I did decide to do one last post. Here is a picture of the luggage I am taking on the cruise. I am making it simple. One carry-on and my purse and one large bag which will be checked in. I just have a few last minute things to put in tomorrow.
We will be going to the Northwest Women's show in the morning. We will have most of the day because our plane doesn't leave until 7:45pm. We are flying on Virgin America which is supposed to be a real nice airline.
I am looking forward to the cruise. I am so comfortable here at Debbie's that it is a little hard to think about being gone for a week. I guess that is how vacations go. You go to have fun but it is always great to get back home.

I will try to remember to take a lot of pictures. So, for now, Farewell!

This may or may not be my last post until after I get back from the cruise. I could not believe how lucky I was to find this picture of "Lands End" in Cabo San Lucas. This will be our first port. I looked up some information on Land's End and will share it with you. If I have time tomorrow, I may post something.

About Lands End

Located at the Southernmost tip of Baja California, the arch, affectionately known as Lands End. If you head south you won't reach land until the South Pole.
At the tip of the peninsula, we come to the widest, loveliest, and most popular beaches, from Los Barriles, with its fishing fleet, to Cabo Pulmo, with the largest coral reef on the Mexican Pacific Ocean, inhabited by thousands of invertebrate species and hundreds of fish species.
The sand cascades, a uniquely attractive geological formation in the waters of Cabo San Lucas Bay, draw thousands of divers from different parts of the world.
Granite formations and a terminal arch announce the land's end and the entrance to paradise.

I checked the weather again this morning. It will be in the low to mid eighties at all the ports we are going to. I LOVE SUNSHINE!

As you can see the Olson family has been hard at work on the kitchen.

I decided to add this picture taken some years back. The nice looking lady is my daughter-in-law, Debby Otte, wife of my oldest son David. They live in Ketchikan. I put this picture on so that we can remember how the kitchen looked. The kitchen is going through an extreme make-over. Hardwood floors, new cabinets, new appliances. I can hardly wait to see the finished project. I am sure Debbie, Kent and Erik will be the happiest.

Sister Perkins brought my formal over this afternoon that I am taking on the cruise. It was very long and she had to hem it up for me. I am also taking a formal that I had on my last cruise and a very nice maroon dinner dress that I bought when I bought my new formal. My new formal is grey and the formal I took on the last cruise is blue. The dresses look better on the hangers than me. There are no twiggys in our family.

Starting this blog was really Jennie's idea. If I had known how much fun it was going to be, I would have started sooner. Saturday I will have to say goodbye to my nice room and my computer. There is always the up side to everything and I am looking forward to soaking up some sunshine for a few days.

I just had to put this picture on my blog. This is where the sink was.

Only this week left until our cruise. We will be flying to Los Angeles on March 28th and the cruise ship will be departing on March 29th. Just to get myself in the mood, I decided to check out the current weather conditions at the ports we will be stopping at.

We will be in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 28th and Sunday, March 29th. It is supposed to be 77 degrees and clear on Saturday and partly cloudy and 74 degrees on Sunday.

Our first port is Cabo San Lucas. We will be there on Tuesday, March 31st. It is supposed to be mostly sunny with a high of 86 degrees and a low of 63 degrees.

Our second port will be Mazatlan. We will be there on Wednesday, April 1st. It is supposed to be partly cloudy with a high of 84 degrees and a low of 62 degrees.

Our last port is Puerto Vallarta. We will be there on Thursday, April 2nd. I can only get the forecast up through April 1st right now, but considering the temperatures at the other two ports, I am sure it will be very nice. Of course, I am sure the weather can change unexpectedly. No matter what the weather is, we will be going. I am looking forward to the experience.

The refrigerator is standing alone looking like a tall giant in all the clutter.

Debbie helping in the remodel of the kitchen. All the appliances and cabinets have to go to make room for the new hardwood floor.

Kent hard at work putting down new plywood. Kent and Erik had to make two trips to Seattle yesterday to pick up the new cabinets.

