Day 23

Tuesday, Oct. 18
We finally reached home today.  We got up fairly early for Abbotsford, but it was about the usual time if we were in Florida.  I still couldn't find my watch, so the one I bought on the ship was the time we were running on.  Stella wasn't feeling well, and was up part of the night throwing up, so she decided to stay  home from work.  She did look pretty ill, so we thought it better to get going and leave, sooner rather than later.

We were on the road by about 9:00, and after a stop for some breakfast and a trip to the gas station we were on our way.  It was a good drive.  It is nice to be on a highway and know where we were going.  The Coquihalla highway is somewhat different than the freeways we drove on in Florida.  There were hills, corners, only two lanes each way, far less traffic, and so on.  It was beautiful weather while we were driving, and when we got home, it was nice to walk into our house after almost a month away.

We began to unload our bags, and once were finished, we noticed that we were short.  I got thinking about our arrival in Bellingham, and realized I had not picked up my BC Athletics bag.  That was a bummer and we had to think of ways for us to get in touch with Bellingham airport to see if it was there.  Long story short, Dawn did speak with someone who took our information on the bag. Our receipt part of the baggage claim tags had the numbers cut in half, so we had a real problem figuring out which number we were missing.  After a fairly long discussion with the lady in Bellingham, she figured it was one of 2 numbers and wrote a message to the baggage guys.

The next day, we got a call from Bellingham.  They had located our bag, and would fly it to Kamloops on an Air Canada flight.  The following day it was in Kamloops and we picked it up that afternoon.  I guess we could finally say that our holiday was over.

Day 22

Monday, Oct. 18

Our hotel in Orlando

Another day and the weather forecast is deteriorating for Florida.  When we got up, they were predicting severe storms moving in from the South, and also a cold front from the west that would mix with the hot high in Florida.  This would create storms with lots of rain.  It is a good day to be leaving to come home.

We went for breakfast, not the greatest we had on our trip, and asked if we could stay later than the checkout time.  They agreed, and we were able to check out at 1:00.  This was good because we were scheduled to fly out just after 6:00, and we couldn’t check our bags sooner than 4 hours before the flight.

Once we got organized, we took off and drove out to the airport – a short drive but a toll highway.  I wanted to find where we took the car back, and it was fairly easy, but it appeared to be a ways from our terminal.  We had to go find a gas station to fill the car, so we left.  There was a real “rip-off” joint just outside the airport limits, charging over $5 per gallon, so I refused to fill up there.  We headed back on the toll highway and drove around some more, and then filled up just across the road from the hotel at 3.45 per gallon.  We calculate that we paid about $25 - $30 in tolls this week.

Then it was time to head to the airport and return the car.  That is a pretty slick deal.  They had good directions, and we followed the signs to a line up where we were met by a lady with an electronic machine with which she could look us up and figure out the charges.

After unloading the bags, a “sky-cap” stopped by and loaded our bags onto his cart.  We told him which airline and he took us right there.  Then we had to wait a while until the crowd got smaller.  Checking in about 3 hours early means that there really isn’t any waiting in line.  I would recommend that this is the way to do it.

Orlando Airport from the air

Once we got rid or our bags, we were able to walk around a bit, and stopped to have lunch before going through security.  The security process was pretty easy, but I set off the alarm (Dawn had a pretty good laugh) – I had forgotten about my cell phone that was in my pocket.  Once through, we had to take a shuttle train to the terminal and then we waited.

We boarded on time – 6:00 and were taxiing out by 6:20.  The plane was full and hot, and we were in a hurry to get it over with.

All-in-all, it was a good flight, getting us into SeaTac at the right time (9:30pm PDT).  It was a bit of an adventure finding our route to the terminal for the flight to Bellingham, but we made it.  Now it is a wait until 10:40 to board, and then fly off at 11:05.  Stella is going to meet us at that airport and we should be at her place in Abbotsford by 1:30 (I hope).  We are still running on EDT so really it feels like 2:00 am right now.

Day 21

Sunday, Oct. 16

Before leaving the Fort Lauderdale area, we got “Jill” to find us a Wal-Mart so we could purchase another suitcase to spread our load around.  We found one and made our purchase, and then headed for the Turnpike.  We drove for about 3 hours today to get to near the Orlando airport.  We arrived at the Airport Best Western, near the airport and got ourselves moved in.  I spent a fair amount of time trying to find where we returned our car, and then figuring out how we were to get our bags to the terminal.  I didn’t figure out too much, but I have an idea now.

We went out for dinner again, and ate at Red Lobster again.  This was another good meal, and we left full, as usual.  Then we returned to our hotel and brought all of our bags into the room.  We spent the next period of time moving things around, trying to get our bags down to less than 50 pounds.  After borrowing a portable scale from the front desk, we managed to get them all there (actually, only one was overweight, and by moving some things around, we got it down).

Next we figured out all the things we had purchased and were bringing back to Canada.  This was necessary so that we can do our declarations and hopefully get through customs and over the border much easier.

