NOTE: This post has three (3) photographs with captions and some narrative. Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.
SATURDAY 16 September to TUESDAY 26 September, 2023 — At home between trips
Life returned to “normal” for a few weeks following our Alaska—Hawaii cruise. That meant walks in the park for Linda as well as accounting work for the bakery, and chores around the house for both of us. One of those chores was getting our Airstream Flying Cloud 27 Front-Bed Twin travel trailer ready for some Fall travel.
We were no sooner home from our Alaska-Hawaii cruise on the NCL SPIRIT, however, when Linda got the idea that it might be nice to get the whole family to take a cruise together. That sounded good to me and the obvious choice was, of course, Disney Cruise Line. The obvious time would be university spring break 2024, both for the two university professors (our son and his wife), as well as our son-in-law, who manages a restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan (where things slow down a bit during spring break). The two youngest grand-daughters would miss a little school, but they are both excellent students and would not miss anything that could not be made up quickly and easily. Linda’s sister is essentially retired with a fairly flexible schedule, but eldest grand-daughter (Katie) would have to take a few days off of work. Presuming everyone wanted to go, and could make it, there would be 10 of us!
By September 27, Linda had gotten a commitment from everyone for a 5-night cruise on the Disney DREAM, departing Port Everglades in Hollywood (Fort Lauderdale), Florida on February 23, 2024 and returning there on Wednesday, February 28. She booked four (4) adjacent staterooms which could be connected in pairs and would allow all four (4) balconies to be opened to make one large gathering space. Of the ten of us, only myself, Linda, and her sister had cruised before, so this would be a totally new experience for everyone else. We were very excited about this, but did not reveal it to the two youngest grand-daughters until Christmas Day, at which point they were 5 and 11 years old.
Linda tries to walk at least once a week with her friend, Diane. Weather permitting, they usually walk at Kensington Metro Park as it is located between their respective homes, but otherwise at 12 Oaks Mall in NOVI. They often see Sandhill Cranes and other wildlife, like the Great Blue Heron shown here. (Interesting factoid: the city of NOVI (“know – vie”) was named for the NO VI (number six) stop on the stagecoach trail from Detroit Michigan to Lansing Michigan (the State Capital).
Me (Bruce) on the roof of our Airstream travel trailer. Unlike the bus, I very rarely get up on the trailer roof; there isn’t much room to walk around and I have to be careful to only put pressure on the ribs of the structure.
Fall was definitely here by the 25th of the month. Our Crimson King Norway Maple tree has a lot of leaves, which it generously shares with our rear deck each year starting around this time.
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