California and Back

We began the second half of our spring trip with an expedition from Palm Desert to the Santa Anita

Mona's New Friend
At Santa Anita

Track in Arcadia, California.  As soon as we entered the gate we were impressed with the beauty of the track grounds.  There were exotic “poodle-trimmed” trees, along with lots of flowers and beautiful landscape everywhere.  Gorgeous!  We had purchased “Club” tickets for an extra $5 which gave us access to comfortable seating and terrace dining.  The terrace dining was an awesome experience…sitting high above the track at our table with tablecloths, silverware and great service.  We loved it!  Neither of us did that well in choosing winners, but we had a great time and will be back!

Sunday was another polo day.  We love horse events and polo is a way to see horses up close and personal. I love it when the horses thunder down the field after the ball and then turn on a dime when the ball is whacked away.  These ponies can run!  Note: they call them “ponies” but in fact, most are thoroughbreds with many coming from racetrack careers.  Virtually all of these ponies are 14 to 16 hands tall, kind of big for a pony!

All too soon it was time to leave Coachella Valley.  We said our goodbyes and headed west towards LA.  Earlier in the week we had taken the same route to Santa Anita, but this time we were headed further west.  However, just as we hit the 210 we ran into the famous LA traffic.  Mona quickly re-navigated us to Old Route 66 and we cruised right past the bad traffic.  

Vineyard Near Paso Robles.  Can you "drought"?!

Hearst Castle was our destination but on the way we found that the area around Paso Robles has almost 200 wineries.  Since it was lunch time we found a winery that serves food and we stopped for a tasting and a bite to eat.  We ate outside in the 80 degree weather and enjoyed the views of neighboring vineyards and soaring birds above.  It’s hard to beat that kind of lunch!

Indoor pool at Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle is unique to say the least.  It was built on a sixteen hundred foot hill overlooking the Pacific.  The site was where William Randolph Hearst used to camp as a boy and as an adult he wanted to live there.  The building looks like a castle with two turrets and the inside looks much like a European medieval castle with lots of tapestries and dark wood.  I loved the surrounding grounds as they brought to mind a Roman villa overlooking the Mediterranean.  Mona’s favorite was the inside swimming pool with it’s aqua colors and gold gilding.

Our next stop was Monterey.  We visited here two years ago and loved the area; especially, the sea otters.  On that trip we took a whale-watching tour but the seas were so rough the captain had to turn back to shore without spotting a whale.  That was a memorable boat ride; not only for the high seas but also because we went through a pod of about 1500 dolphins.  Since we didn’t see whales the charter service gave us free tickets for a repeat try.

This time the captain was again worried about the wind and high seas.  But, at 10:00 we set out.  

Otter!

This time wasn’t nearly as rough but even so well over half of the forty people on board soon got sick.  Didn’t matter to us though!  We just hung onto the rail and kept our eyes peeled for blows.  Again, we saw hundreds of dolphins and 16 whales.  One huge 40 ton whale jumped totally out of the water making an enormous splash.  Awesome!!!  I didn’t get any decent whale pictures because it took both hands to hold onto the rail, but we both got the memories!

As I said, we love the sea otters around Monterey.  These guys are usually about 4 feet long and about 80 pounds.  They are like a sea- loving Irish setter.  They are everywhere in the area; around the docks, along the coast, and we even saw them several miles out to sea.  In all locations they have the same behaviors:  dive for mollusks, return to the surface and float on their back, and then use their special rock (that they keep in a pouch) to break the shell of the mollusk so they can eat it.  After they’re done eating their catch they dive back down and start all over again.  They have to eat about 25 - 40% of their body weight every day so they eat a lot!

After whale-watching we drove north of Monterey to a little bay where there are lots of otters.  There we climbed up on the rocks and watched otters and sea life all afternoon.  What a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Hard to get a sense of
scale on these giants

The next part of our trip was to check off another item on our bucket list: The Redwood National Park.  We drove up highway 101, the Redwood Highway, with thousands of redwoods and other pines along the way.  Before we got to the park we stopped at Leggett, California.  Mona didn’t know, but I knew that is one of the three remaining drive-through redwoods in California.  Mona got to drive her Highlander through the tree and she got such a kick doing so!  

