Exactly one month ago today – we awoke to our first sunrise aboard ship among the Galapagos Islands. The top deck was partially covered for shade. There were tables and chairs, a bar, lounge chairs and even a couple of hammocks. Not too many people were up for sunrise. Can’t figure that one out because the sun usually found at least the three of us eager and waiting. Some mornings the ship’s masseuse offered stretching exercise on the top deck. No matter if she was there or not, Clair was - doing her yoga stretches and just getting in to all round good shape for the day. But even before the stretches there was fruit, breads, coffee, tea and juices out for the early risers. Ymmm, good!
Today brought the option of a pre-breakfast hike. 399 steps to an altitude of 359 ft. and a 360 view. The steps were built to avoid erosion among the fragile volcanic tuff. Back to the ship by way of the Zodiacs. Back to a full breakfast of so many choices.
After breakfast it was back to the zodiacs, back to the beach. This was to be my first experience in snorkeling. We needed to buddy up with someone. I knew that Clair and Jerry were able to keep up with each other and I didn’t want to hold them back. There was another guy there who asked if I wanted to buddy up with him. God Bless Warren. He was great. Hadn’t snorkeled much. Challenged me but didn’t push me beyond my limits. I guess we were in the water for almost an hour. We saw flounder, octopus, so many different kinds of fish, penguins, reef shark, rays, some coral, turtles, iguanas. What a world opened up to us. Silent and mysterious. Subdued yet overpowering. Occasionally I would forget what I was doing and turn my head to look at something taking in a mouth full of ocean water by way of the snorkeling tube. Even that was okay. After all, that too was a new experience.
Whenever we’d come back from a hike or excursion there would be cookies, tarts, brownies, juice and/or hot chocolate waiting for us.
Most off ship activities took place before noon or later in the day in order to avoid the sun. The majority of our time there was overcast. A true blessing. Still you needed to be careful not to expose yourself to too much sun. The temps were hot but not unbearable. The broad rim sun hats were defiantly in order along with a light weight long sleeve shirt.
There was another nature walk before dinner. The evening was spent listening to one of the naturalists talk about taking pictures of nature. Each evening there was a recap of the day and a preview of tomorrow.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Galapagos re-visited
A dear friend suggested that I try to blog about our wonder filled trip to the Galapagos Islands a little more. At the very least that sounds like a good exercise in memory recall. I think I’ll give it a try. You are invited along if you like.
It was the evening of Monday, November 29 when Clair opened her email to discover an entry informing her that, if indeed we were still interested, there was room for the three of us on board the National Geographic Cruise Ship the Islander which would depart from Quayaquil, Ecuador on Sunday, December 4th. Clair apparently even hesitated mentioning this to us being such short notice. But she did, and we slept on it for the night. On Tuesday we checked flights. Of course being last minute there was not much to chose from. We thought for a moment, talked about it and then hit the confirm button. MYGosh, we need to leave on Friday, very early Friday.
Traveling light has it benefits. We each had one carry on. Thanks to Joanna we arrived at CVG on time. Flew from CVG to Miami - to Quito – to Quayaguil. Clair guided us through the airports. Jerry and I are certainly not frequent fliers. She was accustomed to Customs and saw us safely through. Her Spanish was impressive at least to the two of us who knew none – besides parents are easily impressed. In Quayaguil we met Rodney at the airport. From that point on we were safely in the hands of a National Geographic employee. That was a relief. He managed a cab for us that delivered us to the Hilton in the city. Although once again, hearing Clair carry on a conversation with the taxi driver in Spanish was encouraging, reassuring and entertaining.
We arrived a day early and spent two nights at the Hilton. Never stayed at a 5 star Hotel before. We made use of the complimentary drinks and breakfast. Used the workout room and the heated pool. We did not however use the ‘wet bar’ (is that what they are called when the bar is in the pool?) We visited the river front area of the town. Driving, or rather riding, is an experience beyond description. It’s amazing how quickly prayers arise in the mind when put in a scary situation. The river had oil slicks floating on it and water flowers. The area itself was nicely developed and felt somewhat safe. We stopped in at the cathedral where the crib scene had life size statues of the manger animals. The people however were somewhat smaller giving it a different perspective. There was a city park in town where there were hundreds of iguanas. They were everywhere hanging from the trees, under bushes, under foot. It was impressive and it was the first time we were seeing these strange looking creatures.
