Boy, it is hot

 As I write this in July, it is 101 F here in Richmond.

Sweetie and I had a great time in Ireland on our barge trip along the River Shannon. We met six very interesting folks: a married couple consisting of one 30-year Canadian army veteran and one 30-year Canadian air force veteran and a couple consisting of one 32-year US Marine Corps 3-star general (retired), and his fairly new wife, and finally one couple from Cleveland who were retiring from their textiles company. We all got along very well.

We did the same trip as the last time we were on the Shannon Princess and it was just a good as that time.

We are preparing for our next trip coming up this October when we travel for a 15-day land tour/cruise in Japan. I hope to have an extensive write up for that trip.

In the planning stages are our 2024 trip from Lisbon to Bacelona with stops in the Madeira Islands, the Canary Islands, and Morocco.  Should be fun.

Finally, we are tentatively planning an England barge trip on the Thames River in 2025.

Traveling again - finally

 Sweetie and I did some camping in Goliad but then we went on a hiatus for a while.

As recently as last May (2022), we enjoyed a 6 night cruise from Memphis to New Orleans on the American Queen steamship. We both had a great time seeing the mighty Mississippi run its course and we visited many small towns and cities along the route.

In October, Sweetie and I took a European Waterways trip in the Loire Valley in France. Unfortunately, on Day 5, a passenger notified the captain that he tested positive for the COVID. Following their guidelines from the company, the crew tested themselves and all of the passengers. Of the 8 passengers, five of us tested positive. That left only one couple (who, by the way, did a self-test and tested themselves as negative) who could remain on board. The other six (one of which did not test positive) had to pay for our taxi back to Paris and arrange for our hotels until our scheduled flights departed. The taxi costs about €500 for the trip - split 3 ways.

After that, we booked a Viking cruise over the Christmas holidays. We traveled from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to several different Caribbean islands before returning to San Juan for our flight back to Houston.

This year, we flew to St. Lucia and stayed at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian resort for a much needed break and relaxation week.

Next up is our trip to Ireland. We are returning to European Waterways and our second barge trip on the River Shannon riding a great barge, Shannon Princess.

Later this year, we visit Japan for the first time. We will have a three day pre-cruise land tour visiting Tokyo and surrounding areas before getting on our ship and visiting 8 ports in Japan and South Korea. Can't wait for that!

More later if I remember how to log onto this blog.

Camping in a National Forest

 After our recent move to Richmond, Texas, Sweetie and I took a short weekend camping trip to Double Lake Recreation Area in the San Houston National Forest outside of Coldspring, Texas.

Much different than the west Texas camping we've been accustomed to over the past 10 years. It should go without saying that the humidity level here in east Texas is much higher than in the west but that is offset somewhat by the much larger number and size of the trees!

Yes, Dorothy, there are trees bigger than a shrub oak around here and those trees helped us survive the heat index and lack of breeze (humm, come to think of it, maybe the reason there was no breeze was because the trees may have been blocking it.). And for the first time since we camped in Rita, we were able to use the awning without worrying about it being blown off the side of the trailer!

I must say the campground itself was very quiet and the sites aren't stacked close to each other (like at the KOAs. Nothing against the KOA campgrounds, they're just a place to pull in and sleep for the night. Well, unless you like their pools or their playgrounds or their dining facilities.)

Overall, I highly recommend Double Lake Recreation Area even if we didn't get a chance to hike any of the Lone Star Hiking Trail. This 129-mile National Recreation Trail runs from through the Sam Houston National Forest and run near Cleveland on the east and Richards on the west. The trail crosses both private property and public roads so do be careful about taking care of the areas you are traveling. Also, please note there are no public toilet facilities on the trail (although it does come close to several towns and at least one state park with public facilities). There are few designated camping areas (except during hunting seasons) so you can camp where ever you might find a dry, flat spot. 

Next up, we head to Gonzales, Texas, to camp at the Palmeto State Park.