Soon we were in the National Park proper.  We headed to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove to take a hike into the woods.  It was awesome walking among those giant trees.  Did you know that these trees live almost 2000 years and grow to over 375 feet!  They are huge!!!

Almost 375 feet tall...a 35 story building
would fit under here!

We spent the night in Eureka in Humboldt County.  Frankly, this is a weird area with lots of strange people walking around…..most of them unkempt with shaggy hair and only a few of their teeth.  They aren’t homeless but just odd and they are everywhere.  It's very unsettling and it made us be all the more wary when we parked our vehicle and when we geocached.

The next day we headed east across California on route 299.  This is a very scenic route through the pine forests with lots of twists and turns….and road construction.  Lots of road construction!  And did I say pine forests?  Mona has always been allergic to pine and I’m developing the same allergies so after a day and a half in the woods we were both sneezing and going through boxes of tissue.  We were anxious to get away from the scenery and beauty and pines!!!  But of course, not so anxious that we didn’t stop at the Bigfoot Museum.

The Bigfoot Museum in Willow Creek is one of the pre-eminent Bigfoot museums in the United States so of course we stopped there.  That was one of the reasons were on Route 299 in the first place.  We had done our research and knew that it didn’t open till 10 so we timed our visit just right; only to find that it doesn’t open until May.  We called a number posted on the museum door.  The lady who answered said she’d come over and open up for us.  Sure enough, in about 15 minutes a big old Cadillac pulled in and out jumped a little old lady.  Peggy was her name and she’s 84 years old and knows every Bigfoot story ever told.  She’s never seen Bigfoot, herself but she’s still hopeful!  

There’s a lot of stuff in the museum about the area, but all we cared to see was the Bigfoot room.  There were lots of casts of Bigfoot footprints, handprints and even thigh prints from where a Bigfoot had lain down on a muddy slope to eat a meal.  There were lots of newspaper reports and testimonials from scientists and doctors regarding hair samples found after Bigfoot sightings.  If you’re not a believer when you go in; you’re at least a wonderer when you come out!

We bought a few souvenirs and while checking us out Peggy told us about all the strange people in the area.  She says they’re mostly drug users and marijuana farmers.  They don’t mix well with long-time residents.  She said the newcomers are hot-tempered and threaten anyone who crosses them.  According to her, it gets worse when it’s time to harvest the marijuana because people come from all over the world to help bring in the crop.  We definitely didn’t do any hiking or geocaching in those back woods!

It took us a day to get across California and get to Reno.  There we stayed at the Silver Legacy and stayed in the artificially pure non-pine air all night.  Breath deeply!  The Silver Legacy had lots of restaurants and plenty of slot games we like.  Mona won and all was well!  (I lost.)

Our Eastward travels continued and on our last night out we stayed in Des Moines, Iowa.  There we linked up with an old friend, Mack Thompson, from Illinois Power.  He and his wife, Debbie, live downtown in a loft and it was highly reminiscent of our former place in St. Louis.  We walked downtown to eat making it even more of a STL-experience.  

You’d think we’d be tired of driving and anxious to head home after almost 6500 miles on this trip,

Hay Dude!

wouldn’t you?  Not!  We are still working on finding a geocache in every Illinois county and there were 10 counties in Western Illinois that we still needed.  So, we took a couple of hours and wound our way south through ten counties.  One of these counties is where Joseph Young, the founder of Mormonism, was shot.  Another county had a neat bridge over the Illinois river. And yet, another had the Hay Dude.  Always something to see and learn while you’re caching!

We finally made it home.  Time to do the laundry and start packing for the next trip!

Traveling Tips.  (The second in a series.)

Gas

We use an app called Gas Buddy when we’re looking for gas.  This app helps you find the lowest gas prices around; whether it be around the corner or the next exit.  We saved an average of 20 cents per gallon when using the app.

Airline Miles

Normally, we use our Starwoods credit card for everything.  That’s because they give you a 5000 mile bonus when you convert Starwoods points to American miles.  However, we recently got a US Airways card.  We got a 50,000 mile bonus for signing up for the card and these miles will convert to American miles when the merger is complete.  At this time, the US Airways card is giving you 1.5 miles for every dollar spent; making it the best card for American miles until late June.

