Category Archives: Culture & Entertainment

20240815-16_Lots-Happening

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NOTE:  This is a shorter post with no photos.

 

THURSDAY 15 and FRIDAY 16 August 2024 — BdW guests, oak floor, ACI addition to HH/BW

 

Thursday 15 … Deep-cleaning, wood floor refinishing project planning, blog work, and BdW guests

Mike & Sheila returned to Greenfield Village today (in Dearborn) and visited The Henry Ford (Henry Ford Museum).

Linda continued deep-cleaning, turning her attention to the cabinets in the hall and master bathrooms.  She was on a mission.  I spent most of the day at my desk working on blog posts.

As part of refinishing the oak floors in the house, we want to remove the existing railing around the basement stairwell and replace it with something more attractive.  The product that we would like to use is Cable Bullet.  It’s a clever system that uses stainless steel cables, installed horizontally or vertically, between/through posts, and includes a tensioning system.  The posts can be wood (existing or new) or metal, which can be purchase from the company, along with top handrails.  The product can be used inside or outside, and even on stairs.

Linda revisited the Cable Bullet website and saw that they supply online estimates, but you have to submit a sketch of your project; limit 10 MB.  No problem.  They will accept a hand -drawn sketch, but why would I do that when I have CAD software?  I wouldn’t, of course, so I started working on a simple CAD layout of this project.  I had already done a CAD layout for the floor refinishing, so I simply reused that portion of the drawing, which was already to scale.  I eliminated all unnecessary details, and added necessary ones specific to the railing.

FedEx delivered the replacement hinges for Mike & Sheila’s Dometic refrigerator.  The hinge that holds the bottom of the upper/freezer door and the top of the bottom/refrigerator door, broke in half while they were driving to our house.  The only place they could locate a replacement part was Panther RV in Washington State.  They had it shipped FedEx 2-day, and it arrived this afternoon.  They got back from The Henry Ford (Museum) in Dearborn around dinner time, and came over to chat, but it was a shorter visit as they were tired.

 

Friday 16 … Different day, same stuff as yesterday

Linda spent most of the day on her deep-cleaning / reorganizing project, and I did a load of laundry while working at my desk.  First up was finishing the CAD drawing for the Cable Bullet railing estimate.  I saved it as a PDF, which turned out to be 27 KB file, much smaller than the 10 MB limit.  To upload it, however, I had to go through a whole series of options and specify my “design” choices.  I had not really studied the complete product line enough to know exactly what we wanted, but I was only interested at this point in an approximate cost, so I consulted with Linda and we made choices that were probably close to what we will actually want.  I received confirmation that the request for estimate was submitted successfully and waited for a reply.  My understanding was that an actual person would review what I submitted and assemble the quote.  The company is based in Indiana, which gave it a nice, local touch.

In light of the-mail I received on the 13th from the Airstream Club International (ACI) about the immanent release of the ACI/HH CPP joint venture, I e-mailed Kathy G, the ACI coordinator for the project, to ask a few questions and reiterate a few concerns regarding just how this will work for existing Boondockers Welcome hosts.

I spent the rest of day working on blog posts, doing final clean ups and adding to the one for this week.

Mike & Sheila were due to depart tomorrow, and came over after dinner for a long chat, a lot of which was about travel.  They were headed “up North” (northern lower peninsula) from here, with numerous stops planned in nice areas.  They would then cross the Mackinaw Bridge into the U.P. (Upper Peninsula and head west through Michigan, with a detour up to Copper Harbor, before going through Wisconsin and into northern Minnesota.  They will be doing much of this trip in September, which should be a beautiful (and cool, literally) time to be there.

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20240810-11_Cruise-excursions_&_Home-projects

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NOTE:  There are no photos in this post.

 

SATURDAY 10 & SUNDAY 11 August 2024 — Cruise shore excursions, and continuing work on electrical wiring, deep-cleaning, and the CAD layout of our oak floor

 

Saturday 10 … A big day for cruise shore excursions, and continuing electrical work and deep-cleaning

We continued to defer yard work in favor of house projects, a decision made easier by the continued presence of mosquitos.  But first, it was time to make decisions about shore excursions at each port of call for the cruises we currently have booked.

For the Virgin Voyages cruise in December (2024), we have never been to most of the islands we will be visiting, and wanted shore excursions that would let us see them and give us a feel for each place, so we selected and booked a shore excursion for each port-of-call.  I won’t describe the details at this time, but generally speaking, we selected experiences of moderate length with a cultural or nature focus, and a combination of touring on a bus, and moderate hiking/walking.  We did not book excursions that involved snorkeling, beaches, drinking, or ATVs.  With the shore excursions taken care of, Linda texted Nancy to let her know what we had booked.  They had only booked one so far, and we booked the same one.

For our Princess repositioning & British Isles Cruise in April 2025, we selected and booked a shore excursion at each port-of-call except for Brest, France.  Only one (1) shore excursion was on offer for Brest.  It was short, and not very interesting, so we decided to wait and check back occasionally to see if additional excursions became available.  If not, we will just get off the ship and walk around or take a city trolley into the center of town and explore on our own.  We did this quite a bit on our NCL Alaska inside passage cruise and it worked well for us.  This is the only port-of-call in France, and since neither of us has ever been in the country, we have to get off the ship and put our feet on French soil (or pavement, or whatever).

With the shore excursions taken care of, Linda returned to her cleaning project and I finished up the electrical work for the new circuit for the new clothes dryer.  I tested the GFCI receptacle and it was functioning properly.  I put the cover back on the main distribution panel and updated the circuit breaker legend that I maintain in MS Excel.  It’s an 11” wide x 17” tall document that uses up the entire sheet of paper, except for some margin space.  (Our inkjet printer can print up to 13” x 19” format.)

I put all of the suspended ceiling tiles back in place.  Linda helped vacuum the carpet and move the coffee table back into position by the sofas.  We had to move the table as I needed to work directly above where it normally sits.

 

Sunday 11 … A breakfast treat, and trying to finalize the CAD drawing of our oak floor

After our morning coffee, we had pancakes for breakfast.  Pancakes or waffles for breakfast are an occasional treat that is usually reserved for Sundays.

After breakfast, I finalized the CAD drawing for the hardwood floor area/project.  With the changes/additions I had made, I was able to calculate/approximate the linear feet of shoe molding and baseboard that was needed.  We now had a document that provided a fairly accurate estimate of the square feet of flooring to be refinished, the amount of new wood to be installed, and the length of baseboard and shoe molding required to complete the job.  We were able to look up “average costs in our area” online and get a rough idea of what this project should cost.  This will allow us to decide if an estimate/quote is “in the ballpark.”

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20240806_Cleaning_Floors_Dinner-out

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TUESDAY 06 August 2024 — Continued cleaning, floor measurements and drawings, and dinner out with a friend

Linda continued deep-cleaning the kitchen cabinets but took time out as needed to help me measure the oak floors in the main level of the house.  For some time now (years) we have been considering having the oak floors refinished and getting new countertops for the kitchen.  More recently we have been discussing the floor refinishing as a “sooner rather than later project.”  Linda spent some time looking online for floor refinishing companies and found three that were relatively local and had good reviews.  One was a father-son team, another was a somewhat larger firm, and the third one was a bit larger than that.  All of them were local businesses, not franchises of larger chains.  She gave me their contact information so I could call them to set up appointments, which I deferred until tomorrow.

With our decision to move ahead with the floor refinishing, I wanted to have a fairly accurate understanding of the extent of flooring involved.  Our mental project list included replacing the vinyl tile flooring in the kitchen pantries, replace the existing “baseboards,” adding baseboards to the closets, and adding shoe molding to the kitchen base cabinets and island.  (The existing “baseboards” are the same 2-1/4” door casing used to frame out all of the doors.  We want those replaced with actual baseboard that matches our floor, as best as can be done.)  Some trim work was needed along the exposed edges of the floor in the entry/foyer, specifically oak nosing.  We also wanted to remove/replace the railing around the staircase to the basement, a potentially major project in itself that we will do ourselves.

Rather than dig in to the electrical work, which was also relatively high priority, I started creating the floor layout in my QCAD software as I wanted to have it done before contractors showed up to look at the job.  The front entrance/foyer, hallway, dining room, and kitchen are one odd-shaped, but continuous. flooring surface that extends into three closets, but not the kitchen pantries.  After getting reasonably good measurements for the wall lengths and positions, I divided the space up into rectangles so I could calculate square inches and convert it to square feet.

We wrapped up our work a bit earlier in the afternoon so we had time to get showers, put on nicer clothes, and drive to Ypsilanti to have dinner with our friend, Kate.  We picked her up and headed down the street to Plant Based Coneys on Cross Street (next to the Side-Track and Frenchie’s restaurants).  We had Coney dogs (very good), French fries (really good), and dessert; root beer float for me and enormous brownies with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce for Linda and Kate.  All vegan, of course.  Not being a bar or a coffee shop, and having somewhat uncomfortable metal furniture, we moved to the Panera on Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor (next to Whole Foods Market) for coffee and continued conversation.  We were there until they closed at 10 PM, returned Kate to her house, and drove home.  US-23 between Ann Arbor and Brighton is in the middle of a major road construction project, but at that hour of the night, traffic was flowing nicely.

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20240731_What-a-Day

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NOTE:  This is a long post with one (1) photo with caption, taken by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.

 

WEDNESDAY 31 July 2024 — Property maintenance, Laundry appliances, lunch out, and dogs

 

Keith arrived at 10 AM to mow the property.  We paid him, and then left for Big George’s Appliance Store in Ann Arbor.  Our daughter bought all her new kitchen appliances from Big George’s, and we bought our new refrigerator from them about a year ago.  It’s a great appliance store, with knowledgeable salespeople, and a range of products (all good quality) and prices (all the way up to very high end).  (They had an amazing French range.  It had 4 burners [2 gas and 2 electric] and two ovens.  It was made of steel and heavily insulated to retain heat.  It was on sale for $36,000 US.  List price was $65,000 US.  It would take a fork lift to move it, and you would have to build a kitchen around it, but it was magnificent.)  We admired the piece of kitchen sculpture, but were there to look for a new clothes washer and dryer for our laundry room.

In the last few months, I had seen some Youtube videos on heat-pump clothes dryers from technology channels that I trust (as much as I trust anything on Youtube), and I was intrigued by this “new” approach.  Why was I intrigued?  Well, you can get me out of engineering, but you can’t get the engineer out of me.  Also, because I am the one in our family who does most of the laundry, this decision would fall to me more than to Linda, although she always has the final vote (veto, same letters, different meaning) when it comes to the money.  But I also knew that it wasn’t really new; this technology has been used for years in Europe.

Heat-pump clothes dryers are much more energy efficient that resistive heating units, and easier on clothes as they operate at lower temperatures.  They are as much de-humidifiers as they are heaters.  Of particular interest to both of us, however, was that the heat-pump dryers are “ventless,” i.e., they do NOT take air from inside the house and vent it to the outside.  Any air that is vented outside the house has to be made up with fresh air from outside the building.  That air, in turn, has to be “conditioned” at most times of the year in our part of the country; heated in winter and cooled in summer.  Not having to do that makes heat-pump dryers even more efficient.  An added bonus to being ventless, is that we can move the dryer (and the washer) to the pantry in our kitchen if we ever need to.  The lower portion of the pantry is already prepared for a utility tub and washer, but does NOT have a standard (240V/30A) dryer receptacle or vent to the outside.  The pantry is on an inside wall, so venting to the outside would be more involved, and venting to the attic is a total non-starter.

I was specifically interested in the heat-pump dryers from Miele, a relatively higher-end German manufacturer, and their matching washing machines.  I also knew from watching Youtube videos about high-end boats and superyachts, that Miele was THE manufacturer of choice for many of the kitchen and laundry appliances.  Big Geroge’s had one pair on the floor for us to look at, which was all we needed as we just wanted to see them, put our hands on them, and discuss them with someone.  They turned out to be mid-range models (Washer: WF660 WCS TDos,  Dryer: TXI680WP Eco & Steam) that fit our needs and budget.  We ordered the pair, along with a drawer base for each unit, delivery and installation, and haul-away of our current, 20-year-old washer and dryer.  They also come with an excellent warranty.

The Miele units are “compact” in size, with load capacities of about half or less of the standard sizes made for the USA market.  That will alter somewhat the way I do laundry, but not much as I have recently found myself doing more frequent but smaller loads anyway.  They can be stacked, but I wanted them side-by-side.  As they are front-loading units, the drawer bases will get the doors about 14” higher, and give me someplace to store laundry supplies which, given Miele’s proprietary TwinDos system, will be different from what I have been using.  (Note:  we do not have to use the TwinDos system; the washer accepts standard liquid and powder laundry detergents and additives.)

Miele products are warehoused in Chicago, Illinois, so they should be delivered and installed in our laundry room within the next two-to-three weeks.  As a bonus, Miele had a $400 rebate on the pair, and our electric utility (DTE Energy) might also have a savings program for heat-pump dryers.

I suspect that the current dryer receptacle is a NEMA 14-30R, a 240/120 VAC, 30A, 4-prong device, but I have not verified that because the new heat-pump dryer will not use it anyway.  A 14-30R is supplied by four conductors:  2 “hot” wires (L1 and L2), 1 neutral wire (N), and a ground wire (G).  L1-to-L2 supplies 240VAC, while L1-to-N and L2-to-N provide 120VAC, but 180 degrees out of phase.  The ground (G) wire is a safety feature.

The NEMA 14-30R receptacle has been required by the NEC (National Electrical Code) since 1996.  Our house was built around 1976, however, so it’s possible it has the older (now obsolete) 10-30R receptacle, a 3-prong device that still supplies 240/120VAC, 30A power.  It would be supplied by three conductors: L1 (hot), L2 (hot) and G/N; a separate N conductor is not used, and the ground wire is also used as a Neutral conductor.  Ultimately, the N and G wires are always connected together (bonded) somewhere upstream in the system, but this configuration lacks the added safety of separate N and G conductors.

All of which is beside the point.  The Miele heat-pump dryers (and perhaps those from other manufacturers) operate on a 120VAC/20A circuit with GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) protection.  Thus, I needed to do some minor re-wiring in the laundry room before the units are delivered as the installer will want to plug it in and verify that it works.  Not a big deal, but I had to get it done before the units show up.

Our main distribution panel is a 40 position Square D model, and all 40 positions have circuit breakers in them.  A couple of the breakers are not in use, but others are “double” (piggyback) breakers.  This is partly the result of changes in the wiring of the house over time and some of the existing circuit wires being too short to extend farther down into the panel box.  The National Electrical Code (NEC) calls for appliances, such as the washer and dryer, to be on separate, dedicated, circuits with GFCI protection due to the laundry room being a “wet” location.

There is already a 120VAC duplex receptacle in the laundry room that the current washing machine is plugged into, but:  1) I do not know at this writing if it is a 20A circuit;  2) I suspect it is on a circuit with other receptacles, and;  3) I strongly suspect that the circuit is NOT GFCI protected.  If the existing circuit for the washer is rated for 20A, I will probably install a GFCI duplex receptacle in place of the existing one, at least as a temporary, but safer, solution.  I will run a new/dedicated 20A circuit for the heat-pump dryer and install a duplex GFCI receptacle as I do not want to get involved in installing a GFCI circuit breaker in our already crowded main distribution panel.  I will comment on this further once the work is completed.

When we were done at Big George’s we drove to the Kerrytown part of Ann Arbor and found a place to park not too far from the Farmer’s Market.  The Farmer’s Market operates on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so the parking lot was not available today.  Our destination, however, was the Detroit Street Filling Station, and all-vegan restaurant on the other side of Detroit Street from the Market.  An all-vegan restaurant is a real treat for us; we are spoiled for choice as we can literally order anything on the menu.  We ordered a breaded/deep-fried oyster mushroom sandwich on a Hawaiian bun, and a Tempeh Reuben.  We cut them in half and shared them.  They were both good, but we agreed that the mushroom sandwich was something special.

On the way home, we stopped at the local Rural King store and bought two 40-pound bags each of whole corn, cracked corn, and oil sunflower seeds to feed the critters that frequent our property.  Back home, I called Chuck S., our friend and fellow Prevost H3-40 converted coach owner.  We had not chatted for a while, so we caught up briefly, but the main reason for my call was to set up a lunch get-together.  We occasionally go to dinner with he and Barbara, but when we need to “talk shop” it works better if it’s just the two of us.  We agreed on Friday, August 2, at Leo’s Coney Island in South Lyon.  I then went to my office to continue working on e-mails and blog posts.

Around 17:00 I heard Linda calling me from the basement stairs landing.  As I came up the stairs, I was “greeted” by two large Golden Retriever dogs staring in through the windows next to the front door.  They were panting heavily and when we opened the front door, they were ready to come in.  Cabela (the cat) was outside, but not knowing these dogs we did not let them in.  Instead, I went out and walked around the house to our middle deck.  They followed me willingly and, given that I was a stranger to them, were reasonably responsive to my “commands.”  They did not have collars or tags, but it was obvious they were someone’s pets.

It was hot outside and they were panting heavily.  Our heated water bowl was still outside (not plugged in, of course), so we filled it, and they drank it up.  They were obviously mates, and very comfortable around people, but then Golden Retrievers tend to be that way.  (We had one that lived to be 14-1/2 years old.)  Once they were watered and we got them to lie down in a shady spot on the deck, Linda started calling neighbors to see if they knew anything about these animals.

The two Golden Retriever dogs, quenching their thirst on a hot day.  Their owner, new to our neighborhood, eventually found her way to our house and “retrieved” them, adding an interesting twist to the name of the breed.

While Linda made phone calls, I drove to the dog park located just at the start of our street.  The owners were away, but the customers using the park assured me that no dogs had escaped from there.  I then went to the old brick farm house across the street from the dog park, as we had seen Golden Retrievers there on several occasions (along with a menagerie of other animals).  I talked to one of the workers, who was very nice, and it was quickly established that all of their dogs were accounted for.  While I was there, Linda called to let me know that the owner had shown up and claimed the dogs.  She was driving down our street looking for them and pulled into the driveway of our friends, Mike and Gail.  Fortunately, Gail knew that we had them, and sent the owner in our direction.

It turned out that she (and her family) had just bought and moved into one of the houses on the court.  Linda said she was pregnant, not very friendly, and just wanted to get her dogs and leave.  Well, alrighty then; welcome to the neighborhood, and you’re welcome.  We have absolutely no idea why the dogs chose our front porch as a place of refuge and possible assistance, but it was a good (lucky, fortuitous) choice on their part.

