The Daily for Sunday 06/12/2022

[ger_77]

Good morning, thanks for the Daily!  Didn't we have Children's Day just a short time ago?  I played girls softball when I was a child and enjoyed it even though I wasn't very good.  Magic is fun to watch and try to figure out how it's done.

 

Well we just woke up a bunch of the neighbours.  DH's SUV started honking like crazy even though there wasn't anyone around it.  Although we both got out there as quickly as we could, many of the neighbours came out to see if it was their vehicle making all the noise.  Great apologies to all.  LOL  I think there's something wrong with the wiring, as he had replaced the batteries in the remote start just a few weeks ago.  That'll likely be expensive.  

 

@marshhawkHappy Birthday to your DH!

@Heartgrovethoughts for you, and prayers for your sister's peaceful passing, and for your brother's comfort.

 

Not a lot going on here today, just making sure the plants all have enough water (even with the rain, some are in protected areas and don't get wet), and enjoying the warm weather.  I think DH has plans of filling the propane tank for the BBQ and that's about all.  Oh, a bit of success - I've been able to make 2 cute little angel wings out of yarn, but haven't mastered  the technique using crochet cotton.  It seems the yarn is a lot more forgiving of mistakes.  

 

We bought some pork loins on sale the other day, so I cut them in large chunks to put in the freezer.  Today one is coming out and will be cut up into chops that DH will cook on the BBQ along with a coffee/apricot glaze and we'll have them with corn on the cob and salad for dinner tonight.  And wine.

 

Prayers for everyone who needs them and even for those who don't think they do.  Extra for the people of Ukraine and for the families of the victims of gun violence.  We

will raise the glasses to celebrate all on the happy list, especially the return of the Westerdam to service!  Stay safe, get your boosters, wear masks when you need to, and be well.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[ottahand7]

Good morning to all Daily friends.  Woke up to temp in the 30s but it is 56 and sunny already.  We had a good day of rain yesterday. Perfect for a day of cooking and watching horse racing.  I am disappointed that Rich Strike didn't strike but happy for Mike Repole the owner of the first 2 finishers.  He has put a lot of money in the business so happy he was rewarded with a Classic win.

 

More rain tomorrow so I have a lot of weeding to do.  DF will have to entertain himself fishing.    The hummingbirds are going through 4 pounds of sugar every three days. Thankfully my sister had 5 pounds which will hold me until we go to town tomorrow.  My friend sold his place so I think I am the only one feeding on a 2 mile long lake.  Plus the only clearing with flowers. 

 

Prayers for all on Roy's care list and for more ammunition for Ukraine. 🙏 Thanks for the Daily Reports.  @HeartgroveI  so sorry to read of your DS passing. 🙏

Edited June 12, 2022 by ottahand7

[marshhawk]

 

Happy Sunday!  Hot and humid in Atlanta this morning.  Our heat index will be up in the 100's mid week.  The cats are all looking for cool places, their favorite is on our bed under the ceiling fan.

 

Thank you for the well wishes for DH's 72.  His favorite driver won in F1 this morning.  And he got the Max race cap that he wanted, and wore it during the race.  He also got photo shop for his birthday.  Today we are having lunch with friends, and tonight, we have tickets for the theatre.  He normally calls his mom on Sunday nights, but because we were not going to be in, I told him to call her last night, and she thought it was Sunday, so I told him to tell her why he was calling on Saturday.  So she wouldn't worry.  She also forgot where we live, and our address.

 

I like magic, but when people magically take my watch, or pull a quarter out of my ear, I feel somewhat violated.

 

 

 

@grapau27 Thank you for Father David this morning.  I just love that man, and his "sermons".

 

My mother also told me that every day was children's day.  But I was raised with physical and emotional abuse, so I couldn't wait to grow up, and get away from being a child.  But as I got older, I found my inner child, and I celebrate every day.

 

I do like the quote.  If you live life accepting that life ends, then you can live with the ability to be kind to others and be the adventurer to you want to be.  It helps to recognize what you fear, and not place yourself in dangerous situations.  But sometimes simple things like being around people scare me, and I am trying to get over that. 

 

Have a glorious day!

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by marshhawk

[aliaschief]

Some photos of Longyearbyen from our 2017 MS Prisendam cruise.

