Ft. Lauderdale Day 7

Well.....  a fairly crappy day!  It was very windy and overcast today.  This was the first day where there wasn't the slightest bit of sun time.  Went for a 2 hour walk to get some excercise and then settled in for a little book work.  Having completed my book for the road trip USA, I started back in on my blog series.  I completed Volume 4 of my Amazing Voyages blog.  At 440 pages per volume you can perhaps understand why I closed that blog down for future postings.... just too big.  I will have to do 2 or 3 more volumes to capture it all.  Boy, I did a lot of work on that blog.....  Creating the book is a great walk down memory lane.  Tomorrow, if the weather is crappy, Volume 5  may get done.

Ft. Lauderdale Day 6

My 6th day in Ft. Lauderdale was pretty much a washout....  I sat by the pool for a couple of hours in the morning but then the rains came....  It must have rained at least a couple of inches but that is much better that what the folks in the Northeast got.  I hate snow....  Anyway, I filled the time very productively...  I completed a 250 page book chronicling my road trips this summer through photography.  I love the end result....  Today and tomorrow look pretty much like torrential rains so the Kindle will  get a lot of use.  I can't wait until Mr. Sun comes out to play again....

Ft. Lauderdale Day 5

Another fabulous day in Florida.....  I spent the day at the Embassy Suites where Brad is staying.  We hung out by the pool all day and then went out to dinner.  Then it was back to the computer for me.  I have 154 pages of my new book, Road Trip 2011, completed.  I plan on having it done and ordered before I leave Florida.  I definitely want to receive it before I leave again.  This weekend isn't looking too good.  It looks like I'll have lots of rain.  Could be a lot of working on the book this weekend.... bummer!

Ft. Lauderdale Day 4

I am really enjoying my stay in Ft. Lauderdale....  The time has been very relaxing.  Today was another day poolside, reading and listening to music.  Tonight got together with some friends from World Voyages...  Brad, Gloria, Fred& carol.  We had a great evening together...  I hope tomorrow brings another fabulous day.

Ft. Lauderdale Day 3

The trend continued here in Ft. Lauderdale with spectacular weather....  The sun feels just great!  I have also started working on creating another book in the evening for my road trips this summer.  So far it looks pretty good, lots of great photos.  It provides for a productive evening after laying around all day by the pool.  Tomorrow evening my friends Brad & Gloria will be coming down from Orlando for a visit... nice

Ft. Lauderdale Day 2

What a day!!!!!  Although I didn't wake up until quite late, 8:45, I had a great day.....  I first went for a nice long walk, had breakfast and headed for the pool.  The weather today could not have been better.  I feel the old tan coming back already and I have 12 days left here in Florida.  Great day!!!!

Ft. Lauderdale Day 1

The day began very early this morning when my alarm went off at 2:00 am ....  It wouldn't have been so bad if I had slept well but.... Oh well.  The limo picked me up at 3:15 am and off we went.  My flights were good, no delays and I was on the ground in Ft. Lauderdale around 9:30 am.  Much to my dismay the sky was completely overcast....  Not happy at this point.  After I got to the apartment I walked down to the beach for a stroll since it wasn't very nice weather.  I remember this place from last year when I had dinner here with my friends Janet & Mike between ships in the Fall.  All of a sudden the skies started opening up so back to the pool I went and enjoyed a day in the sun.....  Soooooo happy!

Hitting the road again....

I leave for Ft Lauderdale at 5:17 tomorrow morning....  I can't imagine what I was thinking when I booked a flight that early.  Oh yeah, now I remember, I wanted to maximise my time sitting in the sun tomorrow....  Addiction?  I think so.....

The next adventure....