Later, I loaded up Radio NL, and we listened to the Blazers game on the computer.  At this point, it is 2-1 Blazers over Kelowna, in the 2^nd period.

Tomorrow, we have to check out by 11:00, so I guess we will have some time to kill before going to the airport and getting rid of the car.  Our flight is scheduled to leave at 6:20 pm EDT.  We are scheduled to get into Seattle at 9:26 pm PDT.  From there we leave for Bellingham at 11:05pm and get in at 11:45 pm.  If everything goes as expected, we should be in Abbotsford about 1:30 am.  I’m sure we will be very tired as we will be used to eastern time.

Day 20

Saturday, Oct. 15

Not much happening today.  We got up, drove south to Plantation, Florida (just west and south of Fort Lauderdale), which was about a 2 ½ hour drive, and then found the Bank Atlantic Center.  From there, we went looking for a hotel.  GPS “Jill” located a Hampton Inn that seemed fairly close, and we decided to try for it.  Well, long story short, “Jill” gives good directions, but sometimes she is slow (we missed some turns) and sometimes the maps are not up-to-date with the changes that are being made in this area.  A 7 mile trip took us about ¾ of an hour, but we finally made it.

This is the most expensive room of this part of the holiday, but it is clean, about the same as the previous places we have stayed.  The fridge runs very noisily, and sometimes the air conditioner is noisy.  Fortunately, the temperature is not too high outside – in fact, if it were this way most of the time, we would find it quite liveable.  The humidity is a little high, but nothing like what we had while on the ship and when we first arrived in Florida.

About 4:00 we decided to head out looking for a place to eat.  We selected a Red Lobster that was quite close (“Jill” said 0.5 miles).  It took about a half hour to get there due to wrong turns, getting into places that didn’t go where they appeared they would, and so on.  Finally, when we did get there, we went in, had to wait for about 5 minutes, and then were seated.

Our waiter was an interesting fellow.  He had lived in Seattle for a while, so knew of Kamloops, and had been to Vancouver.  We were able to talk about hockey and he knew what we were about.  He was a very pleasant person, and we quite enjoyed our shrimp feast.

From there, it was off to the game.  They had given us directions at the hotel, but they were different than “Jill’s” and after trying to follow them, we just let her get us there.  This was fairly easy this time, and we got to one of the arena parking lots.  We tried to go in, but this lot had reserved parking that I tried to buy online the previous night.  Unfortunately, because I was working through Canadian Ticketmaster, I couldn’t purchase tickets for that lot.  The girl at the entrance was very cheerful, and gave me directions for a U-turn (I’m getting to like these things) and to the free lot (a way better price than the $20 we were going to pay online).  The lot we parked at was almost where the “Will Call” window was located, so this was a much better place for us anyhow.

What a show.  We were there just before the doors opened.  At the entrance there was a rock band playing and singing, lots of vendors selling various things, blow-up toys for kids (like Fun Factor), and a great mood.  When the doors opened, we went in and walked around for a while before looking for our seats.

We went into our seat area and the usher told us where they were.  There was a fellow standing there who we began talking with.  Roberto Luongo is his neighbour, along with a few other players and executives that he named.  We had a fairly lengthy discussion about hockey and how things were looking for his team this year.  We recognized many of the names he mentioned from the team, and Dawn was able to carry on a pretty good discussion with him.

Of course, we didn’t know what to wear, with the temperature warm and humid outside, so we wore our shorts and shirts.  Not such a great move as it was fairly cold inside, and we couldn’t just go home and grab something warmer.  We “toughed” it out.

This was the Panthers opening night, so after the warm up, the big introductions were made.  The first player announced was Keaton Ellerby (ex Blazer).  He wasn’t dressed, but he did walk out at the bench.  Later, Scotty Upshall and Kris Versteeg were announced and they were playing (and played quite well).  It was a great atmosphere during the warm up and the introductions, and then got better when the anthem was sung.

The game was pretty good, too.  It is amazing how good these guys are at the game.  It makes one realize how good our junior players are, and how far most of them have to go.  There were many names on both teams that we knew – Lecavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos, Jovanowski, Weiss, Hedmann, Gudbranson, Downie, Theodore, Rolanson (backup tonight), and more.

Florida scored first in the first period.  It stayed that way until the third period, although they were outshooting and generally outplaying Tampa Bay.  Then about 7 minutes into the 3^rd, Tampa Bay scored.  They appeared to be really putting on a push, and the game was much closer.  Florida scored again with 2:58 left in the game, but Tampa scored again at 2:18.  It was pretty exciting and also pretty deflating for the home crowd. We were sitting beside a group that had come down from Tampa Bay, and they were really excited at this point.

