Author Archives: Sparky
Austin TX for Christmas
I just returned from 3 days in Austin TX. I wanted to spend part of the Christmas holiday with two of Jett’s remaining 3 siblings (who just happen to be two of the people I feel closest to in this world). The plan was to fly to Austin for 3 days, including Christmas Eve, then … Continue reading
Flying to Austin during Omicron
We were all hopeful that we were on the downside of COVID-19. The Delta variant was waning, more people were getting vaccinated, normal life was resuming. I was even able to spend a week on a cruise ship. Then the Omicron variant of COVID-19 erupted. Just in time for Christmas. But I had already made … Continue reading
Wind storm
On Tuesday this week a cold front came through Ft Myers. It didn’t get a lot colder, but the front produced some bodacious winds. The forecast was for “gusts to 40 mph” but I am sure the gusts were much stronger than that – my estimate is 60 mph. Enough to rock the RV. I … Continue reading
End of the road for the GMC?
When the exploding tire took out the right rear quarter panel, I knew that repairing it would be difficult as the truck is 17 years old and parts are difficult to obtain. The GMC dealer in August told me that just one part was available in the US – in Nebraska. Well, that part is … Continue reading
PCL2 Day 8: Disembarkation and wrapup
Carl and I joined Bobbi and Patricia for breakfast for a final time together, followed by some goodbye hugs. Then we waited for our color (Gold-5) to be called. And waited. And waited. Seems there was a problem with the new facial recognition software in customs. We had been told by our dinner neighbor that … Continue reading
PCL2 Day 7: At sea
This was my first cruise with back-to-back days at sea since the transatlantic crossing (TC1). I enjoy days at sea, so there is no problem with having two of them in a row. It just means that I am going to eat more than usual (a fine beef bourguignon for lunch and mahi mahi for … Continue reading
PCL2 Day 6: At sea
This day at sea was very relaxing. I spent some time on the balcony, reading, but the main features were the 3 (count ’em – 3) trivia contests, the formal dinner, the Thursday Night Football game on the big screen under the stars and a late night at the casino. I also got some very … Continue reading
PCL2 Day 5: St Maarten
We docked near Phillipsburg but we never made it into the city so I will just say that we visited St Maarten. We had no excursions planned for St Maarten (or anywhere else) so we weren’t affected by the cancellation of all cruise excursions to the French side of the island. We later learned that … Continue reading
PCL2 Day 4: St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
I had a real breakfast, then Carl and I went down to participate in the morning trivia contest and noticed that Christmas decorations had been put up while we slept. These people never sleep. We did badly at trivia so we went ashore. The port area in St Thomas is like any other port in … Continue reading
PCL2 Day 3: At sea
Not much happens during a day at sea. In this case the “not much” consisted of eating, having a very poor pina colada by the pool, losing the rest of my winnings in the casino, doing very poorly at trivia (though, in my defense, I arrived late and teamed up with a couple who had … Continue reading