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20240719-21_3-days_lots-of-stuff

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NOTE:  This is a longer post that contains one (1) photo with caption, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

FRIDAY 19 thru SUNDAY 21 July 2024 — Vision, cruises, SW licenses, yard work, Boondockers, and a Buck Moon

 

Friday 19 … More vision, a cruise dream, and a software license

Yesterday was a hard day so today was an easier day, by comparison.  Linda had a 1 PM follow-up visit with Dr. V, her ophthalmologist at the KEC-BCSC.  She got an excellent report; both of her eyes are healing well.  Dr. V tested her vision and gave her a prescription for bi-focal glass lenses.  Linda can actually see fairly well now without glasses, both for reading and distance.  She is far-sighted in one eye and near-sighted in the other, and Dr. V inserted lenses that work with that difference.  But she still does not see quite well enough for extended work at her desk, staring at her laptop computer and working with our personal financial and travel records, or reams of accounting printouts from the bakery.  And while her distance vision is okay, the glasses will make it better, especially in her near-sighted eye.  This will allow here to see better while in a vehicle, whether driving or as a passenger helping to read road signs.

We got a brochure in the mail today from Oceania Cruise Line (OCL).  Oceania is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCL-H).  Having sailed twice on NCL, they know who we are and they know where we live.  OCL is a luxury cruise line featuring smaller ships than the ones we have been on (so far).  Their cruises are commensurately pricey, so not something we have seriously considered.  But just like the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs at Christmas (when we were kids), we went through the brochure to see what was on offer.  They offer a lot of cruises in the Far East, including Australia and New Zealand, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean.  But the one that caught our eye departed from Buenos Aires (Argentina) and ended in Santiago de Chile (Chile) with a 2-day stop in Antarctica and a trip around Cape Horn through the Drake Passage.  The sailing dates were northern hemisphere winter, so southern hemisphere summer, when the Southern Ocean is not quite as fierce as it is in the southern winter.  And it was on sale for what seemed to be a relatively good price.  Setting foot on Antarctic continent is a true bucket list item for me, but it won’t happen in 2025 (we already have two big trips planned) and probably not in 2026 (when we plan to RV to Alaska).  The 2025 trips are set in stone (as much as any trip can be) but 2026 is still just an unplanned intent.

I have been using the QCAD software package for a few years now.  I made extensive use of it to design the barn, but I use it for other things as well.  The basic version is open source and free to download and use, but the professional version unlocks some important features and provides access to updated versions as they become available.  For $39 a year, having the professional version is a no-brainer for me.  My current license expires this coming Sunday, so I went ahead and renewed it tonight.  I always use PayPal for things like this, and it will be interesting to see how this hits my credit card.  I selected $USD on the website/store but the invoice came up in $EUR.  I don’t know if this was related to the worldwide CloudStrike/Windows outage, but the transaction completed successfully using PayPal.  While processing this transaction, I discovered that my password app on my phone would not allow me to log in with my fingerprint.  Humm; that was strange and annoying as this is how I usually open the app.  I got the password from one of our other devices and logged in that way.  In the app settings on my phone, the ability to biometrically authenticate (face scan or fingerprint) was turned OFF.  I did not turn it off, so it probably got reset as part of an update.  I really hate it when that happens.

Last, but not least, UPS delivered most of the Rockler Rock-Steady work stand components and kits.  I knew these weighed quit a bit as all the pieces are steel and the driver confirmed this immediately upon arrival.  I asked if would deliver them to the barn, and he was more than willing to do so.  I helped him unload everything and get it into the barn.  The delivery included two (2) Corner Stand kits (complete), and the following components for the five (5) 56” x 20” x32” Work Stands:  5 x 4-packs of 56” Stretchers, 5 x 4-packs of 20” Stretchers, 5 x 2-packs of 32” Center Supports, 5 x 4-packs of Stand Connectors, 10 x 2-packs of Drawer/Shelf Brackets, and 1 x 4-packs of 32” legs.  Missing from the delivery were 4 x 4-packs of 32” leg sets for the five (5) 56” x 20” x 32” Work Stands.  We checked the order on Rockler’s website and verified that they were still on backorder.  Also, that we had only been charged for the pieces that actually shipped.

 

Saturday 20 … More yard work

I knew the refill date on my blood pressure medication was coming up soon, so I logged into my online pharmacy to check.  I quickly discovered that they were going to automatically refill it, so nothing for me to do except wait for it to show up.

After coffee and breakfast, we got dressed to work in the yard.  I had previously added enough material to our firepit to justify lighting a fire, and we knew there were enough tree limbs on the ground in the west yard to keep us busy for a few hours.  Linda eventually turned her attention to weeding under the large stand of pine, and fir trees just NW of the house, which included cutting out saplings.  We worked from 10:00 to 13:00 and put our tools away.

A shower and some lunch and we were good as new.  I then settled in to work on blog posts and launder the bed linens while Linda made a new batch of her amazing granola.  Our middle grand-daughter was due back today from a two-week stint at the YMCA camp, but we did not get a chance to Facetime with her.  Dinner was the second go-around of the Mexican corn salad, and it was just as good as the first time.  After dinner we settled in to watch our usual Saturday evening TV programs on our local PBS station.

The “Buck Moon” about 8 hours before it’s precise occurrence.  This photo was taken a 10:20 PM, about 20 minutes after moonrise.  The view is southeast from the end of our first driveway, the only place on our property that afforded an unobstructed view of the orb, and I had to wait for the disk to be above the tree line of the properties southeast of us.  This is a long/night-mode handheld exposure that received more than my usual post-processing.  In particular, I tried to make the details on the surface of the moon at least a little bit visible, while also bringing out some details in the surrounding clouds and the trees along the bottom of the image.

I had noticed for the past week that the moon was near full.  A news headline popped up this morning about tonight being the “BUCK MOON,” the name given to the full moon in July.  Online research indicated that in North America the name is ancient and spiritual, and refers to the time of year that male deer start to grow their antlers.  The actual time of the Buck Moon was tomorrow morning, but we had an excellent view of the moon this evening, low in the southeast sky but above the trees.  The weather was clear and the moon appeared very large and very bright.

 

Sunday 21 … Another BdW guest arrives

The exact time for the “Buck Moon” was 6:17 AM EDT, but we did not see it this morning; I was up, but the weather was cloudy.  We also have trees in our yard, as do adjacent properties to the east and southeast, that obscure the eastern horizon, so we often cannot see a moonrise.

We continued our work on the property again today.  Linda pulled weeds while I cut down one of the four (4) “bushes” that grow in the northeast portion of our yard.  They are not attractive, consisting of a tangled mix of samplings, vines, and wild raspberries with plenty of thorns.  Even mowing the grass near them requires some care.

When we had a sufficient pile of material in the burn bit I started the fire.  I then switched my attention to the stand of large pine trees in the northeast corner of the property.  I removed limbs and branches that were already on the ground, and then cleared a path around the east side of the stand.  I then pruned a few of the lower/dead branches from the trunk of one of the trees.  I hadn’t planned on pruning today, but we needed more/larger wood for the fire, and these were easy to get to and relatively close to the fire pit (compared to material from the western portion of the property.)  We worked for about 3 hours and then called it quits.

BdW members Patrick & Ruth W. notified me around 17:30 that they would arrive at 20:30.  Our preferred arrival window is between 13:00 and 17:00, but later times are okay as long as we know.  Knowing they would not arrive for a while, we opened our BdW Hosting Profile in the HH-BW app and reviewed our information.  We confirmed that our profile does state a preferred arrival window of 1 – 5 PM.  As long as we were logged in, we made some minor edits to our information.  I tend to error on the side of TMI, the error being that the more words you use the less likely most people are to actually read and retain all of them.  Still, there are things guests need to know about our site and expectations.  Linda then prepared a dinner meal of mushroom root steak, corn, baked sweet potato, and a small green salad with plant-based “blue cheese” dressing.  Yum.

After dinner, we watched an episode of Agatha Christie’s Poirot on PBS at 19:00 and then the latest episode of Martijn Doolard on Youtube at 19:50, which filled the time until 20:30 rather nicely.  That meant we missed this week’s episode of Professor T (PBS) but we can stream that sometime this coming week.  Our guests arrived on our street right at their ETA and phoned me.  Linda came out with me and after I got them parked we had a brief welcoming chat before leaving them to make camp.  We returned to our Sunday evening PBS TV programs and watched Grantchester at 21:00 and DI Ray at 22:00, both of which appeared to be the concluding episodes for this season.  That might also be true of Professor T, but we won’t know until we watch it.

 

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20240713-14_HWD_BdW_SRF-HNC-RRR

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NOTE:  This is a long post, with four (4) captioned photos, all taken by me (Bruce) with Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

SATURDAY 13 and SUNDAY 14 July 2024 — hazardous guests and grand-children, oh my

 

Saturday 13 … Hazardous waste disposal, BdW guests, and SRF at HNC and RRR

Today was one of the Hazardous Waste Collection (drop-off) days for our county and we had a 10 AM appointment time.  We had not done anything to get ready before this morning, so we made a quick survey of the garage, under-sink cabinets, and the laundry room.  All we had were four (4) T8 fluorescent tubes.  The light fixture in our bedroom walk-in closet was flickering, so I removed the white translucent plastic cover and “discovered” four T8 fluorescent tubes in use there.  One of them was burned out, one was dim, one was flickering, and one was still okay.  I still had 10 tubes left from a contractor’s pack I bought some years ago, so we replaced all four of the closet tubes and added the old ones to the four we already had waiting to be recycled.  We taped the 8 tubes in a bundle for safer transport and put them in Linda’s car.  BTW:  The new tubes were still 32W but they were 4100K, a “whiter” color temperature than the 3000K tubes they replaced.  With the whiter color temperature, and all four tubes operating a full strength, the closet was now much brighter that in had been for some time.

We planned to pick grand-daughter Sadie up from her house today around 11 AM and take her to the Howell Nature Center and then to dinner, before spending the night at our house.  We had BdW guests (Martha & Dave T.) arriving today, however, so I messaged them to get an ETA.  They were planning to arrive between 12:00 and 12:30 (PM), so I remained at home while Linda took the fluorescent tubes to the Hazardous Waste Collection drop-off site.  She then went on to Ann Arbor to retrieve Sadie, but brought her back to our house where we moved her stuff into the house.

Our guests arrived around 12:30, having encountered the traffic slowdown on northbound US-23 between Ann Arbor and Brighton.  Sadie came out to help me get them settled in their site, and Linda joined us for some initial conversation.  Sadie got to go inside their motorhome, and we all go to meet one of their two cats, Noodles.  Noodles was similar in appearance to our Cabela, but larger, being male.  By this point it was 13:00, so we had a light lunch (PB&J with strawberry jam/preserves that we were gifted by a recent BdW guest).  We filled a couple of water bottles, and headed for the Howell Nature Center (HNC).

Sadie posses by The Wishing Tree by the welcome and clinic buildings of the Howell Nature Center.

The HNC is a rescue facility, not a zoo, and primarily cares for animals that are native to Michigan.  Most of the residents were injured and cannot be released back into the wild.  Occasionally, they have an animal that was someone’s “pet” when it should not have been.  The Nature Center has a clinic, and any animals they take in are guaranteed a home for the rest of their lives.  It’s possible that they might sometimes transfer animals to other facilities, but always to someplace that can/will care for them.

Sadie and Ama (Linda) with a broader view of The Wishing Tree and surrounding planted beds at the Howell Nature Center.

There is a paved Wildlife Trail that winds through pens and shelters where the animals live.  We had not been to the HNC since the start of the CoVID-19 pandemic, and were pleased to see that quite a few new shelters/pens had been built or were currently under construction.  At least one was a BSA Eagle Scout project and another was an effort by an entire Boy Scout troop.  Local business support for the Center is strong, which is essential and appreciated.

Sadie and Ama go hand-in-hand into the start of the Wildlife Trail at the Howell Nature Center.  The Center charges a modest entrance fee, but is primarily funder by sponsorships, gifts, and donations.  It’s a wonderful resource for area.

It was a warm summer day, and we were at the Nature Center in the afternoon, so many of the animals were tucked away trying to stay cool, or just resting because then tend to be diurnal (dawn and dusk) or nocturnal (night) creatures.  Some of the animals were species we regularly see in our own backyard (Sandhill Crane, Wild Turkey, groundhog/woodchuck, Opossum) or overhead (Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk) but we saw a few that were more “exotic,” including:  a Bald Eagle, other Hawks (several kinds), Owls (Snowy, Barn, Screech), a Beaver, Ferrets, and a Bobcat (it had been someone’s “pet”).  The other part of the HNC is a children’s play area, with a giant “tree house” as it’s focal point.  Here’s a photo:

The sign for Camp Imagination at the Howell Nature Center.  Behind the sign is the massive “tree house.”  The central/enclosed area is a library and craft space, surrounded by a large deck.  There are several staircases, suspension bridges, and swings underneath, as well as other activities.

We got back to our house around 15:30 where Sadie played while I took a nap.  She let Linda know that she did not want to spend the night, so Linda checked with our son to make sure it was okay to bring her back later.  It was, of course, and he and Shawna had been able to put on their swim suits and take their inflatable boat to a nearby lake and enjoy some adult-only recreation while Sadie was with us.  Sadie gathered up all of her things and we headed to the local Red Robin Restaurant (RRR) in Brighton around 5:30 PM for dinner.  Sadie had a grilled cheese sandwich and potato chips, Linda had a lettuce-wrapped quinoa “burger” with broccoli, and I had a lettuce-wrapped “Impossible burger” with French fries.  It was an acceptable meal, with no preparation or cleanup required on our part.

From dinner, we headed to Ann Arbor.  We had Sadie home sometime before 7 PM, and visited for a short while before leaving.  I was obvious that the main reason she did not want to spend the night with us was that she had her mom and dad all to herself while her sister was away at camp.  We stopped at the Whole Foods Market near their house before returning home.  Even at this hour on a Saturday evening with relatively light traffic, the restriction of US-23 northbound to just one lane from Exit 53 on, caused traffic to slow down and bunch up.  We were back home in time to watch Midsummer Murders, one of our regular Saturday evening TV shows on our local PBS (WTVS) station.

 

Sunday 14 … Wild Turkeys, Sandhill Cranes, laundry, QCAD, travel documents, Masterpiece Mystery (PBS)

I was feeling much better by this morning.  Not 100%, but much better.  I was awake by 06:00, and got up around 06:20.  The Wild Turkeys (2 adults and 8 young) were already foraging around the base of the poles for the bird feeders, and a white-tailed deer was licking up corn nearby.  Ten (10) Canada Geese eventually showed up, as did our pair of Sandhill Cranes.

I quietly gathered up the laundry so as not to wake Linda and started a load of darks.  I then made my first cup of coffee, finished a multi-Sudoku game I started last night, and watched a few Youtube videos (vlogs).  Cabela was in and out frequently.  My morning exercise routine is repeatedly sitting down and getting up from the living room sofa to deal with the cat.

We had bagels for breakfast and then got dressed for the day.  I folded laundry before heading to my desk for the afternoon to copy and process photos from yesterday, and then work on blog posts.  But first I downloaded and installed the latest update (3.30.1) for the QCAD software.  Linda went for a walk around noon.  Upon her return, she spent some time organizing a travel binder.  With us booking cruises and tours up to 18 months in advance, and planning some RV adventures even farther out than that, it’s become essential that we (she) have (has) an organized way to keep track of the details and status information.

After dinner, we settled in to watch our Sunday evening Masterpiece Mystery shows on PBS.  The current lineup is:  Professor T, Grantchester, and DI Ray.  They are all British productions that are well done, and we enjoy them.

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NOTE:  This is post includes three (3) photos with caption, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

SATURDAY 22 and SUNDAY 23 June 2024 — A state finals, a trip (not us), cat sitting, and shop work stand assembly

 

Saturday 22 …  A state championship, a trip to Las Vegas (not us), cat sitting, shop cleaning, work stands

The NE corner of the shop room in the barn cleared out to make room for one of the two Rockler Rock-Steady Corner Stands.  I ordered two of these, along with five (5) Work Stands, each 56” L x 20” D x 32” H.  The 20” depth matches the depth of the two “ends” of the Corner Stand so they can be connected together using special double-ended bolts with a space section in the middle.  I bought enough of these connectors to connect a table to each side of both corner units, plus a 5th table to end of one of the work tables.

Our daughter, Meghan, had been providing child-supervision and entertainment for her niece (Sadie) since Tuesday, but needed to hand those duties back to Linda as she had a state championship Quiz Bowl tournament this evening in the state capital city of Lansing.  Also, she and Chris were leaving tomorrow for a week in Las Vegas.  Linda would be away from our house for five (5) nights and a good portion of six (6) days, so she packed accordingly.  She left for Ann Arbor before mid-morning.

I was waiting for cooler weather to start working on the workshop in earnest, but this morning I at least began.  First up was cleaning up the shop, which had (not unexpectedly) become a disorganized storeroom as we continued to move things from the garage to the barn.  I had dug through tool boxes and storage boxes looking for things I needed for this or that task, with most of them not getting put back where they came from, so step one was to put tools back where they belong.  My toolboxes can be stacked, so once they were properly loaded, I could store them against a wall in the footprint of one case if needed; a very efficient use of space, but not so great if/when I next need a tool.  I already had a folding table (approx. 30” x 72”) set up in the center of the room.  I had a second folding table available, so I set it up next to the first one, long edges together, to provide a work surface for the tools and components I needed to assemble the Rockler Rock-Steady Corner Stands, which were the only two pieces for which I had all of the necessary components.

The first Rockler Rock-Steady Corner Stand assembled and placed in the NE corner of the shop room of the barn.  The legs have height adjustable feet, so the height of the assembled stand ended up being approximately 34 inches.  That will likely change slightly once all of the pieces are assembled and I square them up and level them to accept a work surface.

With the shop cleaned up (more or less) I moved all of the Rockler Rock-Steady work table components into the shop and began assembling one of the two corner stands.  These were the only two pieces for which I had all of the parts, at least I thought I did.  It came with good instructions, and was easy enough to assemble, until I realized they had shorted me 8 of the 5/16-18 3/4” bolts and matching 5/16 washers.  After a bite of dinner, I went to Rural King but the best I could do was 5/16-18 1” bolts and similar washers.  I had a feeling the 1” long bolts might be a problem, but hoped they would at least provide temporary securement until I could resolve the issue properly.

Madeline was due back from Camp Algonquin (YMCA) sometime tomorrow.  The current Camp session ended today, but Mads was spending the evening with her friend (and former neighbor), Marian, and Marian’s dad (Kip) at their family place in Cheboygan.   Mads mom and dad were also due back tomorrow from their 1-week trip to Portugal.  That was good timing, as Linda needed to be at Meghan and Chris’ house to take care of the cats while they were gone to Las Vegas.  Both of the cats (Min and Inches) have health issues, so Linda was there until Meghan and Chris returned later in the week.

 

Sunday 23 … Work shop stands and dinner together

The second Rockler Rock-Steady Corner Stand assembled and placed in the SE corner of the shop room in the barn.  I had a lot of tools and materials “stored” along all of these walls, so it was a bit of job to move all of that to other places.  Where possible, I moved things to the storeroom (above the shop) and tried to place it on shelves in some logical manner, at the very least grouping it with “like items” that were already there.  But some of it ended up along the walls of the RV bas, and some of it just ended up in the west and northwest part of the shop, or under the two folding work tables I set up in the middle of the room.