I leave Monday for Ft. Lauderdale.... Cruise? No. I just need 2 weeks of sunshine. Then I will come back and pack for my next voyage. I ship my luggage on the 21st of November and fly to LA on 3 December. Can't wait to be sailing again. Here is my upcoming cruise schedule:
MON 05DEC11 Sail from Los Angeles, 5:00pm
TUE 06DEC11 Sea Day
WED 07DEC11 Sea Day
THU 08DEC11 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 8:00am 5:00pm
FRI 09DEC11 Sea Day
SAT 10DEC11 Huatulco, Mexico 7:00am 2:00pm
SUN 11DEC11 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala 9:00am 6:00pm
MON 12DEC11 Corinto, Nicaragua 8:00am 3:00pm
TUE 13DEC11 Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica 8:00am 5:00pm
WED 14DEC11 Cruising Golfo Dulce
THU 15DEC11 Enter Panama Canal Balboa1
THU 15DEC11 Cruising Panama Canal
THU 15DEC11 Exit Panama Canal Cristobal1
FRI 16DEC11 Sea Day
SAT 17DEC11 Oranjestad, Aruba 8:00am 11:00pm
SUN 18DEC11 Sea Day
MON 19DEC11 Sea Day
TUE 20DEC11 Fort Lauderdale, 7:00am 5:00pm
WED 21DEC11 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas1 8:00am 4:00pm
THU 22DEC11 Sea Day
FRI 23DEC11 San Juan, Puerto Rico 8:00am 11:59pm
SAT 24DEC11 St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 8:00am 5:00pm
SUN 25DEC11 Sea Day
MON 26DEC11 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas1 8:00am 4:00pm
TUE 27DEC11 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 7:00am 5:00pm
WED 28DEC11 Sea Day
THU 29DEC11 Sea Day
FRI 30DEC11 Philipsburg (St. Maarten), 8:00am 4:00pm
SAT 31DEC11 Castries, St. Lucia 8:00am 3:00pm
SAT 31DEC11 Soufriere, St Lucia2 5:00pm 6:00pm
SAT 31DEC11 Scenic Cruising Soufriere Bay
SUN 01JAN12 Bridgetown, Barbados 8:00am 5:00pm
MON 02JAN12 Fort-De-France, Martinique 7:00am 1:00pm
MON 02JAN12 Daylight passing Mount Pelee
TUE 03JAN12 St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 8:00am 5:00pm
WED 04JAN12 Sea Day
THU 05JAN12 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 8:00am 4:00pm
FRI 06JAN12 Fort Lauderdale, 7:00a 5:00pm
SAT 07JAN12 Sea Day
SUN 08JAN12 Sea Day
MON 09JAN12 Roseau, Dominica 12:00n 6:00pm
TUE 10JAN12 Bridgetown, Barbados 8:00am 5:00pm
WED 11JAN12 Sea Day
THU 12JAN12 Sea Day
FRI 13JAN12 Belem, Brazil 8:00am 6:00pm
SAT 14JAN12 Sea Day
SUN 15JAN12 Sea Day
MON 16JAN12 Recife, Brazil 8:00am 6:00pm
TUE 17JAN12 Sea Day
WED 18JAN12 Sea Day
THU 19JAN12 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 8:00am
FRI 20JAN12 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4:00pm
SAT 21JAN12 Sea Day
SUN 22JAN12 Sea Day
MON 23JAN12 Buenos Aires, Argentina 8:00am
TUE 24JAN12 Buenos Aires, Argentina 5:00pm
WED 25JAN12 Montevideo, Uruguay 8:00am 6:00pm
THU 26JAN12 Sea Day
FRI 27JAN12 Sea Day
SAT 28JAN12 Pt. Stanley, Falkland Islands 8:00am 6:00pm
SUN 29JAN12 Sea Day
MON 30JAN12 Antarctic Sound, Antarctica
TUE 31JAN12 South Shetland Islands
WED 01FEB12 Wilhelm Archipelago
THU 02FEB12 Cape Horn
FRI 03FEB12 Ushuaia, Argentina 7:00am 1:00pm
SAT 04FEB12 Punta Arenas, Chile 7:00am 7:00pm
SUN 05FEB12 Chilean Fjords
MON 06FEB12 Sea Day
TUE 07FEB12 Sea Day
WED 08FEB12 Sea Day
THU 09FEB12 Sea Day
FRI 10FEB12 Easter Island, Chile 7:00am 4:00pm
SAT 11FEB12 Sea Day
SUN 12FEB12 Sea Day
MON 13FEB12 Cruising Pitcairn Island
TUE 14FEB12 Sea Day
WED 15FEB12 Papeete, French Polynesia 8:00am 5:00pm
THU 16FEB12 Sea Day
FRI 17FEB12 Sea Day
SAT 18FEB12 Pago Pago, American Samoa 7:00am 4:00pm
SUN 19FEB12 Sea Day
MON 20FEB12 Sea Day
TUE 21FEB12 Cross International Dateline
WED 22FEB12 Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia 12:00n 6:00pm
THU 23FEB12 Sea Day
FRI 24FEB12 Sea Day