International Calls on Your Mobile

While on this trip we received our phone bill and there was $44 in international calls from our cruise.  It was evident that these were Mona’s calls because I always have my phone on airplane mode while out of the country.  I gently reminded her that these calls are pricey and to be aware of the costs of talking.  She took the reminder in good form, but the next morning she challenged the calls saying that she had only used her phone while in US Territories where the calls are free.  She convinced me, so I called ATT to tell them about the incorrect billing.  

The ATT agent was most sympathetic and she was working with me to investigate. I was telling the agent how the calls were from Mona's phone when the agent interrupted me and said, “Mr. Sowers, these calls aren’t from Mona’s phone.  They’re from yours.”  “Hmmmm!” says I, “That makes it even more curious since I ALWAYS have my phone on airplane mode when cruising.”  (Practically perfect in every way, that’s me!)  The ATT agent was having trouble figuring things out, because I always have my phone on airline mode when cruising so she put me on hold so she could connect us with an ATT International specialist.  

As I was humming to the hold music I started backtracking in my mind…..the calls came from Grand Turk…what had happened in Grand Turk?…..hmmmm….  Suddenly, the horrible truth came to me.  In Grand Turk Mona had “lost” her phone and I had taken my phone off airplane mode so I could call her phone.  Just as I called she discovered her phone in the restroom.  Relieved, I put my phone in my pocket and immediately began making pocket calls….to the tune of $44!!!  I blame the medicinal rum that I had taken to mitigate the pain from stepping on a nail.  (What color is sheepish?)

I confessed, both to the ATT agents and to Mona.  ATT was very gracious, even though they were laughing about the rum, and they took off $22 worth of the charges.  Mona was gracious too, but in a smurky sort of way.

What's the tip?  Keep your phones on airplane mode at all times if you don't want to incur international roaming charges.  Duh!

Microwaving Boiled Eggs 

This sign was at the next hotel.  

One sunny morning Mona and I were the only ones in the self-serve breakfast bar at our hotel.  Mona was busy making her own breakfast and I was already eating.  I noticed her turning from the microwave and I looked up.  SPLAT!!!  Egg all over my glasses, my hair and the entire dining area.  Mona said the eggs started jumping in the bowl just before they exploded.

Roadside Lemonaide

Ummmm......No.

More tips next time!

California and the Valley Zone

Near a Geocache in the Desert

We began our trip to California with a couple of nights in Norman, Oklahoma, visiting Monte and Aleta and helping out with a wiring project.  We set out early morning on Tuesday, with Las Cruces, New Mexico as our destination for the night.  Initially, our route was the same one we took on our first retirement trip; driving through Amarillo (by morning) and ending up in Santa Rosa, New Mexico for lunch.  There we stopped at the Silver Moon Cafe which is an iconic Route 66 diner.  (We stopped here in 2012, too.) It’s a perfect place for New Mexican chiles dishes….Yum!

At Santa Rosa we got off the interstate to bisect the state on Route 54 (which goes all the way to Clinton, IL) and then onto Route 76.  We love driving the back roads in New Mexico because of the awesome scenery, both plant and rock.  Just before Las Cruces we came to the White Sands National Monument.  

Can you imagine Mona sledding???

There, in the middle of the brown desert are huge dunes of white sand covering 275 square miles.  These dunes are still evolving and they move several feet a year.  There are trails to walk and lots of places where you can sled down the dunes.  Note: We didn’t sled but even Mona is considering sledding on our next visit.  As she says, “This would be sledding paradise; sled all you want and never get cold!”

After our night in Las Cruces we set out to complete one of our goals of 2015; i.e., to have found a geocache in every county of Arizona.  We already had all but six Arizona counties and five were to be found today!  We left the interstate and headed northwest towards Globe, Arizona.  Much of the first part of the road was desolate with no cars in either direction.  Frankly, I was a little creeped out so I sped up until I got within reasonable eyesight of the car ahead.  Finally, we got to a town, then a section of more traveled road and I was better.  You get to thinking how isolated out you are out in the middle of the desert…

Near another geocache

I had mapped out the route and the caches that would maximize our time while minimizing our distance.  Much of that route took us through the San Carlos Apache Reservation.  We traveled through several small towns in the reservation and I was dismayed at how trashy many of the yards were.  Along our travels we noted that many desert dwellers like to accumulate junk.  It could be that they aren’t any worse than midwestern junkers but, the midwesterners benefit from tall grass and bushes hiding their collections.  But anyway, I get junk collectors.  Midwestern or desert. After all my family had our share of collectors and I grew up with a big school bus sitting in our backyard…so yes, I get junk collectors.  But, getting back to the trash issues, these homes were littered with garbage, not junk.  Maybe a big wind had just blown through and they hadn’t had time to pick up the garbage.  Just maybe.

