2008 12/31 - New Year's Eve on Grand Turk Island

Happy New Year friends!

We enjoyed an absolutely stunning day on Grand Turk Island in the Caribbean. This is a shot of our ship in the background. This port offers a stunning beach just off the pier. Shopping is dead-ahead in the terminal building, no vendors peddling wares. The lounge chairs are provided free of charge, no litter, beautiful white sand, a great walking beach and crystal clear water. We love it here and we'll be back again.

2008 12 29 St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

We have all heard about St. Thomas and it's beauty - and we'll state emphatically that it is true. We enjoyed a partly sunny day on the island and traveled by ferry over to St. Johns to Trunk Bay, part of the Virgin Islands National Park. Both are lovely and we really enjoyed the visit.

2008 12 28 Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, The Netherlands Antilles

We arrived St. Maarten on the Dutch side of the Island. It was an overcast, dicey day. The seas were moderate, but intermittent sunshine made the day very enjoyable. Here is a shot of the city as we approach the port. The second photo is a shot of the ocean from the beach on the windward side of the island, the French side.

2008 12 27 Roseau, Dominica

Dominica is a young, volcanic island and this time of year migrating sperm whales arrive to give birth to their calves. Here is the fluke of a female sperm whale as she takes her final plunge.

Here she is giving us a rainbow from her spout.













Our ship at port in the harbor.

2008 12 26 Port of Spain, Trindidad

Heavy rains in Trindidad caused our tour to be cancelled, so we left the pier and booked a taxi for a 2-hour tour around town. The population here is large, and quite poor. The nation, however, is wealthy as they have huge oil and natural gas reserves. Like in the States, the trickle-down hasn't trickled down. Port of Spain has a lot of crime and a big drug problem - nothing new. Infrastructure has been neglected and the people are suffering. Someone is getting rich - it's just not the people.

2008 12 25 Christmas Day - Barbados

Another lovely day in the Caribbean.

The weather in Barbados was partly cloudy and seas were moderate with 10' to 15' waves, but the island is a beauty! We enjoyed a tour of the island in a Land Rover 4 x 4 through some of the hills and forests, and through the sugar cane fields on the island.Our guide pointed out a few of the more historical buildings, old sugar cane plantations - most of which are long gone. We absorbed a bit of the history of this place and now better understand the impact it had on America.

2008 12 23 Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

The city of Mayaguez is building a new port in an attempt to lure cruise ships to Puerto Rico. Mayaguez is feeling the effects of the poor economy and our cruise ship was big news. Musicians and local artisans were brought into the town square to provide trinkets and entertainment for the insatiable shoppers from the cruise ship. The visit of the Prinsendam even prompted a live report by the local news anchor.

During our time at the square I was approached by a local woman (probably in her 60s) who wanted to interpret for me a song a perfomer was singing. She wanted me to know that song was about the struggle of the common laborer, the average man. The lyrics were asking them to hold on, that their struggle would not last forever, and that they cannot be kept down. That their hard work somehow would prevail.

The economy is tough here. Her also shared with me that her only son committed suicide recently because he could not find work, and could not support his daughter. He felt that if he was gone his baby daughter would at least get financial support from the government. A very sad situation indeed.

2008 12 22 Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is an interesting country, with a mix of over 120 cultures. There is a huge population and the economy is struggling. Politics is politics and people in high places enjoy the nicest homes. Here is a photo of the electric service that goes into homes and buildings throughout the city. The mesh of wires is everywhere - down every street and intersection. It sags into the street and down sidewalks and the locals tell us service is unreliable and is often out several times a day, often for hours at a time. The next photo is of the Presidential Palace - it is just like our White House - complete with armed guards. We've heard much of the state of the economy from island country to island country throughout the Caribbean - no jobs, slow tourism, and the numbers of poor is growing at an alarming rate. They are concerned.

2008 12 19 Departing Ft. Lauderdale - Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage - We're off. This photo is taken as we leave port in Ft. Lauderdale around 5 o'clock Friday evening. Can hardly believe we're off.

Bon Voyage! We're Off

We're like Rudolph on Christmas Eve - the bags are packed - made our list - checking it twice - hugs and good byes have been said - make like a tree and leave.....The next 14 days consist of the Caribbean, so Justin and Peyton - you enjoy all that snow for us. Take lots of pictures and we'll see you in the Spring.

Cruise Destinations

Recently we were asked about our plans for winter and for us it's back to sea. Last year we took a cruise that lasted 30 days and really enjoyed the experience. We're off again, this time beginning December 19th (08) for a back-to-back cruise through the Caribbean and to South America and Antarctica. The cruise line is Holland America.

