are we on vacation again?

Bill was leaving at night, so we decided to stay at the resort for the day. There is a nice beach and we started there. The water was warm enough and there was plenty of shade and chairs. There's a small part off to the right that is more sheltered and has some rocks. We decided to snorkel there, and what a good decision. There were plenty of fish, a lobster and even a very cool crab. It was a lot of fun. There are a LOT of black spiny urchins, so you really have to be careful where you step. We ate at the restaurant at the resort, and that was really good too. All good things must come to an end, so we had to bring Bill to the airport. It was about a 45 minute drive with plenty of traffic, but we got there and got him through the check point. We even remembered the USDA check point. We were leaving the next day, so we went back to pack. Next morning it was off to EZ to return the car. Again they did not disapoint in getting my blood boiling. The bill was about $80 m...

Again we didn't wake up with a plan, nothing unusual there for us. We tried to find someplace to go ziplining, but much to our surprise, we needed reservations in advance. That idea needed to be scrapped. On to plan B. We decided to go the Cueva Ventana. They have tours every hour on the hour so off we went. Maybe it's the short attention spans, but on our way there we saw a sign for the Arecibo Observatory. So we started following the signs. Up and up we went, and just when we thought we must have done something wrong, we were there. Of course as everything seems to be here, you park at the bottom of the hill and climb, climb, climb to the building. It was $12 plus tax each to get in. There are a lot of interactive displays, and a movie. After that there's a short discussion about the telescope. It's very interesting. With that under our belts we started to drive back to the caves. Their web site said they close at 4 and our maps app said we would be ther...

I was exhausted last night, so I didn't have a chance to write. We went to El Yunque rainforrest. It was a lot of fun. We stopped at the visitor center, it's interesting, it has clean bathrooms, it's $4 a person, but it is not mandatory to stop here. They will give you some pointers as to what to see, there's also a movie and gift shop, but you could just drive up 191 on your own and not have to pay. We parked and hiked to the Mina Falls. It's a long, hot hike. Lots of stairs and the path is uneven and slippery in spots. The falls was nice and you can swim there, but remember you have to climb back out. It was very crowded. I can't imagine what it's like on a weekend. From there we drove the hour back to Dorado, got take out and I fell asleep. Today we drove about two hours west to Step Beach. It's beautiful, but no where to get changed, so make sure you wear your suit in. Oh, and Bubba didn't bring his suit, which some how became my fau...

I don't remeber exactly why we picked Puerto Rico for this trip, but so far it was a good choice. We got on the first flights we tried, we fly standby with my job, and got here in time for lunch Saturday afternoon. The one disapointment we've run into was with the car rental. We rented from EZ, which we do frequently in Florida, but this was horrible. We waited over 1/2 an hour for the shuttle bus, even though the office was under 10 minutes away, then in the office it took over two hours to get through the line. It didn't even look very busy. On top of all that we were bullied into taking the transponder for the tolls which was another $50. The agent told us that if we didn't activate it and even if we paid the tolls in cash we would still get billed for using the toll booth and at that point it would be at least $50 for each infraction! Really??? It sounded like a BS story to me, but we took it anyway. I have to send a nasty-gram to EZ to let them know how ...

At least we slept late. We got up around 11 and really didn't start the day until after noon. Today we went to saint chappelle, what beautiful stained glass windows! From there we took the boat along the seine again and got off at the Eiffel Tower stop. We walked a lot again. We took the metro to the champs de l'esay ( I really need to find out how to spell that). We walked down to the arc de triumphe (again I need to check the spelling). Then finally took the metro back to our neighborhood. We ate at a hippopotamus restaurant that we saw on bill boards in the metro, it had the feel of a Friday's. It was ok. Back to the hotel and up four flights of stairs again, I thought I was in for the night, but there was a piano concert at the church next door, so I climbed back down to check it out. It was nice, but classical music does put me to sleep. Sam and bubba went out again for drinks, but I'm in and should be asleep. We need to get up tomorrow around 5 to make ...

So I didn't really go through our itinerary for yesterday. We ended up going to Versailles. It was beautiful, and actually very easy to get find. We took the RER train from Notre Dame, and it went straight there in less time than an hour. It was hot. The sun was out and it's very open with little shade. We walked through the chateau, then the gardens and finally to Marie Antoinette's "cottage". It was a good day but long. We had Italian food closer to the hotel again. Today we picked up Samantha at the airport and went on a whirlwind tour. We started at Notre Dame Cathedral where we took a free tour, it was interesting. We saw them lay the crown of thorns on the altar. There were so many religious people, it was pretty amazing. Then we walked around the back of the Cathedral and saw an hop on, hop off boat. We bought two day tickets for €19 each and took the boat to the Louvre. That place is extremely overwhelming, it's huge and somewhat confusing...