Sunday morning found us with other people leaving the hotel heading on a bus for the airport, saying goodbye to Rodney and flying on to the island of Baltra. After we landed we boarded another bus and headed for the dock and our first glimpse of our home for the week, the Islander. We were in the Galapagos Islands!
First lesson was how to put on a life jacket correctly. We traveled from the dock to the ship by way of a Zodiac. Throughout the week the Zodiac would be our means of getting from here to there and back again.
Our first order of business was lunch – oh, the food! Later in the evening we went on shore for a walk of a little over a mile. We saw our first taste of the wild life – sea lions, frigate birds, crabs, blue footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls. Then there was the sunset! Where were we and what were we doing there?!? What a gift!
There were 44 passengers on board and 32 crew. This was truly to be an experience like no other we had ever had.
Later on ship there was the Captain’s Welcome Cocktail Hour, with snacks, followed by appetizers and then supper.
Our room – upper deck with a private glassed in balcony with a lounge chair and bench. Queen size bed, desk and a bathroom where you could sit on the toilet, wash your feet in the shower and brush your teeth at the sink all at the same time without moving – too much information?!?
Then there were the chocolates that we found on out pillows at the end of each day. Really good chocolates!
Thus ended day 1.
It was the evening of Monday, November 29 when Clair opened her email to discover an entry informing her that, if indeed we were still interested, there was room for the three of us on board the National Geographic Cruise Ship the Islander which would depart from Quayaquil, Ecuador on Sunday, December 4th. Clair apparently even hesitated mentioning this to us being such short notice. But she did, and we slept on it for the night. On Tuesday we checked flights. Of course being last minute there was not much to chose from. We thought for a moment, talked about it and then hit the confirm button. MYGosh, we need to leave on Friday, very early Friday.
Traveling light has it benefits. We each had one carry on. Thanks to Joanna we arrived at CVG on time. Flew from CVG to Miami - to Quito – to Quayaguil. Clair guided us through the airports. Jerry and I are certainly not frequent fliers. She was accustomed to Customs and saw us safely through. Her Spanish was impressive at least to the two of us who knew none – besides parents are easily impressed. In Quayaguil we met Rodney at the airport. From that point on we were safely in the hands of a National Geographic employee. That was a relief. He managed a cab for us that delivered us to the Hilton in the city. Although once again, hearing Clair carry on a conversation with the taxi driver in Spanish was encouraging, reassuring and entertaining.
We arrived a day early and spent two nights at the Hilton. Never stayed at a 5 star Hotel before. We made use of the complimentary drinks and breakfast. Used the workout room and the heated pool. We did not however use the ‘wet bar’ (is that what they are called when the bar is in the pool?) We visited the river front area of the town. Driving, or rather riding, is an experience beyond description. It’s amazing how quickly prayers arise in the mind when put in a scary situation. The river had oil slicks floating on it and water flowers. The area itself was nicely developed and felt somewhat safe. We stopped in at the cathedral where the crib scene had life size statues of the manger animals. The people however were somewhat smaller giving it a different perspective. There was a city park in town where there were hundreds of iguanas. They were everywhere hanging from the trees, under bushes, under foot. It was impressive and it was the first time we were seeing these strange looking creatures.
Sunday morning found us with other people leaving the hotel heading on a bus for the airport, saying goodbye to Rodney and flying on to the island of Baltra. After we landed we boarded another bus and headed for the dock and our first glimpse of our home for the week, the Islander. We were in the Galapagos Islands!
First lesson was how to put on a life jacket correctly. We traveled from the dock to the ship by way of a Zodiac. Throughout the week the Zodiac would be our means of getting from here to there and back again.
