Having fun on the sea!

People always ask what everyone does all those days at sea?  One thing I can tell you, is the cruise director and his staff are kept extremely busy!! There was (many) something(s) going on board from 7a.m. until well past midnight every single day!  You couldn't get bored! That's not including all the swimming pools, lounges (to sit and read or just chat), gym, spa, casino, ping pong, pickle ball courts and eateries!

Beyond all the quizzes, table games, arts & crafts classes, art auctions, etc. they would occasionally come up with some wild and crazy fun thing to really get our attention.  One such time was "The Egg Drop Challenge".  This evidently was a tradition, as a number of guests expected it to happen at some time and were waiting for it to be announced.  If my sister-in-law hadn't told me to look for it, and be sure and go to it, I wouldn't have given it a second thought.  

The "Piazza" was inside and in the center of the ship where music and food (cafe) was "happening" 24 hours a day.  This is where "it" was going to take place...

Let me try and set the scene...The Piazza is surrounded by two large, spiraling staircases that go up three floors.  Each of those floors over-look the Piazza.  The Piazza floor is about 25' round with chairs and small tables surrounding it.  They placed a plastic sheet down over the stationary piano and the floor as well as an "egg" decal that would serve as the target.  

Once it was announced that there would be The Egg Drop Challenge, tons of people gathered all around, in every possible spot!  Anyone interested in participating in the challenge had to use "available" things, to secure the raw egg given to them (by the staff) and come up with a name for their piece.  They had seven challengers.

Each challenger showed their piece, described it, gave it a name, and then went to the third floor, leaned over the railing, and did their best at dropping it to land safely onto the egg target on the floor.  One of the staff was appropriately dressed in a blow-up chicken, who then checked to see if the egg survived.  

Each contraption was ingenious, funny, cute and all but one survived!  The "winner" was a teddy bear who was all dressed up in small life jacket (holding his egg) including eclipse sun glasses! He landed bottom up right on the target!  His owner got a rubber chicken as his prize!  We all got lots of laughs and  a great time.

 Who says you can't have silly fun at sea! ...and we weren't eve gone two weeks yet!  ;-)

...catching up from our cruise,  Marie

A quick stop at Pago Pago, American Samoa

 The following morning we headed over to the next island, Pago Pago American Samoa.  Here, we were greeted with one of the beautiful Samoan long boats with at least 49 rowers swiftly rowing by us at full speed!  What a sight!  I was so glad I was on our balcony at the right time to catch sight of them!  It was so cool! 

It's always fun to look at the coastline as we sail into the island...

It was interesting to see the differences between the "American" and the "Western" Samoa.  The American island looked so much more modern...in their buildings, in their housing, even their port.  One thing noticeable was their large tuna boats and canning buildings as they have a large tuna industry here.

These are some of the buildings of their downtown area, with the Governor's home (upper left) at the top of the cliff as you arrive to the island; the large white building is their main Government building which is right at the cross section downtown. The other large buildings are all shopping markets! 

As we docked at the port we were entertained by a delightful student group from a local school.  What a wonderful treat!  They were so cute, all sizes (one really little one) and all so very talented.  They really put on a great show of quite a number of dances for us, ending with a lovely number that their teacher explained was a traditional one that honored the home and was a way of saying "welcome to my home".  It brought tears to my eyes and made me feel very special.  Such beautiful people here.  

 After enjoying the wonderful welcome, we disembarked and took a walk around town and did some shopping.  In all honesty, we felt there really wasn't much to see and do here, so after our stroll through town and the shops, it was back onto the ship for us!

...catching up from our cruise,  Marie

If you would like to see the rest of my photos, you can go to my Flickr account and it's under the Pacific Islands Album.

 

Sailing to Samoa!

After leaving Hawaii, we would have five days at sea, including crossing the International Date Line.  The Princess Cruise staff made sure we were fed and entertained every minute of our trip, so for those five days, it was smooth and fun sailing! 

One of the things I noticed during our days at sea, was the lack of sunrises and sunsets...but as we began to get closer to Western Samoa, that all changed!  The early morning sky greeted us with it's full beauty!  

Not long after we were pulling into port and were greeted with our first group of singers and dancers!  What a wonderful sight!  So fun to stand out in our balcony and watch and listen to this welcome!  