For those of you who've asked, here is our itinerary.

14-Day Southern Caribbean Holiday Cruise

68-Day Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage


Itinerary

Day	Date	Port or Activity	Arrive	Depart
Fri	Dec 19	Fort Lauderdale, FL		5:00pm
Sat	Dec 20	At Sea
Sun	Dec 21	At Sea
Mon	Dec 22	Samana, Dominican Republic	8:00am	5:00pm
Tue	Dec 23	Mayaguez, Puerto Rico	8:00am	5:00pm
Wed	Dec 24	At Sea
Thu	Dec 25	Barbados	8:00am	5:00pm
Fri	Dec 26	Port of Spain, Trinidad	8:00am	5:00pm
Sat	Dec 27	Roseau, Dominica	11:00am	7:00pm
Sun	Dec 28	St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles	8:00am	5:00pm
Mon	Dec 29	St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands	8:00am	5:00pm
Tue	Dec 30	At Sea
Wed	Dec 31	Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands	7:00am	1:00pm
Thu	Jan 1	Half Moon Cay, Bahamas	8:00am	3:00pm
Fri	Jan 2	Fort Lauderdale, FL	7:00am

Fri	Jan 2	Fort Lauderdale, FL		5:00pm
Sat	Jan 3	Half Moon Cay, Bahamas	8:00am	3:00pm
Sun	Jan 4	At Sea
Mon	Jan 5	At Sea
Tue	Jan 6	Barbados	8:00am	5:00pm
Wed	Jan 7	At Sea
Thu	Jan 8	Devil's Island, French Guiana	8:00am	4:00pm
Fri	Jan 9	At Sea
Sat	Jan 10	Macapa, Brazil	4:00am	4:00pm
Sat	Jan 10	Crossing the Equator
Sun	Jan 11	Santarem, Brazil	Noon	8:00pm
Mon	Jan 12	Boca da Valeria, Brazil	8:00am	2:00pm
Tue	Jan 13	Manaus (Amazon River), Brazil	10:00am
Wed	Jan 14	Manaus (Amazon River), Brazil		4:00pm
Thu	Jan 15	Parintins, Brazil	8:00am	5:00pm
Fri	Jan 16	Alter do Chao, Brazil	8:00am	3:00pm
Sat	Jan 17	Crossing the Equator
Sun	Jan 18	At Sea
Mon	Jan 19	Belém, Brazil	8:00am	5:00pm
Tue	Jan 20	At Sea
Wed	Jan 21	Fortaleza, Brazil	8:00am	5:00pm
Thu	Jan 22	At Sea
Fri	Jan 23	Maceió, Brazil	7:00am	3:00pm
Sat	Jan 24	Salvador, Brazil	8:00am	5:00pm
Sun	Jan 25	At Sea
Mon	Jan 26	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	10:00am
Tue	Jan 27	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil		6:00pm
Wed	Jan 28	Ilhabela, Brazil	7:00am	3:00pm
Thu	Jan 29	Itajai, Brazil	8:00am	3:00pm
Fri	Jan 30	At Sea
Sat	Jan 31	Montevideo, Uruguay	8:00am	6:00pm
Sun	Feb 1	Buenos Aires, Argentina	8:00am
Mon	Feb 2	Buenos Aires, Argentina		5:00pm
Tue	Feb 3	At Sea
Wed	Feb 4	At Sea
Thu	Feb 5	Port Stanley, Falkland Islands	8:00am	5:00pm
Fri	Feb 6	At Sea
Sat	Feb 7	At Sea
Sun	Feb 8	Cumberland Bay, South Georgia	8:00am	5:00pm
Mon	Feb 9	At Sea
Tue	Feb 10	At Sea
Wed	Feb 11	The Antarctic Sound (Cruising)
Thu	Feb 12	South Shetland Islands (Cruising)
Fri	Feb 13	Wilhelm Archipelago (Cruising)
Sat	Feb 14	At Sea
Sun	Feb 15	Ushuaia, Argentina	10:00am	5:00pm
Mon	Feb 16	Punta Arenas, Chile	10:00am	10:00pm
Tue	Feb 17	At Sea
Wed	Feb 18	At Sea
Thu	Feb 19	Puerto Chacabuco, Chile	9:00am	4:00pm
Fri	Feb 20	Puerto Montt, Chile	9:00am	7:00pm
Sat	Feb 21	At Sea
Sun	Feb 22	Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile	7:00am	5:00pm
Mon	Feb 23	La Serena, Chile	8:00am	5:00pm
Tue	Feb 24	At Sea
Wed	Feb 25	Arica, Chile	10:00am	7:00pm
Thu	Feb 26	At Sea
Fri	Feb 27	Lima (Callao), Peru	8:00am
Sat	Feb 28	Lima (Callao), Peru		5:00pm
Sun	Mar 1	Salaverry, Peru	9:00am	6:00pm
Mon	Mar 2	At Sea
Tue	Mar 3	Manta, Ecuador	7:00am	7:00pm
Wed	Mar 4	Crossing the Equator
Thu	Mar 5	Fuerte Amador, Panama	8:00am
Fri	Mar 6	Fuerte Amador, Panama		3:00am
Fri	Mar 6	Panama Canal (Full Transit)
Sat	Mar 7	San Blas Islands, Panama	7:00am	2:00pm
Sun	Mar 8	Santa Marta, Colombia	8:00am	5:00pm
Mon	Mar 9	At Sea
Tue	Mar 10	At Sea
Wed	Mar 11	Fort Lauderdale, FL	8:00am

