Road Trip ‘23, Part 2

Grand Canyon - Brice & Zion Road trip – part II

  It was nearly mid-morning on Wednesday , June 14, when we drove away from Bob and Ann’s to continue our road trip back to NW Arkansas.  Aaron was driving as we left Bakersfield and headed towards Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.  Before our arrival in Bryce, we just had to stop and take a few photos of the beautiful Red Rock Canyon.  It was such a sharp contrast to the miles of brown desert country we went through in Nevada.  This part of Utah is very scenic.  

Bryce Canyon did not disappoint us.  I suppose it will always amaze tourists who have never seen it before.  Aaron and Melody had never been here and they were quite taken with this scenic wonder.  The canyon is, of course, colorful and majestic.  The awesome part is the in-canyon rock formations called “Hoodoos” These rocks appear as columns of rocks as if standing at attention.  It is said that these columns are formed by pieces of rock breaking away from the main cliff whenever winter ice forms.  These columns are also pushed around by the winter weather and erosion.  Anyway, it is a gorgeous and unusual sight.  The entire

canyon can be seen from different lookout vistas along the rim.   We stopped at the visitors center before driving to the overlook.  The sign suggested we take the tour bus as the parking lot on top was full.  We decided to take our chances and upon arrival, found 8 or so parking places available.    

From Bryce, we headed for Zion National Park.  In our minds we were headed for the main entrance but in reality, we were on the road to the north end entrance, which is much less populated and busy.  It took a while but soon we pulled off road onto the canyon entrance and a stop at the visitor’s center.  The sign said the canyon entrance road has been closed due to a sink hole forming in the middle of the road at about the two-mile mark.  So, we drove on to that point just to see what we could see.  We were able to get out of the car and take a couple of photos of the entrance canyon.  The small part we could see was very scenic.  We could have walked in as only the road was closed but our tired old bones had no desire to do that.  The grandkids were also of the same mind.  So, we drove back out and headed towards the same way we came to find our motel.     We stopped for a little dinner at a crowded food trailer and then headed to our motel. Aaron quickly headed down the hallway to the hot tub to soak away the stiffness.  He struck up a conversation with a man who had just taken his family to the main entrance.  He suggested that Aaron get there at 6:00 AM to avoid a long line.  Considering that the park did not open until 8:00 and the part about “crowds”,which sounded like a long wait anyway, so we opted to continue on towards the Grand Canyon.  So we did.   We passed alongside the canyon rim, stopping a couple of times to take photos and look over into the deep canyon.  It was awesome, as usual.  We drove on out and pulled into the Red Feather Lodge, where we had motel reservations for one night.  We found some dinner just across the street and had a nice sit-down meal followed by some relaxing time in the motel.     The next morning, we took advantage of their free breakfast and coffee.  I was not hungry but Aaron took advantage.  I did grab a cup of hot coffee and sit outside at one of the picnic tables.  After we packed our car and checked out, we drove over to one of the small airports where we would board a helicopter for a Grand Canyon tour.  Debby did not go with Aaron, Melody and me, but remained behind with Toronto while we were gone.     The Chopper had room for six.  We sat in the front seat, side by side while two other passengers sat in the seats behind us.  Melody sat next to the pilot.  She had been apprehensive about this ride for a while but I kept reassuring her we were safe enough.  She actually did really well and enjoyed our scenic flight.  As the GC is a National Park, aircraft have elevation restrictions.  We were not able to fly down inside the GC but were able to see quite well anyway.  The mighty canyon was even more amazing from our vantage point.  The Colorado River was quite visible.  We could even see kayaks on the water.  The pilot showed us the Little Colorado, a smaller tributary off the main river, looking very pristine.  He said the water is turquois because of the mineral deposits in the creek bed.  With the water crystal clear, it appears to have colors of turquois and purple.   It was a most enjoyable flight with a great pilot.  Our flight lasted less than an hour.  It wasn’t cheap but it was well worth the cost.  Debby and Toronto were on deck waiting for us to land.  We made our way through the visitor’s center and out to the Sienna.  We soon merged onto the Interstate and headed east towards home.  We stopped for the night in Tucumcari.  The next morning, we got an early start for a long drive back to Springdale.  We stopped for lunch and a short visit in Oklahoma City at our son, Matt’s house. He and Brent fed us some great sandwiches! After resting up a while, we continued traveling.   We had a great trip but were happy to sleep in our own bed tonight.   We had a great week spending time with Aaron and Melody.  We enjoyed much time around the pool and in the hot tub. We enjoyed looking over our photographs and laughing over the helicopter ride.  “Ethyl”, our Sienna, was a trooper!  We were blessed to have a van that gave us absolutely no trouble.  We put about 5,000 miles on her and she never complained.  With nearly 200,000 miles of cross-country road trips, she may need to think about retiring.  I’m not sure Debby and I have long road trips in us anymore.  Sitting for so many hours is hard on the old bones.  It’s either hang it up or get new bones! Mike  

