Thursday, January 31, 2013

Our 115 day World Cruise, day 27, at sea!

This morning we woke up at 9:00 and we were ready to go!
Off to McDonalds for a McGriddle and we were headed home.

The only stop we made was to use the facilities at the Texaco station.
 
                                                 
I                            think one would have to be careful what neighborhood they put this in!
               
At the Texaco Station in Gilla Bend AZ they sell pottery.  We did not buy any but I needed to take a picture of something!  lol!


                                                                                       
                                         In keeping with the Mexiczn theme...how is this?
                                                                                 
                                                         Gorgeous


We arrived home, unloaded the car, picked up the mail, went to the post office and then to see Vicki's mom!  We are not sure that she was happy to see us.  ha  Back home and time to unpack!


                          Where we did not go today.....but the AMSTERDAM did! At sea   Today was a nice relaxing day at sea….  The weather is certainly changing, higher winds and overcast skies.  The forecast for our port of call tomorrow, Rarotonga, Cook Islands is a bit dicey.  It is a tender port and the forecast says our visit may not happen.  Oh well, with rough seas, rain and high winds what fun will that be.  I’ll just hope for the best…

 
                                                                          
                                                                              
                                                  See you tomorrow in the Cook Islands!














                                                      

Our 115 day World Cruise, Day 26

This morning they are putting in the closet.  They are late!  We really need to be on the road by 1300 as we lose 1 hour on our way back! I'll be seeing my puppies and I will do a better job of taking pictures!

                                         Getting started......10:00 and counting!


The closet turned out really well.  I took a picture but it did not turn out!  We left the house and went to have a bagel and egg sandwich for lunch.

       We really enjoy going to Einsteins for brunch.  We should do it more often!
      Off we go to see my sister Judy and my BIL Olias.                                                                          
                                                                                                                    
                                This is my little Peanut!  He is so cute and so much fun to watch!                                                                    

All the dogs love to sit on Olias.....and they don't want to get off.....
                                                                                     
                                                                               
Judy  is making us a Mexican dinner...tacos and tostadas!  I love the cute decoration on the counter!
We had a wonderful dinner and nice conversation.  It is getting late so we are off the hotel and home tomorrow.

Where we did not go today ...... but the AMSTERDAM did!  At sea!

                                                           Tomorrow At sea!
                                                         


                                                                  




















                                                                 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Our 115 day World Cruise, day 25, Bora Bora

Today is our last day in San Diego.  It seemed a little strange especially since I would rather be leaving here and going to Bora Bora.

Went to Starbucks as usual and only stayed there long enough to have our breakfast.

After breakfast we went to Bed Bath and Beyond.  I bought a new picture for over the fireplace.

                                                                                 
                                                                                                       
                                                               

Then we rushed over to True Food to meet Lou for lunch.  This picture was taken in October while we were on the Ruby Princess.  We were celebrating Lou's retirement.  Lou and Vicki have been friends for 28 years.  We are trying to talk him into joining us on the Crown Princess on August 18th for the cruise to the Baltic.

We came home and I promptly loaded the car for our trip home tomorrow.  We are hauling back a new computer and I am taking one of my visual aids back to use in SCW.

There was a beautiful sunset tonight.....fitting for our last night and it made us think we were in Bora Bora
                             

In the morning they are coming to install the closet.  As soon as they are done we will be hitting the road for Yuma!

I want to share with you, my little story about Bora Bora..
In 1999 we took the R3 cruise ship  around French Polynesia.   This was my first cruise.  I was totally enchanted with Bora Bora.  For our tour we went to a resort where we had lunch and they let us use their beach.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The water was the perfect temperature and it was so clear....the colors of blue were breath-taking.  I waded out about 50 yards where my friend Joe was looking through his goggles...The water was about thigh high and there was a small coral reef...Joe wanted me to put on the goggles and look at the fish....get my hair wet?....are you kidding me?...I'll hold them up to my eyes but I don't see any fish...up go the goggles and down goes my face into the water...OMG I shrieked!  The fish are beautiful....I continued to shriek ....did I say that there were not very many people around and I was told they could hear me clear to Moorea?