I continued working on the second Rockler Rock-Steady corner stand using the 5/16-18 1” bolts I bought last night, but I ended up not leaving them in the assembled product.  While assembling this stand I “remembered” (realized) that I had purchased the spacer kits that are used to connect the various Rock-Steady products together in larger configurations.  These spacers are cylinders, ~5/8” diameter by 5/8” long, with 5/16-18 3/4″ threaded studs on each end.  Each spacer replaces a corresponding bolt that came with each product, so two bolts in total.  That made original bolts available for me to use instead of the 1” long ones I had purchased.

Brendan and Shawna got home sometime in the early afternoon.  After a little time to visit and exchange information, Linda headed to Meghan and Chris’ house.  Mads was not home yet, so hearing about her week at camp would have to wait for another time.  I drove to Meghan’s house to meet Linda at 16:00 to have dinner.  We had salad and vegan pizza from Pizza House, courtesy of Chris.  The pizza was excellent, with light tomato-based pizza sauce and just the right amount (not too much) of non-dairy “cheese.”  (We later learned that Chris assembled this pizza himself, as the last time he also asked for “light” cheese but the cooks loaded it up, as they do for the regular pizzas on the menu.)  We hope he decides to add this offering to the menu, as it will open up another place for us to go for dinner and drinks with or friend, Kate.  There should be a market for this in Ann Arbor, but it has to have a net positive contribution to the bottom line.

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NOTE:  This is a very short post that includes one (1) photo with caption, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

MONDAY 17 thru WEDNESDAY 19 June 2024 — Grand-daughters, friends, workshop tables

 

Monday 17 …  Supervising grand-daughters in Ann Arbor and meeting a friend

Linda went to Ann Arbor yesterday for three (3) nights to supervise (and entertain) the grand-daughters.  She arranged to have brunch with Kathi S. today.  Kathi is the mother of childhood friends of our children, and a friend of ours, who now resides in Ann Arbor.

 

Tuesday 18 …  More Ann Arbor & More Garage Doors

Both of the new garage doors are installed and in the open position.  Each one has a wireless exterior keypad.  The one for the smaller door is visible in the photo.

Linda wrapped up her initial 3-nights of child-supervision and entertainment, mostly for our 5-year-old grand-daughter (Sadie).  Our daughter, Meghan, took over from there.

While Sadie was at her day-camp (at Daycroft Montessori), Linda went to Meghan’s house to get detailed instructions on taking care of the cats while Meghan and Chris are away.  She returned to Ann Arbor to gather up a few things and did some light grocery shopping (Whole Foods Market) before returning home.  Meghan picked Sadie up from camp, and provided her supervision and entertainment until Saturday morning, when Linda relieved her.

Our friend, Kate, texted us today to see if we where available/interested for/in getting together tomorrow evening.  We were, but deferred making a decision about where to go until tomorrow morning.

Dan (Everlast Doors) texted to see if he could stop by late afternoon to continue working on the installation of the new garage doors.  He arrived around 16:30.

 

Wednesday 19 … A big delivery; dinner & coffee with Kate

After sharing suggestions back and forth with Kate, we all agreed to go to Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina in Ann Arbor for dinner.  They have non-dairy cheese available for their pizzas, so that worked for us.

I recently ordered numerous work table components from Rockler for the workshop in the barn.  Many of the items arrived today, but the remaining ones are on back-order, with estimated availability of July 28 (this year).  Everything was coming via UPS with a delivery window of noon-16:00.  Shortly after noon, the truck pulled in front of the house.;  I saw it come in, and dashed outside to ask the driver if he could unload at the barn, as that is where all of the pieces will be assembled and used.  He was more than willing to do that.  I met him down there and helped move the boxes from the door of the truck into the barn.  I did not, however, immediately verify if what I had received matched the shipping notifications I got from Rockler and UPS.

Linda booked our flights (DELTA) for our Thanksgiving trip to Florida to visit with Nancy and Paul.

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NOTE:  This is a long post that includes six (6) photos with captions.  Unless otherwise indicated, photos taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

SATURDAY 01 thru SUNDAY 09 June 2024 — the first nine days of June

 

School was done for the year for our two younger grand-daughters, but their mom and dad still had to work.  The girls would be headed off to various camps over the summer, some local and some a few hours away.  Our son and daughter-in-law would also have some time off and engage in some adult-only travel.  All of which added up to Linda and Meghan (our daughter) being “on tap” for child-care services.  (The girls are too old to call in babysitting anymore.)

 

Saturday 01 …

Sadie takes a break with her dad while Apa (me) looks on.  (Photo by Linda)

Sadie had her last soccer game of the season at 9 AM and we were glad to finally be spectators.  Her dad (our son) brought her to the game and stayed to watch, but afterwards we took her to Anna’s House for breakfast.  It was a special treat as she usually has to share the attention of the adults in her life with her older sister.  But not this morning, as Mads had to be elsewhere.

 

Sadie with her after-game gift/treats bag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ama (Linda) and Sadie working on something with crayons while we wait for our breakfast an Anna’s House in Ann Arbor.

 

Sunday 02 …

We went for a walk at Kensington Metropark today.  It was very nice and I’ve included a couple of wildlife photos.  Linda walks almost every week, usually with Diane, but I am not so much into that.  I prefer working around the property, but I need to walk more regularly in preparation for a 14-day Rick Steve’s tour of England (with one stop in Wales) in May 2025.  We will be transported by motorcoach, but we will do a LOT of walking on this tour.  We will also be touting our luggage to and from the motorcoach and, in some cases, up and down stairs to our hotel rooms.  Rick Steve’s Tours tend to book smaller (boutique?) hotels in city centers.  This provides ready access to the city for tour participants, but these hotels sometimes lack elevators, and might include communal restrooms.

 

While walking a trail at Kensington Metropark, we spotted this Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  The wildlife at this park is somewhat acclimated to the presence of humans, sometimes lots of them, all moving around and doing things, like hiking and bicycling and having picnics.  As such, people can sometimes get close enough to them to take a decent photo without needing specialized/expensive camera equipment.

 

The same bird as above just a moment later, having moved from a tree trunk to the ground.  It has something in its beak, but I’m not sure what it was.

 

Monday 03 …

The last time I used our gasoline powered string trimmer, it leaked fuel.  BTW:  I have suddenly discovered on Youtube that folks in Europe refer to these as a “strimmer.”  Okay, I get where that comes from, but I have no idea when/where that originated, and I don’t understand being so lazy that you feel the need to reduce two words to one. Anyway, rather than fuss with it, I decided to buy a battery powered one.  I chose a Milwaukee model at Rural King that came with an extra M18 6.0 W-Hr battery for free.  Those batteries are not cheap, so it was a decent deal.

 

Tuesday 04 …

Our BdW guest, Wade S. left today for their next destination.  Yesterday or today (I/m not sure which one) we decided to book a cruise for early December (this year).  We found a Virgin Voyages “Pre-Holiday Caribbean Refresh” cruise departing San Juan, Puerto Rico, on December 6 and returning there on December 14.  We booked an XL Sea Terrace (balcony) cabin on Deck 12 Forward.  Paul and Nancy subsequently decided to book the same cruise.  It will be nice to be out cruising with them again.  The main attraction of this cruise, for us at least, was that it spends most of its time in the south Caribbean visiting some of the Windward Islands, specifically; Tortola, St. Maarten, Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts & Nevis.  We have cruised the eastern and western Caribbean several times now, but never the southern islands; the only ones in that list we have previously visited are Puerto Rico and Tortola.

 

Wednesday 05 and Thursday 06 …

Our calendar is blank for these dates.  We probably worked in the yard, weather permitting, or at our respective desks, or a bit of both.  One thing that probably happened during this time was that I called Glenn Williams of Tenor Clock to set up an appointment to fix our grand-father clock.  It was still keeping time, but had stopped chiming recently after I rewound the drive weights.  I jammed the gears once before while doing this, but was fairly certain I had not done so this time.  I was, however, unable to diagnose the problem and repair it myself.

 

Friday 07 …

Glenn Williams (Tenor Clock) showed up at 9 AM, as scheduled.  After spending time with the clock mechanism still in the cabinet, he concluded that the mechanism was dirty to a degree that he could not clean it “in situ.”  The problem was my own fault; in an attempt to get it run/wind better, I had tried to oil it, thus gumming up the works.  The only solution was for him to remove the entire mechanism, including the weights, pack them carefully, and taken them back to his shop where he has a fully-equipped bench and a stand (or stands) for mounting such mechanisms to work on them.  This clock was a gift to myself upon the completion of my Ph.D. program in the fall of 2003, so it was important to me to get it repaired and running correctly again, however long that takes.  Glenn always has a backlog of such work, so “late summer” was his best guess at this time.

Sometime during the afternoon (I think) BdW guest “Virg and Clio” arrived for a 1-night stay.  We’ve had a steady, but not continuous or over-whelming, parade of guests since mid-April, and several others who had confirmed stay requests but had to cancel.  It happens; travel plans change for all kinds of reasons, and we certainly never take it personally.

 

Saturday 08 …

The grand-father clock cabinet, sans the clock mechanism.  The chimes are still there but, alas, nothing to strike them.

Glenn Williams (Tenor Clock) was here yesterday, but I only got around to taking this photo today.  BTW: the reason for the name of Glenn’s business is that he is the tenor in a 4-man singing group named “Three Men and Tenor.”  You might think that’s a bit of a take-off on “Two Men and a Truck” (and it might be, for all I know) but Glenn is not a big guy, while the other three singers are, so the name pokes fun at that contrast.  Plus, tenors sing in a higher range, so there’s that. 😊

BdW guest “Virg and Clio” left sometime this morning.

 

 

 

 

Sunday 09 …

Linda might have gone to Ann Arbor to supervise (and play with) one or both grand-daughters, but it’s tentative on our calendar, so maybe not.  I am writing this some time after the fact, and neither of us any longer recall the facts.

 

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NOTE:  This is a long post which includes nine (9) photo(s) with caption(s).  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

THURSDAY 16 – FRIDAY 31 May 2024 — The 2nd Half of May

 

In addition to normal household and property chores, the second half of May saw more garage cleaning, barn/workshop organizing, and property maintaining.    It also saw a significant medical event (good), anniversaries, social time with neighbors, and an uptick in Boondockers Welcome (BdW) guests.  Highlights for various days follow:

 

Thursday 16 …

Linda sporting her eye guard on her right eye to protect it while it heals following cataract surgery.  The guard frame is flexible rubber and is taped onto her face.  The central shield is a harder plastic and is perforated, allowing for air to get to the eye and for some limited vision.  She was immediately able to see with that eye.  She’s holding an Edible Arrangements fruit bouquet sent by Nancy and Paul.

Linda had her first of two cataract surgeries today with Dr. Verkade at the Kellogg Eye Center (KEC) within the UofM Health (UofMH) Brighton Center for Specialty Care (BCSC).  First up was her right eye.  She has long been near-sighted in this eye and far-sighted in her left eye, so her brain is used to this difference.  In consultation with Dr. V, they agreed that she would get a near-vision replacement lens.  It took several hours between admission and discharge, but only about 10 – 15 minutes of that time was the actual surgery.  Other than some initial time in the waiting room, the rest of the time was taken up by pre-op and post-op procedures and personnel.

The facilities and staff at BCSC-KEI were first-rate, and the entire experience was calm and relatively stress-free.  Dr. V used eye drops rather than injections to do the final preparation for surgery.  Linda reported no pain at any time, and only minor discomfort during the procedure.  She had a perforated eye guard, but reported already being to see.  She was advised to “take it easy” for a week, but her only specific restrictions for the next seven (7) days were:  1) Not bending over, and 2) not lifting anything heavier than a gallon of water (~8.6 lbs.).  Both of those things can increase pressure in the eyes, which the doctor did not want.  She was also told of symptoms that would prompt a phone call to the clinic.  She had to keep the eye guard in place until her follow-up visit tomorrow, and wear it at night for the next week.  Obviously, she did not engage in any property maintenance for a while.  Her final follow-up visit would be approximately 30 days from today, after which she would have the same surgical procedure on her other/left (far-sighted) eye.

 

Friday 17 …

Linda had a (9:15 AM) follow-up visit with her ophthalmologist, Dr. V. at the KEI in the UofMH-BCSC.  Her eye was healing well and her vision tested well-enough for her to be able to read without glasses.  Needless to say, she was excited by this.  While the main reason for the surgery was clearer vision, Linda also hoped that it would result in better vision to the extent that she would not have to wear glasses, something that has been a part of her daily life since she was 7 years old.  Late in the afternoon Boondockers Welcome guest Connie G. arrived for a 4-night stay.

 

Saturday 18 …

Our daughter (Meghan) and her husband (Chris) celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary (2013).  Both of our children (now in their 40’s) made good life-partner matches which is a source of comfort and joy to us.

 

Sunday 19 and Monday 20 …

Nothing of note, apparently.

 

Tuesday 21 …

Today was a double-header:  Linda had brunch mid-morning with Diane and we had dinner with Kate at 6 PM.  We always dine with Kate in the Ypsilanti / Ann Arbor area.  Sometimes we meet her at the venue, but it’s become our standard practice to pick her up and return her home.  Her partner, Brian, sometimes joins us, but not this time.

 

Wednesday 22 …

Today was another property maintenance day for me.  Here are five (5) photos highlighting the work.

I just like this photo of our pink (&white) rhododendrons, framed buy nice conical evergreen tree and a stand of tall grass at the SW corner of the garage.  The grass is blocking a view of our Kohler whole-house generator, and the rhododendrons conceal the exterior compressor/condenser unit for the air-conditioning portion of our library HVAC system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have cut our honeysuckle bush, on the right in front of the window by the chimney, down to a reasonable size.  It was over six (6) feet tall and almost as wide, and completely blocked our view from this window, which is in our living room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The evergreen bushes at the east end of our main deck on the rear of the house eventually grow up above the cap-rail and block our view in the direction.  Every few years I cut them back down to the level of the cap-rail, and this was one of those years.  I also got in behind them and cut them back away from the deck railing, and removed the lowest branches to open up the space below them and make it easy in the future to clean out the bed and the area under the deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another view of the evergreens around the east end of our main house deck.  Also visible is a 4” corrugated drain line.  Not visible is the 10-foot section of 1-1/4” plastic pipe the I attached to the discharge pipe for our sump pump and then slid the corrugated drain line over the end far enough to stay put during a discharge cycle.  For most of the time we have lived in this house, the sump pump discharge has flowed through a 4” corrugated drain line underground down into the valley and along the  (valley floor all the way to the march.  This worked well for many years, but more recently we developed numerous puddles along the valley floor that never dried up, even after a period of no rain.  (The gutters on the house also flow through underground drain lines to and along the valley floor.)  It finally dawned on me that there was probably a problem with the sump drainage, and that re-routing it out into the yard, away from the valley, might result in the valley drying out.  At that is exactly what happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The east end of our main deck, showing the evergreens trimmed down to the cap-rail height.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 23 …

Linda had her 1-week follow-up phone visit at 4 PM with Dr. V in the KEI at UofMH BCSC.  Her eye continued to heal well and her brain was adjusting to the new lens.

We have a variety of plants, bushes, and trees in front of the east façade of the front of the house.  They were all there when we bought the house, and probably had been for quite a while.  They were planted too close to the wall, and probably too close together, and had now reached a size where it was difficult to clean around their bases and impossible to get behind them.  I worked my way along behind them, removing any dead branches, as well as some live ones, to create better access.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 24 …

BdW guest PhotoGuy1057 arrived for a 5-night stay.  He would be exhibiting/selling photographs at the juried arts fair being held at Kensington Metropark for the next few days.

 

Saturday 25 …

Our daughter and son-in-law recently closed on a house in a lakeside community—about half way between their current house—and ours and invited us over to see it.  She found that it was already wired for a portable emergency/backup generator and wanted me to look at the setup.  Here’s a photo of what is there:

The lake house emergency/backup connection panel.  I had never seen one like this.  I still need to research this in more detail, but I did quickly find references to this exact GenTran manual transfer switch panel in a Google search.

The connection point for the portable generator is lower right in the photo.  It is clearly a 4-pin twist-lock connector, so a 240/120 VAC single phase w/ ground setup (L1-L2-N-Gnd).  As such, it can power both 120VAC loads (L1-N-G and L2-N-) and 240VAC loads (L1-L2-G).  Because a 120VAC circuit requires a neutral (N) wire, it appears that each single switch also requires a neutral wire in order to return power to the generator, whereas a 240VAC load does not (but both hot wires have to routed through the GenTran box).

The labeling of the two power (Watt) meters at the lower left indicates that the three switches on the left (A, B, & C) are on one hot leg (say L1) and the three switches on the right (C, D, & E) are on the other hot leg (say L2).  These six (6) switches are, in fact, individual transfer switches.  With the switches in the DOWN position, as shown, incoming utility power is simply fed through the switch and back to the main panel and then on to the load.  Circuit protection is provided by the circuit breaker in the main panel which feeds the power to the GenTran.  With a switch in the UP position, however, the return wire to the main panel and load is connected to the portable generator.  As the circuit breaker in the main panel is no longer in the circuit, a separate push-to-reset “pop-out” circuit breaker is located above each switch and takes over the circuit protection function.  These circuit breakers are only active when the load is being powered by the portable generator.  (Obviously, sic, the wire and circuit breaker sizes have to be appropriate for the current rating of the load.)  Note also that the two middle switches (C & D) are tied together, so they are always in the same position.  This means they are powering a 240VAC load, probably the well-pump.  (There is a chart showing what each switch/breaker powers, but I did not photograph it.)  Note that the portable generator connector is NEVER connected to the utility power coming into the main panel.

What I found fascinating about this device is that each load has to be individually switched to the generator, which also means it is possible to provide power to any one or more (or all) of them from the generator even with the house still running on utility power.  Not that I think that would ever be a good idea, but the fundamental design of this box makes that possible.  If it was desired to do this, at a minimum the load would have to be OFF before switching it to the generator.

 

Sunday 26 …

We attended the Kensington Metropark art fair today, or perhaps it was tomorrow, but I did not make a note of which day it was.

 

Monday 27 … Memorial Day

We did not do anything special today.  It is not our family tradition to get-together on holidays such as this, or the 4th of July, or Labor Day.  We do gather on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Christmas Eve, but not on New Year’s Eve,  and the only “Hallmark Holidays” we celebrate are Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

 

Tuesday 28 …

I do not have any notes about what we might have done today, but based on this photo, we apparently had some interesting weather.

I like the clouds and the lighting in this photo of the valley in our backyard as seen from our main deck.  Tuesday was also grass-mowing day, so the lawn looked it’s best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 29 …

Without much fanfare, we celebrated our 53rd wedding anniversary (1971) with dinner out at Ciao Amici’s in downtown Brighton.  This was our first visit to this local Italian restaurant.  We have generally heard good things about the place.  We knew that it was not particularly vegan-friendly, but decide to go anyway.  Linda selected something that was reasonably vegan-friendly, while I went a bit off-diet (vegetarian instead of vegan), but we both had meals that we rated as very good in a nice setting.  We dated for four (4) years before we got married, and were acquainted for three (3) years before that.  That means we have known each other for about 60 of our slightly more than 70 trips around the sun.