The game ended in a tie, went through overtime, and went into the shoot-out.  This was Dawn’s wish, and it came true.  Florida shot first and missed.  Then St. Louis went and he missed.  The 2^nd Florida shooter (Goc) scored on a nice move; he put the puck up over the goalie’s leg when he tried a poke check.  The crowd got pretty excited, but there are some real snipers on Tampa.  Stamkos went next and tried a spinerama move which Theodore stopped with very little effort.  The 3^rd Panther went and missed, so now it came down to Lecavalier.  He came in, deked, and then the job was to find the puck.  We thought it was in, but then the goalie started jumping up and down and we knew it had missed.  A good win for the home crowd and for the home opener.

Then it was the adventure of finding the car, and getting back to our hotel.  When we walked outside, it felt very warm, but that was because we were so cold from being inside.  It was actually nice to be there.  As Dawn was saying, if we were this cold at a game in Kamloops, we know we would be going outside to extreme cold weather, so this was quite nice.

There had been some rain, and we got a little on the drive to the hotel.  Then just as we were entering the building, it began to rain again.  In all, we have been exceptionally lucky with the weather.  Watching the weather forecast, we will be leaving at the right time.  There is a cold front moving in from the North West, and they are predicting quite serious rains in the next few days.  It is almost time for us to come home.

Day 19

Friday, Oct. 14

Astronaut Hall of Fame

Another fine day in paradise.  We took off after breakfast and filling up with gas, towards the north and The Kennedy Space Center.  It was only about 30 miles and GPS “Jill” got us there quite easily.  There are some pretty big highways here, but they weren’t too crowded.  It may have had something to do with the time we were travelling (left Melbourne after 10).

Booster Rocket at the Entrance

Getting off the freeway, we headed east to the Center.  The road was single lane each way, but again, no too busy.  I wonder what it is like when they are launching a spacecraft.  We passed a War Plane Museum, an Astronaut Hall Of Fame, the Police Hall Of Fame, and other places like that.  Then we came to the turn-off to The Kennedy Space Center.  There is a replica shuttle and booster tank laying at the entrance, and it is very big.

Once parked, we approached the entrance.  We could have gotten tickets to just wander around the facility, or to take a guided tour.  It’s not likely we will return again, so we decided on the guided tour.  It was a 2 hour bus tour that took us to a number of places of interest on the Center – Vehicle Assembly Building, Launch Pads, and some other things that I can’t remember what they were called.  The size of this place is enormous.

Vehicle Assembly Building

Once we had an overview of the site from a stop beside the causeway (there is water of both sides – one can be fished, the other is protected from any craft with motors) and our guide pointed out the various launch pads and places where things happened we took off.  From this location, the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB for those who like acronyms which it appears NASA does) didn’t look overly big.  There is an American Flag painted on the side of the building, and to get an idea of the scale of the flag, he gave us some statistics about that flag.  Each stripe on the flag is the width of the bus (about 8 feet), the stars are each 6 feet across, the blue part is the size of a basketball court; it didn’t look that big from where we were.  The building was 170 feet tall ( 17 stories).

Inside the VAB

It took us about 15 minutes to get there.  As we approached, one of the doors was open (I think he said they were 13 stories tall) and there was a space shuttle inside, sitting on its wheels.  It is the Endeavor, and it is the one they are decommissioning and taking to Los Angeles.  The guide said that we were going to be the first tour allowed into the VAB, but we had to be very careful and follow directions, staying inside the marked boundaries.  We got inside, and the building was “HUGE”.

 I can’t imagine what is must have been like as they were assembling these huge things, but all parts came in lying horizontally and they lifted them to the vertical.  Then they lifted them to the various heights they had to be to fit in their spots on the boosters.  In all, an amazing thing to think about.  We got fairly close to the Endeavor.  They had the nose section pulled apart and covered with plastic, as well as the windows, etc.  This was because they were still removing all the electronics that could be re-used, before the move to LA.

Endeavor

From there, we drove around some more, viewing the launch pad where most of the manned space flights have taken off from.  There are 2 main pads, but one has only been used for 2 flights, and the rest from the other.  We got fairly close to the main launch pad and could see how it worked as he gave us the narration.  Our road followed the road that the “crawler” followed as it moved from the VAB to the launch pad.  That road is 8 lanes wide with a grass strip down the middle and the crawler moves on both sides of the engineered road.  Strangely, the upper layer is a special kind of gravel that doesn’t compact too much and no matter what is done, no sparks come from the rocks (a good thing in this situation).

Next we were off to another viewing site where he explained the workings of a launch.  There is a big water tower fairly close to the launch pad.  They release this water on ignition and apparently it dampens the noise from the rockets.  I don’t know how that works, but he told us that where we were viewing from, the military had some equipment, and it got destroyed from the first lift-off.  They figured it was because of the noise vibrations, and that was the way they reduced it.

3-stage Rocket

Then it was to another location where our tour ended and we could wander around another building where there were a number of exhibits of a Saturn 3 rocket.  This was spectacular because the rocket was life-size horizontally, and we could see up close, what things looked like.  Almost everything was there from each stage of the rocket to the command module, the lunar module, and the vehicle used to transport the astronauts to the launch pad.  We also ate lunch there – paid more than $20 for a couple hamburgers and pops.