Oregon ‘23

Oregon ‘23 June 11, 2023 OREGON

  Our week in Portland was busy with events and people.  Sunday morning services at church brought back a lot of good memories.  It was great seeing our friends and fellow Christians once again.  It was good to hug our grandkids and see how they had grown.  We drove down to Newberg and spent the night with Rick and Mona, Debby’s brother and family.  We were proud to see that Violet, our Niece was also graduating from high school.  Unfortunately, her graduation party and actual graduation ceremony was at the exact same time as Dawson’s event.  We love Violet but would have to participate in Dawson’s graduation, as that is the reason for our road trip.  We have been active in the life of Dawson since the day he was born when we held him at the hospital.  It has been fun watching him grow up into a wonderful young man.  We have been with him through the days of growing up that included soccer, baseball, basketball, camping, hiking and fire building.  I taught him how to build his first fire when he was three. I would have liked to have taken him hiking and backpacking more, but he was more interested in just staying home or playing sports. But he was so much fun as a little tyke and we have so many good memories of him and his three brothers.  We also did things with them; especially enjoying camping and taking trips to the beach.  All the boys loved playing basketball and playing in the state championship playoffs.     Dawson had a great graduation party.  We arrived in Portland early enough for Debby to organize and help with that event.  Dawson asked for several dozen Little Smokies dogs for his friends.  I helped Debby by helping prepare the tiny hot dogs.  I think I made nearly 100.  We had a lot of other snacks, too.  We tried to take photos of all the guests.  Hopefully, we were successful.   Dawson said he wasn’t going to college this year.  He wasn’t sure what he was going to do.  Perhaps he will work part time and attend nearby Clackamas Junior College, until he decides what to do.  In the meantime, we were busy visiting everyone and enjoying our vacation.  It was great seeing Dan and Ami once again.  She has been like a daughter to me.  I love her like my own.  Our Great-Granddaughter, Melody, is the love of our life.  She is so smart, beautiful and has a great sense of humor.  Her personality is independent, having a strong will and a mind of her own.  She and our grandson, Aaron, will be driving back to Arkansas with us.  We have some adventures planned for them.   The week went by rather quickly.  Sunday morning came and Debby dropped me off at the airport.  I would be flying to Bakersfield, California to spend a couple of days with my cousin, Ann Wood and her husband, Bobby. Ann has Macular Degeneration like me.  Her’s might be a little worse than mine and it’s certainly different. She has had no organized training on how to better use her remaining vision and I thought I might could help her.   My reason for this visit was to try to help her with her mobility and to use magnification and OCR (Optical Character Recognition).  I brought an OCR device with me to loan her and see if it will work for her.  She will need to practice a lot but I believe it will help her with seeing pill bottles, paperwork and photos.   I also want to work with her as she uses the cane.  The blind cane is very helpful with checking the space in front of one walking for any obstacles or hazards.  With practice, confidence increases as the blind becomes more and more self-reliance   Bob and Ann picked me up at the airport about noon and we drove to their home.  Bakersfield appears to have grown a lot since my last visit here to see my grandmother in 1967. They have a beautiful home with an amazing backyard.  There are so many plants and flowers surrounding a well-manicured grass lawn that looks more like a putting green on a golf course than a backyard.   We spend the next couple of days getting reacquainted as we had not seen each other for more than 60 years.  She was a lot of fun to talk to and get to know.  She is in her 80’s but very sharp and spry.  It was a lot of fun reminiscing about common stories and things we still remember.  I had never met her husband, Bob.  He was also fun to get to know.  We went out to eat a couple of times.  For the most part, I worked with Ann learning to use the OCR reader, the cane and her iPhone   As planned, Debby, Aaron and Melody showed up Tuesday afternoon.  They left Portland Sunday afternoon and drove to Bakersfield via Yosemite National Park, where they spent some time checking out that beautiful place. Aaron was our designated driver.  Debby is not too keen on driving busy roads. But even worse, she isn’t too keen on letting me drive, either! Mike

