Mt. Rainier
Noel at Ingraham Flats campsite on climb of Mt. Rainier, Washington. Roll mouse over image to see picture of Noel & Kathy at Times Square in New York City.

Just added:

Old guy (Noel) and young guy (Karl) with our "rock art" and a cool beer.

April 2012: Returned from eight days on Grand Turk Island, Turks & Caicos. This was a combination Louisville Dive Club & International Rotary Club trip. I think there were about twenty-two persons. I have posted some pictures which can be seen by clicking to the link in the left menu.

March 2012: Returned from the Philippine Islands, along with members of the Bluegrass Dive Club in Lexington. Trip was split into a week at each to two different resorts at two different locations. It was a long trip, but well worth the effort. A group of pretty good pictures can be seen by clicking on the link at the left.

February 2012: Returned from my first trip aboard Caribbean Explorer II, a scuba diving boat traveling between St. Maarten, Saba, and St. Kitts. It was a good trip and perhaps I may return one day. A few pictures are posted, which can be viewed by clicking on the link in the left column.

January 2012: Kathy and I enjoyed four nights in Las Vegas where Celine Dion sang to me ... well, at least she glanced briefly in my general direction ... so, I'm counting it. The following week I traveled to Colorado and enjoyed a week of snow skiing at Breckenridge & Keystone with Judge and Patrick. We also mooched an overnight at the beautiful home in Aspen being managed (and lived in) by Kate (Katey) Buster. What a phenomenal property with an unbelievable view. We skied Aspen Mountain the next day, which was sunny with no wind ... just perfect. Thanks Katey.

November 30th: Returned from a week sailing and diving in the British Virgin Islands, followed by three days on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. A link to some pictures is at the bottom left.

November 6th: Returned from three separate adventures. First, a week in Key West at Fantasy Festival. A very crazy carnival type celebration with lots of body paint. There is a link to the left if you want to see a selection of pictures. (WARNING - Some pictures contain what I will simply call "Artistic Nudity", so use your own discretion.) After Key West, I spent three days in Orlando at the DEMA Show (scuba diving and travel), before joining the family at a cabin in the Smokey's. Back home now for some football and basketball.

October 15th: Returned from a week on the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, along with nine other members of the Bluegrass Dive Club in Lexington, Kentucky. Pictures and a short video at the link on the left.

September 29th: Kathy and I returned from four days at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee. Did some hiking and fly fishing. No Fall color as of yet.

September 22nd: Kathy and I returned from four days at Disney World in Orlando. Stayed at Wilderness Lodge and scuba dived in the aquarium at Epcot.

August 12th: Kathy and I returned from a ten day safari in Kenya, Africa. We took our niece to visit her brother who has been serving in the Peace Corp for the past two years. Feel free to click on the link to the left to view some safari pictures.

July 16th: Amanda marries William. Christopher is one year old. Wedding and reception at the University of Louisville Alumni Center.

June 18th: After three weeks in the Caribbean, I returned home to Kentucky and my family. The Bluegrass Dive Club had nearly 30 members in Bonaire, including the three of us traveling from BVI. Follow the link of the left to view some pictures.

June 10th: Finished ten days in the British Virgin Islands with friends from Lexington, Kentucky. Afterwards continued the adventure to Bonaire, meeting with members of the Bluegrass Dive Club for a week of scuba diving. Feel free to check out the BVI pictures by clicking on the link to the left.

April 9th: Returned from two weeks in Grenada and The Grenadines. After a week of sailing we joined other members of the Bluegrass Dive Club for a week of scuba diving, hiking and socializing. Click on the link to the left to see pictures of our adventures.

February 20th: Returned from two weeks in the South Pacific Fiji Islands with 18 members of the Bluegrass Dive Club from Lexington, Kentucky. Click on the link at the left to see a short narrative with pictures and a shark video.

January 29th: Returned from one week with the Louisville Dive Club at the Little Cayman Beach Resort on Little Cayman Island. You can view a few pictures and a short video by clicking on the link on the left.

January 1st: Traveled a week ago with Kathy to St. Petersburg, Florida to watch the Louisville Cardinals play Southern Mississippi in the Beef O'Brady Bowl. Louisville wins football game, but yesterday afternoon gave a poor showing against University of Kentucky in basketball. New Year's Eve with friends in Louisville, and the "happy feet" finally kicked-in after about seven beers. Headed to Little Cayman with a few members of the Louisville Dive Club on the 21st of January. Anybody want to go to Little Cayman in three weeks?

December 18th: Returned from one week in the British Virgin Islands with a crew of five aboard Wind Dancer, another bare-boat adventure of sailing and diving. A picture link is on the left.

December 6th: Four days, three nights, in Breckenridge, Colorado with my hiking friend, Judge. We spent two days on the Quandary Peak Trail stomping through the snow. Feel free to click on QUANDARY PEAK to view a short video at 13,000 feet.

November 19th: Three days in Las Vegas at the DEMA show (Diving Equipment & Manufacturers Association). Lots of new scuba toys and many great diving destinations!