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

🛳️ 🍾  WOO HOO!  ELEVEN BHBs WITH GUESTS! 🥂👏

 

Good morning from sunny, slightly breezy and hot central Texas.  Right now (9:35 am CDT) it is 86F and humid, which makes it uncomfortable outside.  I hate to think what the predicted 107F will feel like later today.  Yesterday, the indoor/outdoor thermometer said 103F while the A/C thermostat read 106F outside. 

 

All three days are worth celebrating.  Magic is always interesting, especially in literature, but I try to avoid the magicians on BHBs and other ships.  They all seem to do the same tricks.

 

I was sorry Rich Strike did not do better, but being in last place for most of the race did not bode well.  I was also happy that Mike Repole's horses came in first and second.

 

IMHO, Mark Twain missed the mark.  If you are living life to the fullest and are not afraid to live, I would think you'd want  to live as long as possible.

 

We'll skip the meal and the drink.  The wine sounds interesting, depending on how dry it really is.  I like dry Rieslings, but not too dry.

 

We were in Longyearbyen in 2016 on Prinsendam.  Even though it was chilly and windy, we enjoyed our visit.  I'll post my pictures and @StLouisCruisers Sandi's pictures.

 

@Sharon in AZ Sharon, thank you for the information about the yacht rescue.  I was wondering if the passengers were allowed to ask their questions during Ask The Captain, or did they have to submit written questions before hand with the Cruise Director reading the questions during the event.  Last fall on Koningsdam, the audience told one of the Entertainment Team their question, which she then asked the Captain.  This spring, the CD read the written questions, and we thought he edited out the unusual questions which always make the Ask The Captain interesting.  Instead, it turned into a rather dull session with tame, predictable questions.

@dfish  Debbie, I hope you got your walk in before the rain.  Enjoy the next five weeks planning for a cruise that will be a lot more pain free.  Have you considered a steroid injection in your hip?  They can make a difference.

@jayhawk66  Safe travels and enjoy the cool mountain weather.

@ger_77  Gerry, what a rude awakening in the middle of the night.  We had that happen once, but we were at a hotel, so no understanding and forgiving neighbors. 

@marshhawk  Ann, I hope you and DH enjoy is birthday lunch with friends and the play tonight.

@aliaschief  Thank you for your pictures.  We were almost on the Prinsendam at the same time.  We boarded Prinsendam for the cruise after the one to Spitsbergen.

 

Lenda

[summer slope]

Candy Apple Margarita:

Ingredients
6 parts Sauza® Blue Silver 100% Agave Tequila
1 can Limeade
3 parts DeKuyper® Hot Damn!® Cinnamon Schnapps Liqueur
8 parts Candy Apple Soda

Instructions
Serves 9. Combine all ingredients in a pitcher filled with ice.

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We were in Longyearbyen in 2016 on the Prinsendam..  It is a rather bleak looking area without much vegetation, but we enjoyed our day there.  

 

It was cold and windy that day, but clear.  We walked into town since the wind was at our backs. After exploring the town, we stopped at the hotel to use the wifi. They called a taxi to take us back to the ship as waling into the wind was brutal.

 

 

Longyearbyen as the ship approached the pier.  There were t-shirts and souvenirs for sale in the white tent.

 

The airport

 

The power plant

 

Our walk around town

 

An  interesting museum

 

The hotel which had a comfortable lobby and displays of various local animals

 

Lenda

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Since I doubt that the polar ice cap will be a port of the day, I'll add these pictures

 

On August 11, 2016, the day between our calls at Longyearbyen and Ny Alesund, Captain Tim Roberts took the Prinsendam as close to the polar ice cap as he could safely steer the ship. 

 

The previous few days, the wind was blowing the ice floes toward the ice cap, and he thought we would be able to get very close.  Unfortunately, overnight the wind changed directions and was blowing the floes away from the ice cap.  

 

We could only get as close as about five miles, but we could see the edge of the ice cap from the upper decks.  We were still about 500 miles or so from the North Pole.

 

The polar ice cap with the ice floes in front

 

Later they lowered a tender so the photographers could take pictures of the ship, and bring back a chunk of ice.  This pictures give a better idea how far from the ice cap we were.

 

A group of walrus relaxing as we cruised toward the ice cap.

 

Seals resting on an ice floe

 

Evidently, we had a couple of stowaways that day.  I guess they were trying to get warm.

 

The ice chunk

 

This was about as far north as we could sail

 

Lenda

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

These pictures are courtesy of Sandi, @StLouisCruisers.  The map was from another post Sandi made that day.  As usual, her words are in Italics.