Lack of photographic evidence

For the past several posts, you may have noticed a severe lack of beautiful, Sweetie-taken photographs to accompany the rather lame prose. That will continue in the future unless I figure out how to change the size of the photos I have already posted here.

I assumed it would be an easy task to find the place where all of the photos are magically stored, download them back to my computer (for those which I can't find on my local drives anyway), and shrink their footprint. Then, I should be able to upload them to the magic server in the sky and my available space would increase dramatically.

Not happening. Can't for the life of me figure out how to change the photos without opening each and every post. 

Sigh.

Anyone have any ideas for me?

Back to Cozumel!

It has been a long, cold winter here in west Texas and My Sweetie and I needed a break from the ice storms that seemed to perpetually pop up every week or so. Therefore, we searched and searched (ok, I looked for a hour) until we found a short cruise that would get us into warm weather quickly.

We left home on Thursday morning last week (9th of April) and flew into New Orleans. The two of us met our ground transfer person and she put us on a very large passenger bus to take us to the Port of New Orleans. After waiting an almost impossible 4 to 6 minutes, she came back and apologized for the wait and told the driver to go ahead and take us to the Port. Wow. Only the two of us being personally chauffeured on a huge bus!

In about 35 minutes, we pulled into the Port where we decided to take our luggage on with us. Seeing as how we only packed a few clothes, this seemed like it would be fairly easy to do. The check-in process went so quickly that I didn't even have enough time to munch on the little sandwiches and pastries they had laid out for the Priority Boarding guests. (I noticed that as soon as we left the Priority Boarding area and went to sit down in the Priority Boarding chairs. Bummer. I was a bit hungry since I only had a Luna bar for breakfast.)

After a fairly short wait (after two wedding parties boarded), we started boarding the Carnival Elation, a rather small cruise ship compared to some of the monsters we had been on previously.

After everyone embarked, we began our slow journey down the Mississippi River. I know we left the pier about 4:40 but I have no idea when we cleared the delta. I suspect it took the ship until midnight or later. But we had a grand time anyway!

The next day we spent sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. Sweetie and I had separate massages early in the morning and then a late brunch. Just a chillin' sort of day.

Saturday we arrived in Cozumel. I had reserved an excursion online to go deep sea fishing. After making our way through the Mexican checkpoint, we got to our meeting point and discovered we were the only two from the Elation to take this excursion. When our fishing boat showed up, we were happy to see only two other passengers onboard the 28 foot boat.

After 40 minutes at high speed, the crew finally tossed the baited hooks over the side and we started 'fishin' in earnest. No more than 10 minutes later, the first hit and hook was made! Our blind companion fisherman took the seat and, about 10 minutes later, landed a 4' 6" mahi-mahi!

After an exhausting and exhilarating day on the water, Sweetie and I returned to the ship for some rest time. Oh, no! We both put on suntan lotion but both got a bit red!

Sunday was another relaxing day at sea and, this time, we had a couple's hot stone massage. Wonderful.

Coming back up the Mississippi was a bit tougher since there was some fog and the ship was delayed getting to the Port. I didn't care so much since we had later afternoon flights booked back home. The really bad thing is that both Sweetie and I came down with a sore throat Sunday night. Bummer.

Still, the trip got us out of the ice and into some icy drinks! Mai Tai, Dark & Stormy, Miami Vice, and Mango Mamas. We did come back relaxed albeit a bit sick from the sore throat.

Vegas, Again

We made another trip to Las Vegas in February. 

But we didn't go for the shows, or the restaurants, or the gambling.

We were there to attend the USA 7's Rugby Tournament!

This was our second time to the 7's Rugby in Las Vegas. This time, we were prepared!

Staying at the Excalibur was the plan since the bus to the event left from there. Plus, the restaurant Sweetie and I wanted to try was located at Mandalay Bay and that is just a short tram ride away.

The rugby was excellent even though the USA only finished 4th.