Arizona Highways!

Other than those few cities, the route was beautiful with plenty of scenes like you see in“Arizona Highways” which I guess stands to reason because we were traveling on Arizona highways.  Some things just don’t need explaining, but I guess I did anyway.   However, we saw virtually no animals.  Yes, most desert animals are nocturnal but we didn’t even see last night’s roadkill.  Nada.  Given as many miles as we drove we’d normally expect to see deer, antelope or at least a rabbit.  But, nada.  However, to compensate the desert was in bloom.  They’ve had a lot of unseasonal rain so we got a stunning display of desert colors!

We finally ended up in Tucson with our five counties achieved!  Thanks to time differences

we still had plenty of time to check things out.  We had planned on going to Old Town Tucson but we found that it was like old Dodge City, a stage set that charged admission.  Not what we wanted.  We settled for a restaurant that served authentic Mexican food (Unique in this part of the country, right?  Not!)  However, the food was wonderful with selections we’ve never seen before including calabacitas; a Mexican vegetable side dish.  Excellent!  We’ve tried several new Mexican dishes on this trip and have loved them all. Más favor!

Inside Lutes' Casino

Next stop was Yuma, Arizona.  We tried to time our visit for 3:10 but we arrived a little early.  We had targeted a cache in Old Town so we headed there and quickly made the find.  We have now found a cache in all of the counties in Arizona.  Our first completed state!

After finding the cache we walked the streets of Old Town Yuma.  Main street is very wide and come to find out it was designed that way so that teams of mules could do u-turns in the street.  We ended up at Lutes’ Casino for lunch.  You can’t gamble here but you do get to gawk at the decor.  The place is filled with posters, wall art and oddities.  Crazy!  The food was fun, but the walls and ceilings were even more so!

Prison Cellblock

Next up was the Territorial Prison.  Built back in 1876 by the prisoners themselves, this place served as home for over 3000 prisoners in its thirty three year life.  For its time, this was considered a model prison; however, I couldn’t imagine being one of the six people in a cell the size of a normal bathroom.  Soon, as is typical in the United States, the prison became overcrowded and the prisoners built a larger one and left Yuma Territorial Prison for good.

After Yuma we drove west on I8 towards California.  Just to the south of the interstate we caught our first sighting of the wall between the United States and Mexico.  It’s huge and stretches for miles.  Every few miles you can see clusters of border patrol vehicles waiting on some action.  It’s a odd feeling looking at this wall.  You don’t think of the United States as being walled.  That’s something for the Cold War or for the Middle East.  Sobering.  I wanted to take a side road to get a close up picture of the wall, but something told me that wasn't a good idea.

Speaking of Border Patrol: We went through three checkpoints.  This time I was driving so they allowed us to pass unhindered.  Even though Mona wasn’t driving we practiced her answers to any questions they might ask her.  “Are you an American Citizen?”  “Yes” would be her answer.  “Is this your car?”  Again, “Yes” would be her answer.  Seems simple, right?  But we know all too well Mona’s history with Border Patrol and Customs Agents.

Getting in the Valley Zone at Blue Coyote

After a few more hours we were at last in the Coachella Valley and the resort in Palm Desert.  Here we met up with Monte and Aleta again.  We were spending the week in  their Shadow Ridge villa.  I’ve written a lot about the valley and the resort in previous blogs so I’ll skip that this time.  Instead I’ll talk about traditions.  We have a lot of traditions when we stay here and we immediately began the process:  Step 1: Appoint a designated driver.  Step 2: Drive to Palm Springs and go to Blue Coyote.  Step 3: Order a pitcher of Wild Margaritas.  Step 4:  Inhale said Margaritas and begin to get into the “Valley Zone”.  That’s where you’re oh-so relaxed, and soaking in the desert air while watching palm trees sway in the breeze.  Ahhhhh….