 

Thursday 30 …

Nothing of note today.

 

Friday 31 …

Linda met Diane at 9:30 AM for their weekly walk.  Boondockers Welcome (BdW) guest Wade S. arrived around 1 PM.  As always, I (Bruce) met him in the street and directed him into our guest site.  Linda prepared some food items for a gathering later in the day.  Just before 18:00, we walked down to Gary and Marta’s house for the get-together with our neighborhood friends (Gary & Marta, Mike & Gail, Rose & Jerry).  We always enjoy the company of these people.  We would welcome getting together more often but, even in retirement, we all continue to have busy lives.

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NOTE:  There are two (2) photo(s) with captions in this post.  Photos taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

WEDNESDAY 01 – WEDNESDAY 15, 2024 — The first half of May

 

In the first week of May we continued to do some property maintenance work and started cleaning out the garage.  The later mostly involved moving things to the barn.  I tried to identify things for recycling, to no avail, but I did move some things to the trash, and set scrap wood aside for the next burn pile.

Linda walked with Diane on Wednesday the 1st and Tuesday the 7th.  She also walked with our daughter (Meghan) on Thursday the 2nd, doing a portion of the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park section of the Great Lake-to-Lake Trail near Pinckney, Michigan, meeting at a trailhead about half-way between their respective houses.  On Sunday the 5th (Cinco de Mayo) we attended an afternoon performance of the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale (AAYC) at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan; our 11-year-old grand-daughter (Mads) is a member.  On Monday the 6th an HVAC technician from Lakeside Services Co. serviced the air-conditioning portion of the HVAC unit for our library.

Mads in concert with the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale

In the second week of the month, we continued with our usual household chores as well as working on cleaning up the garage and trimming up the property.  On Wednesday the 8th I changed the engine oil and filter on our Cub Cadet lawn tractor as well as the air filter.  The air filter, which I bought at the local Tractor Supply Company store, turned out to be the wrong size, but I made it work while I ordered the correct one from Amazon.

On Thursday the 9th, the F-150 went in for preventative maintenance.  I had the transmission drained/flushed, the (spin-on) filter replaced, and then refilled.  They did not, however, drop the pan and replace the screen, as this was much more expensive and the service advisor said it wasn’t necessary at this time.  That specific maintenance item will occur closer to 100,000 miles.  I also had the front and rear differentials, and the transfer case, drained and refilled.  The truck had approximately 53,000 miles on it, so these services were done ahead of schedule at my discretion, but given that we tow our trailer with it, I thought it best to have it done now.  I was told a long time ago that the best, and yet cheapest, maintenance you can do on a vehicle is regular lube, oil, and filter (LOF) changes.  The service advisor agreed with me, but then he wasn’t going to refuse to have the dealership do the work.  🙂

This photo of the oil filter on our Cub Cadet XT3 GSE Enduro Series lawn tractor indicates that I last changed the oil and filter about five (5) years ago when the tractor had ~70 hours of run time.  (ABIR, Paul helped me with this, so he and Nancy must have been staying at our place in their motorhome at the time.)  The tractor has not accumulated a lot of hours since we bought it because we have a lawn service to does most of the grass mowing.).

On Tuesday the 14th, Linda did her weekly walk with Diane and wrote a check to Everlast Doors for the deposit on new garage doors we had agreed to purchase a few weeks ago.  These doors will be better insulated, look better, and work better than the existing ones, which may well be original to the house (mid-late 1970’s).  One of the things I am looking forward to is having the wall-mounted lift operators at the end of the spring shafts rather than the ceiling-mounted, chain-drive system that is the norm for garage doors.

Steve and Karen arrived mid-afternoon to visit and have dinner.  Linda and Karen are in regular contact via Words With Friends, and we try to get all four of us together several times a year.  They also have a place in Florida (near Venice) and we have visited with them there, and even stayed with them on several occasions during the winter months.

On Wednesday the 15th , a technician from Schutz Heating & Cooling arrived around noon to service the heat-pump for the main floor of the house.  They come twice a year; spring for the A-C function and fall for the heating function.  Later in the afternoon we headed to John and Diane’s house in Farmington Hills to attend a satellite concert by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at The Hawk Center, which is walking distance from their house (although they drove us there).  The Hawk Center was formerly Harrison High School (the school symbol was a Hawk), where both of our children and both of their children attended/graduated (late last century).

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NOTE:  This post contains 30 photos with captions.  Photos taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro unless indicated otherwise.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

SUNDAY 25 February (T5-C3) — Cozumel, Mexico; Shore Excursions

 

Meghan and Chris take in an early morning view of  Cozumel, Mexico from their stateroom balcony; the first time either of them has seen the island (or perhaps any part of Mexico).  Cruise ships do provide good views of ports-of-call.  It’s 7:30 AM, and Meghan already has her morning coffee.

 

The first stop on our shore excursion was San Gervasio, an important Mayan archeological site managed by CozumelParks.  This racoon-like mammal is a Coati (Nasua narica, AKA coatimundi).  It is native to Mexico and Central America and belongs to the Procyonidae family, which also includes raccoons.  (Photo by Linda)

When we arrived this morning, around sunrise, at the downtown cruise port/dock for the island of Cozumel, Mexico, we had been at sea for over 36 hours since leaving the Disney cruise terminal in Port Hollywood late in the afternoon of Friday, February 25th.  We had a great time on the ship while at sea, but Cozumel was the first of only two ports-of-call for this cruise, and we were all looking forward to going ashore.  Linda had signed all of us up for a shore excursion that lasted about six (6) hours and included three different venues/experiences.  We had to be off the ship and at the meeting point by a certain time, so we all got an early start to our day and had breakfast in the Cabana buffet.  Based on our apparel at dinner, it was also (apparently) “dress like a pirate” day.  Additional details about the day are in the captions for each photo.

 

Madeline, Sadie, and Shawna (mom) at the entrance station to the San Gervasio archeological site.  (Note the boot on Madeline’s left foot.  She injured it not long before the cruise, but it did not slow her down.)  This site has the remnants of a large village that was one of the centers of pre-European Mayan culture.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another photo of the Coatimundi.  It did not seem to be fazed in the least by the large group of people passing by and stopping to take its picture.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as we reached the first ruin in San Gervasio, we encountered Iguanas and other lizards.  Things like Coatimundi and Iguanas underscored that we were someplace very different from where we live.    (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The remains of a fairly large structure.  The roof is a modern construction to help preserve the underlying stone work, but something like this might have covered the original building when in use.  Wood and palm fronds, however, do not survive the ravages of time.    (Photo by Linda)

 

This photo of an elevated platform provides a sense of the number and size of stones that had to be quarried and moved for its construction.

 

The base of another ruin and its modern protective roof.

 

For most of our time at the San Gervasio Mayan Village, we were on a guided/narrated tour.  The tour guide explained what archeologist think each of the buildings were used for, but I had no way to capture that information for later recall.

 

I do remember that this was one of the entrance gates to the Village.  Note the road/path leading up to the gate from the forest in the center-right of the frame.

 

I don’t know if the Iguana pictured here understands or appreciates the historical significance of the stones on which it is sunning itself, but it certainly picked a good spot, and seems unconcerned about the many human guests to the site.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over many years, this tree took root and grew around a crumbled part of what remains of this building.  The modern roof was constructed around the tree.

 

Remnants of yet another building at San Gervasio.

 

 

One of the stone walkways that connect the various buildings at the San Gervasio archeological site.  Note the drainage ditches along each edge.  When the Mayan Village was inhabited, archeologists claim the space between the stones was filled with something like a limestone grout, resulting in a smooth surface that would have been easy to walk on, and permitted the use of wheeled carts.

 

Another Iguana photo because … well, just because we find them fascinating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A map of the San Gervasio archeological site with all of the buildings identified.

 

 

This map highlights the Mayan Areas of Cozumel, Mexico in a darker green color.  The next photo indicates that San Gervasio is the highlighted area near Acalán.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a photo of a map that shows the full extent of the island of Cozumel, Mexico, its location relative to the rest of Mexico (just off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula), and the location of the San Gervasio archeological park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second venue on our Cozumel shore excursion was The Mayan Cacao Company, located at the Playa Mia Grand Beach Park.  Shown here is the entrance sign.  Note the Macaw on the perch, upper right, which is protected by a thatched roof.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A closer view of the entrance sign and greeter macaw at The Mayan Cacao Company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like San Gervasio, this was also an educational experience.  This display is about cacao beans as a form of currency, and how it compared to other things that served the same purpose.  (From my Money and Banking course at the University of Missouri – Columbia, “Money is anything that acts as a store of value and a medium of exchange.”)

 

Part of the Mayan Cacao experience was a demonstration of the processing cacao beans to make “hot chocolate.”  This was followed by a tasting.  (It was not sweet, but it was very tasty.)  (Photo by Linda)

 

For the third and final venue/experience of our Cozumel shore excursion, we got to hang out at the Playa Mia Grand Beach Park.  I believe this park is open to the public but has an admission charge.   Besides an extensive beachfront with lounge chairs, umbrellas, and cabanas, the park included some play structures in the water as well as food and beverage stations.  Brendan and Sadie are in the foreground with their backs to the shore/camera.  Katie brought her snorkeling gear, and was already out in the water somewhere.  (I think Brendan and Sadie might be looking in that direction, but they might just be eyeing the large play structure in the water.)    (Photo by Linda)

 

The seating/sunning area at Playa Mia Beach Resort in front of where I happened to be sitting.  (I am not a “sun bunny,” and require shade in places like this.)

 

 

L-2-R; Katie, Linda, and Marilyn with what I think is the Disney WISH in the background, tied up at the dock for the Punta Langosta Cruise Terminal.  There is another cruise terminal down the coast toward Playa Mia Grand Beach Park that is used by Carnival and other cruise lines.

 

The sign welcoming us to the Punta Langosta port area.  It is the closest cruise terminal to the main/downtown area of Cozumel City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pirate Sadie with buccaneer Ama (Linda) at dinner in the Animators Palate, the second of our three dining rooms.  (Friday and Saturday we were in the Royal Palace dining room, Deck 3 midship; Sunday and Monday we were in the Animator’s Palate dining room on Deck 3 aft, and Tuesday we were in the Enchanted Garden dining room, Deck 2 midship.)  This restaurant had amazing visual technology.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L-2-R; Madeline, Meghan, and Marilyn at our dinner table in the Animators Palate dining room.  We had a table for 10 every evening for dinner, and it was always table number 81; our waiter and assistant waiter moved with us when we changed dining venues.  Our dining time was always 6 PM (first seating).  Linda selected this time because Sadie was only 5 years old, and it allowed members of our group to seek out various entertainment venues after dinner and still get to bed at reasonable times.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pirate Brendan and his buccaneer dad (me, Bruce, Apa, grandpa, etc.) in the Animators Palate dining room on the Disney DREAM.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shawna and Brendan share a moment while we wait to order dinner.  Our children both have wonderful spouses and our three grand-daughters are a delight.  We are very fond, and proud, of all of them; they are all a great source of joy in our lives.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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NOTE:  There are seven (7) photos in this post.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

SATURDAY 24 February (T4-C2) — A Marvel(ous) Day At Sea

 

Today, I was up earlier than I intended to be.  I thought my phone said 6 something, but it was actually 5 something.  I was tired of lying down anyway, so I got up and finished working a Multi-Sudoku puzzle.  It was still dark, and Linda was still asleep, so I worked on drafts of the blog posts for this trip/cruise.  At some point I heard voices outside.  Brendan, Shawna, and Sadie were on the balcony along with Meghan.  Meghan gets up very early and had already been out to get coffee.  Madeline joined the group shortly thereafter.  This is the first cruise we’ve been on with family/friends in adjacent cabins.  Yesterday, we had our cabin steward open the dividers between the four balconies so we could visit easily.  It was a nice arrangement.  We had a brief discussion about breakfast but failed to coordinate a plan.  Other than meeting for dinner every evening, our group took a “freestyle” approach to the cruise, which was great for everyone.

Sadie sits in a large, blue, throne-like chair by one of the two impressive mosaics with themes related to fairytales (prince/princess) that ended up in animated Disney features.  The mosaics were located in one of the elevator/stairwell lobbies on one of the decks, but I don’t recall which one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadie in the other (red) throne-like chair by the other mosaic.

It was Marvel Day at Sea, so we got dressed with our Guardians of the Galaxy t-shirts and went to Cabana’s (the buffet) for breakfast.  We thought our son’s family was also headed there, but we somehow missed them while walking around looking at food.  Our son saw us go by, however, and found us to let us know where they were sitting.

 

 

Breakfast at the Cabana’s buffet offered a lot of choices, and we all found something that we liked.  The things I chose were well-prepared and tasty.  While both of us appreciate the finer dining in the restaurants, neither of us object to the buffet food, and appreciate the convenience of many hours of availability with the attendant flexibility to eat when you want, and choose from a broad selection of food offerings.

Chris and his daughter, Katie, at one of the shuffleboard courts on the exterior promenade deck.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Meghan and Chris at the same shuffleboard court.  Chris is sporting his “Star Lord” t-shirt for Marvel Day At Sea.  (Photo by Linda)

Today was Marvel Day At Sea, and there were many special activities taking place around the ship.  These included photo opportunities with official costumed “crew” members.  Perhaps surprisingly, we did not get photos of any of these events.  While that might seem strange in retrospect, the members of our party who were most excited about the day where our daughter, her husband, and his daughter.  I don’t recall specifically what Linda and I did all day, nor do I recall what Marilyn or our son and his family did today, nor would I even know if they off doing things on their own.  What I do know, is that Madeline had already become very comfortable with the “Edge Club,” a dedicated/staffed space for guests ages 11 – 13.  At age 11, she places a high value on any independence she can negotiate.

 

Sadie with her great-aunt, Marilyn.  Sadie is seriously focused on whatever Marilyn is showing her on the phone.  Based on Sadie’s attire, it appears that she went swimming today.  Not surprising; if there’s water available, Sadie is usually in it.  (Photo by Linda)

The Disney Cruise Line (DCL) app includes a messaging feature that allows guests to message one another without purchasing a “Internet” package.  The feature requires guests to establish connections, so Linda took care of linking her phone with at least one phone from each of the other cabins in our group.

Fairly quickly, Madeline took possession of her mom’s phone and accomplished her number one goal for the cruise; to be allowed to roam around the ship on her own as well as come and go from the Edge Club at will.  This actually worked out very well, and she made several friends her age.  ABIR, Sadie continued the who-dun-it game with her mom and/or dad.

 

Yes, Sadie is using crayons on the white linen tablecloth at dinner.  But it was okay.  Our assistant waiter, Trevor, was the first to do this at dinner last night as he set a puzzle for Sadie (and the rest of us) to solve.  After that, it was “game on” for the remainder of the cruise!  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to well-prepared and tasty dishes, dinner was always nicely presented.  This photo is typical of how desserts were plated.

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NOTE:  There are 13 photos in this post.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)  Photos are chronological and captioned, but are interspersed with some narrative.

 

FRIDAY 23 February (T3-C1) — Disney Cruise Line (DCL) DREAM, Embarkation and Sail Away

 

It’s around 1 PM; we are all on the ship and busy doing things.  Meghan helps Sadie figure out how to play the who-dun-it/discovery game while Marilyn looks on.  Clues were hidden in electronic pictures.  Displaying a game badge would “open” (change) the picture and reveal a clue.  (Photo by Linda)

I was up early and met up with our daughter (Meghan) in the elevator on our way to get coffee.  I rarely get to chat with her alone, and enjoyed a relaxed conversation over coffee.  Linda joined us a bit later.  Meghan eventually took coffee and muffins back to her room for Chris.  Linda and I got breakfast and chatted until she went back to our room to take a shower.  I returned to our room after finishing my meal, got my shower, and got dressed for the day.  We then repacked our suitcases before Linda went back to the lobby to join Meghan, and others, who were having breakfast.

 

 

 

 

Brendan helps Sadie with the who-dun-it game in the lobby of the ship with the Golden Mickey statue in the background.  Having been to Walt Disney World several times, the look and feel of the interior of the ship was familiar and pleasing.  (Photo by Linda)

Everything up to this point had been fairly routine travel—planes, taxis (ride shares), and hotels, with some walking thrown in, either to find food or just because—but with a certain added anticipation of things to come.  Today started in the usual way, but was soon new and different for most of our party.  Indeed, even for us, as we had never sailed on a Disney cruise ship and so had not experienced a ship with soooo many children.  Not that we have never been with large numbers of children; we presumed that it would be similar to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and there is a certain positive energy associated with so many children having such a good time.  Indeed, it even seems to bring out the child in many of adults.

 

 

 

It didn’t take long to discover the self-serve soft-serve ice cream station on one of the upper/open-air decks.  This turned out to popular with everyone in our party and, apparently, most of the other guests on the ship.  L-2-R:  Meghan, Sadie, and Brendan.  (Photo by Linda)

When we arrived at the Hyatt Place hotel on Wednesday, we signed up for a shuttle to take the six of us staying here to the port at noon today.  We did not get a shuttle at exactly that time, but they were scheduled to arrive at the hotel approximately every 10 minutes.  It was at most a 10-minute ride to the port, and only that long because of traffic, so we were still there ahead of the 1 PM check-in time for us (the rest of the group had 1:15 check-in times).  It turned out that these assigned times didn’t mean much.  We dropped our checked luggage with the porters at the curb and then walked some distance into the cruise terminal building.  But the line moved along at a reasonable pace, and various adults took turns keeping Sadie occupied, which is the key to a happy life.

 

Linda on the main top deck. (There are additional small decks at the front and rear of the ship.)  Camera is pointed aft.  The enclosed water-slide is prominent, with the main swimming pool to the right and down one deck.

Looking forward, the large screen on the forward exhaust stack tower, indicates that the ship is “Sailing Away.”  “Sail Away” is a big, festive deal on cruise ships.  Many guests gather on the upper/open decks, while others go out on their stateroom balconies, to watch the ship pull away from the dock and head out to sea.  In some ports, there are crowds on-shore waving to the ship.  The time-stamp on this photo is 4:29 PM, but I don’t think the ship has left the dock yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two other cruise ships are visible from the port side of the ship.  ABIR, the larger one is a Royale Caribbean ship (emblem on the lower rear hull).  The smaller one was from one of the luxury or ultra-luxury cruise lines, but I don’t recall which one.  Note that our ship is in its berth bow first, with the dock on the other/starboard side.  Our ship had to back out of its berth and make a 180-degree turn (pirouette) before heading out to sea.  The maneuver was precisely and smoothly executed.  The maneuver was very smoothly and precisely executed.

 

Soon enough we were all checked in and were headed onto the ship a bit before 1 PM.  There were a couple of things about the check-in that were different from our previous experience.  For one, they did NOT issue us our cruise cards and said they would be waiting for us by our cabin doors.  For another, they checked every page of our passports, at least for the adults.  I asked why and was told “because there are children on board” but the boarding agent could/would not tell me anymore.  Our presumption is that there must be something in passports for individuals who are not allowed to be around children.  Further research, however, did not provide any additional information.