We spent a couple hours there, and then jumped on a shuttle bus that took us back to the main center.  Here again, we looked at more exhibits, and went to a 45 minute IMAX show on the Hubble telescope.  We had never seen 3D before and this was really interesting.  The gist of the movie was astronauts making repairs to the Hubble telescope and the things that NASA had to do to ensure the repairs were done properly.  Then, some very interesting views of far away galaxies and the birth and death of stars.  Very spectacular.

By then we were getting tired of all the walking and standing, and were just about ready to leave when we saw another area that we hadn’t been to.  This was one where they had about 10 different rockets standing.  I believe they were life size, so it was quite interesting.  There were a couple space capsules there so people could get an idea of what the astronauts had to go through.  They are very cramped and difficult to get into.  I didn’t try getting in, but we saw some younger folks who squeezed into the seat.

The smallest capsule was the one that the first American astronaut had been in when going into space.  It was only large enough for one, and with all the equipment in it, there was almost no room for him.  They didn’t know if he would be able to get back, or if he would be alive if he did.  It sounds like everyone just held their breath until they were sure he was alright.  This was after they had gone through many tests where the rockets had blown up or been blown up because they weren’t working properly – what a gamble.

Then we were done and headed back to the car.  Because we planned to head back to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow for the hockey game, we decided to go back to Melbourne and stay at the same hotel.  A better rate tonight because they have a Friday/Saturday night special.  We went for a drive and found their beach.  Both of us had a walk in the sand and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Did I mention that it was cooler today?  It was, and although still warm, the walk was quite comfortable.  What a beautiful sunset.

Day 18

Thursday, Oct. 13

We started off today by having a nice complimentary breakfast at our hotel – Best Western – in Homestead.  After that, it was get ready to leave, put the Everglades Alligator Farm into the GPS, and let “Jill” take us there.  It was only about 7 miles away, so it was easy to find.

We got there, paid our admission, and went in.  Part of the admission was an air-boat ride which was scheduled to begin in 15 minutes, so we had planned it well.  There were enough people there for 3 separate boats.  The first one was pretty full, but we were in the second one which only had 12 people in it.  Dawn and I got our own seat so we could each sit on the side.

Our skipper, JJ, started us off slowly and we saw quite a few alligators, some turtles, and a few birds.  After a slow ride at the beginning, we put on our hearing protection and he opened her up.  Those things sound like pretty big engines, and push the boats along pretty fast.  JJ did warn us that he was going to make some 360 degree turns, and that those in the front would get wet.  Also, the rest of us had to lift our feet when he did it, so that our shoes wouldn’t get too wet.  Well, he wasn’t lying.  A lot of water comes into the boat when he does this, but it gathers at the back and is pumped out.

He said that the average depth of the water in the Everglades is about 6 inches (15 cm), but they had some pretty big rains last week, and that had raised the depth about 10 inches.  The alligators we saw here were wild.  They found their own feed, eating mostly snails, small fish, and bugs.  They don’t feed them so that they continue to be afraid of people and don’t cause any trouble.  He said if they fed them (like they do with the captive ones), they wouldn’t be afraid of people and then would become dangerous.

After the trip, which was about 20 minutes, we returned to the dock and then went to where they were going to feed the captive alligators.  These ones were pretty big and fat and looked like they ate pretty well.  The guide had a bucket full of dead rats, and the alligators obviously knew they were for them as most of them gathered around where he was.  While he fed them, he showed how they could jump up, how they grabbed their prey and went underwater but had to come back up to swallow them.  He also told us that the average adult alligator only ate about 6 – 10 pounds of meat a year.  Every once in a while they had a large feed where all the alligators got something.  For this feed, only a few got something to eat.

We wandered around the farm for a while longer, looking at some of the animals.  We weren’t too interested in seeing the snakes being fed, so decided to do some shopping in the gift store and then left.

We wanted to travel along the coast, so we had to program in some fairly close places so that “Jill” wouldn’t take us on the turnpike.  Well, she did guide us over to the beach area, but things were very slow due to traffic and all the stop lights.  We only went a few miles in a long period of time.  Finally, we decided that we had seen enough of the expensive apartments, hotels and homes, and we punched in Cape Canaveral.  “Jill” then took us to the freeway and away we went.

As luck would have it, after travelling on the freeway for about half an hour, we noticed some signs indicating that the right 3 lanes were blocked ahead somewhere.  Not knowing anything about how far away this place was, we kept going in the left HOV lane, until traffic began to congest and things slowed down.  Finally there were periods of start and stop, narrowing of traffic flow, and generally slow movement.  When we got to the place where the accident was, it didn’t look like much.  However, there must have been more when it happened for them to put the warnings up.

Dawn loved this sign

After that, it was clear sailing.  There were a few detours and we didn’t know if that was regular to get to where we were supposed to go, or if it was because the maps in the GPS are so old that these routes were where traffic used to go.