Our first order of business was lunch – oh, the food! Later in the evening we went on shore for a walk of a little over a mile. We saw our first taste of the wild life – sea lions, frigate birds, crabs, blue footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls. Then there was the sunset! Where were we and what were we doing there?!? What a gift!
There were 44 passengers on board and 32 crew. This was truly to be an experience like no other we had ever had.
Later on ship there was the Captain’s Welcome Cocktail Hour, with snacks, followed by appetizers and then supper.
Our room – upper deck with a private glassed in balcony with a lounge chair and bench. Queen size bed, desk and a bathroom where you could sit on the toilet, wash your feet in the shower and brush your teeth at the sink all at the same time without moving – too much information?!?
Then there were the chocolates that we found on out pillows at the end of each day. Really good chocolates!
Thus ended day 1.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
God Bless Us Everyone....
...To good and the bad,
The happy and sad.
God bless us everyone,
Family and Friends it’s good to be here again….
So, I believe that is how the song goes. My extra chorus would god something like - God bless the medical staff, the housekeepers, the dietary people, the maintenance crew and ground keepers, the chaplains, the respiratory therapist, the lab people, the administration people and all the people seen and unseen. To have access to good medical care is truly a gift. God bless the billions of people who do not have such a gift and may we somehow work towards a more just system of equality among all.
Christmas weekend was the first experienced of being in the hospital except for the night after Ben was born. It is hard to describe what it is like in a semi-private room. Not that it was a bad experience, just not a pleasant one. My roomie was good one – a talker who has had a difficult life. Christmas eve day came and went just like any other day. Usually we would have the kids down for dinner and gift exchange that night but this year just had a different flavor to it. Midnight came and went with the nurses helping my roomie in to the bathroom yet again. Good chance to wake up and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. One of the nurses shared her tradition of mid-night mass that she was missing this year – I thanked her for that and for being there for us. I also had the wonderful situation where most of the kids came and sat with me during the day. My roomie had no visitors.
Jerry and Ben were my early morning visitors on Christmas along with our good friend and hospital chaplain, Fr. Bob Henderson – more on that visit in a minute. The doctor came in and asked if I wanted to go home – silly question. I was home by about 11:30. Jerry had time to get to at least the second half of Christmas Mass.
The rest of the day was somewhat different than most Christmases. I joined in Jerry’s large family celebration for a few hours but then came home to go to bed by 8:00.
The day after Christmas found the kids and boyfriends at the house for dinner and gift exchanged. Clair, with the help of everyone else, too k over the kitchen duties and pulled off a wonderfully delicious meal. Many good gifts were exchanged. Good conversation and laughter. My best gift was just being all together. It was a perfect evening.
Backing up a little to the Christmas blessing delivered by Fr. Henderson. There was a lot going on in the room at that moment. At the tail end of the blessing I caught the eye of the nurse waiting to get the discharge on the move I felt totally distracted and not very present to the moment. But just let me say that God works in spite of us sometimes. So I’m going to give that blessing credit for something that happened a few hours later. I walked in to the house and sat in my favorite old blue chair. A moment later I asked what that smell was. Hmmm, smell…. Those of you who have been around me lately know that I lost my sense of smell and taste just about 3 years ago. But wait, what was that smell? I went to the kitchen and smelled the peanut butter, the vanilla, the cinnamon, the chili powder, the orange juice, the ice cream – you probably get the idea by now. Later on Christmas I could taste the appetizers. What an exciting experience! What a gift! Now it may be the combination of meds and blessing but I just want to say – What a gift! Thank to all family, friends and God Bless ’Everyone’!
The happy and sad.
God bless us everyone,
Family and Friends it’s good to be here again….
So, I believe that is how the song goes. My extra chorus would god something like - God bless the medical staff, the housekeepers, the dietary people, the maintenance crew and ground keepers, the chaplains, the respiratory therapist, the lab people, the administration people and all the people seen and unseen. To have access to good medical care is truly a gift. God bless the billions of people who do not have such a gift and may we somehow work towards a more just system of equality among all.