Road Trip , May 27, 2023

Road Trip 2023

May 27, 2023   Towards the end of May, we began final preparation to pack our 2012 Sienna for another cross-country trip to Oregon.  Our good friends, Greg and Dottie Woods have been spending the past few weeks with their grandchildren in Oklahoma.  They would be taking the road trip back to Portland with us.  Our grandson, Dawson is graduating from high school and we certainly want to be there.  We were there the day he was born and have watched him grow up into a nice young man and all the way to graduation.   Our traveling companions, the Pinkertons, will not be making this trip with us as they have other plans with their own family.  But Greg and Dottie are excited to be taking this adventure with us once again.  It will be like old times as we have taken this trip with them before.  Not to mention that Greg and I drove our car from Portland to Oklahoma City in 2020 when we moved to Arkansas.     Ron Pinkerton was kind enough to drive me to the Oklahoma City area to rendezvous with Greg at a famous Route 66 iconic stop called “Pop’s”, a gas station and burger joint boasting selling over 600 varieties of soda pop.  I always like going there because it’s one place where you can buy sodas that are nearly extinct; like Big Red, Orange Crush, Nehi Grape, Grapette, Jolt Cola and many, many others.   Greg and Dottie arrived on time with his daughter-in-law and two grandkids.  After a few hugs and tears with the kids we headed back home to Arkansas.  We spent the next two days relaxing and driving to Branson to see Silver Dollar City.  It was a short trip but long enough for us Codgers. On Friday we relaxed around the house and began packing our Sienna.  Saturday morning, we finished the loading and said goodbye to our Pinkerton friends.  Nancy would be busy the next few weeks watering and taking care of things around our house.  I had rigged up an automatic watering system for my garden so she would not have to worry about that.      We drove away a

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Back Home

​                         Arkansas 

     

   After the cruise we called an UBER. In a short time we were loaded up and headed for Miami International. We had a waiting time of about 8 hours before our flight to Tulsa, Oklahoma, via Houston . Once in Houston we had a layover of a couple of hours before takeoff. 

   There were reports of storms in Western Oklahoma that even mentioned tornadoes. All went pretty well with the exception of a rough flight and even rougher landing. We were great full to have landed bottom side down. Most of the passengers applauded. While Nancy and Ron went out to find her minivan, Debby and I picked up all the luggage. Nancy soon pulled up and we got it loaded up. 

   It would still be 2 or 3 hours before Steve and Rhonda would land. Their flight was on another airline out of Fort Lauderdale at a later time than ours out of Miami. In the meantime we drove over to Denny’s for a late burger and fries. With their takeoff delayed by bad weather out of Dallas, we had plenty of time. After dinner our eyes were droopy enough that we decided to go wait for their plane at the Tulsa Airport cell phone waiting area and catch a nap. So we did. 

   They landed well after 1:00 in the morning. It was a tight fit cramming all that luggage and 6 people in that Honda minivan but with luggage in our laps and a 90 minute drive we  were glad to arrive home. It’s a good thing we didn’t have Toronto with us!  I don’t know where he would sit!

   Matthew had already driven to our house and was waiting for us. He had been caring for Toronto the past couple of weeks. Toronto was glad to see us. We were happy to see him, as well. 

   We slept in for an hour or two. Matt had already made coffee and fed Toronto and he was ready to socialize.  He stuck pretty close to me all day; for the next few days for that matter!  I think he was afraid I might abandon him again!  

   It has been a little over two weeks since we got back. Things are becoming routine and normal again. 

   We stay near the warm fire and out of the cold. We aren’t used to this cold. We are still dreaming of warm tropics and sunshine. Here, it’s dipped down into the teens with cold rain coming down as soon as it jumps back up into the 40’s and 50’s!  