By about 5:00, I was getting pretty tired of driving so we began to think about stopping for the night.  There were about 80 miles to go to Cape Canaveral and I decided to push on.  About 6:00, I had enough.  We were at Melbourne, and when I saw signs for gas stations and hotels, I pulled off.  After a false start registering at one hotel (it was pretty seedy), we finally settled on Hampton Inns.  Another very nice room with all the amenities we have become used to on this trip.

We didn’t even go for supper as we were still full from the lunch that we had about 2:30.  We bought a couple pops and some munchies and decided to stay home, watch the baseball games, and work with the computer.

Tomorrow, we are off to the Kennedy Space Centre, so we will get up fairly early and get going.  We are only about 20 miles away.

Day 17

Wednesday, Oct. 12

We were up fairly early (about 7:00) to get showered and have breakfast before getting ready to leave.  The rest of the crew is flying out today, and Dawn and I plan to take a drive down the Keys to see what they are like.

By 11:00, everyone was ready to go, so we said our goodbyes and off we/they went.  I managed to get a couple shots of the large iguana that was climbing the wall of the hotel.  I guess it stays there to get the sun and stay warm.  We headed back to Budget to turn in the van and pick up the car we had reserved for the rest of our trip.  It took us some time to find the store and the get some gas.  Boy, are these U-turns at major intersections handy.

The car is a Ford Fiesta and we could get much of our luggage into the trunk, but not all (we have way too much stuff).  Then it was hook up the GPS, plug in Key Largo, and off we went.  Old “Jill” of the GPS is a little slow sometimes, telling where to turn, so I did make a few mistakes, but we were able to get back on the correct highways.

Dawn was taking photos as we drove along the highways.  She managed to get some good ones, but also a lot of the clouds, the tops of trees, etc.  ;-)  We stopped at a McDonalds just off the turnpike in Miami and had some lunch about 1:00.  Haven’t eaten in a McDonalds (other than breakfast) for years, and it wasn’t bad.  There were lots of black folks there, and the predominate language seemed to be Spanish – we assumed that there were a lot of Cubans in the area.  After that, it was trying to get back to the turnpike to continue on our way to the Keys.

 

We followed the highway through Florida City and Homestead, onto the Keys highway.  It became a regular highway with one lane each way and a speed limit of 45 mph.  Well, we found that the highway went down the middle of the Keys with hotels and housing on each side.  We didn’t see too much of the ocean or any beaches so we went as far as Key Islamadora, stopped and had an ice cream cone, and then headed back.   

We were about 80 miles away from Key West which is the end of the road, but we couldn’t see much.

 

When we got back to Homestead, we looked for another Best Western hotel, found one, and decided to stay.  After checking in, we sat around for a while – I got going on the computer, reading email, updating the blog, uploading photos to the web, and generally catching up.  Dawn watched TV, getting some news and weather in.

One news item was a small plane that had trouble while flying between two airports.  The pilot couldn’t make the airport and had to land on the freeway – one we had driven down earlier that day – Hollywood turnpike.  The shots showed that he had landed with wheels up, heading towards oncoming traffic.  How he found a gap in the traffic is beyond me, but it appears there were no cars affected, and he landed fairly safely.  One wing struck something and the plane swung sideways down the road until it stopped.

The news photos showed one wing somewhat crumpled, traffic stopped in both directions (backed up for miles), fire trucks and police cars, and lots of interest.  After a while, they allowed 2 lanes of traffic in the other direction, but they must have re-routed traffic on that side of the highway.  The pilot and co-pilot were taken to the hospital for observation, but as far as we were aware, there were no other injuries.  Very lucky indeed.

It gets dark early here, and when we decided to go for supper, we had to find someplace to go, and then find it.  Of course, once we decided on Applebee’s, we had to then find it.  The maps in the GPS are not the newest, so when we got to where “Jill” was taking us, we found that there was nothing there.  Then the problems began.  It was dark, lots of traffic, no idea where we were, and so on.  I managed to get back on the road we had come down, so we followed it.  Wouldn’t you know it, there was another Applebee’s right beside us.  We went in and had a chicken Caesar salad – it was good but very large.

Then back to find the hotel, which was another adventure, but we finally found it.

I had tapped into Radio NL’s Canucks broadcast and we listened to the game against Philly.  The Canucks were down 4-2 when we started listening in the 2^nd period, but they managed to tie it up by part way through the 3^rd.  Then, Philly scored and the Canucks weren’t able to score again.  Bummer!!

After that, we watched the ALCS game (Detroit and Texas) which was tied 3-3 in the 8^th.  I couldn’t keep my eyes open any more so lay there listening (I think).  Texas hit a 3 run homer in the 10^th or 11^th, and Detroit couldn’t come back.  That was it – lights out for us.

Unfortunately, our air conditioner cooled things off, then would shut off, and then not come back on until it got very warm, so we didn’t sleep too well.  And that was it for today.