Christmas weekend was the first experienced of being in the hospital except for the night after Ben was born. It is hard to describe what it is like in a semi-private room. Not that it was a bad experience, just not a pleasant one. My roomie was good one – a talker who has had a difficult life. Christmas eve day came and went just like any other day. Usually we would have the kids down for dinner and gift exchange that night but this year just had a different flavor to it. Midnight came and went with the nurses helping my roomie in to the bathroom yet again. Good chance to wake up and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. One of the nurses shared her tradition of mid-night mass that she was missing this year – I thanked her for that and for being there for us. I also had the wonderful situation where most of the kids came and sat with me during the day. My roomie had no visitors.
Jerry and Ben were my early morning visitors on Christmas along with our good friend and hospital chaplain, Fr. Bob Henderson – more on that visit in a minute. The doctor came in and asked if I wanted to go home – silly question. I was home by about 11:30. Jerry had time to get to at least the second half of Christmas Mass.
The rest of the day was somewhat different than most Christmases. I joined in Jerry’s large family celebration for a few hours but then came home to go to bed by 8:00.
The day after Christmas found the kids and boyfriends at the house for dinner and gift exchanged. Clair, with the help of everyone else, too k over the kitchen duties and pulled off a wonderfully delicious meal. Many good gifts were exchanged. Good conversation and laughter. My best gift was just being all together. It was a perfect evening.
Backing up a little to the Christmas blessing delivered by Fr. Henderson. There was a lot going on in the room at that moment. At the tail end of the blessing I caught the eye of the nurse waiting to get the discharge on the move I felt totally distracted and not very present to the moment. But just let me say that God works in spite of us sometimes. So I’m going to give that blessing credit for something that happened a few hours later. I walked in to the house and sat in my favorite old blue chair. A moment later I asked what that smell was. Hmmm, smell…. Those of you who have been around me lately know that I lost my sense of smell and taste just about 3 years ago. But wait, what was that smell? I went to the kitchen and smelled the peanut butter, the vanilla, the cinnamon, the chili powder, the orange juice, the ice cream – you probably get the idea by now. Later on Christmas I could taste the appetizers. What an exciting experience! What a gift! Now it may be the combination of meds and blessing but I just want to say – What a gift! Thank to all family, friends and God Bless ’Everyone’!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Road Trips, Road Trips, Everywhere
Road trips, Road trips, Everywhere and so many turns on the way.
So, we got home from our ‘out west – national park road trip.’ It was wonder-ful. So many sights, so many campgrounds, so many star filled nights, so many pictures.
Life was somewhat ‘normal’ for a while. We joined a gym and have worked out on a fairly regular basis. Life was good. Then on Tuesday - 11/28. Clair got an email from a friend offering us a spot on a National Geography Cruise to the Galapagos Islands. Believe it or not we thought about it for a night-looked up air fares and left bright and early the following Friday morning for Ecuador. No grass growing under our feet! If you want the long version of this, talk to us in person. If you want pictures, let us know and we’ll send you a link. It was ten days filled with snorkeling, hiking, swimming, lectures, Zodiac boat rides, indescribable nature – many, many different types of birds, iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, and so much food. It was wonder-ful. We had no internet coverage so there were no blogs written there and anyway it would be hard to find the words to do it justice.
We arrived back home on December 13th. Oh wait, it’s the Christmas season! Hit the ground running! And I did! Just about caught up by the 23rd. Dinner planned for all the kids on Christmas eve. Oh, wait, ‘we make plans and God laughs’. I remember that. So on Dec. 23 Jerry and I took a road trip to the ER. Apparently I had a very serious asthma attack - first ever. O2 levels very low, b/p very high. Did the whole 9 yards of all possible tests. So here I sit in room 2323, knowing that I won’t be home for Christmas eve. But hoping that I will be home for Christmas or at least part of it.