2008 12 13 The Sandhill Cranes

I was tackling a few chores around the bus this afternoon when I heard an odd racket outside. It was the distinctive call of Sandhill Cranes. These majestic birds are comfortable around people on the golf course, but had taken a shine to the Tee Box on the 12th Green here at The Great Outdoors. Several of the neighbors were scurrying for their cameras to capture this amazing site. I was fortunate they were in the mood to be photographed.

2008 12 11 It's A Beautiful Morning

This morning provided us a particularly spectacular sunrise. The colors are amazing, but pass so quickly. I barely had time to grab the camera before it was over - and the pictures really don't do the splendor justice.

2008 12 02 Kennedy Space Center

It was an early start this morning touring the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. A huge complex that will certainly take more than one day to take in everything. We're planning to return on Friday to do just that.

A guided tour took us through the entire Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This state-of-the-art Complex is not an Amusement Park - it is a working scientific complex. A amazing place to visit and work. It was fascinating walk down memory lane.

Do you remember these programs?

The Space Shuttle Program (1981 to present, more than 119 flights)
Launch Complex 34 - Apollo Program (1965-1968, 2 Unmanned, 1 Manned Mission)Project Gemini (1965-1966, 10 Manned Missions
The Mercury-Atlas Program (1962-1963, 4 Orbital Missions
The Mercury-Redstone Program (1961, 2 Sub-Orbital Missions)
Skylab & the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) (1973-1975, 5 missions total)
Historic LC 39 Launches - Apollo Program (1968-1972, 10 Launches
The International Space Station (ISS)(1998 to present, more than 22 Space Shuttle Missions to date)

2008 11 27 Happy Thanksgiving

This year was another Thanksgiving on our own. Heather and Michael and the boys are celebrating the holiday with Heather's Grandparents, Willard and Mabel Fraley. Because we opted to head to warmer weather, we sent a Honey-Baked Ham and Turkey dinner to make up for our absence. Heather was happy to hear that a delicious meal was arriving and she wasn't going to have to rush to the grocery after work the day before the holiday. Lisa and Eimhin headed to Hawaii for a bit of surfing. We heard from them when they arrived and they were already enjoying Maitai's on the beach! Sounds good to me.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day. We did - and the Cowboys won! It was a good Thanksgiving afterall.

2008 11 24 Today's Sunset, Titusville, FL

We enjoyed an absolutely lovely day and it ended with a spectacular sunset. Wow! What lovely color. Did you notice the reflection in the lake?

2008 11 16 To Tallahassee or Titusville

We are planning to make our way to Floriday in the morning. We're unsure how far we'll get, so it will probably be Tallahassee or a very long day on the road to go into Titusville. The weather is expected to be good so we have that working in our favor.

2008 11 16 Beignets and Coffee - YUM

We arrived at Cafe Du Monde this morning for their infamous beignets and coffee. While the beignets were hot and delicious the coffee was probably the most delicious cup I've ever had.

Next we were off on a Hurricane Katrina tour to check out the rebuilding efforts.

The Kaliope player atop the Natchez steamboat calls folks to the Mississippi. What a great calling card!


The devistation from the storms is unimaginable - even as it stands today. There has been a lot of clean-up and rebuilding, but it is a drop in the bucket as to the work that remains. I understand folks want to go home, and New Orleans is a beautiful city, but some areas remain without hospitals and healthcare to this day. Just think about what the folks in Galveston must be facing.

