Cruise to Cozumel

Lisa, Carl and I went on a cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Cozumel and back. Carl had never been on a plane nor a cruise. Carl fell asleep on the plane about half hour after we took off so obviously it didn't bother him at all. Even though the forecast was for rain the entire trip, we managed to miss it and had calm seas and sunshine most of the time. Our room was quite big, but not exactly what I had imagined. The "floor-to-ceiling" window started about two feet from the floor so there was a little ledge to sit on. It didn't bother Carl too much. He would not walk around the promanade deck because he didn't want to get that close to the edge of the ship. Lisa finally talked him into it the last night; then he walked on the inside away from the railing. I think he enjoyed himself. We didn't have any table mates except for one couple the first night. They decided to eat later. We didn't mind because was could finish faster and get to the other activities faster. In Cozumel it was interesting to go the the Mayan ruin then to the beach. We had lunch there and, of course, a margarita. We had a wonderful Captain. He was always around the ship visiting with passengers. He helped judge the Belly Flop contest. For my special Diamond Plus event, he told us a little about himself all dressed in his Captain's jacket. Then a few minutes later he came out without his jacket and sang to us. He sang the Bruce Springsteen song "I'll Be Watching You." I really enjoyed that. On the last day we were supposed to have an everglades boat tour on the way to the airport. It got cancelled so we slept in late and then spent the day at the airport. It wasn't too bad. But all good things must come to an end. Maybe we'll be able to go on another cruise sometime.

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Cape Coral visit with Darcy

August 27 to Sept 1 I spent in Florida with Darcy and Keith. We went fishing and I caught a bonnethead shark and a snapper. Keith also caught a "prehistoric monster" we later found out was a sea robin; it was very ugly. The next day Darcy and I went to the Shell museum and then to the sea shore to collect shells. We couldn't find any big ones that were not broken so we started looking for tiny ones. It was amazing how tiny they could be and still have all the detail of a big shell. We also saw jelly fish near the shore which we managed to avoid. Sunday Eric, Beth, and Ehven came and spent the day. We ate, swam in the pool and relaxed. The next day Keith took us all on a boat ride before I had to come home. It was a nice, relaxing vacation.

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Cruise to Alska

May 30 I flew to Vancouver, BC, to board the Radiance of the Seas. It was the start of a 7-day cruise which ended in Seward, Alaska, just south of Anchorage. It was a nice trip, but a little too cold for cruising. The scenery was very pretty, but Utah has mountains and forests as well - just not quite as green. I was very impressed with the glaciers. (That's one thing we don't have in Utah.)

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Through the Panama Canal!

On March 17, 2014, my friend Joe and I took a 15-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale, FL, through the Panama Canal to San Diego, CA. We had a great time - saw new places and met some wonderful people. There were quite a few sea days, but we managed to keep entertained by going to movies, golfing, etc. Our excursion to Panama City was a disaster, but other than that everything was great. When we went through the canal the ships are pulled through the locks by locomotives attached by cables. It took all day to get from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific. We went through the first lock which opened to a huge manmade lake, then went through a second lock and into a wide canal to the third lock which took us to the Pacific ocean. It was quite an experience. I really liked Antigua, Guatemala. It had quaint buildings, lots of ruins, and cobblestone streets. The whole town was decked out in purple to get ready for lent. Our dinner table was really fun. There were two couples from Montana and two couples from Canada. Since Joe and I were a little older, they started calling us Mom and Dad. It was really quite cute. We spent some time almost every evening at the Schooner Bar because the piano man was really good. As always, it was sad to come back home. I keep thinking every time I go on a cruise that I will get tired of it - I never do!

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New Caledonia and Australia

On November 6, 2013, I took the long flight to Sydney, Australia, to go on two back-to-back cruises.  The first was for nine days to the South Pacific Islands of New Caledonia.  The islands were pretty and I had a very nice time.  I met a very nice lady and her friends and we did a lot of things together.  Now I don't think I need to go back to those islands.

