durangoscots

EEEKKKKK!!! It is snowing. Cold and windy today but this should pass quickly and tomorrow it will slowly start warming up. What we are getting now should not stick. Guess it is a welcome home gift for me. This morning was spent running errands. The first item on the agenda was the car registration and that took all of about 3 minutes. I was amazed. No one at the DMV and I was not even that early. Then picked up dog food and came home to give the dogs a good walk. Now am back to slowly sorting. Still unpacking... just don't have much interest in doing it although there are a few gifts that I had better bring to the surface. And laundry.... no thanks. The road work and subsequent increased traffic in front of the condo seems to have settled down a bit. There is work on several streets around us and it looks like people have now have their preferred detours. As long as I avoid morning and evening rush I am ok.... and rush hour here is really about 20 minutes each time. Off to get back to sorting and getting bags ready for the thrift store. Susan

Chilly start to this morning.... around 28F. I cheated today.... got up and pulled on jeans and jacket, took dogs for a walk... went back to bed and slept another 3 hours. It has improved my outlook on life. I need to head for the grocery store this afternoon or I will be eating the dog's food. Am nearly unpacked from the Grand Australia.... but now I have some laundry to do and lots of sorting to do. At least there is no rush. Funny a relaxing cruise has left me exhausted. For the most part, I got plenty of sleep. @cruising sisterI am sure you got a joyous welcome home. I hope the "squares" were properly received. Hope Murphy continues to improve. Off to try to salvage some of the day, but then it really does not matter. One advantage of living alone is to be able to do things at your own pace. At this pace a snail could outpace me. Susan

Good morning. Sunny here at current temp is 44F. It will reach high 60's this afternoon. I'll take it. My agenda for the day is to get the two suitcases from the Grand Australia unpacked and maybe get to the store. The latter may wait until tomorrow morning. I think I am feeling a bit off due to the change in altitude. 3+ months at sea level and now back to 6200+ feet. Or maybe, just maybe, I am getting older. It is going to take me some time to bring order out of the chaos of the house. Susan

I am sorry to hear this sad news. Susan

This conversation is getting out of hand. I have seen dogs on 3 cruises. One was obviously a guide dog for the blind.... well trained, well mannered. The second I suspect was not a service dog for that particular owner. As I understand she had been a service dog for the man's deceased wife. I do not think it was currently functioning as a service dogs because 1) he let it run around in the Crow's Nest and 2) he did an all day trip ashore where the dog could not go and left the dog on the ship. The third was treated as a pet but the owner did not let it run loose and as far as I know there were no incidents. And, it is possible it was a home trained alert dog of some sort. But it often was not with them being left in a crate in the cabin. I have no idea what kind of papers were filled out .... dog #2 did have some sort of international doggie passport. This is a very complicated issue and not easily solved. The people who need those dogs should able to go places with them although of course some destinations will not let them disembark. The behavior of the dog on the ship is a real issue. By the way.... even a service dog can be banned from someplace if it misbehaves. More likely from a home trained dog than a professionally trained one. I have worked with service dogs in training.... I have two very well trained pets. Would take them on a cruise. Nope. I would spend all my time worrying about my dog and not enjoying the cruise. Susan

Good morning. Sunny here and temperature around 45F. Supposed to get to low 70's this afternoon before it cools off a bit the next few days. Winds seem to come and go. Yesterday was a highly successful day as my 2 luggage forward bags arrived in the afternoon and even better.... I got my taxes completed, sent, and they have been accepted!!! I will start unpacking this afternoon but the pace of everything is slowed now. More time for dog walking, reading and getting things reorganized. I think the trip from San Diego to Durango wore me out more than anything else has done and I still sometimes feel the ship move. Strange feeling. Take care all and for those on the sea.... enjoy!!!! Susan

Good morning. Cool here.... 37 when the dogs and I walked about an hour ago, but it is supposed to get up to the mid 60's this afternoon. My condo stays pretty cool right now because the sun does not hit directly. That comes in about another month. Checked Luggage Forward this morning and my luggage is in Durango, so I am assuming it will be delivered today. Much faster than when it went out. They seem to avoided a couple mountain passes on the way home. So while I wait I will tackle the taxes. Should only take a few hours since I have things together. Mainly checking my figures. Take care all and watch out driving in all that rain!!! Susan

Durango is chilly in the mornings, especially after the Australian summer. 27F when the dogs and I went out this morning.... and they did let me sleep a bit longer. I am feeling the altitude after being at sea for 3 months... so I am slow about getting things done and right now am concentrating on things non-physical. Taxes seem to be at the front of the line. And I do need to go to DMV and register my car.... I am in the grace period since registration came due while I was away. One more thing to do. Take care all. Susan

They are indeed service dogs..... otherwise you would be restricting the person who needs them. Service dogs will lie under the table in a food establishment. They do not eat at the table. By the way.... I can not see taking a non-service dog on a cruise. I would spend more time caring for the dogs than enjoying the cruise. I have two dogs.... I just finished a 94 day cruise. My dogs have been taught to board and are familiar with the kennels and they evidently had a blast since they were not particularly happy to see me home. I am now broke from bailing them out but it is Part of the cost of cruising that I figure in when planning.

I now know exactly what time the kennel where my dogs boarded during the Grand Australia feeds their clients in the morning and I am not happy. Hopefully I can get them back on my schedule. That early morning walk in the dark was not appreciated by me. But all 8 paws hitting me as I slept certainly got me going. They were cooperative when I got them out. Luggage forward says my 2 bags should arrive on Thursday. We will see. Unpacking is not one of my favorite things but will manage. A few things I took with me and never wore are going straight to the thrift store. Today's main focus will be getting my tax info together. I went to the bank early this morning after that early wake up from the dogs so all deposits are in order. I am having trouble adjusting to the seasons also.... and I am amazed at how little traffic there is in Durango. Of course we are between tourist seasons but still. The one real bummer is that they are going to be working all summer on a road near me and my street will be heavily used by detouring traffic. I am sure I will survive it all. Off to sort, toss and start on the tax stuff. And maybe sneak in a nap if the dogs will let me.

Monday, Monday..... and my first day back to reality. Cold cereal for breakfast. I do need to get to the store today. However, my first order of business this morning was to liberate the dogs from the kennel. They seem happy to be home and look (and smell) great. They are now crashed in their beds. I think they are pretty tired from having to supervise the kennel for all this time. So..... the next thing on my agenda is to sort the mail and haul lots of it out to the recycling bin. Then the bank, taxes and on and on for the next week or so. It is going to be hard to get back into my routine and I need to pick up on my downsizing projects. Knowing that I was doing that did keep me from buying too many souvenirs on the trip.... I actually did pretty well resisting temptation. No dust collectors. Susan (and a happy and tired two doggies)

Made it home to a very windy and chilly Durango this afternoon. I do feel sometimes that I am still on the ship. The plane trip San Diego to Phoenix to Durango was easy except for having to be a the airport for a 6:20 morning departure. It may take a day or so for my body to realize that we are back on dry land. I will pick up the dogs at the kennel tomorrow morning and then tackle a very dusty and disorganized house. And taxes. Going to be a busy week. No one is going to cook for me or straighten my room.

Watched you all sail away without me. Now at San Diego airport... should be back home this afternoon. Enjoy the remaining voyage. By the way....that great string trio will be with you to Montreal.

Drafted auto correct wrote Canberra no question and when I corrected that it started acting silly. Chairs are clearly marked.

The chairs on the Volevdam are very clearly marked as reserved and there Can be 7thno question.