             Where we did not go today.....but the AMSTERDAM did!
             Bora Bora, French Polynesia    photos from Jeff's World Adventures blog!
More pictures from Jeff's vacation today in Moorea!
                                               
                                                                         
                                                                               
                                                                     
                                                                   
                                          What a beautiful rooster!
                             
                                                                           
                                                                OMG!

                                                                           
                                                                                   
                                                 Jeff's photos are fantastic!Thank you Jeff!


We arrived into Bora Bora early this morning…..  Today was a special day because I was going out on the reef to swim with the sharks.  I do this every time I come here…..  I love it!  In 2009, I went on a tour with a local guy named Patrick.  It was the best tour I have ever done and today was to be a repeat.  A number on my friends were booked along with me which made it doubly special.   This blog shows the above water beauty of Bora Bora from our sailin continuing through our tour which included a circumnavigation of the island.  This is truly one of the most beautiful places that I have encountered in my travels plus…. Love swimming with those sharks….

                                                
                                                               
                                                                     
                                                                             
                                                                             
                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                  
                                                                                    
                                                                                
                                                                            
                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                  
                                                                          
                    Photos of Bora Bora from Jeff's World Adventures blog!
                                                              
                                             See you tomorrow at sea!         

                                         Will not be posting until 1/31





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Monday, January 28, 2013

Our 115 day World Cruise, day 24, Moorea


Finally the rain has stopped.  We even went for a walk this afternoon.  This morning we met Mary Lou for a late breakfast/early lunch.  We went to Coco's and I do believe that they are not long for this world!  The breakfast was good......we both had 2 poached eggs on an english muffin.  That sounds all well and good but we also shared a carrot muffin!

After we finished breakfast we went back to our neighborhood Starbucks in Hillcrest  and bought a large green tea for the rest of our running.  
           
 
This is the Starbucks that we went to everyday for about 4 years.  It is very small, not much bigger than the one in Sun City West.  There is no one there that we know.  I am sure we can change that.  Across the street is a bagel shop and the guy that works there has been working there for over 20 years!  Maybe someday I can get in there and get his picture!

We went home and gutted the closet so that they can install the new one on Wednesday.  We then made a run to Goodwill to give them all the plastic cabinets.  Then we came home and decided to walk over to the Gelato shop....a nice little walk!

                                                                   
   It is really winter here.  This is the only thing I could find in bloom.  Two weeks and it will all change!

                                                                                                                                       
We really enjoyed our ice cream.  Guess we won't do that again very soon at $5 per dish!


Now we are going to go down to the storage room and see what we can find...this should be interesting.    Of course, I forgot to take my phone to take a picture.

Now it is time to look at what is going on in port.

WHERE WE DID NOT GO ......but the AMSTERDAM did!
Moorea

It was 13 years ago that Vicki and I were in Moorea.  Oh my has it changed and I am sure that they now realize how important the tourists are to their economy.  They were just learning when we were there!  Below you will find photos from Jeff's blog


As mentioned in the prior post from Papeete, we sailed over to Moorea this morning with a plan to spend the night in one of those "cool" huts over the water....  Here are some photos that I took on the way to the Moorea Intercontinental Hotel, our "cool" hut over the water.  This has to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet.  Too bad it's so expensive, could be paradise.....  Here are just a few of the beautiful scenes from Moorea, more to follow tomorrow......
                                                                                                                            
Jeff is not the only one that loves these accommodations.  I love what he did to make it possible to stay in them.

This picture is how I remember Moorea.  It is so unique and beautiful!  Waa, I want to ogo back!  Soon, soon book a cruise Yes! 
We stopped at a place that looked like this.  It was up in the hills and they sold the best ice cream!







                                       





I enjoyed just 

                          SEE YOU ALL TOMORROW IN BORA BORA!