 

Arriving at the dock in Longyearbyen at 8:30 am on July 5, 2013.  

 

The people there to attend to the ropes were women.  Equal opportunities for all in Norway!

 

Off we went along the road lined with bits of coal, towards the town of Longyearbyen.  It was even more grey there that morning than it is here in Georgia today.

 

The first thing we saw was the offices of a coal mining company.  

 

An art sculpture along the way

 

Our first glimpse of the "city".

 

This was a school/university.

 

 

Looking inside we see lots of shoes.  Hopefully you can wear a different pair in there so you don't have to attend classes in your socks!

 

Walking further into town we saw a statue of a coal miner.

 

And a daycare.  Love the little guy peering out the window at all the strange people in town.

 

The busiest place in town was this supermarket.

 

Inside the doors in the "foyer" of the supermarket was this beautiful picture of a polar bear.  We had been advised you were not allowed to venture outside the city limits without an armed escort due to polar bears.  Made you wonder if the bears knew about that walk we made from the ship to the downtown area?

 

It was nice inside, just like any grocery store.  There were signs in the liquor and wine department telling everyone only local residents were allowed to buy alcohol, due to limited supplies.  Who could afford Norwegian prices anyway?  

 

From there we went to a couple of shops in town with unique souvenirs.

 

 

A monument along the road on our walk back to the ship (watching for polar bears!).

 

An overview of the town.

 

Coal, and more coal

 

Back on the ship in the early evening

 

 

When we sailed from Longyearbyen that evening, the weather began clearing right away.

 

 

 

All in all, a very interesting day spent 800 miles from the North Pole!

 

This map shows you Svalbard, where Longyearbyen is located.  You can see how far off the mainland of Norway it is and how close to the North Pole.  The Arctic ice cap is not that far off.

 

[Cruising-along]

Good morning all!

It will be a cloudy day, up to 60'ish F.  Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful afternoon, lots of sunshine.  I spent it gardening and chatting for hours to neighbors.  

 

Interesting collection of days.  I've never been a fan of magic shows, I get frustrated trying to figure out how they do it lol.  So I rarely go to magician shows on BHBs -- but do remember one magician who was much more funny than the comedian on that cruise. 😉  

 

HURRAY, all the HAL ships are now in service!  That's something to celebrate!

 

Will pass on the meal (not a fan of coconut) and drink, but the wine sounds good if it isn't too dry.  Have been to many ports in Norway, but not this one.

 

@marshhawkAnn Happy Birthday to your DH!

@Sharon in AZI must have missed it -- what is the reason given for no sea day lunches in the MDR and Pinnacle Grill?  I love the PG lunches and would be very disappointed.

[marshhawk]

@aliaschief I would like to know  if Gjelder hele Svalbard translates to "Yield to Bear" or  " If you see a bear run like hele" ?

 

Am truly enjoying the pictures today.  I feel cooler just looking at them.

[marshhawk]

@Cruising-along Staffing issues, the cruise ships right now cant get enough employees.

[durangoscots]

Good morning. Another hot, dry, windy day on the schedule. I plan to haul a hose around to the bushes in front and give them a bit of relief. We do have hopes for end of next week in terms of moisture but I will believe it when I see it.

 

Last night must have been the night for inanimate objects to become vocal. This morning at 1:45 my microwave started beeping loudly. Don't know why. I punched everything I could until I hit something called "reminder" which stopped the racket. Don't know if I woke the neighbors or not. Guess I will hear about it if I did.

 

Would love to return to Norway. Have not been to today's destination but it looks interesting. The meal of the day looks interesting also and I love coconut anything. Whether I should eat it or not is another issue.

 

Take care all. 

 

Susan

[luvteaching]

Here are two webcams for Seattle. The Space Needle one is further away but gives nice panoramic shots - except today when it's covered with rain spatters. The Elliott Bay one is "up close and personal" for the most part. 

 

https://www.spaceneedle.com/webcam/

http://www.elliottbaymarina.co/live/

 

Karen

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

These pictures are courtesy of Sandi, @StLouisCruisers.  The map was from another post Sandi made that day.  As usual, her words are in Italics.

 

Arriving at the dock in Longyearbyen at 8:30 am on July 5, 2013.  

 

The people there to attend to the ropes were women.  Equal opportunities for all in Norway!

 

Off we went along the road lined with bits of coal, towards the town of Longyearbyen.  It was even more grey there that morning than it is here in Georgia today.

