Skiing in Utah

Bear blew us away on the slopes this year! The little ripper had a blast keeping up with Mom and Dad on the black diamonds. We had to take it a bit easy because of Eric's recent sciatica issues, but he was able to get in a reasonable number of days and and vertical feet. The snow gods were good to us, dumping a couple of new feet of the fluffy stuff during our stay. We enjoyed spending time with Kat and Clay and our Utah friends.

New York City!

It's Valentine's Day and we're in New York City! We came for our niece's, Kelley, wedding to longtime boyfriend Scott Buckfelder. They married at Grand Central Station in an elegant ceremony where Bear was the sole underage guest and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Sister EB was there, which is always great entertainment for him.

We took advantage of the trip to introduce Bear to this wonderful city. It was a clear, crisp morning when we went to the top of the Empire State Building for perfect, 360 degree views. Drama was added to the adventure when Bear was “lost” during a all-out five minute search for him which included a security guard. Uncle David found him and loves to tell the story. It is sure to become a family favorite.
Other sites included Ground Zero, Battery Park for a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, a Broadway play (The Lion King), the subway, China Town, Central Park and the Museum of Natural History.

Music Abounds in Barra / Eric's Back Gives Out

Not only did we dance the nights away in town at our favorite hangouts (Sea Masters, Rey Mo Mo's and Pipers), we invited the musicians to our boat for delightful evenings of intimate concerts. Bear rocked out to Eli's magic one night while our friend, Pat Dunsworth, played his harp along with Marco's guitar and Bonnie Gibson's incredible blues voice another night.

Entertainment at home was especially welcome as Eric suffered from debilitating Sciatica for over a week. Once again we were impressed by the level of healthcare we received in Mexico. The hotel doctor personally came to our boat for five mornings in a row to inject Eric with a muscle relaxer and pain killer. He also arranged for X-rays done within an hour's notice and we left carrying the results. We also traveled into Manzanillo to see an orthopedic surgeon who had to be summoned by the ER doctor, it being Sunday. There Eric received stronger medications which resolved the pain and advice to schedule an MRI to be sure there is no vertebrae damage that the X-rays failed to show. (Eric will get the MRI in Puerta Vallarta on Wednesday.) All this care and medicine cost us less than $200USD! Can you imagine the cost in the US healthcare system?