   It was good to get back to church and see all of our friends. We are thoroughly enjoying normal food, especially the southern style with southern flavors. Ron and I have already enjoyed Arkansas BBQ a few times!  

   A cool thing happened while we were away.  Forty 32 Animal Clinic, Toronto’s veterinarian, had a drawing for company thank you gift for their clients.  Toronto and I won!  The prize was a large, free-standing outdoor BBQ tool, a Blackstone 28” Cast Iron propane Griddle that now stands proudly next to my BBQ grille on the back deck!  Very nice!  This will add to my ability to burn chicken even more!  

   With the approach of Spring and the last Daylight Savings time change we will have to experience, we patiently await warm weather!  In a couple of weeks I will pull the cover off my bird house and let the nesting begin!  The Purple Martins begin arriving in NW Arkansas about April First looking for a place to build their nests and lay eggs. Right now the local Sparrows are picking out the prime  building nooks, cranny’s, trees, bushes and hanging plants for their nests. The baby Martins from last year’s crop should come back to what they know and look for a place in my Purple Martin condo. I would like to give them a sporting chance to fight over their claim this real estate with other birds. 

   I am preparing to start the seedlings for my garden. I am making plans to buy some good raised bed garden soil mixture and plan the layout of this year’s garden.  I figured it will cost me more than it’s worth in vegetables but, what can I say?  It’s a hobby. I will do this in Lou of planning for a big Moose hunting trip to Alaska or buying a new bass boat to go fishing. Even a blind Codger needs a hobby!  But, It will be much better than last year where battling with the Bermuda grass and contending with a bunny rabbit invasion pert near wiped out my crop of young plants. Raised beds should do the trick this year. 

  In a couple of weeks I will also pull the winter cover off my swimming pool and get it sparkling clean and warm for the summer. I’m looking forward to laying around our pool this year. Why, between the sweet smell of BBQ and the cool of the pool, we might even entice a few of our friends to come visit us in NW Arkansas to relax at the Thomas Resort. I promise I’ll not make you take my little John Deere out and mow the grass………much. 😎

   

   

Traveling? Do your homework.

​   Truth in Advertising 

     

   There’s no doubt that traveling this world costs a lot of money. And in this economy, we like to know what we are getting for our money before we commit, not after. To do that we usually jump on the Internet and do a Google search for the places we want to go. We look at travel brochures, travel videos, or, in the old days, make a trip to the library. The Internet can give you whatever you want to know. That App like Google earth will give you birds-eye view photographs, providing you have the address or coordinates. When we rented our condo  on Luquillo, Beach, Puerto Rico, we did not have the address. it was FlipKey‘s policy to not provide details, until after one paid the fee.  Even communication with the owner was monitored by FlipKe and the owner was not allowed to send private emails to potential renters who might ask for current photos.  FlipKey provided their own photographs and property descriptions, which usually helped promote their facility.

            

   The photographs in this blog shows the difference between what was advertised and what was actually there. The first photograph shows a nice beachfront beyond the property fence, teaming with tourists enjoying the sand and surf. We rented this condo for 30 days. Never once was there a sandy beach with tourists and sunshine. Yes, we had the sunshine but that was all. The other photograph shows the coastline towards yonder trees with sand and surf all the way. The truth is, there was no beachfront for the entire month we were there.   The beach in front of our condo property would’ve been impossible to walk in the pounding surf that continually crashed into the concrete seawall protecting the backyard. Access to the beach was farther down on both sides. The closest access was to walk out the front door to the street, turn right and walk about a block to a basketball court. One could walk across the court and  out onto the sandy beach. The other direction was much farther to walk . 

  

   Had we known there was no beach access as depicted in these photographs before we rented, would we still have rented? Perhaps. But it was disappointing to know that we could not step out our back door onto the beach as it appeared in the FlipKey photograph. As you travel this world, you are at the mercy of the advertising department.  Sometimes, what they claim and what is real, May often be different. 

   

Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman

 

   Grand Cayman was our final stop in the Caribbean before heading back to Florida. We arrived just after 7:00 Friday morning. Debby, Nancy and Rhonda had arranged to go on a dolphin encounter, stingray encounter and a sea turtle encounter. Steve, Ron and I had no specific plans. We got off ship and winged it. We decided to take the 7-mile Beach tour. It was $35 each. We thought that would be a good thing to do, giving us an overview of the island.