 

A view looking NNE of the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW) and a bridge to a barrier island, as seen from the starboard rear upper deck of the Disney DREAM.

Some of the adult members of our travel party, L-2-R: Chris, Marilyn, Meghan, Linda, and me (Bruce).  Not shown are Brendan, Shawna, Katie and the munchkins (Madeline and Sadie).  I do not know who took the photo with Linda’s phone.  The previous photo was taken around 4:33 PM and this one was taken around 5:22 PM.  This and the next photo indicate that the ship is backing out of its berth.  Thus, logic tells me that we must have departed at 5 PM (cruise ships tend to keep a tight schedule) or we departed at 6 PM and all of my photos are off by one hour (but I don’t think so), or we departed at 4 PM and I have no idea what’s going on.

Our staterooms (on Deck 9) would not be available until 1:30, so some of the adults went with Sadie on an exploration to solve a “crime” while I stayed with Madeline, who needed to sit and get off her injured foot.  (She strained or stressed a growth plate in her left foot a week ago while ice skating, and got fitted with a boot yesterday morning before flying to Fort Lauderdale.)  DCL uses a system to control room access that we had not seen before.  When Madeline and I tried to use an elevator to go from Deck 5 to Deck 9 around 1:20 PM, it would not open the doors at Deck 9.  Clever Disney.

 

The Disney DREAM is definitely underway as it has backed out of its berth into the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW) where it backed around to port (behind the camera) into a “turning pool” and swung around to point into the channel leading to the sea, as shown here.  Cruise ships have both bow and stern thrusters, smaller propellers in tunnels that go through the ship sideways.  Besides moving the front or rear of the ship to the left or right, their coordinated use can move the ship sideways, such as towards/away from a dock, or turn it around its mid-point, such as it will do here.  Many cruise ships, especially newer ones, also have “Azipods,” a steerable propeller  mechanism, for propulsion rather than aft-facing propellers and one or more rudders.

 

Our first dinner together in the Royale Palace dining room aboard the DCL DREAM.  We had a table for 10 every evening for dinner.  Our table number was 81, and remained so for all of our dinner meals, regardless of which dining room we were in.  Shown here is our son’s family, L-2-R:  Shawna, Brendan, Sadie, and Madeline.  I think Sadie was just tired, not unhappy, as she really enjoyed the cruise.  (Photo by Linda)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L-2-R:  Cousins Madeline and Katie at the dinner table.  (Photo by Linda)

Once in our room, we scoped out the available storage and started unpacking.  Our balcony stateroom had plenty of storage; hanging closets, drawers, and shelves.  It also had the usual safe, and our wallets and passports went in there right away.  We used to turn our cell phones off and put them in the safe as well, but these days we put them in airplane mode (to turn off the cellular radio) and turn on the wi-fi radio to connect to the ship’s wi-fi system.  On the DREAM, this allowed us to use the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app, which was our access to any/all information about the ship’s activities, including menus for the restaurants, reservations (if needed), and our account.  (Most cruise ships now operate this way, so you really cannot go on a cruise these days without a smartphone.)

Linda poses with a statue of “Captain Duck” in the main lobby of the Disney DREAM.  Or perhaps it was “Commodore Duck”?  (I presume this is Donald Duck.  I have no idea what the name of the statue is, if it even has one.  Nor do I know the context of this particular outfit.)

 

 

 

We watched the safety information on the TV in our stateroom.  At 4 PM we went to our assigned assembly station (DCL does not call them muster stations) for the mandatory safety check-in and presentation.  Unlike our other recent cruises, where our muster station was on an outside deck near the lifeboats, we were seated in the large Walt Disney Theater.

 

 

 

 

 

Marvel Day at Sea was still to come, but this display was already up, and Chris is a big fan of the Marvel series.  Disney has a way of bringing out the kid in all of us.

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NOTE:  This post does not contain any photos.

 

THURSDAY 22 February (T2) — The family arrives for the cruise

Katie (our 20-something grand-daughter) arrived from North Carolina ahead of the rest of the family, made her way to the Hyatt Place (via Uber?), and checked-in to the room she was sharing with Marilyn.  We were all hungry so we took her to Carrabba’s for dinner.

Marilyn arrived later from St. Louis, Missouri and waited for our son (Brendan) and daughter (Meghan) and their families to arrive from Michigan.  Once everyone was at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport, they got a cab to take them to their respective hotels.

Katie, Marilyn, and Meghan/Chris all stayed at the same hotel we were in.  Brendan and his family stayed at the nearby Embassy Suites as they got a room that would sleep all four of them.

Marilyn, Meghan, and Chris had not had dinner, so we walked to the nearby Publix supermarket where they pickup up ready-to-eat sandwiches and chips and brought them back to the hotel.  We sat in the breakfast room, which had a high table for six, and chatted while they ate.  Brendan’s clan made their own arrangements for dinner.  ABIR (or learned the next day) they had pizza.

Everyone arrived safely, and with all of their luggage, which were the main things.  (When traveling by air, we always try to arrive enough ahead of whatever we will be doing to allow time to go shopping in the event that we need to replace the contents of a lost piece of checked luggage.)  Air travel is always a bit exhausting, but there was a palpable sense of excitement in the air as everyone was genuinely looking forward to the cruise.

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Note:  There are four (4) photos in this post.  Photos taken by me (Bruce) with Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

SATURDAY 06 – THURSDAY 11 January 2024 — A quick trip to Florida in advance of a short cruise

Back in February 2023, we were waiting for a couple of days before boarding the NCL Joy for our trip with Paul and Nancy from Los Angeles , California to Miami, Florida via the Panama Canal.  While Paula and I were our buying some beverages, Linda and Nancy found an “around the world” cruise on the MSC Magnifica for what seemed to be a very good price.  Paul and Nancy had never sailed with MSC, but we had on two previous occasions (2012 and 2013).  We were on the MSC Poetia both times and had a good experience each time.  These were the first cruises we were ever on, and they were special Holistic Holiday at Sea programs organized by Taste of Health out of Miami, Florida.  The program featured plant-based food and provided its own ingredients, executive chef and assistants to supervise the regular kitchen workers.  It was basically a floating educational experience.  As best we could recall, the ship was very nice, the service was fine, and the staterooms were comfortable.  Indeed, we had a waiter who was outstanding!  We did not, however, have any experience with the usual ship food or entertainment, nor had we signed up for any shore excursions.  It had also been 10 years since with sailed with MSC, so there was a lot we did not know about what it would be like to be a regular passenger on one of their ships.

The world cruise was scheduled to depart Genoa, Italy on 6 January 2025 and take 116 nights to circumnavigate the globe back to Genoa, much of the trip south of equator.  Sailing west from Genoa through the western Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean, the itinerary went to South America, around Cape Horn, and up the west side of South America before heading off to French Polynesia and points west, with stops in New Zeeland, Australia, and Malaysia, eventually coming up the Suez Canal into the eastern Mediterranean Sea and back Genoa.  21 countries and 50 ports-of-call.

We have never been south of the equator, and this seemed like a unique opportunity to visit places me might likely never get to otherwise.  And the price seemed really fair—almost too good to be true—but even “value for money” involves money, and it was enough money that we had our concerns about whether we would be comfortable and enjoy being on this ship for this long.

Sometime in the intervening months, Linda found that the MSC Magnifica was doing a 3-night round-trip sailing on January 11-13, 2024 from the Port of Miami to Nassau, Bahamas, and back.  The cruise started on a Friday afternoon and returned on Monday early morning.  The timing meant it was going to be a bit of a “party cruise” as people local to the area could take Friday afternoon and Monday off from work and go to the Bahamas on a big cruise ship.  That was not really relevant to us, however, as we wanted to check out the general condition of the ship, especially the staterooms, as well as the food, entertainment, and service.

On January 6th we flew into Tampa – St. Petersburg International Airport, where Paul and Nancy picked us up and drove us to their new home in the Mount Olive Shores North (MSON, pronounced “Moe-son” or “Moe-sen”) development in Polk City, Florida.  MOSN is an RV community that includes several lakes.  Some of the lots are just RV pads, with perhaps a small storage shed and/or a gazebo, while others lots have large homes with carports or garages for maximum-size Class A RVs.  This fenced/gated community has a strong HOA.  The homes and properties all have a certain look, albeit a nice one, and are all well-maintained.  Class A motorhomes and large 5th wheel travel trailers have to be under cover or inside while smaller motorhomes must be inside (out of sight).  Travel trailers are not permitted.

We were familiar with the Polk City area and MOSN, having wintered three times at the LeLynn RV Park and visited Paul and Nancy at MOSN when they had their previous Winnebago Tour motorhome on a lot there for one winter, and again when they had the American Coach Eagle motorhome on a different lot there.  But this was our first opportunity to see the lakeside house/property they had purchased.

 

L-2-R:  Paul, Nancy, and me (Bruce).  In the central plaza at Disney Springs.  The stairs to the closest parking garage are to the left.  (Photo by Linda)

We spent five (5) nights at Paul and Nancy’s home.  We had just spent all of November with them at Luxury RV Resort in Gulf Shores, Alabama, but it was nice to see them again.  As usually happens when we are together, Nancy and Linda did joint menu planning and took turns as chef and sous chef.  Paul and I did our part, and ate whatever we were served.

 

Almost every store at Disney Springs is interesting.  Some are unusual, and a few are amazing.  The M&M Store, was all three!

But first on the list of things to do was a visit to Disney Springs.  When we get together with Paul and Nancy in this area, we always visit Disney Springs at least once.  Once turned out to be all the time we had for this visit, but we did manage to find some things at the Marvel Studios store for our cruise in February on the Disney Cruise Line DREAM.  After all, the cruise included a “Marvel Day at Sea” and a “Pirates Day” themed events.  We had dinner there, somewhere close to the Cirque de Soleil building, but I don’t recall exactly where or what we had to eat.

 

L-2-R:  Paul, Linda, and Nancy pose in front of the Sorcerer Mickey LEGO statute in front of the Disney Springs LEGO store.  The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is still my all-time favorite Disney animation, but I grew up involved in classical music, so …

Marty and Pat, our friends and fellow Great Lakes Converted Coaches (GLCC) and Converted Coach Owners (CCO) members from Michigan, were at LeLynn again this year, so we arranged to have them over to Paul and Nancy’s one evening for dinner.  It was great to see them, and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.  Our GLCC friends from northern Indiana, Pat and Vickie, were also in the area, staying at Walt Disney World’s Fort Wilderness campground resort, as they do every January (and have for quite some time).  We drove up there one day to visit with them.

 

 

 

 

 

The LEGO Store at Disney Springs has an amazing outdoor display of life-size and greater-than-life-size, figures.  Star Wars is heavily represented in this collection, but this serpent in the water has always been a favorite of mine.

Those are the highlights of these six (6) days; a bit of running around and socializing, with plenty of time to eat, relax by the lake, watch Morning Joe, and chat about RVing and cruising and being (mostly) retired.

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Note:  There are 3 photos in this post, all taken by me (Bruce) on a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

SUNDAY 03 – SATURDAY 16 December 2023 — Getting back into home life

 

Sunday, December 3rd, 2023 — Getting the house back online.

When we are away from the house for more than a few days, I deactivate or adjust various things:

  1. I deactivate the water softener and chlorinator/filter by unplugging the AC power adapters.  The coin batteries remain in the controllers, but when the signal for a regeneration cycle, the motorized valves cannot respond.  Thus, nothing happens.
  2. I also turn off the UPS units for most of the electronics in the house. The exceptions are the one in the basement that powers the Xfinity gateway/WiFi-router and network switch, and the one by Linda’s desk in the kitchen, which powers the network switch that the whole-house generator communication module is plugged into.
  3. I also shut off the circuit breakers that feed the RV electrical outlets in our driveway.
  4. We might set some mechanical clock timers to control a couple of lights.
  5. We set all of the thermostats down and place them in a HOLD condition. (The thermostat in the workshop of the barn is set to maintain a temperature above freezing in the storeroom above it.)

Thus, one of the first things I have to do upon our return is reverse all of this.  I plug the water softener and chlorinator/filter back in, and will also typically initiate a regeneration cycle on one of them.  Which one depends on their remaining water treatment capacity.  UPS units are turned back on and electronics are powered up.  Thermostats are returned to the automatic/programmed operation, and light timers are put back in the switched position.  The RV outlet by the driveway in front of the house obviously gets turned on.

Apparently I have the (annoying) habit of laundering EVERYTHING upon our return from a trip.  In the case of RV travel, that includes towels and bedding in addition to clothes; sometimes even jackets, if I feel they need it.  This does not happen, however, in one day.  For one, it’s too much stuff that would take too much time and, for another, that much laundry at one go would overload the septic system.  And nobody wants that.  I suspect that I started on this task today, moving everything to the basement, sorting it, and selecting a load or two to start.

 

Monday, December 4th, 2023 — Chores, Chores, and more Chores

Whatever else we did today, I suspect that I spent part of it continuing to do the laundry.  I don’t mind doing the laundry, in fact I somewhat enjoy it.  In any event, it has to be done and Linda handles the kitchen pretty much by herself, so this duty falls to me.  It’s also likely that I powered up my laptop computer, downloaded e-mails, and started copying photos from our various devices to our NAS.

 

Tuesday, December 5th, 2023 — Winterizing the Airstream Flying Cloud travel trailer

I do not recall why I waited, but according to our calendar I winterized the Airstream travel trailer today.  My best guess as to why I waited a few days was that I had too much else to do on Sunday and Monday immediately after returning home, but it’s also possible that the weather today was more amenable.  Whatever the case, absent any other information to the contrary, I will just have to accept that today was the day for this task.  This is not one of my favorite RV maintenance tasks, but it is what it is and it has to be done, as the RV portion of our barn is not climate-controlled.  Actually, they main thing I really don’t like is having to do it in the cold.

 

This is a photo of the internals of the thermostat in the shop portion of the barn.  I don’t recall why I photographed it, but I obviously removed the cover to check something.  As it turned out, it is wired correctly, and it works just fine.

For the rest of this time period, we attended to various things.  I obviously put the Airstream travel trailer back in the barn once it was winterized.  Linda had a routine medical appointment, did some child-care for the two younger grand-daughters, resumed walking with her friend, Diane.  She also did some accounting work for the bakery, and booked shore excursions for the Disney Cruise Line DREAM in late February of next year.  (NOTE:  The two youngest grand-daughters did NOT know about this cruise yet, but I did not upload this post until May 2024.)

We also had two different HVAC service companies at the house; Lakeside Service takes care of our BOSCH hot-water baseboard heating system, and Schutz Heating & Cooling takes care of our Mitsubishi-Trane Heat Pump system, which they installed.  We had dinner with friends (and fellow Prevost converted motorcoach owners), Chuck and Barbara, and with our friend, Kate.  We also opened up our Boondockers Welcome site to accommodate a special request from a couple who had stayed with us before.  They needed a place to camp for a few nights while they took care of some medical issues at the University of Michigan Hospital.  It turns out that we are one of the few good options for this situation, and we have had other RVers stay here for the same reason.

 

Saturday, December 16th, 2023 — Cloning, ham radio, and a concert

Earlier in the week, I took the 1 TB Samsung 870 EVO SSD (solid state drive) out of my ASUS laptop computer and tried to clone it to a 2 TB version of the same drive.  I wasn’t sure I had done it correctly, so I arranged to go over to Mike’s house (W8XH, from SLAARC, the South Lyon Area Amateur Radio Club).  He did the clone of my original HDD to the 1 TB SSD a few years ago and used his equipment to do this one.  While I was there, I had a chance to look at some amateur (ham) radio gear that was for sale and for which he was acting as custodian.

 

This Kenwood transceiver caught my eye, but I was equally interested in the HP Signal Generator underneath it.  Ultimately, I had to pass on buying anything as I am not currently active enough in the hobby to justify buying more equipment.

In the evening, we attended the Holiday “Pops” (popular music) concert of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (AASO) at Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor main campus.  The orchestra was good, but our main reason for being there was the Ann Arbor Youth Chorus standing behind the orchestra in the photo below.

 

The AASO and AAYC in concert.  Our middle grand-daughter, Mads, is in the last row, 6th from the left.  She was still 10 on this date, but would turn 11 a week later.

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Note:  There are 19 photos in this post.  Photos by me (Bruce) were taken with a Google Pixel 6 Pro or SONY alpha 6400, unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

TUE 21 – WED 29 November 2023 — Luxury RV Resort — 3/3

 

This post covers our last nine full days at Luxury RV Resort in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Our reservation was through the night of the 30th with departure on December 1st but we left on 30 November, one day early, to try and get ahead of a weather system that was moving our way.  Up to that point, however, the weather had generally been very nice.  Gulf Shores is a lovely place, climate-wise, in the late fall and winter.

At the Sunliner Diner in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Counter-clockwise (L-2-R) around the table:  Evan, Anne, Paul, Robert (obscured, at his request), Linda (behind Nancy’s arm) and Nancy.

We continued to visit with Paul, Nancy, and Robert and occasionally also Kate and Charlie from the nearby Escapees RV Club Rainbow Plantation RV Park.  This small group of people are very much kindred spirits; each of them very much of the same mind as us when it comes to religion and politics and food (by and large), which makes for a comfortable and enjoyable time together.

This antique car is inside the Sunline Diner.  The doors on the passenger side have been removed to make a dining booth.

 

Paul makes a final inspection of the layout of our Thanksgiving dinner food in the Luxury RV Clubhouse in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Paul and Nancy’s son, Evan, and his wife, Anne, drove down from Ann Arbor, Michigan and joined us for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Nancy arranged for the use of the Luxury RV Resort clubhouse on Thanksgiving Day, which allowed us to share a meal in comfort with plenty of space to lay out the food, arrange seating at tables, and not be concerned about the weather.  Everyone attended, including Kate and Charlie, and shared the work of putting together a nice meal.

 

 

 

 

The first of two tables for Thanksgiving dinner.  L-2-R, counter-clockwise around the table:  Robert (obscured), Nancy, Anne, and Evan.

 

The other table for Thanksgiving dinner.  L-2-R, counter-clockwise around the table:  Charlie, Paul, me (Bruce), Linda, and Kate.

 

Me (Bruce) sitting on the sofa in our Airstream travel trailer and using my iPad Pro.  Since Bella is also on the sofa, we were probably dog-sitting while Paula and Nancy were doing something that precluded taking their dog along.

We made a couple of visits to the Sunliner Diner during this time, and visited Historic Fort Morgan at the tip of the peninsula that extends west from Gulf Shores into Mobile Bay, stopping for lunch at a bayside restaurant.  Nice weather and dramatic sunsets continued during these nine days, with the later eventually portending of approaching weather.

 

 

 

A view of Fort Morgan, Fort Morgan State Historic Site, Alabama.

 

One of the entrances to the interior of Fort Morgan SHS.  The rectangular block centered above the opening says “Fort Morgan 1830.”  The two parallel lines on the pavement are embedded railroad ties.  My presumption was that these made it possible to use trollies with railcar wheels to move heavy loads in/out of the Fort.