SAT 25FEB12 Sydney, Australia 10:00am
SUN 26FEB12 Sydney, Australia 4:00pm
MON 27FEB12 Sea Day
TUE 28FEB12 Sea Day
WED 29FEB12 Cairns, Australia 8:00am
THU 01MAR12 Cairns, Australia 3:30pm
FRI 02MAR12 Great Barrier Reef Experience
SAT 03MAR12 Great Barrier Reef Experience
SUN 04MAR12 Sea Day
MON 05MAR12 Komodo Island, Indonesia 11:00am 5:00pm
TUE 06MAR12 Lembar, Indonesia 8:00am 4:00pm
WED 07MAR12 Sea Day
THU 08MAR12 Sea Day
FRI 09MAR12 Sea Day
SAT 10MAR12 Sea Day
SUN 11MAR12 Hong Kong, China 8:00am
MON 12MAR12 Hong Kong, China 6:00pm
TUE 13MAR12 Sea Day
WED 14MAR12 Nha Trang, Vietnam 8:00am 5:00pm
THU 15MAR12 Phu My, Vietnam 8:00am 11:00pm
FRI 16MAR12 Sea Day
SAT 17MAR12 Sea Day
SUN 18MAR12 Singapore 8:00am
MON 19MAR12 Singapore 11:00pm
TUE 20MAR12 Sea Day
WED 21MAR12 Phuket, Thailand 8:00am 5:00pm
THU 22MAR12 Sea Day
FRI 23MAR12 Sea Day
SAT 24MAR12 Colombo, Sri Lanka 8:00am 6:00pm
SUN 25MAR12 Sea Day
MON 26MAR12 Mangalore, India 8:00am 5:00pm
TUE 27MAR12 Marmagao (Goa), India 7:00am 3:00pm
WED 28MAR12 Mumbai (Bombay), India 6:00am
THU 29MAR12 Mumbai (Bombay), India 11:00pm
FRI 30MAR12 Sea Day
SAT 31MAR12 Sea Day
SUN 01APR12 Sea Day
MON 02APR12 Sea Day
TUE 03APR12 Sea Day
WED 04APR12 Sea Day
THU 05APR12 Safaga, Egypt 7:00am 11:59pm
FRI 06APR12 Sharm el Sheik, Egypt 7:00am 1:00pm
SAT 07APR12 Enter Suez Canal at Suez
SAT 07APR12 Daylight transit Suez Canal
SAT 07APR12 Exit Suez Canal at Port Said
SUN 08APR12 Sea Day
MON 09APR12 Piraeus (Athens), Greece 8:00am
TUE 10APR12 Piraeus (Athens), Greece 6:00pm
WED 11APR12 Katakolon, Greece 8:00am 4:00pm
THU 12APR12 Messina, Italy 11:00am 8:00pm
FRI 13APR12 Naples, Italy 8:00am 5:00pm
SAT 14APR12 Ajaccio, Corsica 10:00am 6:00pm
SUN 15APR12 Barcelona, Spain 12:00n
MON 16APR12 Barcelona, Spain 6:00pm
TUE 17APR12 Sea Day
WED 18APR12 Cadiz (Seville), Spain 8:00am 11:00pm
THU 19APR12 Sea Day
FRI 20APR12 Funchal (Madeira), Portugal 8:00am 5:00pm
SAT 21APR12 Sea Day
SUN 22APR12 Sea Day
MON 23APR12 Sea Day
TUE 24APR12 Sea Day
WED 25APR12 Sea Day
THU 26APR12 Sea Day
FRI 27APR12 Sea Day
SAT 28APR12 Debark Ship Fort Lauderdale, 7:00am

Home again...

Well.... now what do I do????  I am back home after an amazing 6 week adventure.  The drive today was mostly filled with showers.   Even though we saw a lot of rain it was a beautiful ride.  The fall colors were in full force in the Smokey Mountains and all along the way.  I snapped a few photos at 70 mph when the skies cleared briefly.  It is nice to be home but I will be ready to go again.... real soon.

Heading home....

Well, this adventure is rapidly coming to a close.  We drove about 14 hours today heading for my home in Virginia.  We may end up there tomorrow.  What an amazing adventure!  All the National Parks, Monuments and scenic beauty that the Southwest USA has to offer were something to behold.  I'll miss these places and all the hikes but it is time to move on.  I have voyages to plan and prepare for....  And last but not least, it was great to get back to New Mexico to see old friends and experience the Fiesta once again.  Tomorrow we will have to drive 10-11 hours to reach my home... time for bed.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Day 9

Well.... all good things must come to an end.  The Fiesta ended today and Brad & I left with a little sadness.  Despite the fact that the weather was terrible at times, the fiesta was fun.  It was good to see old friends, meet new ones and to see a whole bunch of beautiful balloons.    Tonight Brad & I find ourselves in Clinton Oklahoma.... still a long was to go to Virginia.