The second cruise was from Sydney up the east coast of Australia to Cairns.  We also stopped at Newcastle, Arlie Beach, and Brisbane.  I saw beautiful table lands, rain forests, and a curtain fig tree.  I also saw all kinds of animals in their natural habitat.  The best part was going to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane.  I got to hold one of the cuddly little things and wished I could take him home.  I met a lot of very nice people and had a wonderful trip.  It was worth the 18-hour flight from LA.

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Bahamas Cruise, Majesty of the Seas, Feb 3-7, 2014

Darcy and I got together again for this cruise. There were a lot of activities to do in just 4 days. We went to Nassau and went to Ardastra Gardens to see the birds. It is a very nice little "zoo" and we had a lot of fun. One of the birds made a sound like a cat. A couple of others said "hello". Darcy got to stand out in the arena with the marching flamingos and did her imitation of a flamingo. The next day we went to Coco Cay and had the BBQ lunch and played by the beach all afternoon. Thursday we went on a glass bottom boat out to see dolphins play and then went to a couple of coral reefs to see the fish and the coral through the glass. Darcy got out and snorkeled over to a beautiful spot and saw even more. We both had a very nice time.

The captain of the ship was the first female captain in the world 7 years ago. We got to meet her on Formal Night. The two fellows were our table mates.

 

A Week in Sedona, Arizona

On June 28, Norman, Janine, and I headed for Arizona to spend a week in a condo there. We stopped at Zion National Park Friday afternoon; Janine and I hiked/walked a mile and back to the river which was the beginning of the Narrows. It was a long walk, but it was pretty. We then stayed in Hurrican, UT for the night. Saturday we arrived at the condo about 3:30 pm. The condo was very, very nice and we each had our own separate sleeping area which was very nice. Sedona is in the middle of red rock mountains and the scenery was beautiful. Sunday we went to uptown Sedona and walked up and the the street looking at the many shops and places to eat. Tuesday we went to the Grand Canyon. It was definitely different than 30 years ago. The only way to see the canyon was via shuttle buses that made stops all along the canyon. It was convenient, but sometimes we had to wait 10 or 15 minutes for the next bus to come along. The canyon was a little hazy and the sky was overcast so it wasn't ideal for taking pictures. We had a nice time anyway. Wednesday we were supposed to go on a train ride up a little canyon southwest of Sedona. When we got to the station, we found that the train trip had been canceled. The day before while we were at Grand Canyon, there was a terrific rain storm which washed boulders down onto the train track. We were very disappointed that we didn't get to ride the train. Since we had the afternoon free, we went to Montezuma's Castle National Monument. It is the site of an ancient Indian cliff dwelling. The trail was flat and there were places to stop and sit so Norman could also enjoy the monument. Thursday we decided to take the scenic route and drive to Mesa, Tempe, and Scottsdale, Arizona. Norman and I both used to live in that area, so we wanted to see what it was like now. We stopped at the Salt River to watch all the people tubing down the river. There was a bus that people loaded up with their inner tubes and it drove them up the river to the starting point. They could go down the river as often as they wanted for $14 a day. It would have been way too much work for me - hauling the inner tubes to and from the river. When we got to Mesa, the town was practically deserted; same with Tempe and Scottsdale. Norman and I had never seen the streets so void of automobiles. We even had a hard time finding a restaurant open to have dinner. Finally we found the Salt Cellar; Norman and I had lobster and Janine had filet minon. Very nice. Finally about 6:30 when we headed to Phoenix to go back the Sedona, all the people came out of the woodwork. There was a fireworks display scheduled that evening so everyone was coming to watch. Friday we went back to town and did some more window shopping in Sedona. On our way home Saturday we went through Nevada and stopped at Hoover Dam. It was totally amazing what they have done there. They have built a new bridge which spans the canyon. For those who were in shape, they could climb up the stairs and walk along the bridge to view the dam and the canyon below. It would have been spectacular, but we looked up at it from the top of the dam. We spent the night in Mesquite, NV and then arrived at Janine's about 3:30 p.m. Norman headed on home to Idaho, but I stayed with Janine and her family to celebrate Heather's 30th birthday. Lisa had made her a birthday cake, which turn out very nice. It was a great week.

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