Happy 4th

A friend who always gives Rene a hard time about UT Texas

Great Music

The girls are leaving to the flight line area for some fun activites

Rene has signed on for 4 more years, Pray for our troops

Wishing everyone back home a Happy 4th Of July

Yesterday, the family went to Tokyo to have dinner at Bubba Gumps, one of our favorite places to eat for good fried shrimp. Rene and I were up at 5:30 am to run the base 5K Firecracker run, then off we went for a long bike ride down the Tama River. It was a nice cloudy cool day. We had a great evening of activities today with some free food, music, beer, and fireworks.

Bits and Pieces

Phuket Thailand 2009 Vacation

Note: The blog will depict our first day at the bottom. Follow our adventure up to the top day, which was our last day in Phuket. Click on view all slides then full screen to see a better picture and captions. Enjoy!

Day 5-Thai Temples

Thailand has temples everywhere.  We decided to stay close and visit temples in the Chalong area.  Very impressive!  

And so ends a trip that we will remember forever.  

Day 5-The Giant Buddha

On our last day, our plane did not leave until 7:35 pm, so we decided to make it a day of more sightseeing and shopping.  We hired a driver to take us to see the Buddha and some temples.  You can see the Buddha on top of a high hill overlooking Karon Beach to the west and Chalong Bay to the east.  He stands 42 metres high and can be seen from many miles away as a beautiful white statue sitting astride the green ridge that forms a backbone to Phuket.  It is made of 50,000 pieces of Jade as well as marble and is still not fully completed.  It was a great clear blue day and the view from the base was truely stunning.  The structure is being built in honor of the three jewels:  Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha as well as in honor of His Majesty King Adulyadej.

Day 4-Phi Phi, Maya, and Khai Island

Day 4- One of the things to do on my checklist was to visit Phi Phi Island and Kai Island.  I had read lots of great reviews on the internet.  Many day trips go out to the outer islands like Phi Phi Don.  Phuket has two seasons, a dry and a wet season from May till November.  This tour was expensive, running around 33 baht a person which is about $100 dollars/person, but well worth it.  Of all days to go out, this was a day not to go.  We could see storms at a distance, it was windy, and the water was rough.  Most tourists go by speedboat, because the island is around 60 minutes away from Phuket.  My family decided they would sit at the front of the boat (not recommended for the older folks or those with back and neck pain).  I was smart and decided I would sit in around the middle of the boat.  It was quite an adventure, so scary that Rene decided he would wear a lifejacket for the entire trip.  No one else looked concerned, so I was Ok.  The sights and snorkeling were well worth it.  The water was gorgeous and warm.  We went to three different islands and had a great lunch buffet only to have to get back on the boat after lunch, yeee!  Miraculously, no one got sick.  I had taken medicine before and did fine.  Our guides were great and well versed in three different languages.  The kids enjoyed snorkeling the coral reef's and monkey island.  The Chung family decided they would stay at the hotel, which was a good decision since their smallest child is only 2 years old.  All in all, a highly recommended trip, but next time I will opt for the slower more comfortable boat.  

Day 3-Le Meridien Resort Hotel

After day 2, we were ready for some rest and relaxation at our private beach resort Le Meridien.  Can you picture this:  us lying back on a beach chair in the cool shade of an umbrella.  Beautiful turquoise water and white sand gently surrounds us.  Up above are puffy cotton ball clouds in the clear sky.  This is rainy season for Thailand, but we were blessed with wonderful weather aside from the day we went on our speedboat adventure, which I will get into later.  Le Meridien is probably one of the best resorts here.  The pictures will speak for themselves.  Larissa enjoyed the 2 year old elephant that walked the grounds and beach daily.  Thai ladies could be seen massaging a client in the deep shade of their awnings.  This resort offered total isolation, a great pool and a wonderful variety of excellent restaurants.  This area was stunning with its amazing cliffs and great waves.  I enjoyed my coco rum drink everyday and relaxing by the pool.  The boys had golf lessons and did some rock climbing.  The live dancing and entertainment at night by the pool was a plus.  Transport around the island was cheap especially when we used the Tuk Tuk trucks.  Larissa had her hair braided and had fun with the Chung family kids.  It is hard to believe our resort was closed for eight months due to the 2004 December tsunami that killed so many people.  The lifeguard got everyone out and up to the hill safely.  The hotel sustained only minor damage.