We took a cruise to the Bahamas from Miami a couple weeks back. In March of next year we have the same cruise scheduled for our annual staff party, so we thought it prudent to take the cruise first to understand how things will go. Last year we went to Cabo for our staff trip and this had a similar feel.
It was just Chad and Bailey and us on this trip (Chad owns the company). We have traveled with them a bit over the last few years – Guadalajara, Banff, Cancun, Cabo, Kansas (of all places), and now Bahamas. We have Orlando scheduled with them for January, Bahamas again in March, and then Isla Mujeres (outside of Cancun) in June. Each trip has at least one shot of tequila, to honor Yun’s Mexican descent. The whole company now practices this tradition actually.
I tore up the dance floor on our second night and that amount of exercise probably nearly killed me. With the all you can whenever you want to eat options, it at least provided some balance.
Short trip though at five days, with two of those as travel days. We did the red eye to arrive on the morning of departure which was awful, but it worked out fine.
I have been gathering succulents and cactus for years now, but much more aggressively this year in preparation of some sort of actual landscaping in the near future.
I have dozens more agaves around the propery in pots, but my main collection is here:
And to break down some of the varieties (and learning as I go):
Agave lophantha ‘Quadricolor’ These are the most abundant in my neighborhood and my late night journeys with the dogs will often end with me returning with 2-3 more to add to the collection. They’re fine looking, but not my favorite given how common they are.
Sharkskin Agave I bought this one from a nursery a year or two back and then planted it in the front roundabout area. It didn’t die, but for something that’s supposed to be a quick grower, I don’t think it’s ever grown. I dug it up a few months back and potted it until we can find a better destination.
Artichoke Agave As above, I did the same with this one. Put it back into a pot to let it heal up and grow a bit.
Blue Ice Agave There’s one house in the neighborhood that has these and outside of which, I’ve never found this agave before in Tucson. It’s likely nurseries will carry it, but certainly not common.
Mexican Fencepost / Mexican Organ Pipe Matt has a large collection of these all over his property. They’re rather quite expensive at a nursery and he’s allowed me to plunder all different sizes. They look great in a pot.
I have a larger one (maybe 6 or 7 feet) on the back patio, relocated from his place.
Trichocereus spachianus These are not pleasant to handle. I use tongs because these needles will rip right through thick leather gloves and so painful.
Also, not cheap. A 5 gallon version of this (slightly larger) goes for $75 at this Phoenix nursery.
San Pedro Cactus I am pretty sure that’s what this. Matt has a massive one that grows out of control and higher than his roof.
Euphorbia Graniticola This is a small one that has a milky interior fluid which I have no idea how toxic it is.
??? I can’t yet figure out what this one is. I was dumping Matt’s trailer a year ago (so I could fill it with my own crap) and I found this fellow while unloading. More research here will be needed it seems.
After what seems like a very very long time, today we had our foundation poured for our garage and workshop. This has been long in the works, but today went fast!
We had a fun trip to one of the motherlands a week or so ago. Every day was sunny which was not expected. Warm temperatures, much like our winters, so we loved it.
We stayed at this great place on the water maybe 5 minutes from Kim’s place. The views were amazing.
Not much on the agenda. I slept a lot which was glorious.
On one of the ferries was approached by someone claiming to be a relative. Kim apparently coordinated that.
Derek and Linda traveled over from North Van to spend the day together. That was a nice surprise.
We had a fun time going to a play at Centennial Hall last night with Yrem and Heidi. It was a 3-hour play. So needless to say it will be the very last play I ever attend in my life if I have anything to do with it.
I had a work event in Banff, Alberta a few months ago which turned into a really fun trip. Although this city is expensive, the plummeting Canadian dollar helps quite a bit.