Day 16

Tuesday, Oct. 11

Well, there is Fort Lauderdale.  It is still dark outside at 7:00, so at this point all we can see is the lights of the port and city.  It is pretty impressive looking from our balcony.  There are lots of lights along the shoreline, tall buildings that seem to be right on the beach, and the full moon hanging over it all.  It is a beautiful view.

The pilot took us into the docking area, and then they parallel parked alongside the Princess pier.  That continues to be an impressive feat to watch this guy pull up, and then back into a spot.  The pier is one slip separated from a big tank farm so our imagination went somewhat overboard trying to imagine what would happen in an accident.  The Hollywood airport must be just off to the side as there were a pile of airliners coming in to land.  I think we’ve seen too many disaster movies.

Disembarking is quite a process.  We had time to go for breakfast as we had to be out of our staterooms by 8:00, but weren’t getting off the ship until 9:30.  We met in the buffet and had our last breakfast on the ship (we’ll miss the great service and all the choices for our meals).  Then it was downstairs to gather in one of the bars to wait for our call to get off.  Karen had ordered wheelchairs for mom and dad so they wouldn’t have to walk a lot.  Just before 9:30, we got our call and then we departed.

The terminal was another display of great organization.  They had to get 2000 people off the ship so they could get it cleaned up and ready for another 2000 boarding in the afternoon.  We got down to where our luggage was waiting.  It took a while to find it, but at least they had a good system for that.  Our tags were green 1, so we first found green, and then the lines where the number 1’s were kept.

The fellows wheeling mom and dad’s chairs got a porter who managed to put all of our bags onto one cart, and then they all went with us to pass through customs and take us out to the buses and taxis.  The porter let me use his phone to call our hotel to see if they had a shuttle.  They did, and promised to be at the pier in half an hour.  He was.

Princess kept pretty good care of us as we waited.  One of the cruise employees (who I imagine lived in Ft. Lauderdale) kept an eye out for us, and when we saw the shuttle coming, helped us with all the bags.  Again, the driver was able to squeeze all of them into the van, and off we went.  We weren’t supposed to check in until 4:00, and it was only 10:00, so he took us for a short drive around the beach area before going to the hotel.  It was a pretty nice gesture.

Once at the hotel, they allowed us to store our bags and we hunkered down to wait.  I had the information for our car rental tomorrow, but there was no phone number and no address, so I didn’t know where we were to go to pick it up.  The front desk fellow didn’t know where there were any Budget rentals around, so I asked to use his phone book.  Wouldn’t you know it; there were about 8 different locations.  Then another staff member came and looked Budget up on the computer.  That at least got us a phone number, and I tried calling (we wanted to rent a van for the day so we could tour around).

Well, the place we called knew nothing about us renting a vehicle.  I was on hold for a while at the beginning, and then the battery on the house phone ran out.  After waiting another half an hour, we tried again.  About that time, the desk informed us that our rooms were ready.  It was only just after 11:00, so that was very nice of him.  In the meantime, while we were checking in, I managed to get in touch with Budget again, and the fellow there looked us up on the computer.  He was able to find our reservation at another site, and gave me the phone number there.

Then, once we were in our rooms, I contacted that office.  They didn’t have any vans in, but he was willing to call around to see if anyone else had one available.  I called him back about ½ hour later, and he had found one.  He had to have it driven over to his location, and then cleaned if necessary, and then it was ours.

When I called him back again, he had just gotten it.  It had to be vacuumed out first, but it would take us at least a half hour to get to his location.  He gave us directions and we called a cab.  Within a few minutes, a cab showed up and we were off.

Dawn had a great discussion about American politics with the driver, who seemed to have a lot of opinions.  He enjoyed talking, so we didn’t have much to do except look and listen.  Just over $20 later, he got us to the Budget place, and we went in to get the van.  The place was in a shopping mall, and the store looked just like any other retail outlet, so it was interesting to try and figure where the vehicles would be stored.

The fellow had quite a sense of humour.  First he said he didn’t have any vans, and didn’t know anything about what I was talking about.  After a brief time, he started laughing and let us off the hook.  We had a pretty good laugh about that.  Once we got the papers signed, he took us out the back to where he had a Dodge van.  We got the keys and directions to the road back to the hotel (again, thank goodness for the GPS), and we were off.

Once we got back, we picked up the others, and then went off to find some lunch.  By now, it was about 2:00, so we thought we would get something light to eat.  Dad wanted shrimp, so I looked for restaurants in the GPS system.  It located lots of them around us, and one of them was Red Lobster, about 4 km from where we were.  It took some time to get there (they allow U-turns at intersections in this state!!), but when we got there, we went in.

Well, to make a long story short, we didn’t have a light lunch.  It turned out to be a very filling feed of shrimp and we weren’t going to need supper tonight.

