Gentle Readers,

It’s that time of the year again to find out who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. Naughty: US Congress. Nice: Reevi Sullivan. (I’ve got my reasons.) Naughty: Edward Snowden. He’d better never show his face in Reno; these people carry. Nice: Emma, Kelly and Kevin. Great kids. Naughty: Those of you who forgot to update my address from Portola Valley to Reno….

Kelly, who was nice, joined us with two of her best friends in January for the Wine Road Event in California’s Dry Creek and Russian River Appellations. For $60 you have the opportunity to taste at more than 80 wineries over 3 days. So picture this: Eric, the, ahem, designated driver, and four feisty females on a girls weekend out, fueled by free wine. OMG! It was a massive estrogen overload. I heard things men aren’t meant to hear….

After we shaped up, Reevi and I spent two glorious weeks in Belize. I had always wanted to dive the Blue Hole at Lighthouse Reef, so we booked a week at Turneffe Island, one of the world’s great dive resorts. The Blue Hole is one of those places a serious diver needs on his bucket list. The Blue Hole is 500 feet deep with 100 ft stalactites starting at 80 ft. I dove to 137 feet, which was fine, except my camera case is spec’d at 130 ft. Oopsie. I sent the camera back to Canon complaining that it didn’t work anymore. They wrote back: “Well no wonder! It was full of salt water and itty bitty ocean creatures.” (Nice try Eric.) The land-side of the visit was cool too. Miss Reevi sucked it up and went zip lining and spelunking. If it weren’t for the no-see-ems, she would have had a superb time, but the little buggers ate her up. With her standing next to me though, I didn’t even need bug spray.

Pictures are at https://wentzelfamilytravelog.shutterfly.com/. Don’t miss the fun videos of the Blue Hole. I’ll accept my Best Director Award at Cannes in May. I’d like to thank my late Mother, my producers, my finance Reevi… Oops. Did I mention that yet? No? Yep, Reevi and I got engaged. Ring and all. No date set yet, we don’t want to rush things.

Next, we visited Costa Rica for 9 days. Reevi and I took her two daughters and one of the girls’ friends with us, which was nice for all concerned. My older brother Ken has his home there, so we stopped by to see him while in country. His house is out of Architectural Digest, but you need 4-wheels or a mule to get up the mountain to it, and it’s a 3 ½ hour drive from civilization. But with jungle, waterfalls, monkeys and a python in the back yard, it’s just what he wanted. Still, after visits to Costa Rica, Belize, Yucatan, Cozumel, Panama and Bocas Del Toro, I think I’m done with Central America for a while.

Reevi: 65 ft up in a free fall          Eric: The usual.              Emmee: Showing off.

After we got home, I made a quick tour of the kidlettes, including my only grand child Emma. Living in Reno, I don’t see enough of them, as Kelly and Kevin are quick to remind me. The goods news: all are doing famously, although Kelly said she would issue a fatwa on me if I put any bragy crap about her in my annual Christmas diatribe. Jeez. That’s what Christmas diatribes are for, girl!

To spice things up a bit, we flew to Edmonton, Canada to catch Bob Seger’s last concert, which was nothing short of transforming. That guy is 67 and still has it after all these years. You go Bob. You’re my hero! Turns out he went to the high school next to mine, and it’s possible we dated the same girls. (Hey Bob, how’d you like Linda Barnes?) Small world.

You may recall I had always wanted to retire along the Oregon Coast, so Reevi and I flew up to Eugene and drove over to Yahats to my old favorite place, the Cape Cod Cottages. Har-umph. I’m probably not the first to tell you that you can never go home again. It rained the entire time we were there, (!) and the cottages were up for sale. We finally bailed to Oregon’s Pinot Noir Wine Country. Now that was fun! We’ll go back next year for sure. Maybe Kelly can join us.