 

 

The previous photo, this photo, and the next two (2) photos were taken at the Fort Morgan State Historic Site.

 

From Wikipedia:  Fort Morgan is a historic masonry pentagonal bastion fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay, Alabama, United States. Named for American Revolutionary War hero Daniel Morgan, it was built on the site of the earlier Fort Bowyer, an earthen and stockade-type fortification involved in the final land battles of the War of 1812. Construction was completed in 1834, and it received its first garrison in March of the same year.  …  Fort Morgan is at the tip of Mobile Point at the western terminus of State Route 180 (Alabama). It and Dauphin Island, on which Fort Gaines is situated, enclose Mobile Bay. The Alabama Historical Commission maintains the site.

 

An interior view of part of Fort Morgan, clearly showing the masonry construction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another entrance tunnel into Fort Morgan.  I thought the way the bricks were arranged to create the arch was architecturally interesting, although I presumed that they were set this way for fundamentally structural reasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the Sunliner Diner for breakfast before Robert checks out of Luxury RV Resort and heads for points West.  From L-2-R, counter-clockwise around the table:  me (Bruce) taking a selfie of the group, Robert (obscured). Nancy, Paul, and Linda.

 

Robert’s class B motorhome and Jeep in front of the office at Luxury RV Resort while he connects them together in final preparation for his departure from the resort.  The foreground is a sitting area with a firepit.  To the left are some holiday decorations that are featured in the next two photos.

 

Linda provides a sense of scale for the Christmas holiday decorations at Luxury RV Resort; a travel trailer pulled by two Flamingoes.  Two lawn chairs and a Christmas tree with wrapped presents are also visible.  [Note that the door of the trailer is on the “driver” side, which is incorrect.  The main entrance doors of all commercial RVs are on the passenger/curb side, with the utility connections (hookups) on the driver/street side, and RV parks and campgrounds are built around this conventional arrangement.]

This photo of the other side of the trailer decoration shows more clearly that the trailer is a large/round straw/hay bale and that the trailer has tires.  A doll (or small mannequin) that is approximately half normal human-size, is holding one end of the brown sewer hose which runs down into the “dump” connection.

 

We were treated to a nice sunset on our final evening at Luxury RV Resort.  This view is looking southeast, so I could catch the sunset reflecting off of the windows in our travel trailer along with the general soft pink illumination of the aluminum siding and the effect of the color on the clouds to the southeast.

 

The play of light on the clouds seems to say “look at this trailer,” so I did.

 

A composite of four images creates a panoramic view of our final Gulf Shores sunset as it provides a wonderful backdrop for our travel trailer.

 

A composite of three images produces a panoramic photo of an amazing sunset behind some of the tall buildings in the downtown/beach area of Gulf Shores, Alabama, as seen from our travel trailer at Luxury RV Resort.

 

One of the three images used for the previous composite photo highlighting the letters A I R S T R E A M across the rear of our travel trailer, just above the awing over the large/opening window.

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Note:  There are 13 photos in this post.  Photos by me (Bruce), unless otherwise indicated, were taken with a Google Pixel 6 Pro or SONY alpha 6400.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

WED 01 – FRI 10 November 2023 — Luxury RV Resort, Gulf Shores, Alabama (1/3)

This is the first of three (3) posts that cover our time in Gulf Shores, Alabama during the month of November, 2023.

We arrived at Luxury RV Resort in Gulf Shores, Alabama on November 1st per our reservation, which was for the entire month (we got a better rate that way).  We had stayed here before at the suggestion of our friends, Paul and Nancy, who now keep a 5th wheel trailer here during the winter, with their Goldendoodle, Bella.   Robert, our new friend from this past summer, and his dog Buddy (an English Retriever), were also there for the month.  Our friends, Kate and Charlie, were at their place at the Escapees Rainbow Plantation RV park in Summerdale, so not too far away.  Having explored the area on our previous visit, we were looking forward to just having some time to relax and enjoy the pleasant weather in the company of these friends, including walks to the nearby seashore nearby (~1/2 mile), along with occasional visits to a few of the many things to see and do in the area, such as Fairhope, Alabama.

 

Our first sunrise in Gulf Shores, Alabama (for this visit) as seen from the rear windows of our 2020 Airstream Flying Cloud 27 FBT travel trailer at Luxury RV Resort.  The weather was generally good during our visit; not too much rain with mild temperatures and some nice sunrises and sunsets.

 

The passenger/curb side of our travel trailer parked in our site for the month at Luxury RV Resort.  Spacious enough site with a concrete pad/patio with a picnic table and good utility hookups.

 

 

A view of the beach and Gulf of Mexico looking east from the central beach plaza where Hwy 59 ends between E Beach and W Beach roads.

 

A view to the west from the same vantage point as the previous photo.

 

Gulf Shores is a somewhat quirky beachside town that trades on its location.  It’s a well-maintained and attractive place, with beautiful white sand beaches, restaurants (with fish and seafood on offer, of course), night life, surf shops, t-shirt shops, and quintessential “tourist” shops, as well as a very nice state park and lots of nature and history in the surrounding area.  It is a pedestrian and bicycle friendly place as well.  The central beach area was approximately a 1/2 mile walk from the RV park.  The photos that follow highlight a few of these things.

 

Souvenir City on the west side of Hwy 59 in downtown Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Linda is standing in the mouth of the giant shark “sculpture,” which is where the entrance to the store is located.  This place is definitely a “beach town” souvenir shop, and we spent an obligatory amount of time exploring all that it had to offer, which was impressive for its sheer quantity and diversity.

 

The “kitsch” at Souvenir City didn’t end with the entrance shark.  This fiberglass model of the head end of a hammerhead shark was setup for photo ops, and we used it in accordance with the mandatory rules of  tourist etiquette.

 

We only got the entire group together a few times during the month, but Nancy arranged for the use of the RV park clubhouse on Thanksgiving Day so we could share a meal with plenty of space to lay out the food, arrange seating at tables, and not be concerned about the weather.  Everyone attended and shared the work of putting together a nice meal, but a bit more on that in post 3 of this set.

 

What would a tourist/beach town be without a diner?  Hungry, I suppose.  Not a problem here.  The Sunliner Diner might not be authentic, in the sense of having been around for a long time, but it definitely had the look and feel, with some nicely preserved/restored old cars thrown in.

 

Just south of Luxury RV Resort, a major marsh extends east from Hwy 59 all the way to Gulf State Park.  This boardwalk provided walking access to the Wade Ward Nature Park part of it.  Linda walked almost every day while we were camped in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and I sometimes went too, along with Paul and Nancy.

 

 

The marsh mentioned in the previous photo caption clearly had some open water as well.  We were always on the lookout for wildlife, especially alligators, of course.  We saw birds and waterfowl and small animals, but never spotted any “gators.”  The Luxury RV Resort office building and a few RVs are visible, center right in the photo.

 

Our travel trailer, center-frame, with the bathhouse to center-right.  It was close enough to be really convenient.  Also, the clubhouse was just across the street, and it also had bathrooms with showers.

 

This photo was taken some four (4) hours after the previous one.  I think Linda is looking out over Mobile Bay as enlarging the photo faintly shows tall buildings on the distant horizon (in the direction of Mobile, Alabama).  But don’t hold me to this.

 

 

The Gulf of Mexico from the beach west of the Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Even when the weather was not all sunshine and unicorns, it was interesting and sometimes dramatic.  A couple of oil platforms are just barely visible on the horizon, center and left in the frame.

 

Another photo from the same place on the beach.  From left-to-right:  Buddy, Robert, Linda, Nancy, Paul, and Bella.  There was a small parking area out-of-frame to the left, with public access to the beach.

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Note:  This post contains 17 photos with captions, and some minor narrative.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

TUESDAY 31 October 2023 — NTNP 14 of 14 — End of the Trace:  Emerald Mound (again) and the Town of Rocky Springs, near Natchez, MS

 

The only remaining wall of the Elizabeth Female Academy in Washington (West Natchez), Mississippi.  (See the next photo and caption.)

 

ELIZABETH FEMALE ACADEMY information sign.  Paraphrased from Wikipedia:  The Elizabeth Female Academy, founded in 1818 in the town of Washington (West Natchez), was the first female educational institution in Mississippi. It was named after Mrs. Elizabeth Roach (later Greenfield), who donated the land on which the school was located. The school closed in 1845, due in part to the relocation of the state capital from Natchez to Jackson, the general shift in the center of population, and several epidemics of yellow fever in the area. The site was reduced to ruins by a fire in the late 1870s. Part of a brick wall is all that now remains of the Academy buildings.

Learn more at:  Elizabeth Female Academy – Wikipedia

 

The small sign post at the lower left of the photo says Old Trace with an arrow pointing to the right.  This section of the old (original) trail starts at the opening on the left. 

 

We walked on identified sections of the original (old) Trace when we could.  We enjoyed the short hikes and admired the natural beauty of these places but also thought about the arduous journeys that so many people made along this trail so many years ago and the history that surrounds it.

 

Over time and thousands upon thousands of footsteps, the path of the Trace gradually wore down below the surface level of the surrounding landscape.  As shown here , the depth at this point is over twice Linda’s height.

 

EMERALD MOUND NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK plaque.  We returned to Emerald Mound today as we only had a brief visit yesterday, mostly the find it.

 

 

The trail leading to the top of Emerald Mound was paved but steep.  This photo gives a sense of the height of the mound from the parking lot.

 

Linda on top of Emerald Mound heads towards a smaller mound and information sign.

 

This information sign and graphic provided a visualization of how archeologists think the structures atop Emerald Mound were arranged, appeared, and used.

 

Another section of the Old Natchez Trace.  Sections like this are sometimes labeled “Sunken Trace,” but if that was the case here, I did not document it.

 

A picture of me for scale (and just because) at a point where the Natchez Trace splits into two paths.  We rarely saw splits like this, and have no idea how common or rare this was on the original trail.

 

LOESS BLUFF information sign.  The loess bluff is the shear area behind the sign,  From MS Edge (Co-Pilot):  A loess bluff is a fascinating geological feature formed by the accumulation of windblown sediment known as loess.  Loess (pronounced LOW-ess) is a type of fine-grained, silty soil composed of particles deposited by the wind. It’s typically light yellow or tan in color.  During the Ice Age, glaciers covered the northern half of the United States. As these glaciers receded, they left behind vast expanses of bare land.  Continuous dust storms swept in from the western plains, carrying fine particles of dust and soil. These winds deposited the loess layer over the landscape.  The result?  Bluffs—steep, elevated landforms—made up of this windblown topsoil. Loess bluffs can be found in various regions around the world.  …  Mississippi also boasts its own loess bluffs, where nearly continuous dust storms during the Ice Age created a layer of sandy soil 30 to 90 feet deep.

 

THE TOWN OF ROCKY SPRINGS information sign.  The town was first settled in the 1790’s.  In 1860 it had a population of 2,616 people spread over a 25 square mile area.  Over 2,000 of those people were slaves who tended the fields of cotton, the main crop that made this town possible.

 

The historic Methodist church in Rocky Springs, Mississippi is the only remaining structure of Rocky Springs and continued to hold Sunday services until 2010.  The site and church are now maintained by the National Park Service.

 

MAGNUM SITE and GRINDSTONE FORD information sign.  The Magnum Site is a prehistoric mound and the Grindstone Ford was the threshold between civilization and wilderness on the Old Natchez Trace.

 

MAGNUM MOUND information sign.  Archeological excavation of this mound revealed much evidence about the prehistoric Plaquemine culture that was the precursor of the modern tribes of Louisiana and Mississippi.

 

A view of Magnum Mound from near the information sign.

 

GRINDSTONE FORD information sign.  The FORD marked the end of the old Natchez Trace District and the beginning of the (wilderness of the) Choctaw Nation.  But it was only “wilderness” in the eyes of the Europeans who were moving into and “settling” the area.

 

And that is the end of my 14th and last post on our trip down the Natchez Trace National Parkway.  It was a trip we had long talked about doing, and even planned for, and we were pleased to have finally done it.  Up next, our month in Gulf Shores, Alabama hanging out with friends.

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Note:  This post contains four (4) photos.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

MONDAY 30 October 2023 — NTNP 13 of 14 — Emerald Mound and the Grand Village of the Natchez Indian, Natchez, MS

 

When we planned our trip, the itinerary included a 1-night stop for 31 October 2023 at The Great Mississippi Tea Company, another Harvest Host location, near Brookhaven, Mississippi.  We had stayed there once before and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

EMERALD MOUND information sign.  Built on top of a hill, this flat-topped 8-acre mound was in use from 1300 to 1600 AD by the Mississippian Indians, predecessors of the Natchez Indians.  It supported temples, ceremonial structures, and burials for the civic and religious leaders of a complex society.  It is second in size only to Monks Mound in Cahokia, Illinois.

 

Besides being a nice place to camp for the night (strictly boondocking), the hosts/owners of The Great Mississippi Tea Company were delightful and very welcoming.  We were given a tour of the place—including the tea plants in the fields and the processing facility—and bought some things in their gift shop (of course).  But they also brought us a tea service in the morning of our departure.  That was a nice touch, very nice.

 

Another view of Emerald Mound from the parking lot and entrance to the trail that leads to the top.

 

We were very much looking forward to returning to The Great Mississippi Tea Company, but canceled the stop based on the weather forecast, which called for temperatures near freezing the night we would be there.  In previous posts, I have mentioned the various reasons we can’t really boondock in our Airstream travel trailer, but I didn’t mention one of the most important; it’s really not that well insulated, and that is especially a problem in cold weather.

 

In another part of Natchez, MS we visited the site of the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians.  The smaller mounds found at sites like this could be easily overlooked if care was not being taken to preserve them and tell their story to any/all who visit.  To learn more, visit the Wikipedia entry at this link:  Grand Village of the Natchez – Wikipedia

 

Before canceling our HH stay, however, we checked with the office at the River View RV Park & Resort to make sure we could extend our stay, as we could not check in at Luxury RV Resort in Gulf Shores, Alabama until Wednesday 01 December.  The park was not full and there was no difficulty extending our stay for an additional night (3 total).

 

A banner sign on the museum wall at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians.

 

With that change in plans, we now had two full days to explore the southern end of the NTNP and the area around Natchez, Mississippi.

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Note:  This post contains nine (9) photos.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

SUNDAY 29 October 2023 — NTNP 12 of 14 — Natchez MS and Vidalia LA

 

Our truck and trailer backed into our wooded Boondockers Welcome parking spot at The HatchPad Off The Trace in the Farmhaven area of Mississippi.  No epic views, but a lovely, quiet spot in the woods that suited us just fine.  Our hosts’ house is farther back in the woods at the end of the driveway.  While not really visible in this photo, there is a shed to the right of their house with a washing machine and a dryer.  We were invited to use, and took advantage of the opportunity.  (Most commercial RV parks have laundry rooms, so we made use of those when available when needed.)

 

Today we completed our north to south transit of the Natchez Trace National Parkway at the south terminus in Natchez, Mississippi and then on across the Mississippi River to the River View RV Park & Resort in Vidalia, Louisiana, immediately across from Natchez.  In total, we drove all but about 10 miles of the 444-mile-long road, and that was only because a 10-mile stretch in/near Tupelo, MS was closed for construction/repairs.

 

Another view of our truck and trailer in our BW parking spot.  Barely visible near the center of the right edge of the frame is the electrical box where we were allowed to hook up to shorepower.

 

While not an “epic” trip, in comparison to some of the national scenic roads we have driven, it was a wonderful journey at a leisurely pace with light traffic and a nice mixture of scenery, culture, and history.  I mean, we took nine (9) days to pull our trailer from one end to the other a distance that we could easily have covered in two (2 days,) even with the trailer, or one (1) day without it.  But not on the NTNP, of course, which has a maximum speed limit of 50 MPH, with lower limits in some places.  No, this trip was an intentionally “slow roll” and was a kind of “bucket list” item that we had been trying to do for a while.

 

Natchez, Mississippi as viewed from Vidalia, Louisiana across the Mississippi River.  Most of the “downtown” area is to the left of the bridge.  The River level was very low.  The sand bar in the foreground is usually underwater and not visible.

 

As much as we would like to have the ability to dry-camp, our rig is only capable of doing that comfortably for a very short time in a very narrow temperature range.  We have two solar panels on the roof, but we do not travel with a generator, and our battery system is insufficient to run big loads.  We have propane for cooking, refrigeration, hot water heating, and forced-air space heating, but the last three appliances use DC power to run their control circuits, and the fan in the forced-air furnace is a real energy hog, precluding it’s use in cold weather precisely when we need i.  At the other extreme, we have two heat pumps which function as air-conditioners for cooling or can heat the rig efficiently in cool weather as long as it’s not too cold.  But they are 120VAC devices, and they still use a lot of power/energy.  Making the rig truly off-grid capable is something we discuss, but have not reached a conclusion on whether we will undertake the necessary modifications and upgrades.

 

There was a very nice walkway that went along the River by our RV park.  It extended up to and beyond the bridge, so we went for early evening stroll.

 

A closer view of the bridge with part of Natchez, MS visible on the horizon.

 

A barge being pushed (upstream, from right to left) by a tugboat (which seems backwards) passes under the bridge, being careful to stay in the center of the River in order to have sufficient underwater keel clearance.

 

Just beyond the bridge (on the north side) was the Vidalia Convention Center, a very nice-looking facility.

 

A selfie by the Vidalia Convention Center with Natchez, MS in the background.  I think the reason I never smile in selfies is that I am concentrating on framing the shot and also trying to remember to look at the lens, something both of us seem to have difficulty doing consistently.

 

Our site at River View RV Park & Resort on the western shore of the Mississippi River in Vidalia, Louisiana across the River from Natchez, MS.  And no, the name of the town has nothing to do with the onions, which get their name from Vidalia, Georgia.

 

While we were done traveling the NTNP with our travel trailer in tow, we were not quite done exploring the Trace, which I will cover in the post for tomorrow and the next day.

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Note:  This post contains 11 photos with captions and a little narrative.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

SATURDAY 28 October 2023 — NTNP 11 of 14 — West Florida Boundary and Vicksburg Civil War sites

 

Heading south on the Natchez Trace NP from our Boondockers Welcome site, our first stop was the West Florida Boundary parking area.  It was also a trailhead for a section of the Natchez Trace.  This photo provides a sense of scale to the trail and surrounding forest.

 

WEST FLORIDA BOUNDARY sign.  This image file is 1200×675 pixels and can be viewed a full-resolution on a suitable device.  The sign on the right with the map shows the territory known as “West Florida.”  The lower lower/narrow strip along the sea was the extent of the territory as of the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, at which time Great Britain gained control of the lands west to the Mississippi River.  The northern boundary of this area was set at 31 deg N latitude.  The region was quickly considered too restricted for settlement, and a year later (1764) the British (unilaterally) moved the northern boundary to 32 deg 28 min N latitude into the lands of the Choctaws and Creeks, approximately tripling its size.