Love to Birdwatch in the Valley
This little hummingbird let me get very close!

Other traditions include: stocking up on supplies at Ralph’s after Blue Coyote  (Always lots of fun for the designated driver!); In and Out Burger; Del Taco; breakfast at Pinocchio’s (with bottomless champaign and a designated driver); walks in the resort; swimming in the afternoons; hikes/geocaching in the desert; grilling out in the evenings; and finally Polo on Sunday.

Breakfast View!

Our Polo Sundays start with a visit to the Eldorado Polo Club.  Admission is free and we go to breakfast at Roc’s Firehouse Grill which is situated within 20 feet of the polo field.  We get a table on the edge of the patio so close to the field that we can almost touch the horses.  Sometimes when they overrun the field chasing the ball the horses almost get into our food!  We  dine and watch the 10:00 game.  Afterwards, we head to the Empire Polo Club.  Here admission is free too.  However, if you want to pay a little bit you get reserved seats under the shade.  That’s always our option!

As with the Eldorado Club, we’re about twenty feet from the field, but now we’re up on a patio about six feet above the field, giving us an excellent view of the games. There is the noon game which is fun, but the best part of the day is the 2:00 game.  This is typically a championship match and the highlight of the game is the half-time Champagne Divot Stomp.  You get a free glass of champagne for which you go out onto the field and stomp divots.  The primary thing you have to learn is the difference between a divot and a “non-divot”, if you know what I mean.  It’s a blast out there with hundreds of other people in the desert sun, sipping on champagne and doing their best to avoid the non-divots!

Mona and Aleta Divot Stomping

At the end of the week, Monte and Aleta headed home while Mona and I moved to the Westin Mission Hills resort in Rancho Mirage.  Here, we continued the traditions but yesterday we did something we’ve never done before: We visited Tahquitz Canyon.   The canyon is holy to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and they recently reopened it to non-tribal visitors.  

We walked to the Visitor’s Center with a backpack loaded up with bottles of water.  You’re not even allowed past the center unless you have at least one bottle per person.  We had two per.  We were a bit apprehensive about our walk as they had lots of signs warning about the rattlesnakes.  Mona asked the clerk and she assured us that it’s been awhile since anyone was bitten.  Oh gee, thanks a lot!  Feeling much better about the rattlers now!

On the Tahquitz Trail...see any rattlers?

This canyon is literally five blocks from the main street of Palm Springs but it’s like a step back into time.  You hear nothing but ravens croaking and lizards rustling in the sagebrush and creosote bushes as you walk by.  A least we hoped they were lizards!  (We didn’t see a single snake but I kept wondering how many saw us!)  The only desert critters we saw were lizards, tiny little guys only 4 or 5 inches long, up to desert iguanas which are 12 to 16 inches long.  Most of them run a little bit, stop, do a couple of push ups to impress us, then run ahead of us to the next piece of shade.

Tahquitz Falls

After about an hour of hiking up and down the canyon walls we got to the Tahquitz Falls.  Here the water gushes out of a crevice about 50 foot above us.  It’s ice cold water from the snow melt on the San Jacinto Mountains above us.  It was well worth the hike!  We cooled in the shade of the oasis and then headed back the rocky trail.  It was 95 degrees on our return; there is little shade for the next mile or so; therefore, we were very happy to get back to the Visitor Center's air conditioning.  Since we were so close to Palm Springs we decided to celebrate our conquering of the valley trail by visiting Blue Coyote for Wild Margaritas and posole.  Ahhh…..the Valley Zone again!

Now it's morning and I’m out on our balcony with a cup of coffee watching the sun start to peek over the mountain and through the palm trees.  A great way to start another valley day!

Winter Escape

Our January winter escape to Florida worked out really well so we decided to go for another.  This time we picked a cruise out of Port Canaveral and we flew since we had free tickets on United.

MNM and Atlantis

Yep, Like a kid!

We arrived a couple of days early because we wanted to visit the Kennedy Space Center before our cruise.  We rented a car and drove about 30 minutes to the visitor center.  There we visited the Atlantis Shuttle Exhibit, watched the IMAX show about the International Space Station and took a bus tour throughout the launch area; ending up with a visit to the Apollo/Saturn exhibit.  The entire visit was awesome and emotional; evoking tears of memories and pride in the USA at every turn.  We definitely want to come back!