November 7th: Returned from French Polynesia where we were on a ten day Princess cruise ship, sailing through the islands of the South Pacific, including Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora. Total travel time from Louisville to Papeete was about 20 hours (each way), however, it was worth the hassle. The islands are very scenic, but also expensive and my French ain't so good. I have posted some pictures if anyone would like to take a look. Just click on the link on the left.

October 10th: Returned from one week in Key West with a small group of Bluegrass Dive Club members. The weather was nice, except too windy, resulting in only two days of scuba diving. One day was a big mess due to a nasty current and poor visability. The other day was a little better, but still marginal. The "Duval Street Crawl" was a success, and often a singular activity during the week.

September 21st: Returned from my first trip to Bayfield, Wisconsin. I was met by friends Randy & Sue in Minneapolis and drove 5 hours to the Pike's Bay marina on Lake Superior. We sailed the Apostle Islands for three days where I had the opportunity to visit with Steve, my former sailing instructor. In addition, I had a chance to visit with Marba & Rich, old friends from California. A link to pictures is on the left.

September 12th: Sunday at the "Cookie Stop", a SAG rest area half-way between Bardstown and Louisville. This is the second day of the annual Old Kentucky Home Tour bike ride with over 1,000 riders.. This 50 mile ride was definately the limits of my biking ability. Not many 64 year old dudes on the route, certainly a younger man's activity. I made it without walking my bike, but did not break any speed records.

August 29th: Returned from several days in Key West with the Mel Fisher people. After the regular "dog & pony show", I actually got to spend a day diving with the crew aboard their search vessel. Unfortunately, no gold or silver, only three musket balls.

August 2nd: Returned from a week on the Red Reflet Ranch in Ten Sleep, Wyoming. Rode horses & ATV's, along with fishing & hiking. Also made a guick stop at Mt. Rushmore before returning home to Kentucky.

July 23rd: Michael Beans travels to Louisville to perform at Noel & Kathy's "Pirate Party". We drank 16 gallons of rum punch & painkillers during the several hours of fellowship with friends. Picture link is on the left.

June 9th: Just returned from eleven days in the British Virgin Islands, along with a total of sixteen pirates split between two sailing catamarans. Feel free to click on the link on the left to see some pictures and a short video.

May 11th: Springtime in Kentucky, finally. Weather has been a little "all over the place", but great to see decent temperatures and colors. Primary activity during April was attending Keeneland Race Track in Lexington, along with friends. A few pictures at the link on the left. Not long before I head to BVI with a motely crew of 16 pirates. My 64th birthday coming soon, along with my 40th wedding anniversary. Our daughter's (Amanda) baby is due in three weeks.

March 31st: Returned with Kathy from a week at Sandal's Grande Resort on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. The resort is marketed primarily toward couples, and we are a couple, so that worked out pretty good. While we were there, the island was invaded by a couple of rich Russians, who flew in on their private Boeing 737 to meet up with their private mega-yacht. Click on the link to the left to view a few pictures.

March 6th: Returned from Little Cayman where I joined a group of twelve members of the Bluegrass Dive Club out of Lexington, Kentucky. It was a good week of fun in the sun. You can view a few pictures by clicking on the link to the left.

January 9th: Returned from the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean, where I spent a week of scuba diving with the Louisville, Kentucky dive club (associated with the Rotary Club). I, along with Bernardo & Dean, also took 3 hours of kite boarding lessons. We found that it will take more than 3 hours to acquire even the basic skills necessary to reach a novice level of ability. We all agreed that it is "do-able" , but we will need more instruction. As Dean remarked, I looked like a hooked marlin as the kite pulled me out of the ocean and slammed me on my face. There was blood and rope burns involved, but we refuse to be discouraged! Weather was great, but now I'm back in the cold & snow in Kentucky. If you would like to see a few pictures and a short video, click on the link on the left.

December 9th: Returned from Minneapolis, where I joined sailing/diving friends Randy, Sue, Rosy, Eric and Heather. We attended a "Golden Gophers" basketball game at The Barn on the University of Minnesota campus. Thanks to Jerry for helping us obtain excellent game tickets and passes into the University Club Room. Later we moved the party to "Sally's", a campus watering hole, to finish the evening. One comment.... I'll never complain about winter in Kentucky again! Damn, it's cold in Minnesota.

November 28th: Returned from Thanksgiving week in the British Virgin Islands with a group of ten from Omaha, Nebraska. We chartered two sailing catamarans and hit most of the high spots during the week. Click on the link on the left for some pictures and a short trip review.

October 21st: Returned from three weeks in Indonesia. We were actually on the dive boat for eleven days, but with travel time and a few days on the island of Bali, the total was twenty-one days. The trip home really "nailed" me, as from the time I left the hotel on Bali to the time I landed in Louisville was 42 hours! Feel free to click on the link at the left to see some pictures and a short video.

September 10th: Just returned with nephew Charlie, along with Judge and Jimmy, from Telluride, Colorado where we completed our 217 mile mountain bike ride between Telluride, Colorado and Moab, Utah. We only skipped one section, John Brown Canyon, in order to return to Telluride a day early and climb Mt. Sneffels. We made the summit on the morning of September 9th, an altitude of 14,150 ft. I have added some pictures and a short video of the mountain summit, just click on the link on the left.