It didn't take us long to check out the many lovely items for sale after we exited the ship and we were greeted with many friendly guides anxious to show us the island as well.  Once we decided on a driver, off the four of us went on a tour of the island!  Joe assured us that he would take us to all the spots on my list, including some he had I didn't know about!  

Joe didn't disappoint....I wanted to see churches, and boy did we!  Samoa (and and all of the Pacific Islands) are very religious and have just about every place of worship you could think of.  

Some of the ones we took the time to really visit though were the beautiful Immaculate Conception Cathedral, the Gardens and distinctive Baha'i House of Worship, the Mormon Temple as well as some local parishes.  I saw so many more as we whizzed by that I couldn't take pictures of...all so different!

 Did you know that the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson once resided here in the 1890's?  He was having problems with is health by that time and found the climate and the people met his needs.  He only lived here a few years, but did manage several writings during that time.  His home is now open to the public.  It was quite beautiful with a large, lovely garden.

Apia has two, easily accessible waterfalls that were beautiful to visit.  One was the Sopo'aga Falls that plunge through a deep green gorge.  

 The second is in the O Le Pupu-pue National Park (means from the coast to the mountain top).  This spectacular  park encompasses the summits of Mt. Le Pu'e, Mt Fito, and the magnificently rugged O Le Pupu lava fields besides the 328' majestic Papaitai Falls

 We spent most of the day with Joe, and there is no way I can include it all here...but let me just say, he and his island were most charming.  I spent three years in the 1950's on the island of Guam when I was young and my Dad was stationed there.  This island reminded me very much of that time.  So natural and still undeveloped to what today is considered a fast-paced and "modern" tourist area.  I loved it.  Here are few fun pictures:  Their "Town Clock"; their round Parliament Building; a new Courthouse, the view of our ship from the top of the mountain and a view of the "jungle roads".

...catching up from our cruise,  Marie

If you would like to see the rest of my photos, you can go to my Flickr account and it's under the Pacific Islands Album.

32 Day Pacific Island Cruise to Tahiti - How It All Began...

It all started with a phone call.  Jack called his sister to find out how her latest cruise went and while they were talking, one thing led to another and he began asking her about their next one and just how expensive it was, etc.  They were going to Tahiti, a 32 day cruise out of Los Angeles in April.  He turned to me and said, "so, Marie, do you want to go to Tahiti for your birthday?"  I responded with "you know I've always wanted to go to Tahiti, sure."  A couple of sentences later, and before we knew it we were sitting with our friend who is a cruise travel agent making the arrangements!  Oh my gosh, we were joining his sister and brother-in-law for a 32 Day Pacific Island Cruise to Tahiti! Wow, and Happy Birthday to me!

We had just a little over a month to shop, plan, pack and prepare for the trip, which was probably the best thing - not much time to really let it all sink in.  I had meetings to attend and prepare the staff for while I would be away as well, as we wouldn't have any WiFi.  I could get texts while on land, but nothing else.  I contacted my sister and asked her if she and her daughter would like to house-sit and get away from Washington for a month, she jumped at the idea, so that was taken care of. Next was to review the various tours offered and make reservations on the ones we really wanted.  

We have friends and a cousin in Honolulu (our first stop), so we quickly contacted them to see if we could meet up with them.  Our friends, usually come to the mainland to vacation and we always try to hook up, but the last few years, every time we are traveling on the eastern states they are on the western, and visa versa, our timing has been awful, same when we are traveling to the islands, they are here!  Well, guess what?  Because of the scheduled eclipse, they were going to be in TX when we were going to be there! Dang.  However, we did luck out with his cousin, and made arrangements to meet up with him, yea!

Two days before we left, my sister and niece arrived and we were able to spend a little time together.  Enjoyed showing them around and teaching my niece how to drive our golf cart!  It's always a fun thing when you haven't driven one before.  ;-)  Before we knew it, we were off to the airport!  