2008 11 15 Images from the French Quarter

2008 11/15 New Orleans, Louisiana

NOLA has been calling both me and Joe to her for years, but we've never been. Since we're on our way to Florida for a winter cruise we decided to take the leisurely route through Louisiana and spend a couple of days here in New Orleans.

We've enjoyed lovely weather, but a cool front followed us here and the winds have been quite chilly. Tomorrow promises to be a better day and we're hopeful that is so.

We arrived at a really neat RV park just a couple of blocks from the French Quarter here in New Orleans. Very nicely done, pavers everywhere, great wide lots and of course, there is lots to do and see.

We took a stroll on Bourbon Street and wound our way through the French Quarter. What a place! Even on an off-weekend the cafe and bar business is thriving. We dined at the highly recommended Acme Oyster House. I enjoyed a lovely platter of delicious fried oysters, fries and cole slaw. Joe had the Jambalaya (which was not as good as billed). But hey - we've been there. I'd definitely go back again for the oysters, shrimp and the like, but if you're not able to enjoy shellfish it's probably not the place for you.

Tomorrow we're planning Beignets in the morning at Cafe du Monde, then a tour of the ravaged Hurricane Katrina area. Let's hope we're going to see a lot of progress. Lunch and dinner will be somewhere in the French Quarter. Then we'll seize the opportunity to tour the rest of the city.

More later - time to chill.

2008 11/14 Dallas to Opelousas, Louisiana

We are finally finished at Freightliner - a visit that took far longer than we anticipated.

We've headed East and South to Opelousas, Louisiana as we make our way to New Orleans.

We are certainly glad we arrived at the Opelousas City Park during daylight hours as there is not a person here to check us in, or tell us where to park for the night. We simply found a nice clear, level spot and plugged in. No water or sewer, but the park is secure and quiet - so no complaints on our end.

We will make our way on to New Orleans early in the morning. Perhaps there will be someone here we can give money to before we leave.

2008 11 11 Freightliner, Dallas, Texas

We are at Freightliner in Dallas having the bus checked out. The original problem that brought us here turned out to be nothing. We took the opportunity to have a couple of fuel filters replaced, and during the process the service department found out about a recall. It seems the recall is a pretty important part that should be replaced, so we are staying on until they can work us in. We should be finished at some point tomorrow and will make our way to Florida.

We have enjoyed catching up with old friends in Dallas. But it's turning cooler so we're anxious to make our way to Florida. Our trip to Antarctica will be here before we know it - we're very excited and can hardly wait for January 2nd to arrive.

2008 10 31 Trick or Treaters

Papaw had his arms around a couple of pretty scary fellas! I'm surprised he was able to get his arms around a Ninja and a Professional Wrestler.

2008 10 30 Nancy's Birthday - A Big 53!

Yippee! Today is my 53rd birthday. We are with Heather, Michael and the little boys in Brookville, Indiana. I am enjoying the fall color, but look forward to getting out of the cold weather and going back to warmer temps.

Our plans for the evening is to go out to dinner at a local restaurant. Earlier this afternoon Papaw, Justin and Peyton surprised me with cards, flowers and candy. Later in the day I received lovely roses from Heather and Mike. Lisa sent a neat set of French steak knives (they have olive wood handles). They are really gorgeous and I will think of her when I use them.

Justin and Peyton made a special birthday cake for me. They also let me know that 53 candles are just too many to put on a cake - thanks guys! They decorated the cake themselves and had a lot of fun in the process. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them have so much fun. Even better was being scerenaded with happy birthday while they decorated the cake! It was a perfect day.

2008 10 28 Halloween Parties at Brookville Elementary

Not only do the boys get to trick or treat, they get to have a Halloween Parade at their School and a Party in their classrooms. Everyone had a really great time - the school was packed with some pretty scary characters - and some really sweet ones too.

2008 10 25 Soccer Game & Awards

Peyton and Justin love to play soccer. This was their final game so Mimi was fortunate she was in town to get to see Peyton play. Justin was scheduled to also play, but he was under the weather and didn't participate.

Here's a shot of Peyton giving the ball a good kick. Little guy hardly has any meat on his bones, the ball is as big as he is. The next shot is of Peyton wearing his medal. The final shot is his coach and team in a group shot.

2008 10 22 Halloween Costumes

Heather, Michael and the Boys really look forward to Halloween. Heather and Michael are Gladiators, Peyton is a Ninja and Justin is going to be a professional wrestler. They certainly are having fun play fighting with the Warrior Mama.