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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Gran Canaria -- Nos encanto!

Sorry for the blog hiatus. As blessed and lucky as I am, I have to say that the 'work' and 'kids' portions of my life kind of eat up the 'blog' portion.   Fortunately, the 'travel' portion gets quite a bit of attention over here as well.  I've got tons of pictures on my flash cards that are itching to be posted, but that would involve going all the way back to early August, including birthdays, Scotland, and many more.  I just don't have the ambition for all of that right now, but maybe in the deep dark of another English winter, I'll go back and catch up.  In the meantime, we've just returned from an awesome week in the Canary Islands.  Enjoy the pics!


 Sunrise on our first morning  
(photo credit goes to Dave for this one--I had the silly notion
 that vacation meant not being awake for sunrise!)

Nuestra casa para la semana (our home for the week!)

Breakfast on the patio


Mid-afternoon siesta


Palm trees (my new photography obsession)




Windsurfing lessons

 






"Huffman Gran Canaria 2012" (original artwork by Casey)


Black sand beach



Pool bound




Did I mention the palm trees?


Maspalomas Sand Dunes (where the motto is something like:  Saggy & Wrinkly Preferred)
 




 (Would've been nice to see this sign before we camped out about 500meters to the left of it)



Barranco de Guayadeque--gorgeous ravine where people still live in cave homes





Lunch in a cave!



Cuatro Puertas cave dwellings










Snorkel adventure 


 (Practicing in the pool)


 To the sea!


 Look at that face!  In her defense, it was a really rough entry.  Our wonderful, patient guide kept Marley on her back the whole time we were in the water so the rest of us could explore.



(Happier at the end!)

Thanksgiving dinner at Julia's fish house, squid included :)
 





The kids thought the mountain in the sky in the distance was heaven.  Hated to tell them it was actually another island, Tenerife.


Playa de Amadores



Caldera de Bandama -- extinct volcano

(Overlook at the highest point) 

(Hike into the crater)





Playa de Aguadulces -- a completely deserted beach







Sunset swim in the ocean on our last night 







Casey looking tough with his souvenir fan ; )


Ponies reading up on volcanoes before we headed to Caldera de Bandama


Goofy underwater shots from the last dip in the pool





 Next up on the Huffman family adventure schedule?  Dave is off to the glamorous and exotic city of New York this week, I'm heading to France for the Christmas market in a couple of weeks, and we're looking at either Belgium or the Scottish Highlands for New Year's.