A MOMENT THAT MADE MY DAY. Right now, there is a Hispanic man cleaning the hall ways. Pleasantly dressed, nice appearance but - oh, wait, he is singing Christmas Carols and he has a good voice. I mentioned this to him and he spends and extra 5 minutes in front of our door. That’s what’s all about folks.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
So, we got home from our ‘out west – national park road trip.’ It was wonder-ful. So many sights, so many campgrounds, so many star filled nights, so many pictures.
Life was somewhat ‘normal’ for a while. We joined a gym and have worked out on a fairly regular basis. Life was good. Then on Tuesday - 11/28. Clair got an email from a friend offering us a spot on a National Geography Cruise to the Galapagos Islands. Believe it or not we thought about it for a night-looked up air fares and left bright and early the following Friday morning for Ecuador. No grass growing under our feet! If you want the long version of this, talk to us in person. If you want pictures, let us know and we’ll send you a link. It was ten days filled with snorkeling, hiking, swimming, lectures, Zodiac boat rides, indescribable nature – many, many different types of birds, iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, and so much food. It was wonder-ful. We had no internet coverage so there were no blogs written there and anyway it would be hard to find the words to do it justice.
We arrived back home on December 13th. Oh wait, it’s the Christmas season! Hit the ground running! And I did! Just about caught up by the 23rd. Dinner planned for all the kids on Christmas eve. Oh, wait, ‘we make plans and God laughs’. I remember that. So on Dec. 23 Jerry and I took a road trip to the ER. Apparently I had a very serious asthma attack - first ever. O2 levels very low, b/p very high. Did the whole 9 yards of all possible tests. So here I sit in room 2323, knowing that I won’t be home for Christmas eve. But hoping that I will be home for Christmas or at least part of it.
A MOMENT THAT MADE MY DAY. Right now, there is a Hispanic man cleaning the hall ways. Pleasantly dressed, nice appearance but - oh, wait, he is singing Christmas Carols and he has a good voice. I mentioned this to him and he spends and extra 5 minutes in front of our door. That’s what’s all about folks.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Question/Answer
October 14
To answer a question - Yes, we did make it home okay. Sorry I guess I forgot to mention that. Over 7850 miles, outstanding miles, time well spent together, a once in a life time deal.
Over 7850 miles and never a close call – until about a mile from home after crossing the Brent Spence Bridge orange barrels appeared in our lane with no warning at all. Traffic was merging down to the left two lanes. Trucks were to the left , in front and in back of us. There was nowhere to go. Jerry was driving. I hit the emergency flasher lights Jerry darted between the orange barrels. I really thought ‘this is it’. It was an interesting feeling. I must admit that I felt a sense of peace (that’s a good sign I’ll hold on to). Somehow Jerry managed to stop on the wrong side of the barrels without an incident. We caught our breath and waited for a chance to merge back on to 75. Two exits were closed, again no signage but we got home safe and sound.
A deep breath and were happy to be alive – for more reasons than one.
When we picked up our dog the next day I do believe that she too was happy that we were alive.
One last thing – My favorite bumper sticker of the trip was spotted in Crested Butte. It read:
“Non-judgment day is near”
Thanks for reading the blog!
To answer a question - Yes, we did make it home okay. Sorry I guess I forgot to mention that. Over 7850 miles, outstanding miles, time well spent together, a once in a life time deal.
Over 7850 miles and never a close call – until about a mile from home after crossing the Brent Spence Bridge orange barrels appeared in our lane with no warning at all. Traffic was merging down to the left two lanes. Trucks were to the left , in front and in back of us. There was nowhere to go. Jerry was driving. I hit the emergency flasher lights Jerry darted between the orange barrels. I really thought ‘this is it’. It was an interesting feeling. I must admit that I felt a sense of peace (that’s a good sign I’ll hold on to). Somehow Jerry managed to stop on the wrong side of the barrels without an incident. We caught our breath and waited for a chance to merge back on to 75. Two exits were closed, again no signage but we got home safe and sound.
A deep breath and were happy to be alive – for more reasons than one.