   The tour was in a nice air conditioned 12 passenger van. It was nice and roomy, not cramped up or hard to see out of like the other vans we had. I didn’t think there was much to see in Grand Cayman. The island is virtually flat, so there are no vistas or high points except on the occasional overpass.  Am exception would be the debris mounds at the land fill.

   A couple of the highlights the locals  thought we should see were  the Governor’s mansion and a little community called Hell. One of our stops included the dolphin encounter pool where the girls were having fun. We got to stay there about 30 minutes before heading back to the boat. That was about it. Grand Cayman is noted for its banking business. There are no taxes here, thus a good place to do business. This island has about 600 banks you can choose from.

   Grand Cayman is a British island. Many moons ago about nine British vessels ran aground on a sandbar and destroyed their ships. The locals went out in their boats and rescued everyone to the last man. In appreciation, the King of England declared this island would no longer be required to pay taxes to Great Britain. That promise is still going on to this day. Everything seems to be financed by Britain.

   Even though there was little to do here, there was always shopping. We had a good time, but failed to see anything that would draw us back.

     

Jamaica

Jamaica. 

   We finally made it to Jamaica. I have thought about coming here for so many years it’s not even funny!  Many years ago when one of my best friends got married here, I knew I needed to come check it out. So here we are!  To e honest, it’s not quite like hoe I imagined it to be. It’s nice and all but in a different way.  I thought of Jamaica as the land of steel drums, you know, those they hammered out of the tops of old oil drums that made a unique sound.  They do have steel drums here, more professionally made but mostly played in clubs or hotels or even aboard a cruise ship.

   I was surprised by the heavy traffic and left side driving, although the British were here long ago running slave operations in the sugar industry.  We saw the town square in Montgomery Bay where they used to hang slaves and even white folks trying to help the slaves.  The old sugar mill still stands but has since been abandoned.

   Monet go Bay was a bustling city with a huge International Airport.  There are many shops and places to eat.  It has most of the fast food burger joints like Wendy’s and Burger King.  Didn’t see any McDonald’s, however.  We did see Starbucks and a Margaritaville, near  the beach.Our tour driver, Ian Morris, said Jamaica has more churches per square mile than any other place.  The Chinese have their footprint imbedded here, as they do in many other islands in this part of the world.  They are buying up property, opening businesses and taking over properties.  China seems to be growing in population and must go somewhere, I guess.

   Ian said there are no mean, wild animals on the island.  Also no snakes.  At one time, the Mongoose was imported to keep down the snake danger in the sugar cane fields, probably by the British.  When the snakes were all eaten, the Mongoose went to work on the chickens!  

   We got off the Regal Princes land entered the city.  There was no one checking passports or id anywhere.  We bought and shopped using American currency.  I think Jamaica has their own currency but we didn’t see any of it in circulation.  This place is dependent upon tourism and many Americans come here to vacation or cruise.

   W enjoyed our short stay.  We were here for about 8 hours today.  We sail away about 5:00.  

Grand Tueks

​Grand Turks 

Grand Turks today. Not much here to see except the sea. The square is full of souvenir shops and about 12 to 15 thousand tourists from two cruise ships.   The other ship is the Carnival party boat.   Those young  tourists have spread out on the beach and have filled the swimming pool in town square. 

   My honey lost her vaccination card and couldn’t come ashore. The cards are required for entry, even though Ron and I wasn’t carded. 

   About an hour is plenty for us.   It’s hot and about 300% humidity.   Grand Turks is the country that had stringent rules about importing dogs. Toronto would not have liked this heat and big crowds. I’m glad he got to stay at home with Matt. 

   Tomorrow is a sea day. We get to lounge around in deck chairs, have boat people bring us drinks and eat all day as we sail towards Grand Cayman and Jamaica.  

   Rhonda and Steve are on some kind of beach excursion today. As they are younger and have more energy, we wish them well!   After Ron and I return to the ship, we went into our individual rooms and cranked down the air conditioning temperature! Debby and Nancy are, either went for hot tea or gelato. May? I sit here in the cool working on my Facebook posts and updating my blog.

