Thursday, March 24, 2011

Cabin fever .... be gone!

It truly is amazing what a week in the sun can do for cabin fever! This year, our winter has been long, cold with lots of snow and a week in the Dominican Republic was most welcome. My sister and I stayed at Punta Cana at one of the Iberostar resorts. What can I say, except it was "wonderful".

This post is photo heavy, but bear with me as there is something about sewing at the end.

We stayed in this block of rooms and if only we took our bearings when we first arrived, we would not have roamed the resort trying to find our room later in the afternoon. The resort is huge and we walked different paths throughout our stay ... some more interesting than others. I just loved the wooden planks laying on top of the sand. Lovely colour combinations.

We walked the beach the first afternoon we arrived. Again, my sister and I forgot to take bearings and after 45 mins. of walking we turned around and headed back to our resort. Mmmm .... what did our resort look like from the beach? There were no signs posted and after seeing other people on beach longers wearing the same wrist bands like we had, we figured that was our resort. Phew .... lesson learned.

We walked the resort grounds which were absolutely beautiful. Lots of photos were taken from various vantage points. We had to walk off the wonderful food we ate each day otherwise the plane would never have been able to take off.

A day excursion into the countryside revealed the reality of this island life away from the resorts.

A quick swim at the local's beach was gorgeous and breathtaking. No development here .... just a beach as one would expect.

A day of snorkelling was amazing. Unfortunately, we had no underwater camera to take shots, but the mural on this bench gives a good reflection of what we saw.

We were quite happy to sit under a beach palapa .....

... and watch the world go by ....

.... and take a few snoozes like this trio during the hottest part of the day.

When I least expected it, inspiration snuck in and surprised me.

I did get some sewing done on the beach and late at night in our room. The lighting in the hotel rooms are always the pits, but I brought a book light (the kind that you just clip onto your book) with me and it really came in handy. My light has an adjustable goose neck and it was perfect to adjust to whatever angle I needed to see and sew.

Now, don't laugh ... but I just plunked my book light down the front of my top, adjusted the goose neck, turned on my light and relaxed back against the pillows and sewed away to my heart's content. This book light was under $10 and worked like a charm for me.

My sister laughed when she saw what I was doing but thought that it was a great idea.
Anyway, have a great day!

12 comments:

Jennifer said...

Looks as though you had a great time and had good weather too! Certainly a break from snowy TO. Have heard the tip about book lights before and it's a terrific idea. Just noticing the bedspread you are lying on....any photos of that? I love Jacobean style embroideries.

Julie Fukuda said...

I knew the sun had to be shining somewhere. How wonderful to be able to enjoy it with your sister!

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

Wonderful is the right words....I love your extra lighting...

Sherry said...

That was a great idea. glad to seeyou had lots of fun.

QuiltSue said...

Your holiday looks wonderful, and I love your resting place for the light!

Kiera-Oona said...

I'm still waiting for the snow to go away here. It did for a little bit, then it changed its mind.

Looks like you had loads of fun :-)

Janet said...

That's what I call a holiday, it looks idyllic. The book light is a great idea for taking away, might have to get one now.

Barb said...

oh, does that look good! have a wonderful time.
I love the book light idea - bravo

Joyce said...

Love this post and the part about the book light.

*karendianne. said...

I love the countryside view, Rose Marie. I immediately thought how wonderful that was and what it must be like under the powerful rains!!! I thought how comfy it would be sleep under those things and take a snooze. I bet there was a light breeze coming off the water, ha? Enjoyed the neat paths and really glad the wandering around became a silly memory between two sisters! We needs lots of those memories.

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Unknown said...

This looks like paradise.