Fancy profile picture, aboard a ship!

The new profile picture was made on July 12, the day of the "formal" pictures, on board the "Golden Princess" while at sea in Alaska. One of our group of about 120 people made the picture there in the ship's atrium. I am wearing an over-top that I crocheted. I was 69 years old in May. The trip was arranged through the PR and Alumni office of Florida College near Tampa, Florida, which I attended beginning in August, 1962, though nowhere near everyone with our group was an alumni nor associated with the college. We all met at a hotel in Seattle, then were bused on Sunday morning, July 7, to the church of Christ in Burien, Washington, then to the ship. When the ship got back to Seattle early July 14, buses were also arranged to take some to the airport for early flights, and others of us to morning worship. We also had daily devotions and information meetings on the ship. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime, and one that I enjoyed more than a trip to Hawaii in 2006.

All my poems, etc., part 2

If you are coming to this late, and seeing a lot of things that I call Facebook Poems, there is a reason/excuse. About mid-June, I hadn't posted anything anywhere, nor texted anyone, and I don't like to talk on the phone ... so I decided that, when I can, which is almost every day unless the internet is down or I am out of town and do not have access, that one of the first times I'll do each day is write something - usually a poem - on Facebook. I label it simply "Facebook poems", though they cover a lot of subjects. I am labeling THIS note with all the labels I have used. That way, if you click on some label/subject that you think you might find interesting, everything I've labeled as such will show up on this blog. Thanks for reading what I write. I hope that you get a smile, or a laugh, or some encouragement, or that they make you think, etc. Feel free to comment on things I write, too. Thanks. (I am having to post this twice so as to show all the labels that I've made!)

The trip to Hawaii

I would have had a better time if I'd had someone about my age to pal around with, and go with on shore excursions. My cabinmate was nice, very pretty, young at heart, but was old enough to be my mother.

I'm a bit of a trainiac, and one shore excursion I signed for included a boat ride on the only navigable river in Hawaii, and a train ride. Wouldn't you know that that trip was canceled ... And of course I was interested in a luau. It was at the Kalamaku Plantation on Kauai. Turned out about 1,000 people attended the luau. I was seated WAY in the back of the huge pole barn, and it was late afternoon, and I don't see well. I couldn't see what was happening on the stage, and with all the chatter of the drunks I was seated with, I couldn't hear much. I ate a little then wandered around the grounds alone until time to get back on the bus and go back to the ship.

I did ride "The Liberty" at the Dole Plantation, and rode the train (with an actual steam locomotive) at the Kalamaku Plantation. The "Hanalei" was one of the passenger cars.

I got lucky in one instance. I love music, and had researched native Hawaiian music on line ahead of time, and bought some CDs. The first Sunday afternoon there, the hotel where I stayed was a short distance from an outside mall, not quite a flea market. I found a music vendor, and told the seller things I liked. On the only shore excursion that my cabinmate and I took together, I asked the driver about music. (I was always seated at the very front of the tour buses because of my eyesight.) He asked who I was familiar with, and I named some. He asked, "Do you have ...'s latest?" I said I didn't. He told me to wait a minute when we got back to the ship. Turned out that he was one of the producers for Na Leo ... and he gave autographed CDs to both my cabinmate and me!

Vacations

Thanks to a good friend of mine, in April, 1997 or '98, I got to go to England, Holland, and Germany. The flights (Pittsburg to Gatwick/London, and Dallas to Honolulu) were terrible - because they each took 8 hours.

Here's 3 pictures of the NCL ship, the "Pride of Hawaii", that I was on in 2006, and one of the airplanes I was on, on that trip. Of course you can click on any picture to see it bigger.

Warmth!

No, not here! Still ice and snow though it's 34 now on my porch. I changed my FaceBook picture recently to one made in June, 2006. It was taken at the overlook by 'Opaeka'a Falls, Kauai, Hawaii. A good description and picture of the falls is on wikipedia.

(Our local newspaper has a travel section, and that picture was printed in the paper. I wanted to show that people who do not see well - notice I'm holding my white cane - do go places and do things. It was a bit windy, as you can see from my bangs. That's my sunglasses on top of my head.)

I got to go on a tour with 13 others, all acquaintances from the church of Christ (we got to attend worship there with the church near Honolulu one Sunday, and had worship on-board the ship the other Sunday). Each of us flew to Honolulu (some on a Thursday, some Friday, I arrived Saturday mid-day), then got on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship on Monday afternoon.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was that Monday morning when I rode the city bus and went by myself to the Dole Plantation. I really liked the Dole Plantation, and I enjoyed the bus ride because it wasn't "touristy", plus I wanted to compare the Oahu transit to ours here in Birmingham.

My hotel roommate, then cabinmate, was a lady from Atlanta who was 20+ years older than me. While the trip was OK, I didn't feel like it was worth the approximate $3,000 I spent for it.

Vacation maybe

In a round-about way, I recently learned of somewhere I might decide to go next January. I sometimes take calls at work when someone's vehicle as been damaged on one of the state roads in this area. A lady called in, and I recognized her name. She performs, has some music books in print, and has recorded some music. I asked if she played autoharp. She said she did, and asked if we knew each other. We had never met, but I knew her name. I did not know she lived in Alabama. We have since been in touch by e-mail. She told me that last January was the 7th "autoharp cruise". The travel agent arranges for classes in autoharp and Appalachian dulcimer, mornings on the ship, then afternoons you have time to go ashore awhile, then jam sessions back on board in the evenings. I was told there's usually about 75 in the group. Last January they sailed from Fort Lauderdale to St. Thomas, San Juan, and 2 or 3 other ports, on a Holland America ship. Next January, they will sail from my "2nd home" (Tampa) to Key West, Belize, and 2 or 3 other ports. I am seriously considering going. I figure I'd enjoy that more than the trip I made in 2006 to Hawaii. The agent said she can usually find a cabin-mate for a "single". While we may not room together, she has already put me in email contact with a lady who has been on several of those cruises, who lives in Tampa and, like me, is legally blind. One problem would be getting to Tampa with a suitcase, an autoharp, an Appalachian dulcimer, a tote bag, and a white cane! I do not like to fly, Greyhound is a real pain as well as is crowded and uncomfortable, and Amtrak no longer has a convenient train from here to Tampa. If I decide to go, I'll see about getting a ride with someone and share expenses. Of course having lived in Tampa for years, I have friends where we could leave the car, as well as have a ride to and from the port. It's something to think about!