   As I said, tomorrow is a sea day. That means after cruising all night tonight we continue cruising all day tomorrow and throughout the next night. Sometime day after tomorrow, probably between 9 AM and noon, we should reach Grand Cayman Islands.

   We have rented space inside an air conditioned room called Sanctuary, with plush, cushy, lounge chairs on the forward upper deck. It is a kid free zone with thick, comfortable lchairs overlooking the ocean with a half moon view.  Reservations are required and it cost a little extra for this sanctuary room. Princess gave all of us veterans $250 onboard credit to use however we wish. I thought it was use it or lose it but someone said they received a check in the mail, during their last voyage of the remainder, they did not use on board. No matter. I am on endless vacation!  😎

Princess Cays

Western Caribbean 

 

Early Sunday morning, we came back to Florida for a few hours. Finally was able to get our text messages and emails that were backlogged from lack of internet  service. I think Debby and Nancy had more than a dozen messages from Walmart wanting to know if they were okay!  So we caught a cab and went to Walmart for some junk food. While we were close, we walked across the street to Krispy Kreme to consume vast quantities of health food. 

   This will be another week-long journey, but  to the western half of the Caribbean this time . I will blog in whenever I can. Today, Rhonda and Steve Lewis joined our cruise. Ron and Nancy and Debby and I now make six for dinner. It will be fun!   

   After all of us were on board and settled in our own cabins, we all met in ours for a church service. We have been missing our assembly with the believers back home, but this little group is just fine. We listened to our  Robinson Avenue church on YouTube with songs and communion. Soon afterwards we net in the restaurant for dinner together. After dinner, Debby and I retired to our cabin to find a little rest. I think Ron and Nancy went to the theatre while Steve and Rhonda found chairs around the pool to watch the big screen movie under the stars. 

  The next morning we anchored off-shore at Princess Cays, the cruise lines win private island complete with lounge chairs, towels and lunch. The ship anchored off a ways from shore and large boats tendered us to shore for a day of beach tanning, swimming, and a great shore lunch. The Beach was white sand with sparkling turquoise water. It was refreshing!  This is the stop we missed out on last Monday because of heavy ocean swells and high wind. Today was perfect weather and everything was easy. 

      

   

Saint Kitts

​St. Kitts

 

   The next morning about 8:00 A.M. we docked in St. Kitts, a small island of about 68 square miles and 47,000 people . Our captain parked near two other larger cruise ships. As we disembarked, the captain of Royal Caribbean’s largest cruise ship squeezed in between us and the other ship. I believe I overheard someone call it, Navigator of the Sea; that it holds passengers and crew of over 7,000. This made 4 cruise ships in port. That means we increased St. Kitts’ population by more than 20,000 tourists!  Amazing the local facilities can handle this number!  

   Once again we bought a ticket for an island tour. Once again we drew a fearless driver who made good time on these narrow windy roads. At least he stopped on occasion to let us get out and snap photos and walk a bit.  He was a big man who’s broken English was a rich Jamaican type accent. He pointed out various landmarks,buildings and facilities along the way. There seems to be a lot of two-year universities here where one can study things like medicine and veterinarian training. But to be more proficient, and earn a bona fide degree, they must leave the island and go to another country to finish their studies and graduate.  

   St. Kitts apparently has a problem with the monkey population. Although we never seen one crossing the road or sitting in trees in the wild, or attacking anyone, we did see some babies in captivity at a small, off-road tourist trap. They were very cute. It would cost five dollars to sit on your shoulder for a photo. . I never realized the deal until it was too late. I just hope Toronto doesn’t see the photograph.

   About 2/3 the way around the island we pulled off to visit another tourist trap and check out black lava rocks in the surf. We were about halfway to the overlook when a torrential downpour came in with a blast of wind. We ducked under shelter until it passed. Reminded me a lot of being in the Philippines in the mid 1960s.  Both islands, St. Thomas and St Kitts, have one high mountain that was once a volcano. They are tall enough to condense moisture and get a lot of rainfall.   

   Next we stopped at another overlook to see a short mountain range with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Ocean on its right. At another place, we snapped a photo of the Atlantic touching the Caribbean separated by a line of white water. Quite interesting! 