Us and Our Shipmates: Randy and Mary Ann

We spent two nights on Cocoa Beach meeting up with cousins Randy and Mary Ann on the second night.  They were on the same ship and celebrating their wedding anniversary.  Next morning we headed for the port.  Randy and Mary Ann are Platinum Members of Carnival so they got expedited boarding.  We are not, so we expected an hour before we go on board.  NOT. The lines moved incredibly fast and within 15 minutes we were on board and heading for Guy’s Burgers. There we met up with Randy and Mary Ann and enjoyed the sail-away festivities.

Next morning we docked at Nassau, Bahamas.  We debarked and headed out to find a geocache.  Our target cache was located at the British Colonial Hilton where Sean Connery stayed when filming the James Bond movies.  Incredibly cool hotel and beautiful grounds….we’d love to come here to stay in this hotel!

We then wandered the streets of Nassau,

Fresh Conch!

Nassau Officers

visiting the Parliament and walking by hundreds of shops.  The best thing about the shops was the air conditioning blasting out the doors.  We stopped at Conch Fritters to have a couple of Bahamian beers in honor of our friend Trae and to use their WiFi.  Then we moved on to a little local bar right on the waterfront.  There we linked up with three crazy guys from our ship: Chris, Brett and John.  We traded stories, drinks and jokes with them for a couple hours and then made our way back to the Liberty…a little worse for the wear but happy happy happy!

St. Thomas was our next port of call.  We had a couple of errands to run before our excursion so we debarked and headed out.  First task was to find a geocache which was only about 500 feet from our ship.  Finding it took only a few minutes and then we were off to shop.  Bought our items, dropped them off on the ship and then headed back out to join our excursion on a catamaran to St. John’s.  

It was Mona's birthday and she chose to celebrate on the Champagne Catamaran excursion from Carnival because it took us to St. John’s AND it had champagne!  The excursion started with a twenty minute bus ride to the other side of the island where we took off our sandals and boarded the catamaran.  Our crew was Micky, Michael and Alex the captain.

My "Jaws Pic".  I was snorkeling and happened to look up as
the crew was boating Mona back to the Catamaran.

We sailed over to St. Johns taking about a half hour. Along the way the crew briefed us on how to use the snorkel gear and where the best spots were in the bay. As soon as we arrived I jumped in to see lots of fish, rays and spiny sea urchins. Others on our boat saw turtles, but it wasn't my day for them. Mona doesn't snorkel so the crew boated her to the beach where she enjoyed shelling and talking to other non-snorkelers.  She was perfectly happy there!

We were in the water for about an hour, then back to the catamaran. We sailed back to St. Thomas while enjoying champagne, rum punch, cheese and bread. Okay, more champagne and rum than cheese and bread.  Lots of fun sailing but no dolphins.

Mofongo!

Next up was San Juan, Puerto Rico.  This was our third visit to the island and this time we were determined to try mofongo; a local speciality made of crushed fried plantains molded into a cup shape and then stuffed with the meat of your choice.  We made our way to the Aji Dulce in Old Town  and once there we chose mofongo with pork and mojitos.  We both loved the new tastes and maybe, just maybe, the Mojitos might of helped make it taste even better.

Mona with Jack's Shack owners, Jack and Joan

Grand Turk was our last port of call.  Here, as with our last visit, we waded to the left of the pier for about a quarter mile till we came to Jack’s Shack.  This little place has a volleyball net, a bar and tables and a grill which puts out some of the best jerk chicken we’ve ever had.  We spent several hours here, talking to the owners, trading stories with other visitors and just enjoying the sun and breeze.  There’s nothing fancy here, just quality relaxation!

Our time on ship was spent watching shows, eating, playing trivia and just laying in the sun or shade as our whims dictated.  The Liberty has activities for all ages and we had no trouble finding something to do at all times.  And, since there are plenty of quiet spaces we had no trouble finding ways to just relax and listen to the sounds of the ship cutting through the water.  

The Liberty has Carnival’s new American Table Menu which we really enjoyed.  It has lots of new selections as well as many of the old-time favorites.  What we liked most was the port-specific selections which offer foods that are typical for the post just visited.  This had the effect of extending our stay on the island and we love that!

