Our last day in the Northern Hemisphere greeted us with a very powerful, but brief downpour. The pool deck became a huge sauna. Then the sun came back out and soon there was nothing left of the storm.
Yesterday afternoon there was a gelato party at the pool. There was chocolate, vanilla, and peanut butter. In allegiance to the mousse I had for dinner the night before, I had a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of peanut butter. But, that’s not all, they topped it with a drizzle of coconut rum. Wow Pow. So, after lunch today, I had one scoop of vanilla drizzled with dark rum….My new favorite snack.
We have flown over the equator many times, but this is our first sea level crossing. It happens tomorrow, Saturday. Are we Polliwogs (first time crossers) or shellbacks (been there done that)? Not really sure, but I damn sure am not going to kiss a fish!
Tonight we were invited to dine with Harry, the Hotel Director. He is in charge of everything in our suite, from toilet paper to furniture. He turned out to be a very interesting host.
The Major General spoke again today about China’s military buildup and its dominance over all other countries including ours. I will never but anything made in China, and I will not get off the ship when we visit there, why the hell are we visiting our enemy?
Kim went on a Bridge tour this afternoon and enjoyed it. Got some good information.
A couple of more sea days before we set foot on dry land.
Another day, another degree closer to the Equator. We will cross it in 2 days.
Shout out to my daughter on her 47th birthday. Happy Birthday Sheila.
We love all of your comments, we start each day reading them aloud and discussing them. After over 20 years of marriage, most of our followers know both Kim and me, but there are still a few that I have never met and vice versa. Comments from those give us even more to talk about as we share with each other our history with our friends. Keep them coming, it keeps us feeling connected to home, family, and friends.
More reasons we like small ship sailing; in Maui, the head chef went to the fish market and bought fresh tuna and vine ripened pineapple (another market), if you like pineapple and have never had if fresh form the vine, it’s amazingly different and better tasting than store bought. And Tuna fresh from the fish market, wow, that’s why we had the tuna ceviche tasting that day. The beverage manager went to the local brewery and bought up a few cases of the local brew for us to consume on board. I spoke with him today and he said he will do that at every port. I now declare that this is no longer a “World” cruise, it is a quest to find beers around the world. I knew this was a good idea! This kind of stuff just doesn’t happen on the mega ships.
Today we get to listen to Craig Weldon, a 3 star Army General, Chief of security at the Pentagon during 9/11. He will tell stories of what actually happened that day from a personal perspective. My brother was working in D.C at the time and we had planned for me to fly out and do some remodeling of his house about two weeks later. One day he took me to the Pentagon crash site, it will forever be burned into my brain.
We learned yesterday that we have a stow away on board. A Hawaiian Hawk has taken up residency aboard. This also happened to us when we sailed from Japan to Alaska, a bird stayed with us for 3 weeks. I talked to an officer of the ship about this. He said it is actually quite common. A Bird, for whatever reason will follow the ship out of port then realize, oops, I can’t turn around and fly home, it’s too far. He said that they contact the local bird sanctuary at the next port and ask them to meet us at the dock where they capture the bird and take care of it.
Dinner tonight: each night has a theme, tonight was Thai. Kim loves spicy, I suffer for days after eating spicy; I love sushi, but Kim only goes with me as a very supportive wife. So, when we saw the menu last night and Kim exclaimed yea, Thai, I said yea sushi. A match made in heaven. Separate restaurants, but we each enjoyed it.
And now a message from our local sponsor: Computer link Northwest. Steve Carson. I didn’t know anything about blogging a month ago. I contacted my dear friend Steve Carson, whom I will call Carson, because I’m Steve. He set this site up and nursed me through it to the point that I could operate it. I now am mentoring a fellow passenger on using his blog and he said to me today “you are amazing, you know everything”. No, I don’t! Carson does. So. If you are fighting your computer or want something more, contact him at clnw.com. It doesn’t matter where you are because with your permission, he can log into your computer. The best part (stop reading Carson) is he will send you a teeny tiny bill.
Lastly, full disclosure, last night I took this picture of the full moon reflecting across the water. My smart phone is sometimes not so smart, and it enhanced the colors and made it look like I took a photo of the sun reflecting across the water. I have never edited a photo until now, but I turned it into a black and white, enjoy.
I’m sitting on my veranda sipping on a glass of Makers Mark under the full moon. At last check it was 78 degrees. It’s wonderful. We just spotted another ship (cargo), so we are not out here alone.