   From this point we were driven directly into downtown. Our driver was bent on getting us back as quickly as possible. It was like when you are horseback riding and the horse smells the barn!  Katie bar the door! He dropped us off near the ship in an area full of souvenir shops after souvenir shops, all swarming with hundreds of tourists, from four huge cruise ships!   As we approached, the Princess, we notice people were still leaving the gigantic Royal Caribbean. 

   St. Kits would be our final stop before heading back to Fort Lauderdale. It was about 5 o’clock when we set sail. It will take two days to get back to Florida.  We are scheduled to dock about 6:00 A.M. Sunday morning. This would mark the end of our first week of cruising the Caribbean. This week we cruised the eastern Caribbean and beginning Sunday afternoon we enter the western Caribbean. Looking forward to seeing Jamaica! Y’ah,, mon!

     

 

 

Saint Thomas

​Saint Thomas and Saint John Virgin Islands

 

   We set sail out of Fort Lauderdale late Sunday afternoon. The next day we were scheduled to visit a small island owned by princess cruises called, Princess Cay. Because of strong winds and 6 to 8 foot swells, the captain decided to push on to Saint Thomas for the safety of his passengers. Princess Cay has no port, so the ship would need to anchor, offshore and passengers be tendered to the island using smaller boats.  The high swells and strong winds would create a hazard for loading and unloading passengers.

   It was about eight in the morning on Wednesday when we docked in Saint Thomas. The sun was shining, the seas were calm, and it was a beautiful, warm day. All on-shore Princess-directed excursions had been filled weeks ago. However, we found a source for local excursions. Saint Thomas is geared for tourism, and there were plenty of sightseeing taxis available for a good price.

   First step, we opted for an island tour. We were soon on board a 12 passenger van and touring a portion of the island. Saint Thomas is beautiful with volcanic mountains and 

    scenic overlooks. We had great vistas of the city as well as places like Megan’s Bay.  We stopped at several placeS along the way to take photos, go  shopping and buy drinks. Our tour lasted about 2 1/2 hours. Our driver dropped us off near our ship.

   From St. Thomas, we took a ferry boat ride to visit the nearby smaller island of St. John. The sign said tickets were $25 and $6 for those over 70.  We liked that price much better. Unfortunately, another sign said the $6 was for local residents only. Bummer!  

   Our son, Matt, said St. John had very beautiful beaches. The ferry docked near what seemed to be downtown and we entered a bustling community of shops, shoppers and sellers.  Mostly we were hungry and our thoughts turned to lunch. We sat down in an outdoor café and ate delicious food while chickens and roosters walked around our table and between our feet as we ate. Very interesting.  

   After lunch, we caught a taxi. The driver took us to a beautiful place called  Trunk Bay. This area was inside another US National Park. At least we would get in for free because I still carried my National Park pass, or so I thought.  I showed my pass at the entrance gate and the lady said my entrance fee would be half-price, but everyone in my party had to pay five dollars each.   As we had no choice, we forked over the money and walked down to the beach. Matt said this was one of his favorite beaches. Indeed, it was beautiful! Pristine turquoise water and white sandy beaches, a rare and beautiful combination! we did not bring swimming gear with us, but we could get our toes wet. The water was comfortable, clean and clear! This would be a beautiful place to sit and simply look upon its  beauty. The tide was coming in and people with lounge chairs kept moving them back to higher ground.  

   For our excursion to Trunk Bay, our taxi driver could best be described as a fearless maniac behind the wheel . He drove so fast on these narrow, winding roads that we had to hang on for dear life. He passed by a couple of scenic overlooks with no thought of stopping or slowing down. if someone wasn’t driving fast enough, he would find a slot and speed around them. It’s a good thing the gas pedal could go no farther than the floor!

   We found a different taxi for our return trip to the ferry. I told him about the other driver. He asked me what color the taxi. I told him red. Somewhere along the way back. He asked me if he was driving as fast as the other guy. I said, “Not even close!”

   After returning to the St. John’s port, we didn’t have to wait long for our ferry ride to St. Thomas. We spent a little time shopping but headed back to our ship earlier than we had planned. It would be 9:00 P.M. before we set sail.