All too soon our cruise ended and we took the Road Runner Shuttle back to Orlando.  We spent several hours in the United lounge before flying back to Chicago. Our flight was delayed several times but we didn’t mind too much as we had free drinks and food.  From there we drove home to 11 inches of newly fallen snow. We are already ready to escape again!

Travel Tips

We get a lot of questions on traveling so I decided to add this new section to the blog to share a few of our tips and experiences.

Free airfare: We both flew free round trip to Orlando.  We found a promotion where you sign up for a United Airlines Credit card and you get enough miles for a free ticket.  We both got cards, charged the minimum and got the tickets.  We paid off the charges immediately so we didn’t pay any interest.  As a bonus, we both got free passes to the United Lounge which really paid off as we had a multi-hour wait at Orlando.  Free drinks and food all day!

Sleep and Park: We bought a package deal at the Elk Grove Quality Inn and Suites.  The deal included a shuttle to and from the airport plus free parking for nine days.  Essentially, we stayed for free (instead of paying for parking at the airport) plus they shoveled out our car and cleaned the windows before we got back.  Also note, this is a Choice Hotel and they have a promotion right now for a free night’s stay after two nights.  We’ll get the second night in March.

Medical Issues: On Grand Turk I stepped on a rusty nail sticking up from the deck.  (Okay, two tips here: get your shots and don’t go barefoot!)  We quickly reviewed my tetanus shot history and breathed a big sigh of relief as it’s been less than 5 years since my last shot.  When you plan your cruise you aren’t thinking about medical issues, but you need to think about what will happen if you have problems on a trip.  Carnival offers medical insurance that’s worth considering.

Thrifty Rental Cars: We had prebooked a rental car at Thrifty for our trip to the Space Center.  However, when we got there they reneged on the deal.  I surmise that they could rent the car for more to Daytona 500 visitors.  Lesson learned: I won't be booking with Thrifty again.

Booking Flights: I just learned about Google Flights.  This is an amazing tool to help you find bargains: Google Flights from Huffington Post

The Points Guy:  As always, if you’re looking for ways to maximize your frequent flyer miles we highly recommend you follow The Points Guy: http://thepointsguy.com  He also has tips on the best credit cards for travelers, ways to maximize hotel points, etc. etc. etc. The Points Guy is just an awesome reference for any traveler!

January Cruising!

The Carnival Breeze

We always wonder why we don’t go somewhere in January when it’s cold; so this year we decided on a winter cruise.  We left home when it was minus one and headed south to warmth!

A few weeks ago we were talking to our friend Carolyn about her Bucket List item of watching a rocket blast off.  We loved that idea so we added it to our list. By a stroke of luck we happened to be in Florida when we heard that SpaceX’s launch for their Falcon 9 rocket was delayed till Saturday morning.  We found a cheap hotel on Cocoa Beach and set our alarms for 3:30 in the morning.  The launch was scheduled for 4:47 AM with an immediate launch window…meaning that it would blast off exactly at 4:47 or not at all.

Our best pic.  Bad zoom and blinded
by the light.  (Sounds like a song!)

We found a vantage point across the bay from the blast site and pulled our car onto the shoulder.  We were there with a few hundred others who, like us, were standing in the dark looking at a bright light across the way.  Some of our compatriots had NASA’s broadcast on so we could hear the launch technicians talking and could monitor the countdown.  Finally, it got to 10, 9, 8…..lift off!  Suddenly, a new sun emerged and we could clearly see the launch platform and the rocket.  It didn’t seem to be moving at all, but then started to lift lift lift!  It seemed to start slowly and then it gained momentum and shot into the sky.  Shortly thereafter came the thrum of sound almost pulsating through us, like nothing we’ve heard before.  We watched it for a least two minutes before it finally disappeared.  At that point, everyone, including us, began to clap and cheer.  IT. WAS. AWESOME!  It’s still a thrill just to think about it!

This was our view, but not our pic.  Our cameras were
blinded by the light.

Our home for the week was the Carnival Breeze.  This was the big ship that we first had seen in Grand Turks back in October.  The Breeze is one BIG ship.  While most of the other Carnival ships carry about 3200 passengers, this ship carries 4500 plus a crew of 1400. Big.  It weighs in at a mere 130,000 tons and has 14 decks and is 1004 feet long.  Did I already say it was big?  It’s big! Not only is it big, it’s beautiful.  The decor is light, airy and very tropical.  We love it!  And last but not least, it has Guy’s Burgers so for us it’s practically perfect in every way!