 

This photo was taken at the Reservoir Overlook for the Ross R. Barnett Reservoir just on the NTNP near Ridgeland, Mississippi.  Our BW location was a bit northeast of here, closer to Canton, Mississippi.  The reservoir is on the Pearl River.  The photo is a composite of five images taken with the SONY alpha 6400.  It is 1200×327 pixels and can be viewed at full-resolution on a suitable device by clicking on the photo.

 

Another composite image from the Reservoir Overlook, this one taken with a Google Pixel 6.  (Photo by Linda)

 

The RESERVOIR OVERLOOK information sign.  The Ross R. Barnett Reservoir is formed by a large earthen dame and covers 50 square miles.  It is administered by the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, an agency of the State of Mississippi.

 

Although our focus for this trip was the Natchez Trace National Parkway, we realized that we were close enough to Vicksburg, Mississippi that we decided to detour over there and have a look.  One of the major tourist destinations in the Vicksburg area is the Vicksburg National Military Park and the Vicksburg National Battlefield.  Once we were there, we discovered the USS Cairo Gunboat and Museum site within the NMP, and checked it out.  The museum was not open when we visited the site, but we found the ship, as shown in the following four photographs, fascinating.

 

USS Cairo Gunboat, Vicksburg National Military Park (NMP), Vicksburg, MS.

 

USS Cairo Gunboat, Vicksburg NMP.

 

Paraphrased from Wikipedia:  The USS Cairo was the lead ship of the City-class casemate ironclads built at the beginning of the American Civil War to serve as river gunboats for the Union.  Cairo is named for Cairo, Illinois. In June 1862, she captured the Confederate garrison of Fort Pillow on the Mississippi, enabling Union forces to occupy Memphis.  As part of the Yazoo Pass Expedition, she was sunk in the Yazoo River (a spur of the Mississippi River) on 12 December 1862 (near Vicksburg), while clearing mines for the attack on Haines Bluff.  Cairo was the first ship ever to be sunk by a mine remotely detonated by hand.  The remains of the Cairo can be viewed at Vicksburg National Military Park with a museum of its weapons and naval stores.

 

USS Cairo Gunboat, Vicksburg NMP.

 

USS Cairo Gunboat, Vicksburg NMP.

 

The remains of the ship were discovered in 1956 and salvaged in 1964-65.  It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on 3 September 1971.  By 1980 Congress had authorized the National Park Service to accept the boat, move it to the Vicksburg NMP, and put in on display in conjunction with a museum to house the recovered artifacts and tell the story of the boat and its role in the Civil War.

 

One of the bunkers at the Vicksburg National Battlefield site.

 

This photo has nothing to do with the Civil War.  I’ve outlined the fuel economy readout on our F-150 instrumentation cluster.  Folks, you can’t make this stuff up; it really does say 29.1 (miles per gallon).  We had recently filled up the fuel tank and only traveled 39.3 miles, as shown in the lower left, so this was obviously light travel and slightly downhill.  Although this MPG is not sustainable under normal driving conditions, the number in the upper right indicates that we could travel another 747 miles before running out of fuel if we could maintain this MPG.

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Note:  This post contains 8 photos.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

THURSDAY 26 October 2023 — NTNP 9 of 14 — Choctaw Boundary

 

The JEFF BUSBY PARK information sign told us that Thomas Jefferson Busby, U.S. Congressman from Mississippi, introduced a bill on February 15, 1939 authorizing a survey of the Old Natchez Trace.  This was a direct result of the research and persistent lobbying of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to create the Natchez Trace National Parkway and resulted, four years later, in the historic road being designated a unit of the National Park System.  This park commemorates his role in the Parkway’s establishment.

 

 

Our explorations today of the Natchez Trace National Parkway (NTNP) included some of the section between Tupelo and Jackson, Mississippi, within reasonable driving distance of the campground, which is near Ackerman, MS.

 

 

 

 

 

These are Swamp Tupelo trees.  There might also be Bald Cypress trees in this swamp, at least we recall seeing both at one point along the NTNP.  The name Tupelo is of native origin.  From the National Forest Foundation website:  “The name “tupelo,” a common name used for several varieties of Nyssa trees, literally means “swamp tree” in the language of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation (ito ‘tree’ + opilwa ‘swamp’).”

 

CHOCTAW BOUNDARY  The map on this information sign shows the territory ceded to the USA when “…tribal leaders in central Mississippi signed the Treaty of Doak’s Stand, ceding rich cotton lands in the delta region east of the Mississippi River for approximately thirteen million acres in the Canadian, Kiamichi, Arkansas, and Red River watersheds in southeastern Oklahoma.  The history of the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma began with the signing of this treaty on October 8, 1820 and ratified in Congress January 8, 1821.  To a much greater extent than we realized when planning this trip, the history of the Natchez Trace includes the history of the native people who occupied this land for a very long time prior to the arrival of Europeans in what became known as North America.

 

A trip down the NTNP is a trip through more than just American and native history.  Before the British and the eventual founding of the USA, the French and Spanish were here, as the following photo explains:

 

PEARL RIVER  This information sign tells that Pierre Le Moyne (Sieur) d’Iberville (a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader) sailed into the mouth of this river in 1698 and discovered pearls, thus the origin of the name.  A hundred years later, the Natchez Trace avoided marshy lowlands by following a route between the Pearl and the Big Black Rivers for about 150 miles.  Since 1812, the last 75 miles of the river have served as the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana.  D’Iberville is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France.

 

Here’s the information sign explaining the TUPELO-BALDCYPRESS SWAMP.  These trees take root in summer when the swamp is mostly dry, but the seedlings have the somewhat unique ability to survive and thrive in water that that is deep enough to kill other plants.

 

CHOCTAW BOUNDARY (complete sign).  This image is 1200×742 pixels, and can be viewed full size on devices with suitable screen resolution.  In addition to the map shown in the third photo in this post, it includes the two wing signs, labeled INDIAN TREAT and DOAKS STAND.  The sign on the left indicates that a line of trees crossing the (now) Parkway just to the left marks part of the boundary that was agreed to in the aforementioned Treaty.

 

This FRENCH CAMP information sign tells yet another story of how a place got its name.  Around 1812, Louis Leflore first traded with the Choctaw Indians in the area northeast of the Trace.  Because he was of French nationality, the area was referred to as French Camp.  The name stuck and is still used today.  Interestingly, he married a Choctaw woman and their son, who changed his name to Greenwood Leflore, became a Choctaw Chief and a Mississippi State Senator.  The City of Greenwood and the County of Leflore are named for him.

 

This panorama shows another view of the Choctaw Lake Campground while Linda and I are out for an early evening stroll following our day exploring another section of the NTNP.

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Note:  This post contains 8 photos.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

TUESDAY 24 October 2023 — NTNP 7 of 14 — Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield

 

Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield sign.

The Natchez Trace National Parkway (NTNP) passes through a part of the “deep South” that was heavily impacted by the Civil War.  From Wikipedia (paraphrased):  Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield site memorializes the Battle of Brices Cross Roads in which a U.S. Army force was defeated by a smaller Confederate force commanded by Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest on June 10, 1864, but nevertheless secured Union supply lines between Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee.  The 1-acre site is a grassy park with a flagpole, a memorial monument, two cannons, and some information signs.  The monument and site are very similar to that at Tupelo National Battlefield.  Brices Cross Roads, however, is the only component of the National Park System designated a “battlefield site.”  I felt that last point was interesting in and of itself.

 

 

WITCH DANCE information sign.  The site of local lore, also part of the history of the Natchez Trace.

 

LINE CREEK information sign.  A long time ago a nearby creek that flows through this valley was accepted as the boundary between the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, and remained so until both tribes moved to Oklahoma in the 1830’s.  The course of the creek has changed over the years, but the name has stuck.

 

OLD TRACE information sign.  A 200+ year old section of the “Old Trace” is preserved here, and we walked it.  The sign describes the difficulty of creating and maintaining a nearly 500-mile-long path through the wilderness and how readily nature seeks to reclaim the ground, as shown in the next photograph this section of the trail/road.

 

Maintaining this 10-foot-wide section of the Old Trace involves constant work.  Without continuous human intervention, nature would, it its own time, completely reclaim this path.

 

Elements of Exchange.  Although the type is too small to read in this photo, the map highlights the territories of the Eastern Woodland nations and discusses the materials that served as “currency” for trading purposes.

 

These are obviously mounds, and the photo was taken about 4 minutes after the previous one, so I know they were in the same general area, but we failed to photograph a sign telling me about their significance.

 

OLD TOWN CREEK information sign.  This gist of the historical factoid reported here is that in the early 1800’s ordinary Americans could not be bothered to learn the Chickasaw names for their villages and other landmarks and features.  Thus, a nearby village was dubbed “Old Town” and the name eventually became attached to the creek that runs through the valley.

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Note:  This post contains 13 photos.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

SUNDAY 22 October 2023 — NTNP 5 of 14 — Tennessee-Alabama-Mississippi State Lines

Today was our full day at Fall Hallow CG/RVpark/B&B.  The weather was nice, and we took advantage of it to further explore the section of the NTNP from here south a way, having explored from here north yesterday.  Fall Hallow CG is in Hohenwald, Tennessee, but traveling south from here, the Trace cuts across the northwest corner of Alabama.  The first photo below is for Pharr Mounds in Mississippi.  Subsequent photos show the signs for the Mississippi and Alabama sides of their common border along the Trace.

 

PHARR MOUNDS information sign describing the largest and most important native American archeological site in northern Mississippi.  The pre-European tribes in this area where part of the much larger and more extensive Mississippian mound culture, whose center was in Cahokia, Illinois.

 

Ancient mounds co-exist with present day agricultural use of the land.

 

Part of the dashboard in our F-150.  Yup, it shows an average fuel economy of 28.4 MPG.  The F-150 is capable of this when not towing the trailer, the fuel tank has just been topped off, good driving, light traffic, and flat roads with no stops.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Crossing into Mississippi from Alabama on the NTNP.

 

I walked to the other side of the road to photograph the matching sign entering Alabama from Mississippi on the NTNP.

 

The terrain in this area was not all flat, and afforded views like this on occasion.

 

Information sign for ROCK SPRING TRAIL which crosses Colbert Creek and meanders through woodlands to get to Rock Spring.  The sign indicates that since 1977 numerous beaver dams have been built here and subsequently destroyed by high water.

 

This panorama of Rock Spring is a composite of four images made with Microsoft Image Composer.  The resolution if 1200×360 pixels, and can be displayed at full resolution on a device with a suitable monitor.

 

This is a bicycle repair station at one of the rest areas in this section of the NTNP.  It has a “rack” for hanging the bike, all of tools one might need (suitably tethered to the post), and an air pump with integrated air pressure gauge.  Although not yet mentioned in this series of blog posts, bicyclists were much in evidence all along the NTNP and this was not the only such repair stand that we saw.  Most of the cyclists were self-contained.  Some of them camped in the NTNP campgrounds while others stayed in motels just off the Trace.

 

A all-purpose, 3-way water/drinking fountain at the same rest stop as the bicycle repair stand; Left portion for filling water bottles, center for drinking, and bottom right for “Fido.”

 

 

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STATE LINE information signs.  This set of signs describes the boundary between Tennessee (right, north) and Alabama (left, south).  The image is 1200×675 pixels, and can be displayed at full size on a device with appropriate resolution.

 

McGLAMERY STAND information sign.  It says that “a stand was an inn or trading post—sometimes both—established along a well traveled route.”  The one here was established in 1849.  It did not outlast the Civil War, but the nearby village still retains the name.

 

Linda picks her way carefully across a stone portion of trail where it crosses a very wet area.

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Note:  This post contains 7 photos.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.

 

SATURDAY 21 October 2023 — NTNP 4 of 14 — North end NTNP and Meriwether Lewis

Today was a relocation day in which we moved the travel trailer from the Grand Ole RV Resort in Goodlettsville, Tennessee to Fall Hollow Campground, RV Park, and B&B in Hohenwald, Tennessee.  Again, we camped here for two nights.  As RV parks go, this was not a great place and we did not have a great site.  But we had a FHU site, and the campground was located the desired distance from our previous RV park, so it served its purpose of moving us on down the road and using the full day (tomorrow) to explore the next section of the Trace within reasonable driving distance of the RV park.

 

The Meriwether Lewis Memorial.

 

A reproduction of the Grinder House (I think) where Meriwether Lewis met his demise.

The Natchez Trace National Parkway is not just a pretty drive on a nice paved road; it is that, but it is much more.  Although 440 miles long between it’s northern and southern termini, it is sometimes narrow enough that you could throw a ball across it.  In the wider sections, it is still rarely even a mile wide.  It is also a trail (Trace is French for trail) through history, and that history includes the indigenous people that lived in this part of what became North American long before Europeans arrived on the continent, and were still very much here as the USA expanded westward in the many decades following the War of Independence.

 

A plaque marking the site of the actual Grinder House where Meriwether Lewis died.

We quickly discovered, but were not surprised, that the National Park Service had done their usual exemplary job of making an overarching view of this history available to those travelers who were willing to take the time to read information placards, walk the trails, and ponder the few remaining remnants of a past era.

And, as history is want to do, there were intersections with other aspects of USA history that we did not know about or expect.  One of those intersections had to do with Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the Louisiana Purchase.  Lewis, who was President Thomas Jefferson’s private secretary, ended up in this area of the Trace, very much in debt as a result of the expedition.  Despondent about the inability of the Government (congress) to reimburse him for expenses, he took his own life on October 11, 1809.  Perhaps we learned this in our high school American History class but if so, I did not recall it.  We did not learn why he came he, so that is a question left for the reader.

The following photos highlight a few additional aspects of this portion of the NTNP.

 

Information sign for the STEELE’S IRON WORKS site.  Dating from 1820, a charcoal burning furnace located here was used to make pig iron.  Metal Ford crosses the Buffalo River just beyond this sign.

 

Metal Ford was a natural rock ledge that made it possible to cross (ford) the River at this place by the Steele’s Iron Works.  Crossing creeks, streams, and rivers was one of the many challenges of transiting the Trace.

 

Linda captures a picture of me positioning myself to get a photo of Metal Ford at the Steele’s Iron Works site, NTNP.  (Photo by Linda.)

 

And here’s the photo I took of Metal Ford at the Steele’s Iron Works site, NTNP.

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Note:  This is the 16th of 16 posts about our 21-day trip that included a 17-day (16-night) cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship SPIRIT from Vancouver, British Columbia north along the inside passage to Sitka, Alaska, and then across the North Pacific Ocean to the Hawaiian Islands, before ending in Honolulu, Oahu.  This post has 13 photographs with captions and some narrative.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

FRIDAY 15 September 2023 — (T20-21,C17) Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii and home

This was the 20th day of our trip, and the 17th and final day of our cruise.  We arrived in the early morning hours at the cruise port in Honolulu, Oahu, our final port-of-call in the Hawaiian Islands.  (It was a 21-day trip in total, as we would not arrive back at our home in Michigan until the following day, but I cover a few highlights of that at the end of this post.)

On the last day of a cruise, passengers must disembark fairly early in the day so the crew can “turn the ship around” and get it ready for the next set of passengers, who will start their embarkation by late morning.  When leaving from and returning to ports in the continental USA, we can usually arrange flights back to Michigan that allow us plenty of time to get to the airport without having to wait too long to board our plane after getting there.  In the case of this cruise, however, the most “reasonable” flight we could book departed at around 5 PM local time.  That meant we had to figure out what to do during the day, which included what to do with our luggage, a not insignificant issue.

The easiest solution was to book a motorcoach shore excursion that included transportation to the Honolulu International Airport, with our luggage safely stored onboard the motorcoach until we were dropped off at our terminal.  Yes, pre- and post-cruise shore excursions are a “thing,” as are pre- and post-tour transportation options.  Actually, any service a cruise line can provide, or product they can sell, to extract a bit more money from their customers is a thing.  In this case, however, it was an excellent option for us.  Although we had been to Pearl Harbor on our last visit to Hawaii, it was the shore excursion that best met the needs of passengers, like us, with flights departing after 3 PM local time.  And so, we went to Pearl Harbor.

Although still very much an active military base, the Pearl Harbor National Memorial is an interesting, historically important, and somber place that draws some 2 Million visitors every year.  Perhaps we were just tired from the cruise, but it seemed like half of those people were there today, or perhaps just half of the people from our cruise ship.  They weren’t, of course, but the place did seem crowed.  Since we had already seen many of the major sites that make up the National Memorial, we were not motivated to spend more money beyond our entrance fee just to stand in lines and deal with crowds to try to see them again.  We decided to just stroll the grounds instead, read placards, take a few photos, and find something to eat.  Our biggest problem was finding someplace to sit (at all, never mind comfortable) and stay out of the sun.  As we’ve gotten older, however, I think we’ve gotten better at just quietly “passing the time” when we find ourselves in situations that require it, or at least benefit from adopting that attitude.

Here are a few photos from that day, followed by an epilogue to wrap up our 21-day trip.

 

Our ship was already at the dock when I took this photo around 6 AM local time.

 

I am always interested in structures, machines, etc.  Shown here is a service ramp that has already been deployed from the terminal to the ship.

 

The famous Diamond Head (extinct volcano) at the far east end of Waikiki Beach, backlit by the sunrise around 6:30 AM.

 

Another view looking towards Diamond Head, which is towards the right edge of the frame at the horizon, showing some of the skyscrapers in this part of Honolulu.  These could be hotels, apartment/condos, or office buildings.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Since we had to disembark early, we were up and dressed early to get a bite to eat and have one last stroll around the ship.  At ~6:30 AM we had the walking track on Deck 13 (ABIR) to ourselves.  The pool has been covered with netting to keep people out, or catch anyone who might fall in.

 

A panorama composited from five (5) images of the harbor off the port side of the ship.

 

Another early morning photo from the starboard side walking track with the harbor behind Bruce.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Yes, this is a photo of the TV screen in our stateroom.

Regarding the above photo, the left side of the screen clearly shows the time to be 17:01 UTC and the upper right corner shows the time to be 07:01 (local) establishing the 10-hour time difference between Honolulu and Greenwich, England (where Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and UTC are usually the same).

UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) is a time standard that never changes (no daylight savings time nonsense), while GMT is a time zone, in which Greenwich, England is located.  We live in the Eastern Time zone (EST or EDT, depending on the time of year), which is UTC minus 5 this time of year (Daylight savings time was still in effect in the USA).  By the time we arrived back in Michigan, our plane (and us) had been in six (6) time zones over ~ 9-1/2 hours in the air.

The screen also shows our position at 21 degrees 18.12 minutes North Latitude and 157 degrees 51.92 minutes West Longitude.  Linda captured an image (not shown here) of the lower left corner of the screen indicating that our total distance traveled (in the ship) was 4,502 nautical miles (5,180.8 statute miles).  The flight distance from DTW (Detroit) to YVR (Vancouver) is ~1,959 miles, and the flight distance from HNL (Honolulu) to DTW (Detroit) is ~ 4,475 miles.  Thus, the total distance traveled on this trip, not including excursions, was ~ 11,614 statute miles, or ~553 miles per day on average.