After that we decided to go for a drive.  The waiter had indicated where we should go to find the hockey arena where the Panthers play, so off we went to find it (Dawn and I are hoping to go to a game on the 15^th).  Of course, I took the wrong main road, and when we got to the end of this road (at least a half hour later, likely longer), the only choice I had was to go on the turnpike.  I knew the direction we had to go, so we went.  Wouldn’t you know it, this was a toll highway, and I couldn’t find any way to get off the highway.  Luckily dad had a $1 bill, which was the toll.  When I gave it to the lady, I asked her how we got off this highway.  She just laughed.  Wouldn’t you know it, the very next exit (about 800m) was where we were to get off the highway to find the arena (we could see it).

The sky had been very black since we went into the restaurant, and the rain finally came.  It poured for about 10 – 15 minutes, and then it was over.  We were heading back towards our hotel, and then decided to continue on, to view the beach.  We aren’t that far from the beach and it was quite easy to get there (by car).

There is a highway that runs right along the beach so we drove west on that one, all the way to the channel where our ship came in.  We could see our ship leaving off in the distance, as it started on its way back to Los Angeles (that will be its route over the winter – LA to Ft. Lauderdale and back).  It was heading into the area where the hurricanes were coming ashore on the west coast of Mexico, so we were happy that we weren’t onboard.  There are some pretty fantastic looking hotels along the beach – ones we don’t think we could afford to stay at.  Also, there are some pretty fantastic yachts parked in people’s back yard (there are channels all over the place).

After that it was back to the hotel to do some relaxing and finish off the day.  Dawn and I used the laundry to wash some clothes.  We were able to hang shirts, etc. to dry in our room, and those things that could be dried, we did.  I got caught up on my emails and Dawn watched the baseball game.  Then it was time for bed.  This being in the east means that ball games are on TV much later than they are at home, so the games are generally very late for us.  We didn’t finish the game before we fell asleep, so that was one of the major orders of the day upon waking.

Well, more about that tomorrow.

Day 15

Monday, Oct. 10

What a difference a night makes!!  We woke up this morning to a lovely day.  The sky was clear and the sea was calm.  The water had changed colour to a beautiful blue, similar to our pool liner.  The temperature had gone up some from yesterday, and it looks to be a warm, humid day.

While on the deck reading, there was a bird (it looked like a gull, but I don’t know if it was) that was flying along beside the ship.  We watched it for quite a while it fished.  It is really interesting to see them.  They fly along, glide and generally stay close to the water.  Suddenly they just dive into the water for a fish.  We started to see the flying fish again, and then the bird began to chase the flying fish.  I actually saw it catch one in the air and gulp it down.  It had to settle on the water for a few minutes and then got back up and continued fishing for its breakfast.

Went up for breakfast and tried to take a smaller portion.  It likely was, but I couldn’t tell, according to how full I felt for the next several hours.  They had put a Happy Thanksgiving cake for Canada out at the top of the stairs entering the buffet.  It was quite nice, although it was so huge I don’t think it was a real cake.

In the buffet area, they were setting up a display of the pastries they create on the ship.  There was an ice sculpture of a parrot, and many wonderful looking creations.  These ones were for display, but I imagine they are very much like what we eat.  The ones we are provided for eating are certainly great.

Then it was off to pick up some baggage tags, to get some crew and tour operator appreciation cards, and to pick up the final things from the duty free shop that we were asked to bring back.  After that, it was off to our cabin to start packing up.  We had to try and fit everything into the bags we had brought with us.  They were full when we left Kamloops, so it was a test of wills to fit all the new “stuff” in.  We made it, made sure we had clothes to wear tomorrow, and then we were about done.

Now, we have to get our final bill and make sure that is all looked after.  I think there are 38 minutes left on the internet account so that should go quickly later on today.  It sure doesn’t take long to use minutes.  We will likely be able to get this uploaded to the blog, look at and answer some emails, and that should be it.  I don’t plan on leaving any minutes because there is no refund.

Mom, Karen and Dawn went down to play Bingo this afternoon.  The jackpot was getting pretty large (about $3500) and it had to go today.  A couple ladies shared the winning pot.  Mom has won some Bingo pots already, and she and Karen have made some money on the slots, so they must be lucky.  Today wasn’t Dawn’s turn again (she only went to Bingo yesterday).

I’m sitting out on our deck typing this entry.  We just passed a very small island in the middle of the sea.  It had a tall lighthouse on it and very white sand beach.  It was tiny – I would say about 100m long and maybe 20m wide (hard to tell from the distance we were away, but that is my guesstimate).  We also passed a beautiful yacht that was going the same direction as us.  It was huge, although much smaller than our ship, but must have been worth a small fortune.  I imagine there was a crew to run that ship for whoever owned it.

While we were looking at it, Karen spotted a shark swimming by our ship.  Boy, do they ever move fast.  I guess I won’t jump overboard for a swim.  By the time they got the ship stopped to pick me up, I would likely be inside the shark.  ;-)

Well, that was pretty much it for the day.  We set most of our bags out in the hallway before we went up for dinner, as instructed.  When we got back, they were still there, so I guess it wasn’t as important as they seemed to think.  We’ll get the final things out before we go to bed, and then only have our carry-off bags for the morning.