 

The first thing we saw was the offices of a coal mining company.  

 

An art sculpture along the way

 

Our first glimpse of the "city".

 

This was a school/university.

 

 

Looking inside we see lots of shoes.  Hopefully you can wear a different pair in there so you don't have to attend classes in your socks!

 

Walking further into town we saw a statue of a coal miner.

 

And a daycare.  Love the little guy peering out the window at all the strange people in town.

 

The busiest place in town was this supermarket.

 

Inside the doors in the "foyer" of the supermarket was this beautiful picture of a polar bear.  We had been advised you were not allowed to venture outside the city limits without an armed escort due to polar bears.  Made you wonder if the bears knew about that walk we made from the ship to the downtown area?

 

It was nice inside, just like any grocery store.  There were signs in the liquor and wine department telling everyone only local residents were allowed to buy alcohol, due to limited supplies.  Who could afford Norwegian prices anyway?  

 

From there we went to a couple of shops in town with unique souvenirs.

 

 

A monument along the road on our walk back to the ship (watching for polar bears!).

 

An overview of the town.

 

Coal, and more coal

 

Back on the ship in the early evening

 

 

When we sailed from Longyearbyen that evening, the weather began clearing right away.

 

 

 

All in all, a very interesting day spent 800 miles from the North Pole!

 

This map shows you Svalbard, where Longyearbyen is located.  You can see how far off the mainland of Norway it is and how close to the North Pole.  The Arctic ice cap is not that far off.

 

Great photos from yourself Lenda plus thanks for posting Sandi's photo's too.

Always interesting to see places we have never been to.

Graham.

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, marshhawk said:

@aliaschief I would like to know  if Gjelder hele Svalbard translates to "Yield to Bear" or  " If you see a bear run like hele" ?

 

Am truly enjoying the pictures today.  I feel cooler just looking at them.

Happy birthday to your husband today.

[aliaschief]

I did not take the picture of the polar bears. A fellow cruiser with large camera lens shared this with me and gave permission to use. The Captain heard there were bears dining on a beached whale and  went off our course to see them. They were so stuffed I don’t think they could move. The Polar Ice Cap, multitude of beautiful glaciers and scenery made this cruise our all time favorite.

 

Really miss the Elegant Explorer but Azamara is filling in nicely.

 

[Lady Hudson]

Home from church and “thinking” about dinner.  Prayers for all in need and especially prayers for wisdom among our political leaders.  Prayers for the willingness to compromise within our political parties so much needed legislation can get passed.  Now I am off my soap box!! 
 

Preparing for my trip on Thursday but got an email from my travel companion today.  She was notified that she has been in contact with an asymptomatic acquaintance who has tested positive.  Travel companion has had a cold and sore throat and is worried for our trip.  Testing later today.  This is to be her first trip back since the lockdown.  I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed!  Either one of us will go without the other but not the trip we envisioned.  Covid — go away!!  Katherine 

[puppycanducruise]

@Lady HudsonHoping your travel companion will test negative.🙏🤞

[Copper10-8]

6 hours ago, richwmn said:

 

Today is...............................
 

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.--Mark Twain.......................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Copper10-8

[arzz]

Though I most often lurk and seldom post the daily has been a fixture in my life for over two dismal years when socializing, traveling, and even seeing family has been difficult. During this time I have passed many personal milestones like our 50th wedding anniversary quietly, and without benefit of a Cruise celebration. 
 

The daily has always been here as a warm, welcoming place to inhale warm thoughts, funny memes, and suffer through and support the many of us who have gone through great and often life changing episodes.  These are remarkable times.  I do hope that the daily continues as is and I hope fervently that those who have stepped back from the daily have done so on a temporary basis. 
 

Personally DH and I are not yet ready to brave the slings and arrows of what is left of a devastating epidemic in order to satisfy our lust for new places and new experiences. Too many are still falling ill and there is still no guarantee that the vaccinated and boosted will not suffer long term consequences even after mild encounters with this disease.  
 

We have seen the ravages of long Covid on folks that we know. So … we still travel vicariously. We have hope that things will change soon enough to use our future cruise credits before they expire in September of 2023. 

 

However, as a change of pace for me I now paste in my blog from the Prinsendam in August of 2010 at today's port. 
 

 

[arzz]

Trying again to paste 

 

A Sunny Day in the Arctic Circle - Aug 4

 

Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen is on the Svalbard Archipelago which is part of Norway (though not physically connected).