So we're spending the next couple of days with our niece. She's doing a semester in Greece, and we thought it would be fun to meet her in Paris. We're about an hour from the airport, and her flight lands in about an hour and 15 minutes, so we need to get a move on. The plan is to go to Notre Dame and the Louvre today then the Eiffel Tower and whatever else we can think of tomorrow. Ok, I think we're ready to run.... I'll be back

We made it! It's been years since we've been in the city of lights, but we are back. We flew into CDG Wednesday morning, business class was very nice, as usual, but it was my normal "awake" time so I didn't sleep at all. I did watch some good movies though. After an extended time at the airport, they had to clear the area near the train station due to a suspicious bag, we were finally ready to find our way to the city. We bought the all inclusive passes for the metro and the girl actually saved us a lot of money by suggesting a pass we hadn't seen on line. We thought we'd be spending €64 each and instead it was €81 for three! We had to get photos at a photo booth to activate them, but we didn't have much planned anyway. It took about an hour and a half to get to our hotel, Hotel St Merry. It's very close to Notre Dame, and tons of restaurants, but there's no elevator and we are on the fourth floor, yikes! So, we thought we'd be a...

Ok, so I usually update this when I'm still away or right afterward. This time I let a few days pass, maybe I was tired? Could be. We got up Sunday morning way too early, as in about 4:30, got ready for the day and dropped the dogs at Jimmy's. I'm sure he loved their 5 am arrival. A 7 am flight was pretty early, but we got on and were in a rental car in Tampa before 11. We drove over to the manatee viewing area at the Tampa electric plant. It's a little more touristy than we are used to, but it is Florida. In the winter when it's cold manatees gather in the river where the warm water comes out of the plant. There were about 25 the day we were there. From up above they look a lot like rolling boulders, but every once in a while there was a snout or tail to oooo and aaaww at. There are also a couple of boardwalks, one extends out into the water where we saw a lot of huge fish, and there's another that goes out to an observation tower. It is very pretty ...

Today was the first of our 2 sea days before we go home. I think I'm ready to go home. I miss my dogs and my couch. I'm not looking forward to going back to work, but home will be nice. Yesterday was my 50th birthday, and we didn't do much. We were in Falmouth, Jamaica, and every time we go there, we think we should have planned an excursion. Well, we didn't so,we walked around, used the wifi and got back on board. One of the locals offers to take us around the island for $80 each way... do people really go one way? Does that mean you moved to Jamaica? I don't know, weird. The ship is at full speed because there's supposed to be fog moving into Galveston and I guess we don't want to be stuck out in the Gulf. It's very windy and getting cooler as we go. We have a balcony this time and it sounds like a hurricane with all the howling wind. Ok, off to bed 💤💤💤

It doesn't feel any different. I took inventory, and I don't see any extra gray hair or any new aches and pains. Same old gray hair, and same old aches and pains, but nothing new. Yesterday we spent the day on 7 mile beach in Grand Cayman. $4 each one way and we were dropped at the beach. Another $2 each to get into the same stretch of sand that everyone from all the cruise ships are hanging out on. Not for me. We walked through and then walked about a mile up the sand to a shady spot under a tree. Ahhhh, much better. The water was a little chilly until you got used to it, or numb, but after that, floating around was beautiful. We spent a couple of hours there, then walked back to where we came in, rinsed our feet, used their bathrooms and took another $4 each taxi ride back to the port. Not a bad day for February 1st! Today we are in Jamaica. We have not ventured out yet, but we will soon. Hopefully I can find wifi again and post this.... maybe I'll even add so...

I started this Sunday, the first day of our cruise, but now I can't find it, so here we go again. Galveston is not an easy port to leave from. I suppose if you lived in Texas it would be, but otherwise not so much. We flew 4.5 hours to Houston's George Bush airport. Stayed at an airport hotel, Towne Suites by Marriott, which we got to by their shuttle bus, a 45 minute wait for a 10 minute drive, the hotel itself was ok, but there's nothing near it, it's a $50 cab ride to downtown each way, and there's only one restaurant within walking distance. At least the restaurant was good. It was called Good Eats, and the mesquite chicken was delicious, as were the nachos made with fajita chicken. To add to the inconvenience, the cruise port is a 90 minute bus ride from the airport. So, Sunday morning we were back on a shuttle bus to the airport, then a big bus to the port. It made for a long day. The lines at the cruise port were huge! There were metal detectors befor...