Arriving in LAX was a breeze...but then the "fun" began.  Oh my.  When I started in my career, it was working for a company that arranged all the free time that conventioneers had - starting when they arrived at the airport, transferring them to their hotels.  So, I KNOW airport transfers and how they SHOULD be done - and this WASN'T it.  What a disaster.  1. Two Princess Cruises were being transported.  No signs saying which line was for which ship.  Only the guests telling each other (no communication from the transport company).  2.  We all stood in line for over 3 hours (no communication from the transport company).  3.  After 3 hours they finally started checking off names of people who had signed up for the transport, so those who had not (the couple behind us hadn't), and didn't realize it, had to leave at that point and find a cab.  4.  They finally began loading us on busses, but again no communication from the transport company.  5. Upon arrival to the port they unloaded us, but didn't tell us where to go, or what to do with our luggage - some left it for them to handle, some took it, some knew where to go, some of us just wandered around until we found the right tent (again, no communication from the transport company).  We finally figured out that THEY would handle the luggage and get it to the ship - no thanks to their communication.  6. Four hours later, we arrived aboard the ship from LAX that was 30 min. away.  Crazy.  Horrible.  Unnecessary. 

From that moment forward, the trip was smooth sailing...

When we arrived in Honolulu, we had arranged to meet up with Jack's cousin Patrick for an early evening visit with drinks and dinner.  He drove us around to a couple of his favorite sites to view the island first.  We had been here before visiting our friends, but this particular spot can be super windy and when we were here the last time, Jack was nearly blown away and I have a fun picture of that!  This time it was lovely.  It also is the spot where my most favorite tree it.  ;-)  

Nu'uanu Pali with my favorite tree

From there we went to a fun "local" restaurant for wonderful drinks and a great meal.  It was super to be able to catch up with Patrick as it had been over a year or more since we had seen him and a lot has happened since then.  A new job, and new lady, a new life, all going great, life is good!  Yea! 

Harbor outside the restaurant, our cousin Patrick at Restaurant 604, view of downtown Hononlulu as we pulled into port

Our next stop was to Maui.  We've been many times and the ship was offering a super discount on massages, so we opted to stay on board and I got a full-body 90 minute massage instead!  mmmm Great way to start a vacation...

Now, we were out to sea for a week.  So glad we had a balcony room.  Loved that we could sit outside when we wanted - and that it was covered too, so when it did rain, it didn't matter!  It was also on the side where we pulled into port, so we always got to see that action every time.  Very cool.  Best cabin ever. 

Our room, Captain on the Bridge, view of Maui, Kathy found a "hidden duck", and enjoying the view from our balcony

...more to come as we continue with our South Pacific Adventure,  Marie

Having a BLAST at Lake Havasu!

There are two things that really bring out the "little kid" in me, and that is Christmas lights and Fireworks!  I never get tired of seeing either one of them (just ask my family!)  So, when I read a flyer that Lake Havasu was having their annual "Winter Blast Pyro Party" I knew I had to go!  We belong to our resort's RV Club and they like to put rallies together for interesting places and things, so I thought I would give it a try and sign up to be a "Wagon Master" and see who all would be interested in joining me for a few days.  The Winter Blast was for a whole week, but I had commitments so could only go for 4 days.  I thought maybe I would get 5 or 6 rigs interested...it turned out I'm not the only one who loves fireworks!  15 other couples do too!  Actually, we would even have had more, but quite a few said their dogs didn't...so, had to pass it up.

What fun we all had!  We lucked out with great weather (clear, and in the mid 70's) with beautiful sun rises and sun sets every day.  We started out with a welcome pot luck and of course had a ton of wonderful food, and a nice wood fire to sit and chat around before we wandered off to see the fireworks.  

During the daytime many enjoyed going into town to see the London Bridge and or hike the various area.  We, along with others checked out the local History Museum.  It was fun seeing how Lake Havasu got it's start.  Quite a marketing plan...flying people in from snow-filled states in the middle of winter to show them "sunny & warm" Arizona! 

 Each night we were treated to a different live band, then followed by hours of fun-filled fireworks.  You could see them from anywhere, but the best seats were in the bleachers (we camped at the rodeo grounds).  

Our final night dwindled down to half the group as many had to leave early due to various commitments, but that didn't stop the rest of us from enjoying one last dinner together and a nice campfire that we all decided to stay around and watch the last fireworks from there...all comfy together.  

 

A simple rally, only 3 hours away, but packed with loads of fun and friendship!  What a BLAST!

...sitting back in Arizona,  Marie

Saying goodbye to 2023...

 

Here it is the end of 2023 and all I find myself doing is dreaming of 2024!  It's not that this year hasn't been wonderful, it has.  We've been to some great places and done some wonderful trips...but there are more to come and the planning is half the fun!  

