from the predator tank:


brown shark


nurse sharks

They also had some cool birds:



We took a couple of posed pics out in front of the Turtle Farm. The sea was rough, and it was windy. We wanted to get some pics of the water crashing on the rocks:





We also wanted a pic of me with our sweet-ass ride:



Lets see.... What else? hmmm.... Well, we checked out a local skate park. It's billed as the largest skatepark in the world. I can't confirm that... but, it was badass... It made me want to get in better shape and rehab my bad knee properly, so I can get back on a skateboard.








That's it for now. I'll post more when I get around to it. I'm sure you understand.

Grand Cayman - the beginning

So, Krystal and I have just started our 7th anniversary trip. This is the longest vacation we've ever taken. We'll be on Grand Cayman, in the Cayman Islands (just south of Cuba), for 15 days!!! Holy crap. This is gonna be great! Especially considering we both worked our asses to the bone in the weeks prior to vacation.

So, we left on Saturday at about 5:30 in the morning. We flew through Dallas and Miami and then on to Grand Cayman. It was a long day of travel. But, since Krystal flies every week, we were able to upgrade to first class all the way. And, during our layovers, we were able to chill and relax in the American Airlines Admiral's Club areas of the airport. Very cushy travel.

The airport in Miami was kinda shitty. Most of the restaurants and shops were outside of the terminals and outside security. So, we just hung out for a few hours. We did see this, which was very beautiful and too big to get in one picture:











That was pretty cool.

So, we made it to Grand Cayman on Saturday night at around 8PM. Since we arrived after dark, we decided we better take a cab to the condo and get our rental car the next day. Driving is on the left side of the road, and the island is much bigger than the last few islands we've visited. I didn't want to tackle that kind of driving for the first time in the dark.

Man... Our condo is fantastic. We're staying RIGHT ON THE BEACH!!! It's like a luxury apartment. Here are some pics:


the bedroom


the living room


the living room


the kitchen


the hall


the TV

That TV came in really handy for the Super Bowl. We don't follow NFL football at all. But, the Super Bowl always happens on our anniversary trip. And, it's something of a tradition for us to get some lobster pizza and island beer and watch it. Problem is, all grocery and liquor stores on Grand Cayman are closed on Sundays. So, we went out to a beach bar on Sunday afternoon and talked them into selling us some beers "to go". There's also a great service here called Fine Dine In. They're similar to Oklahoma's Dining Express, except that they'll deliver from basically any restaurant on the island. So, we got our beers and seafood pizza. Check out this food:


the pizza and salad. pizza looks good, huh? how 'bout a closer look?


dang. fish, lobster, shrimp, scallops, and calamari! still want a closer look? thought so.


whoa!

Here's the Cayman beer I had for Super Bowl. Caybrew!



So, today, on Monday, our anniversary, we went out and snorkeled a bunch. We probably swam a half a mile, against the current. I'll be sore as hell tomorrow. Then, we went to a restaurant on the water to have some great lunch. We had an appetizer of conch, pounded, breaded and fried. Krystal had a grilled Mahi Mahi and Yucca fries. Yum!! I had a conch ceviche. Damn, it was good. We forgot to take the camera to lunch. But, here are some iPhone pics from the dock:





That's it for now! More pics soon!

Swamped

I'm finding it difficult these days to find time to blog. Krystal and I have some really great trips coming up and I'm working feverishly to get as much work done as possible before we leave. I'm also planning to build a studio this year. I had no idea how much work is involved in planning something like this. I really HATE the "business" aspect of my work. That part really gives me headaches. But, I absolutely LOVE the music part of what I do.

We've been working on an EP release for Scar Party. Things are coming along swimmingly. I expect to have all of the tracking done in the next few weeks. Mixing and mastering should be a quick and painless process. So, the first Scar Party EP will come out in the Spring. Yipee!

I'm also planning the next installment of the Locals Only Series. It will be held on Saturday, March 7 at Conservatory in OKC. This one should be outrageously huge. I know a few of the bands that are playing... but, I'm not telling yet!

Next week, I'll be in DC for the inauguration of Barack Obama. We managed to get lucky and get tickets from our otherwise pretty useless Representative. Out of 1400 requests, we got 2 of less than 200 tickets that they had available. Should be a wicked sweet trip. Can't wait for crabcakes at J.Pauls!

When we return, I'll only have one week in town before our anniversary trip. During that week, I'll be pulling tripple duty in the studio. I'll have daytime sessions with The Mean Spirits, who are in to work on an EP release. Then, I'll have evening sessions with Bryan from Negative Negative. He's putting the vocals down for their first EP release. After that, I'll have late night sessions for putting the finishing touches on the tracking for the Scar Party EP. Whoa! What a week!

But, at the end of that week, I start the longest vacation that my wife and I have ever taken. We're going to Grand Cayman for 15 days!!! Holy crap! We're staying in a condo of some sort, steps from the beach! Man.... I've really been looking forward to this vacation. And, you can bet that I'll enjoy every second of it. Because, I know that when we return, I'm gonna be up to my neck in studio construction headaches.

I'll try to be a little more regular about this blog.