 

Our ship once more approached port by traveling through on one of  those fjord things, full of tall mountains and cliffs with the mists hanging between mountains tops and sea -- yeah, just more of that absolutely breath taking, heart stopping beauty.  That kind of scenery has become a daily occurrence on this cruise.  At 78 degrees north latitude it is not just trees that are missing.  Most of what we see is volcanic rock, snow, ice, and a few glaciers thrown in.  Gone are most of the grasses and flowers.

 

Our guides today were a young gentleman who is an American student from Colorado State University  who summers up here, and two dogs (Greenland Dogs -- they look similar to Alaskan Huskies) Anna and Bruno.  And, yes, as we proceed with our afternoon scenic cruising out of the fjord, the sun is once again shining on all of this from clear blue skies.   We have been so fortunate with our weather so far.

 

If only it had been sunny during our morning tour.  We had a four hour tour booked to see as much as possible of the surrounding area, and lunch was to be provided.  All we could get out of the tour company is that the lunch would be "drytekk  (very good)".  Turns out lunch was supposed to be one of those freeze dried meals carried by back packers who reconstitute them with hot water.  We passed and ate on the ship after our tour.

 

We left the ship at 9 am to misty, overcast skies and a brisk 48 degrees.  As our driver cheerfully drove us around, sharing much info as he drove, in a well used van that smelled like large dog and had a "kayak Spitsbergen" label on the bumper.  The van never got warm and we kept stopping and jumping out to take pictures anyway.

 

This is the land of the Arctic Tundra.  Rocks, some mosses, lichen and short grasses (in the valleys the grasses were rust and green colored) sprinkled with small white flours that up close look like short green stalks topped with a cotton ball.  Predictably, these are called Arctic Cotton.  We have no samples to bring home as the fine here for picking wild flowers is a mere $1500.

 

The mountains have deep grooves many still filled with snow -- the low, flat lands are full of meandering streams and lakes.  Due to the Icelandic Volcano eruption this spring their snow got covered with a layer of dark volcanic ash and, as a result, melted fast and early.

 

The whole area is monochromatic (deep browns, blacks, greys) and very stark.  The town was originally settled in order to mine coal.  Though most of the mines have been abandoned, the remnants of the mines remain as it is considered to be disturbing the national cultural heritage to change anything related to human habitation older than 1946.  Our guide was not sure that this regulation isn't just in place so that they don't have to bother to clean up the old mines.

 

Our first scenic stop produced a couple of rein deer.  Unfortunately we saw no other natural wild life while here other than birds.  We were warned that if walking to town, we should wear a hat and bring an umbrella or stick to hold above our heads to protect ourselves from the Arctic Terns who have a tendency to dive bomb folks who are walking.

 

I may have liked to see a polar bear but it is probably better that we didn't as the local guidelines that we were given when we landed recommend that one should not "leave settlements without a suitable gun and experience in using it".  At the same time it is prohibited "to lure, pursue or otherwise seek out polar bears in such a way as to disturb them or expose either bears or humans to danger".  It is only OK to shoot a polar bear if your life depends upon it.

 

Among the sights that we were shown included the "seed vault" started by Bill Gates, supposedly full of all sorts of seeds saved, just in case.  The vault is located in the side of a mountain and can be entered through a long corrugated metal door arrangement that is kept behind a chain link fence and a gated road way.  We got to look from the outside, but not enter.

 

We also saw some of the pieces of various research projects that are in progress on the archipelago.  We viewed two very large satellite dishes located at the top of one of the mountains that are supposedly there to study the aurora borealis in the hopes of someday harnessing part of the energy of that phenomenon.  And we viewed a field full of antennas that were about four feet tall and mounted in the tundra.  Our guide had no idea what they were.  We could not help but note that there is also a Russian settlement on Svalbard -- so who really knows what all these things are about.  The sights in general were stark, but fascinating.

 

 

[arzz]

Still did not post the whole blog entry so here is the rest. 
 

The town consists of many small brightly colored wooden buildings sprinkled on an austere, rocky landscape.  We saw many more snowmobiles parked in town than cars.  Of course, the snow has melted for the season so the snowmobiles sit there and wait for the long, dark, winter.