This is the time of the year though, that I do like to sit back and not only reflect, but acknowledge how truly lucky we are.  We have great health when so many don't; we have a sweet little warm home that shelters us in a sunny area of the country, a lovely working motorhome that takes us where we want to go, when we want to go; we have enough money to travel - maybe not to as many nor as far or exotic destinations as we would love to go if we won the lottery, but more than many folks.  We are happy people who love each other and enjoy life with family and friends who care about us.  So very much to be thankful for, we are very blessed.  

Our driving trips this year were "short and sweet" - Arizona and New Mexico.  What we lacked in driving distance, we seemed to have made up in flying - to Washington and then to the Caribbean via Miami!  That seems to be the "norm" these days for us anymore...less driving, more flying, and next year cruising.  I think it just might have something to do with our age and comfort...lol - hey, it's still traveling!  and that's all I've ever asked to do!  ;-)

...ending another wonderful year in the sunshine of Arizona,  Marie

Seeing a Different Side of Sedona...

We've visited Sedona a number of times, enjoying it's beautiful red rocks, great restaurants and unique shops, but we've rarely taken the time to explore the history of Sedona.  We were here for a full week, the weather was lovely, it was the perfect time to explore!

Our first stop was the Sedona Heritage Museum where the Jordan Family began a farm in the 1870s, eventually planting almost 1500 fruit (apple and peach) trees.  By 1931 they had a one room cabin and a tractor shed and by 1937 they were the largest employer in the area.  The Jordan's success brought the construction of the fruit packing shed in 1946, and a new car and another house addition in 1947. 

 The museum also had the first ever "teal" McDonald's Arches (c1993) to go along with Sedona's "natural decor"!

Along with the Jordan's farm buildings, the museum showcased the film history of the area as well.  From the 1920s through the early 1960s Sedona's red rocks made an ideal setting for Western movies.  In 1945, a movie set was constructed for John Wayne's film "Angel and the Badman", which featured a Telegraph Office.  It was relocated to the Museum in 2014 and restored to it's 1945 movie prop condition.  "The Call of the Canyon" statue by James Muir pays homage to the spirit of the settler in Oak Creek Canyon in the early part of the 20th century documented in Zane Grey's novel of the same name. 

Nothing tells the history of a place like it's cemeteries.  This small town has three!  The oldest is the Schuerman Red Rock Cemetery started in 1893.  The first soul buried on this part of the Schuerman property was that of their 5-year old daughter, Clara, who died in 1893 of cholera.  Standing apart from the other graves, under a couple of stately juniper trees, one can see the simple gravestone marks a place that you can imagine might have been a favorite of a young girl, with its magnificent view of Cathedral Rock.   The cemetery is a veritable who's who of original Sedona settlers: the Schuermans, the Thompsons; the Purtymans, a Baldwin and Owenby; you'll find these iconic Sedona names on homesteads, crossings, trails, residential streets, buttes, and irrigation ditches throughout the town. 

Sedona's second oldest graveyard, the Cook Cedar Glade Cemetery, which is the final resting place of Sedona Schnebly and many other original founding families. This pioneer cemetery was established in 1918 with the death from the Spanish Flu.  Henry Cook homesteaded 160 acres that included this site.  

The last Cemetery was the Sedona Community Cemetery.  This is the newest cemetery, dedicated in 2019 providing the same stunning views after death that they enjoyed living here.  These are definitely graves with a view!

 Of course we did our requisite shopping at Tlaquepaque and eating at our favorite spot (Thanksgiving at The Hudson) along with some new ones (a great lunch at the Hideaway House) and even enjoyed listening to an evening of jazz while we had dinner at Sound Bites Grill on our first night, which was new for us!  All this just goes to shows that one can go to the same place again and again, and still find new adventures to discover! 

As we ended our delightful week's stay, we topped it off with a wonderful visit with a dear friend we hadn't seen in many years!  I had posted a quick snap about enjoying the jazz player in Sedona, and she caught it and shared that she was not far away, in Prescott!  It is so delightful to be able to catch up with lovely people, to reconnect and share again, it's what makes life so special.

This will be a trip long remembered as we hunker down to our "winter routine" here at the resort.  Christmas is just around the corner, and the annual Theater Production's rehearsals take up all of January and February, along with my Board of Director's duties...so this little respite needs to last me awhile!

Until the next one...Marie

If you would like to see all the photos from this trip, just go to my flickr account at:  https://flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/