 

Welcome to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, which includes Memorials for the USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and USS Utah, all lost on the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

An anchor that was salvaged from the USS Arizona.

 

The low white building with the curved roof is the USS Arizona Memorial.  It straddles the ship in its final resting place and has a glass floor, allowing visitors to view the remains of part of the ship.  We visited this Memorial on our previous visit.  (Photo by Linda)

 

A circular courtyard that surrounds a relief map of Pearl Harbor, and has plaques with the names of the lost, provided some place to sit and contemplate the events of the day that pulled the USA into World Ward II.  (Photo by Linda)

 

A broader view of the grounds at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.  The USS Arizona Memorial is visible at the left edge of the frame.  The site is beautifully maintained, as you would expect, and is accessible for those visitors with mobility issues.  I think the exception is the submarine tour, as it involves climbing stairs and, ABIR, ladders.  We toured the submarine on our previous visit to the National Memorial.

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Epilogue (T20-21) — Friday evening 15 September & Saturday 16 September

With our drop-off at the Honolulu International Airport around 3 PM, our NCL SPIRIT cruise was officially concluded.  We were no longer “cruisers,” just ordinary travelers waiting to fly home.  The drop-off point was a “back” entrance to the terminal and it was a bit confusing at first figuring out where to go once we were inside.  But we figured it out in short enough order, and began the process of checking our two larger suitcases, clearing through the TSA checkpoint, finding our gate, and waiting to be called to board the airplane.  The airport was busy;  the Hawaiian Islands are a popular tourist destination, and Honolulu International Airport is the major way most people arrive and depart.

Time zones are fascinating, and while travel across them can be interesting, it can also be challenging, especially as regards sleeping.  (As noted in several posts, I’ve also had an issue merging photos from three different devices in correct chronological sequence.  This has been due to different devices using different time references when naming and tagging image files.)  ABIR, our Delta Airlines flight was scheduled to depart at around 5 PM Honolulu time.  At 5 PM in Honolulu, it was already 10 PM in Detroit, Michigan, and within a couple of hours of taking off, it was Saturday, 16 September at home.

We had an approximately 4,500-mile trip ahead of us at an average (air) speed of ~500 mph, so roughly a 9-hour flight plus a 30-minute allowance for ground operations (takeoff and landing combined).  The actual time, gate-to-gate, could have been more or less depending on prevailing wind speeds and directions at flight altitude (which tend to be from west to east, so a favorable tailwind), or the need to detour around severe weather.  That put our estimated time of arrival at Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) at 6:30 AM local time.  Realistically, that meant we should be off the plane, luggage collected, and ready for pickup by around 7:30 AM, but I no longer recall exactly what time we reached the gate.  Early, in any event, but not hugely inconvenient for our son, who lives about 30 minutes from the airport, and had agreed to fetch us upon our arrival.

As with past cruises, we had one of our children take us to the airport and pick us up upon our return.  That has usually been our daughter, but for this trip it was our son.  We drove our F-150 to his house on departure day and he chauffeured us from/to there.  Part of the reason for this, was that he and his wife wanted to get the truck “detailed” while we were away.  They had borrowed it during the summer, along with the Airstream travel trailer, to use for a family vacation and wanted to get it cleaned up as a “thank you” for letting them use it.  We did not expect them to do this, of course, but we were not going to say “no” either.  They also live closer to the airport than our daughter does.

Back at his house the rest of the family was awake, so we got to see our two youngest grand-daughters and tell everyone a little bit about our trip.  We eventually left for home and arrived to find Cabella (the cat who is not our cat, or so we say) waiting for us, even though she had lived outside for the entire duration of our trip.  (She is an outside cat who has become an outside/inside cat while we are trying to figure out how to take care of her in a way that works for her and us.)  Our neighbor, Mike, had kept an eye on the house (and the cat) while we were away, making sure she had water and refilling her automatic food feeder as needed.

I always like to launder all of the clothes we have had with us on any trip (short or long), but that was a task that would wait until tomorrow and get spread over a couple of days so as not to overload the septic system (or me).  What could not wait, was putting the water treatment system back in full operation.  I shut it off whenever we are gone for more than few days so the tanks do not regenerate, which puts a lot of water into the sump.  I recall that we talked about stopping at a Panera to get something to eat, but I don’t recall what we actually did for lunch or dinner.  I suspect we found something to eat for dinner in our refrigerator and/or panty as Linda usually plans for that when we go on shorter trips.  We had, after all, eaten out every meal for the last 21 days.  For longer trips, we try to use up any fresh food before we leave.

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Note:  This is the 15th of 16 posts about our 21-day trip that included a 17-day (16-night) cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship SPIRIT from Vancouver, British Columbia to Honolulu, Oahu.  This post has 20 photographs with captions and some narrative.  Photos taken by me (Bruce) with a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

THURSDAY 14 September 2023 — (T19,C16) Hilo, Hawai’i, Hawaii and Mona Kea

This was the 19th day of our trip, and the 16th day of our cruise and saw us arrive in the cruise port at Hilo, Hawai’i (the Big Island), Hawaii (the State of).  Our main activity was a shore excursion that stopped at Rainbow Falls Lookout before taking us to the observatories atop Mona Kea (also spelled “Muanakea”).

At 13,803 feet (4,207.3 m) AMSL, which is also its “wet prominence,” the summit of Mona Kea (Muanakea) is the highest point of land in the Hawaiian Islands, and the second highest island mountain summit on earth.  From Wikipedia:  “Because the Hawaiian Islands slope deep into the ocean, Mauna Kea has a dry prominence of 9,330 m (30,610 ft) (it’s height if the ocean was “drained” of water. This dry prominence is taller than Mount Everest’s height above sea level of 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft), so Everest would have to include whole continents in its foothills to exceed Mauna Kea’s dry prominence. …”  The highest summit on an island is Puncak Jaya in New Guinea, Indonesia, which stands at an impressive elevation of 4,884 meters (16,024 feet) above mean sea level.

 

Our first view of Hawai’i (the Big Island) and Mona Kea.  This panoramic photo is a composite of five (5) images.  Mona Loa is just visible at the left edge of the frame.

 

Sunrise lights up Mona Kea as the NCL SPIRIT slowly motors towards the cruise port in Hilo, Hawai’i, Hawaii.  The photo is 900×678 pixels and can be viewed at full-resolution on compatible devices.  (Photo by Linda)

 

A selfie at Rainbow Falls Overlook in Hilo, Hawai’i, HI.

 

A flower along the trail at Rainbow Falls Overlook.  (Photo by Linda)

 

We always try to take a photo of signs to identify where we are.  If we can get a photo with a clock in it, so much the better as it helps me time sync photos to local time.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Rainbow Fall in Hilo, Hawai’i, HI.

 

I’m holding grand-daughter Sadie’s “Apa and Ama” artwork to mark our location at the Mona Kea ranger station / store (the building behind me).  We are already at/above the level of the clouds.

 

The Mona Kea ranger station/store/museum with our tour van in the front parking lot.  From a web search:  “The Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station (VIS) on Maunakea is open every day of the year from 9am to 9pm.  Located at the 9,200 foot (2,804 meter) level, they provide health, safety, and other information about Maunakea along with access control.  The road up the mountain is open to any/all visitors up this building.  Beyond this point, permission is needed and a 4-wheel drive vehicle is required.  Our tour van met both of those criteria.

 

The VIS has a store with various Mona Kea and astronomy related merchandise.  It is also a small museum focused on telescopes and other things astronomical.

 

One of the radio telescopes on top of Mona Kea.  (Photo by Linda)

 

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a joint operation of several universities under the auspices of the National Science Foundation.

 

Our tour guide presents information on the various rocks that make up Mona Kea.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Our tour guide had a Mauna Kea (Mona Kea) sign for photo ops for his customers.  Linda is holding grand-daughter Sadie’s “Apa and Ama” artwork.  (Photo taken with Linda’s phone, but obviously taken by someone else, probably our tour guide.)

 

A panoramic view of several telescopes made using the panorama feature of the Pixel 6 Pro.   This photo file is 1080×271 pixels and can be viewed at full-resolution on compatible devices.

 

This is a composite of two (2) images, showing several different types of telescopes on Mona Kea, how they are situated, and the road(s) that are used to access them.  Not all of the telescopes have a 360-degree clear view of the horizon.  They are situated based on available real estate and what part of the sky they need to be able to see.

 

By now it should be obvious that we were there, but here’s another selfie, just to prove the point.

 

The same two observatories as the previous photo without us in the frame.

 

This panorama is a composite of eight (8) images.  The photo file is 1920×363 pixels, so there is a lot of detail that can be seen on a device with appropriate screen resolution.  There are at least 15 telescopes of various kinds visible in the image, along with a portion of the amazing road system that winds up to and around the observatories and support buildings.

 

Last, but not least, a photo of the actual summit of Mona Kea, several hundred feet above where we are standing, and higher than the highest observatory on the mountain.  Why?  Because the summit is a sacred site to indigenous Hawaiians that is used for special ceremonies throughout the year.  As such, it is not open to the public at any time.

 

We are back on the ship in the theater at the conclusion of the evening’s entertainment at ~10:15 PM.  If was the final ensemble performance of the cruise and featured most of the performers who had entertained us throughout the last couple of weeks.  The performances were of a high enough caliber that we were always entertained.  This final performance was over, so cameras where very evident as passengers tried to capture the celebratory moment.  I took this photo to provide some context for the look of the theater.

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Note:  This is the 14th of 16 posts about our 21-day trip that included a 17-day (16-night) cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship SPIRIT from Vancouver, British Columbia to Honolulu, Oahu.  This post has 20 photographs with captions and some narrative.  Photos by me (Bruce) using a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

WEDNESDAY 13 September 2023 — (T18,C15) Kahului, Maui, Hawaii

Our ship arrived in the harbor at Kahului, Maui early this morning.  As was well-reported in the news, Maui had recently suffered a devastating fire in and around Lahaina.  This obviously impacted some of the planned shore excursions, but we did not detect anyone being upset about changes in planned offerings.  Indeed, tourists were being encouraged to visit Maui and support the local economy, but the Lahaina area was obviously off limits.  Any disappointment for cruise passengers was inconsequential compared to the loss and suffering of the impacted islanders.

Our main activity today was a shore excursion with “Hike Maui” east along the first portion of “the road to Hana.”  We were transported in vans and had an excellent tour guide.  There was a lot of walking, but it was mostly easy and it was nice to get off the ship and use our legs to walk around town and in the woods.

 

The NCL SPIRIT approaches Kahului, Maui, Hawaii at sunrise.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Linda soaks up the sunrise as it floods the port side of the ship inbound to Kahului, Maui.

 

The mountains loom behind Kahului, Maui and make their own weather, as mountains are want to do.

 

This sign says it all:  “Aloha, Welcome to Kahului, Maui, Hawaii” with the NCL SPIRIT in the background.  We enjoyed our time on this ship.  It’s the smallest ship in the NCL fleet, but it’s still pretty big.

 

I hold Sadie’s “Apa and Ama” artwork by a large map of Maui, Hawaii.  Notice how the island resembles a person in lying on their side with the head at the upper left and facing down and slightly left.  The cruise port at Kahului is in the curve of the neck on the back (north/upper) side.  Most of the head is high mountains.  The town of Lahaina, which suffered the worst of the recent fire, is more or less directly opposite Kahului on the other side of the central mountains.  Travel to that area was not allowed, of course, as the area is still recovering and rebuilding.  (Photo by Linda)

 

From a web search:  Maui is an island formed by two volcanoes: Haleakala and Mauna Kahalawai. Haleakala is a 10,000 foot shield volcano that means “House of the Sun” and had its recent eruptions between 1480 and 1600.  Maui is an island formed by two volcanoes: Haleakala and Mauna Kahalawai. Haleakala is a 10,000 foot shield volcano that means “House of the Sun” and had its recent eruptions between 1480 and 160012. Mauna Kahalawai is an eroded shield volcano also known as the West Maui Mountains (the “head”) that last erupted 320,000 years ago. Maui does not have any active volcanoes, unlike Hawaiʻi Island, which has two of the world’s most active volcanoes: Kīlauea and Maunaloa.

 

We went on a shore excursion with “Hike Maui.”  Our first stop was the town of Paia.  From a web search:  Pā’ia is  a census-designated place on Maui, Hawaii with a population of 2,470 as of the 2020 census.  It is home to several restaurants, art galleries, surf shops and other tourist-oriented businesses. It was formerly home to the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Mill from 1880 to 2000.  Pā’ia is the first town on the Hana Highway when heading eastbound towards Hana.  It was cute, inviting, and very walkable.  “Surf shops” were much in evidence.

 

We came across a ukelele shop while strolling around downtown Paia.  Yes, Ukuleles really are a thing in the Hawaiian Islands, and this shop had a lot of them!  They were all exquisite instruments whose craftsmanship was obvious, and are sold to customers all over the world.  They ranged in price quite a bit but some of them were, as you might expect, very expensive.

 

The front façade of the Mele Ukulele shop.  I had a nice conversation with the owner, as much about photography and cameras (he was also a SONY shooter) as about ukuleles and living on tropical paradise island.

 

“Hike Maui” has taken us to a bamboo grove.  Much of the bamboo was very tall, as shown in the next photo.  The tour provided water and a light lunch, which was appreciated.

 

The tour guide used Linda’s Pixel 6 to take this photo in which we are dwarfed by a stand of bamboo.  It was nice to have a photo of the two of us that wasn’t a selfie.  (Photo by Linda, sort of)

 

The plant life in Hawaii is remarkable; unique, diverse, beautiful and fragile (to outside negative influences).

 

Our tour guide stops to explain some plant life along the trail.  (Photo by Linda)

 

I just liked this plant, photographically:  An interesting backlit pattern in contrasting shades of green.

 

We pause on our way to the waterfall and wading pool for photo op.  (Photo by Linda’s phone, but someone else obviously took the photo.)

 

On part of a hike to a small waterfall and swimming hole we had to go through this tunnel of twisted branches.  This was one of just many interesting things that were part of the hike.

 

We always appreciate good signposts to help us get where we need to go.

 

This view seemed to be quintessentially Maui; a rugged coast with a white sand beach set off by beautiful blue and green water and a blue sky with some puffy clouds.  If you look carefully at the white sand beach, you will also see a large gathering of very large sea turtles.

 

A zoomed in view of a section of the beach showing the very large sea turtles resting on the sand.  This section of the beach was closed off and posted “No Admittance” but we saw people ignoring that, both from land and from the sea.  (Photo by Linda)

 

I included this photo to show that Hawaiians’ also have a sense of humor.

 

We are back on the ship and having diner around 7:30 PM.  We did not do specialty dining very often, but we got two dinner meals as part of our fare, so we apparently used our second one this evening to dine at Teppanyaki, the Japanese table side grill.  The food was excellent and the chef was very entertaining.  (Photo by Linda)

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Note:  This is the 12th of 16 posts about our 21-day trip that included a 17-day (16-night) cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship SPIRIT from Vancouver, British Columbia to Honolulu, Oahu.  This post has 26 photographs with captions and some narrative.  I think I finally figured out the file naming/numbering scheme used on the Google Pixel 6 / 6 Pro phones and how to relate that to the EXIF date/time stamps on the phone and SONY a6400 photos.  Which is to say, the photos in this post should be in the correct chronological order and I know what time of day (local) they were taken.  Photos taken by me (Bruce) using a SONY alpha 6400 or Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

 

MONDAY 11 September 2023 — (T16,C13) Nawiliwili, Kauai, Hawaii and McBryde National Tropical Botanical Garden.

After spending five (5) nights, four (4) full days, and part of two (2) other days crossing the North Pacific Ocean, we finally sighted land early this morning.  It was the 16th day of our trip, and the 13th day of our cruise.  By 6:30 AM we were making our way into the harbor at Nawiliwili, Kauai, Hawaii, but we sighted land well before that.  Although I had been to Hawaii once before, and Linda had been here twice, It would be our first visit to this island, as well as to Maui, and we were excited to see them.

Our main activity today was a shore excursion to the McBryde National Tropical Botanical Garden (McBryde Garden or MNTBG), with a stop along the seashore on the way there.  Our guide for the tour of the Garden was a former director of the facility.  It was obvious that he really knew his stuff, and still had a great passion for all things botanical.

 

The NCL SPIRIT enters the harbor at Nawiliwili, Kauai, Hawaii.  (Photo by Linda)

 

A golf course at the entrance to the Nawiliwili, Kauai harbor.  Almost makes me want to take up golf.  Nope.

 

The “Apa and Ama were here” photo from the harbor at Nawiliwili with the marina and mountains behind.  (Photo by Linda)

 

A scenic stop along the coast on our drive to McBryde Garden.

 

Another photo from the scenic stop, looking in the other direction up the coast.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Life seems to be everywhere in the Hawaiian Islands.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Another scenic stop, this time after entering the McBryde National Tropical Botanical Garden property.  (Photo by Linda)

 

The contrast of colors and textures caught my eye.  MNTPG.

 

An interesting flowering plant at the MNTBG.

 

There are small frogs on the Lilley pads at MNTBG.  (This photo is 900×600 pixels.  Click to view full size on an appropriate device.)

 

This fruit was larger than appears (the leaves were really big!).  MNTBG.

 

We don’t see plants like this back in Michigan, except in greenhouse environments.  MNTBG.  (Photo by Linda)

 

The variety of green plant leaves provides a nice backdrop for the very colorful flowers at the MNTBG.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Our guide for the McBryde Garden tour was a former director of the NTBG.  He was very knowledgeable, and clearly still had a deep passion for plants and for the Garden.  Here he is cutting up a large piece of fruit, which grows there, so we can all try a piece.

 

A “walled” garden space at MNTBG, with the walls made of plants.

 

Another interesting plant at MNTBG.

 

And yet another interesting plant in flower at MNTBG.

 

Much of McBryde Garden had a very natural look and feel.  There were places, such as this courtyard, that were clearly designed and built to provide architectural elements within the landscape.  The wavy structure down the center of the photo carries running water.

 

Every now and then we have to stop and take a selfie.  We are not very good at it, but it’s required, you know.  MNTBG.  (Photo by Linda)

 

A different view of the same end of the courtyard showing the statue and bench.  The “walls” of this courtyard are plant material again.  MNTBG.

 

These very large trees had amazing, exposed root systems.  For a sense of scale, the little blue patch at the center of the base is me in my blue Columbia shirt.  (Photo by Linda)

 

Linda stands by a different tree (same species) as the previous photo.  MNTBG.

 

We encountered quite a few chickens on Kauai, including here at McBryde Garden.  The egg-shaped rocks among the roots are referred to as “dinosaur eggs.”  (Photo by Linda)

 

The green leaves with white dots caught my eye, and reminded me of “candy dots” that I would peel off of a paper backing as a child.  A quick Google search revealed that they are still very much available.  MNTBG.

 

This map of McBryde Garden should probably have come first, but we came across it at the end of our tour.  As shown, a small river (creek, stream) runs through the full length of the property.

 

One last flower photo as we wrap up at McBryde Garden.

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