 

The last stop of our tour was at the Airship Museum -- a small building with an astonishing collection of artifacts of the airships (dirigibles, blimps) of the past.  It seems that there were several attempts to make it to the North Pole in such airships.  All failed -- one such attempt failed only three hours after take off when it encountered the polar winds.  Roald  Amundsen (the first person to traverse the northwest passage and the first to reach the South Pole) died in 1928 when he was part of a massive effort to recover survivors from one such lost airship.  The museum collection is small but fascinating.  Glad we made that stop, and at that point we were glad to be anywhere with heat.

 

Back at the ship we warmed up with hot soup for lunch, played and lost at Trivia, and now we are cruising past a line of tall, black mountains covered with patches of snow and separated by large glaciers.  Oh,  Ho hum  🙂

 

We have a couple more hours of scenic cruising tonight and then dinner.  Tomorrow we will be at sea in search of the polar ice fields.  Yes, we are intentionally trying to find the ice.  Day after tomorrow we will port even farther north than today at Ny Alesund.

 

Internet has not worked so far today but I will make a couple more attempts to send this later.

 

Whenever you get this I hope all are well.

 

From 78 degrees north latitude and heading north

 

RoxEd

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

3 hours ago, marshhawk said:

@aliaschief I would like to know  if Gjelder hele Svalbard translates to "Yield to Bear" or  " If you see a bear run like hele" ?

 

Am truly enjoying the pictures today.  I feel cooler just looking at them.

 

Ann I Googled Gjelder hele Svalbard.  According to what I found, it means the polar bear warning applies to Svalbard in it's entirety.  In Ny Alesund we could not leave the area of the village.  When the residents leave the marked perimeter, they must have a rifle with them.  They also must fire the rifle into a special box to make sure it's working properly, and also fired into the box upon returning.  I suspect the last is to make sure there is not a live round in the chamber. 

 

1 hour ago, Lady Hudson said:

Home from church and “thinking” about dinner.  Prayers for all in need and especially prayers for wisdom among our political leaders.  Prayers for the willingness to compromise within our political parties so much needed legislation can get passed.  Now I am off my soap box!! 
 

Preparing for my trip on Thursday but got an email from my travel companion today.  She was notified that she has been in contact with an asymptomatic acquaintance who has tested positive.  Travel companion has had a cold and sore throat and is worried for our trip.  Testing later today.  This is to be her first trip back since the lockdown.  I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed!  Either one of us will go without the other but not the trip we envisioned.  Covid — go away!!  Katherine 

 

Katherine, I'm sorry your travel companion was exposed to this horrible virus and hopes she tests negative.  In either case, I hope you have a wonderful cruise, even if it turns out to be not exactly as planned.

 

19 minutes ago, arzz said:

Though I most often lurk and seldom post the daily has been a fixture in my life for over two dismal years when socializing, traveling, and even seeing family has been difficult. During this time I have passed many personal milestones like our 50th wedding anniversary quietly, and without benefit of a Cruise celebration. 
 

The daily has always been here as a warm, welcoming place to inhale warm thoughts, funny memes, and suffer through and support the many of us who have gone through great and often life changing episodes.  These are remarkable times.  I do hope that the daily continues as is and I hope fervently that those who have stepped back from the daily have done so on a temporary basis. 
 

Personally DH and I are not yet ready to brave the slings and arrows of what is left of a devastating epidemic in order to satisfy our lust for new places and new experiences. Too many are still falling ill and there is still no guarantee that the vaccinated and boosted will not suffer long term consequences even after mild encounters with this disease.  
 

We have seen the ravages of long Covid on folks that we know. So … we still travel vicariously. We have hope that things will change soon enough to use our future cruise credits before they expire in September of 2023. 

 

However, as a change of pace for me I now paste in my blog from the Prinsendam in August of 2010 at today's port. 
 

 

 

We have also been careful and so far have avoided being infected.  Last fall, and again this spring, we ventured on cruises on Koningsdam.  Both times it was between surges as the virus mutated.  Also, we drove from Arizona to San Diego avoiding airports and planes.  We considered a couple of cruises for this summer, but as the number of cases increased, we decided to wait a little longer.  Being in Texas now, we would have been forced to fly, and I'm not ready for that yet.  We also hope that those who have stepped back from the Daily have done so temporarily.   

 

Lenda

[Copper10-8]

Red Bull once again #1 and #2, this time in the 2022 Formula 1 race at Baku, Azerbaijan; this time Dutchman Max Emilian Verstappen (note his red, white and blue helmet) finishes first and Mexican national Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza second. Max currently leads the world championship by 21 points on #2 Checo