Today we had several Albatross flying around us. They are so beautiful and graceful. Their wingspan is almost 10 feet. They like to follow the ship and play in the drafts that it makes. I can still see them tonight as the full moon reflects off their white wings.
The dinner tonight was one of the best we have had, they have all been great, but tonight Kim had an angel hair pasta followed by a nice piece of grilled salmon. I had a crab lump (just a small pile of crab) followed by 3 jumbo grilled shrimp; I swear I might turn into a shrimp as I have some almost every day. And of course, I couldn’t pass up the chocolate and peanut butter moose. Yum.
For the most part, the seas remain calm, however I did wake up in the middle of the night to the feel of some gentle rocking.
It’s a tough job but we’re up for it😉
Tomorrow night is the captain’s cocktail party for returning Seabourn passengers and during the day we will listen to a retired Navy Captain and astronaut having been sent to the space station twice, that should be interesting.
Today the former Prime Minister of New Zealand spoke to us, and the chef had a cooking demonstration around the pool making tuna ceviche. It was yummy.
I hope none of you feel that I’m bragging because I’m not. I’m just trying to help our friends and family live this unbelievable adventure vicariously through my writing. Believe me we ask each other every day if this is really happening to us because it is so unbelievable. If you are offended by any of this, please send me a private email and we will discuss it further.
Our next port, in a few days will be American Samoa then the next day we will finally set foot on foreign soil in Samoa. The next time we are scheduled to set foot on American soil is when we land in New York on June 5.
It’s hard for us to believe how many people our age and older lay in the direct sun around the pool every day, we are 16 degrees North of the equator. Have they not learned about what that does to your skin? Kim and I both spent too much time in the sun in our younger days and we have both had minor bouts with pre-skin cancer.
January 24, 2024
And now a word from our sponsor. A few years ago, I receiver 2 insulated glasses for a promotion that were made by YETI. I use them all the time around home and, in the car, but I have never taken one on a trip until now. I’m using it for my ice water and last night when I went to bed, I accidentally left it on the veranda. When I got up this morning, the sun was cooking everything on our veranda, I grabbed it and brought it inside. It was so hot that I could barely hold onto it. We went to do some stuff and when I returned to the room, I refreshed my water glass. Figuring I would have to pour out the hot water and start over with fresh ice and cold water, I took off the lid and to my surprise, it still had ice in it! Try doing that with any other brand of insulated glass.
We met Chris and Margo at a mutual friend’s New Years Party almost 20 years ago. Of course, I took some of my home brew. Chris really liked my beer and that started a conversation between us. I explained that I always invite friends to my Saturday home brew days and of course he asked if he could be included. Still, I’m not sure whether he wanted to brew or just drink my beer;) I don’t care, he is a good friend. Kim met them in a Master Gardeners class; they also bonded. Chris never missed a brew day and I’m sure I taught him enough to brew on his own.
When the brewery thing came up, I tried to convince Chris to become an investor, but no luck because he failed to tell me that they were moving to Hawaii to be with their children and grandchildren.
So, yesterday they picked us up in the morning and took us to their house and we had a glorious visit. Definitely a highlight of our trip so far.
Today was Kauai, the garden island of Hawaii. There are a bunch of chickens here and it is really beautiful! Wow
In about an hour we will head south for American Samoa, arriving on January 30. Might be January 29 in your world. We shall see.
Today was a trip to the Arizona Memorial. What an amazing tribute to Peral Harbor. I was there in the mid 70’s and Kim has never been. In the 70’s it really didn’t mean much to me, but now wow. I have always said that history lessons are wasted on school children, now history is so meaningful to me. We learned that there is only one remaining survivor, and he is 101 years old. The most amazing fact is that the Arizona is still leaking fuel or oil, over 80 years later. Folklore says that the oil is tears from the men that died that day and it will stop “crying” when the last survivor dies. Stay tuned! With the last survivor ageing out at 101, we shouldn’t have to wait much longer to find out. After our boat ride out to the memorial and back we watched a movie about December 7, 1941. It was very in informative. It’s scary that something like that can happen.
Tomorrow we are meeting up with our old Puget Island neighbors and going to their house for a relaxing day of fun and food.
Itinerary news: they have removed Christmas Island form our stops because of low water issues and they have hinted about changes when we get to the Red Sea. More later….So, after Kuai tomorrow we are at sea for either 6 or 7 days. The itinerary shows 7 days, but we cross the international date line which to me makes it 6 days.
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