Mona and Friends Going Up the Falls.

Our first port on our cruise was Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  We were in Jamaica for a week about fifteen years ago and somehow we didn’t have time to visit Dunn’s River Falls.  This trip we’d fix that!  At the port we boarded a catamaran and sailed to the mouth of Dunn’s River.  There we met our guide, BBG…short for Big Belly Guide.  He and his cohort told us we’d be walking in a line holding hands up the falls.  Huh?  That sounded a little like overkill.  

The easy part of the falls

After a pep talk and everyone repeatedly shouting “Hot! Hot! Hot” at the top of their lungs we finally began.  You start at the bottom of the falls at about a 30 degree angle.  The water is rushing down the falls and you are walking on very slippery rocks with lots of holes.  Immediately, we’re glad we are holding hands in a line.  You need each of your adjacent hand-holders to help you stand!  

You slip and slide, slide and slip, slowly working your way up the natural steps of the cascade.  Neither of us fell but somehow we both got wet from head to toe!  We had gone about a tenth of a mile and finally, we were done!!! Whew!  But no, the river curved and the falls went up at about a 60 degree incline.  Up we went!  It took us at least 30 minutes to get up there, but we did it!  At the top was a sign saying we made it!  We high-fived and head back down to shore to party on the catamaran as it took us back to port.  Back in port we celebrated with jerk chicken and Red Stripe Beer…a fitting way to celebrate our conquest of the falls.

The Atrium of the Breeze

We loved cruising on the Breeze.  We even got to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of the ship.  We got to go into the bowels of the ship to visit the storerooms and freezers.  We also got to go to the galley where they prepare over 15,000 meals a day. Then up to the bridge to meet the captain and get our photos taken with him.  (I was told specifically not to touch anything.  Can’t figure why I was singled out.)  We went behind the stage to learn about costumes and set movements and then finally we went down to the front of the ship where the spare anchor is kept.  For geeks like us, it was the perfect tour!

Overall, this was a great cruise.  Three great ports: Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Caymans; and finally Cozumel, Mexico.  We met new friends everywhere we went and we even ran into a couple of old friends on the ship.  The ship had four great shows and lots of other entertainment including outside movies at night.  We couldn’t get everything done, but we sure tried!

Gas Station Gators

All too soon it was time to head home.  We are working on finding a geocache in every Florida county and we already have all the “outline” counties so this trip we decided to drive up through the center of the state.  This is a part of Florida that most don’t see.  It’s Everglades, Indian reservations, sugar cane fields and orange groves for miles.  Lots of wildlife everywhere including two alligators that we saw while gassing up. (They weren't fenced in...I think they were attracted by the $1.73 gas!)

After driving across the Florida panhandle we decided to visit Baton Rouge.  We spent a night there and headed to Memphis to see the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.  Our visit coincided with the MLK holiday and the 50th anniversary of the

Civil Rights Bill so there was a lot going on at the “hotel”, including lots of gospel singing and food stands everywhere. I put hotel in quotes because the National Civil Rights Museum has been built to envelop the hotel.  The lines were as far as the eye could see and too long for us to go into the Museum so we’ll have to go back for that.  

Just seeing the balcony was a very emotional experience.  I remember the day Dr. King was shot and I’ve seen that balcony in hundreds of news reports and documentaries.  Standing there you wonder at how much more Dr. King could have done for the country had he lived.  You’re also struck with how much he accomplished in just 39 years of life.  What an amazing man who was taken from us all too soon.  (Note: We saw “Selma” our first night back home.  It’s a great movie that gives insight into Dr. King and the horrible conditions in the South in the 60s.  Seeing this movie was a great complement to our Lorraine Hotel visit.)

We ended our trip the right way….with red beans and rice, étouffée and a Po Boy on Beale Street.  It’s hard to beat Memphis food…unless you're in Louisiana of course!

Now we’re home.  Our bags are unpacked, we’re doing laundry; and of course, we’re making plans for the next trip!

Remembering the Warm Tropical Nights!

P.S.  We highly recommend traveling to somewhere warm in January.  The only problem is it's so damn cold coming home!