When we picked up our dog the next day I do believe that she too was happy that we were alive.
One last thing – My favorite bumper sticker of the trip was spotted in Crested Butte. It read:
“Non-judgment day is near”
Thanks for reading the blog!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
catch up time
Sometime during our stay in Crested Butte Jerry heard a mountain call his name. Apparently he tried to ignore it but that didn’t work so Friday morning, bright and early I dropped Jerry off at the base of Mt. Crested Butte Mountain. The mountain is marked with ski slopes and mountain bike trails but Jerry graces it with his footsteps. All the way to the summit, elevation 12,??? It was a good day for walking and he made it back mid afternoon. I spent the day tidying up Neal’s Place and gathering things together for the long haul home.
On Saturday we pulled out of Crested Butte just as the sun was coming over the mountains and bringing out all the golden color of the beautiful aspen trees. It was a little hard to leave but it was time to head home. We could feel it in our bones.
We spend our last night in the tent in Salina, Kansas. We pulled in to one campground just as it was starting to get dark. The office was closed but instructions were there for checking in late. We found the tent sites but the bathroom door was locked. What’s with that? Tent sites need a bathroom nearby. It is not like we have all the conveniences like the RVs have in their big bubble. And there were too many RVs around to play primitive camping. So it was back on the road. A short time later we found a KOA campground, not always our choice because they are big and somewhat expensive but it was getting dark so we decided to stay.
In case we weren’t aware of it already (which we weren’t) October had begun and with it the Halloween season. Well, the campground was full of the inflatable decoration. Our campsite was right next to a green Frankenstein. Next to him were three stoned buffalo - my guess is that they are there all year round. There were other inflatables – ghosts, monsters, something that popped out of a box, I didn’t look at that one too closely as I was on my way to dream land. There was a spider on the way to the bathroom (yes, they were unlocked) when you walked by the spider’s eyes glowed red and his head turned to follow you - creepy. There was also half of a witch sticking out of a grave. When I shined the flashlight on her she screamed and started waving her hands. That surprised me!!! Luckily there were no other tents around and I doubt it anyone in their RV bubble could hear it. Did I mention that the location of the campground was right next to the expressway? So along with the spooky decoration was the constant noise of traffic zooming by. Ah, the great outdoors!
Sunday was a day on the road. The road that finally brought us back home. What a wonder-filled trip!
On Saturday we pulled out of Crested Butte just as the sun was coming over the mountains and bringing out all the golden color of the beautiful aspen trees. It was a little hard to leave but it was time to head home. We could feel it in our bones.
We spend our last night in the tent in Salina, Kansas. We pulled in to one campground just as it was starting to get dark. The office was closed but instructions were there for checking in late. We found the tent sites but the bathroom door was locked. What’s with that? Tent sites need a bathroom nearby. It is not like we have all the conveniences like the RVs have in their big bubble. And there were too many RVs around to play primitive camping. So it was back on the road. A short time later we found a KOA campground, not always our choice because they are big and somewhat expensive but it was getting dark so we decided to stay.
In case we weren’t aware of it already (which we weren’t) October had begun and with it the Halloween season. Well, the campground was full of the inflatable decoration. Our campsite was right next to a green Frankenstein. Next to him were three stoned buffalo - my guess is that they are there all year round. There were other inflatables – ghosts, monsters, something that popped out of a box, I didn’t look at that one too closely as I was on my way to dream land. There was a spider on the way to the bathroom (yes, they were unlocked) when you walked by the spider’s eyes glowed red and his head turned to follow you - creepy. There was also half of a witch sticking out of a grave. When I shined the flashlight on her she screamed and started waving her hands. That surprised me!!! Luckily there were no other tents around and I doubt it anyone in their RV bubble could hear it. Did I mention that the location of the campground was right next to the expressway? So along with the spooky decoration was the constant noise of traffic zooming by. Ah, the great outdoors!
Sunday was a day on the road. The road that finally brought us back home. What a wonder-filled trip!
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