I had told Reevi many times I thought Palau in Micronesia was one of the prettiest spots on Earth, with some of the world’s best diving. “So go!” she said. She booked us at the great Palau Pacific Resort, and I booked the dives. But I swear, a cloud has been following me around this year. We vacationed under one of the biggest typhoons of the year, which did great damage when it finally got to Japan. For us though, it just rained and ruined my diving visibility. Finally, on our last day, I talked my Dive Master into running out to the edge of the archipelago to the Blue Corner (another bucket list dive site). Amazingly, Reevi said she’d join me, although she doesn’t dive. What a trooper. What a ride! We had 6-7 ft seas in a small dive boat. Many of the passengers spent the entire time hurling chunks. But the dive was definitely worth the ride. You hook your self onto the reef and just hang on. The 8 knot current sweeps all manner of sharks, barracuda, jacks, tuna etc. right in front of your nose. Wahoo!

                                                                                            
                  Jelly Fish                                                                                                                     Lake Barracuda Patrol

                                                                                          
Gray Reef Shark on the hunt                                                                                                Beach at Palau Pacific Resort

Getting to Palau is a 2 ½ day affair no matter how you cut it. We spent as much time coming and going as staying there. So on the way home, Reevi scored us first cabin seats on Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner. That is one sweet airplane!

Reevi at 37,000 feet in Boeing’s best

Reevi’s girls complained we were having all the fun without them. So for Steffanie’s 21st, we took her and boyfriend Jeremy to the Big Island for a week in the sun. Unfortunately, Emmee had school. (Her nose is still out of joint.) The plan was to get Reevi over her aversion to snorkeling. We’re now up to three full seconds under water. Progress….

                                                                                         

Popolu Valley Lookout                                                                                                                  Happy Hour in Kona

Steff, Jeremy and I did a night snorkel dive with some 12 foot Manta Rays. It was like being on acid. (or so I’m told...) They come within an inch of you and then do a slow mo back flip. All in the pitch black. Freaky!

Attack of the Gentle Giants

Then my younger brother John called to say we needed to saw off his 65 ft long, second story deck, which was rotting away. Hmm. Another opportunity for a trip to emergency, says I. So in the 35 degree Michigan rain (Again! I’m seeing a pattern here…) your author and John, spent 7 days of hard labor removing the damned deck. Worse: I am to return in the Spring and spend one more week putting another one up in its place. But hey, what are brothers for?

Somewhere in there I had time for Reno stuff. Lake Tahoe always calls for a quick 3 hr aerobic paddle up the lake. And for Thanksgiving, I cooked for 18. Since I’m new here, these folks were Reevi’s family from all over Nevada. I cooked at my place and then transported the meal to Reevi’s. Somehow it all worked out.

Love that boat!                                         Quiet before the storm

I couldn’t resist the picture of Mason the Cat. He spent the night in the fireplace to keep warm. He says he’s sorry. Amazingly, he didn’t catch fire. (That I know of.) It took 4 weeks of cat baths to get the white spots back. Reevi (dog person) said, “just give him a bath.” Eric (cat person) said, “got paramedics standing by?”

And then a funny thing happened. I went to the wrong Air Force Academy Reunion. Yep. I got there, and there were all these old farts claiming to be from the class of ‘68. What happened to the young people I went to school with? (Some smarty pants said, “Look in the mirror, dude!”) At least we whupped Army. Too bad it wasn’t Navy. (Brother Ken is a Naval Academy grad.) But here’s the thing: Reevi loved it. Said what great classmates I have. Now that I think about it, I do.

Last week we flew to Paris for a 4 day weekend. I expected to be rained on, and, good news, I wasn’t disappointed. We scored the usual sites, including the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, la Tour Eiffle, l’Arch de Triumph, Champs d’Elysee, Notre Dame, the Seine, Pont Neuf and even took the train out to Versailles. Lovely dinners with great French food, and no, my high school French did not come back to me. Sacre blue! Mon Dieu! Tout Alors!

Well, that’s all for now, gotta go. Adios! I mean au revoir. (And don’t drive like my brother!)

Eric and Reevi