All we are waiting for now is our final bill.  There is a gratuity charge per day per passenger, plus anything else we purchased on the ship, so I’m sure we are looking at $400 - $500 in charges, but we knew that going in.

It’s time to sign off now.  The next entry will be from Fort Lauderdale and our hotel room.  We are scheduled to disembark at 9:30, so we will be up early to get some breakfast and then get to our disembarkation location.  So for now, Happy Thanksgiving Day.

Day 14

Saturday, Oct. 8

The time changed overnight to Eastern Time, so we lost an hour of sleep (that is 3 hours in total), but we didn’t have to get up early this morning because we weren’t supposed to arrive in Aruba until 1:00.  I was awake at 7:00, and thought I should get my shower before the coffee was delivered.  I got that out of the way and was shaving when I heard the knock on the door.  My face was covered in shaving cream so I couldn’t go out to answer it.  Dawn was still sleeping and didn’t hear the knock.  I guess he phoned our room and woke her up, but by that time, I was out of the bathroom and able to get the tray.

I poured my coffee, and went out on the deck to look around and read.  I took the camera and the binoculars out on the deck so they could warm up and lose their fog (coming out from a cold room into the hot, humid air).  After a while, Dawn got up and came out.  We went for breakfast at about 10:00.

When we returned, there were a number of ships on the horizon, and passenger planes were flying fairly low, so we knew we were getting close.  Even though it was hazy, we could finally see some buildings off in the distance.  The water was quite rough, similar to the day after we left Vancouver although not as rough as that.  There was a fair wind blowing and the birds flying along with the ship seemed to be enjoying themselves, skimming the water and occasionally diving in to get a meal.

As we got closer, we slowed down, I assume to take on a pilot.  We couldn’t see any boat, but we were on the wind side and I didn’t think they would bring someone onboard on our side.  There were a couple tugboats waiting for us, just outside the beautiful blue water.  Dawn went to take a photo, and the camera wouldn’t start up.  I had forgotten to re-charge the battery, and plugged it in immediately so we could at least have some power to take photos while in Aruba.

A catamaran sailboat passed us as we got close to shore.  It had the name of the company we were going snorkeling with on the side, so we assumed it was our tour guides.  The wind was really blowing, and things got somewhat calmer as we got inside the breakwater, but that didn’t stop it from making our ship difficult to control.  The lane was very narrow where we were to dock, and it looked like it wouldn’t take much for us to run aground.  Both tugs had to push with a lot of power to hold us against the pier while the mooring ropes were being attached (there were lots more than we had seen at other ports).

To disembark from the ship, there wasn’t the usual organization with tours meeting someplace first and then getting off in groups.  Instead, it was meet the tour operators outside of the pier.  Of course, one of the gangways wouldn’t work, so we were down to getting everyone off using one gangway.  What a congestion of people.  We lined up, and walked to one end of the ship and then back to the middle before they informed us that the second gangway was in service.  Due to the lateness of getting off, some of the tours were late getting away.

We finally got off, went outside and met with a fairly large group who were all going snorkelling.  We walked for about 10 minutes to get to where our sailboat was moored in the harbour, and then everyone got on, and we were off.  Lloyd counted 63 people on the tour.  The boat was large enough to handle everyone, with room for more if there had been any.

They took us out of the harbour, raised the sails, and we scooted down the coast across the front of many hotels and all sorts of beautiful white sand beaches.  After about ½ an hour, they took us close to shore, anchored, gave us some instructions, and then let us off to swim with the fishes for about half an hour.  It was great; the water was warm (about 83 degrees), the air temperature was good, the sun was filtered by the clouds.  We had fun.

After that we got back on board and they took us to another spot for another bout of swimming/snorkelling.  Again, a great time was had by all.  Up to that point, there was pop and juices provided.  After we finished there, they opened the rum punch which seemed to be a hit.  Dawn and I sat on the webbing at the bow of the boat on the way back.  It was quiet, windy, cool, and generally very enjoyable.  This boat could really move when the sails were up.

I was able to get a number of nice shots of our ship as we were coming in.  We sailed right by our side of the ship and our cabin was very visible.  At this time, I was also able to get some good shots of the harbour and some of the very expensive looking yachts that were moored there.

There was a series of small shops at the pier so we went in there for a while.  We didn’t have time to go into town as we had to be aboard within half an hour of returning to the ship.  I went and sat while Dawn looked through the stores.

We needed showers to get the salt water off, so we took some time before being ready for dinner.  The ship started moving about 6:50, and we went up for dinner at 7:00.  Everyone was feeling pretty happy with the day, but we were all tired, so we ate and left.  Dawn and I started watching the movie under the stars, but I found it pretty slow and suggested we not stick around.  Dawn agreed and we went back to our cabin.  It is 9:30 now, and Dawn is already in bed watching TV.  I’m heading there in a few minutes.  What a great day.  This is certainly a place to consider coming to for a week.