I just had to take some pictures of this hard working family. We went out to eat tonight. As you can see, there is no kitchen to cook in. I still get by most of the time with my Micro dinners and the Microwave oven in my room. I probably will buy some Subway sandwiches and some Taco Time food for lunches this week.

I only have to figure out meals for this week because next week I will be on my cruise. I am counting on lots of sunshine.

Since today is officially the first day of Spring, I decided to put a picture of flowers on my blog. It has been raining on and off all day but the air does feel warmer than last week. I hope we have seen the last of the snow until at least next winter. We have had a few winters where we did not get snow. I hope next winter will be one.

This is the picture of the kitchen floor I took yesterday. The floor is very rough in spots so I am careful where I walk. I imagine Kent will get more new plywood down this weekend. The remodeling has not really bothered me except for some of the dust I managed to breathe in. I just keep in mind how nice it will be when everything is finished.

I was looking through my pictures and found this one of Debbie and me that Kent took when we were getting ready to go to Sea-Tac for our trip to Washington DC. All my children are taller than me, except for Diane. Diane and I are about the same height, maybe she is a little taller than me. Speaking of Debbie, she left for Salt Lake last night to go visit Jennie, Mike and Sophie. I think Debbie mainly goes to see Sophie.
Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, according to the calendar. It is about time that we have some Spring weather. Only 9 more days until our cruise. I have my list of what to take so I guess I will have to get down to the actual packing next week.
Now that I have gone through all the pages of my diary of the Carribean cruise, I will have to rack my brain to find something else to write about.

I did think of one more story about our time in Bonney Lake. That seems to be the period in our life when we had most of our "adventures". As I wrote in one of the other blogs, we had a cow. Then your dad decided we should get a couple of pigs so we could have meat for winter. He brought home a couple of small pigs. I don't even remember where he got them. We were supposed to fatten them up by fall so we could butcher them. Needless to say, I was not thrilled about this. Your dad said he would take them to the Slaughter house in Sumner and that all we had to do was cut the meat into roasts, chops, ribs, etc. Your dad built a pig pen but there were several places the pigs soon found they could escape from. We spent a lot of time chasing those pigs and trying to fix the pen so they would not get out. Catching a pig and hanging onto it is an art. Not easy. I am sure we did not feed those pigs the right things or it was because they ran around so much, but when Fall came they were not fat but your dad took them to slaughter house anyway.
We had two freezers in the house at that time. One worked and one didn't. We took the door off the freezer that wasn't working so we could cut the meat on it. I know David was helping me and the rest of you were helping or getting in the way, depending on your age. Donna will remember that day very well. The door of the freezer was extremely slippery because of all the grease from the pig. Donna for some unknown reason and without warning stepped on that door and just went flying and landed hard. She actually went into shock. So here we are in the middle of cutting up this meat and I was worrying about Donna. Her landing on the door did not actually end there, because years later when she started having back problems, X-rays showed that she had had a childhood injury to her back. No doubt that was the injury.
Well, anyway, we did get the meat cut up. I am not a butcher and neither were any of you kids. By the time we got through cutting and got all the meat wrapped, you could not tell a roast from a chop or a rib or a fresh ham. I forgot to mention that the butcher tool we used to cut all this meat was a hacksaw. Those pigs were so skinny that we managed to get all the meat in the freezer with some room left.
I just as well mention the chickens we had too. We had several laying hens and your dad had nests for them with the little glass eggs to encourage them to lay. Weeks and weeks went by and we never got a single egg. Your dad was so mad, he just decided to kill them all so we could put them in the freezer for stewing hens. He did that. (I did'nt have to help. Your dad knew better than to ask me.) I did wrap them up for the freezer.
We had this partial dug basement under our house where we stored things. Your dad was down there one day and yes, he found lots of eggs. Most, of course, were no good by then. Those hens had been laying their eggs in the dugout basement instead of the boxes.
Kent didn't work today but has been busy chopping up the kitchen floor and is also taking a trip to the dump. I will take a picture of the floor since Debbie isn't here and put it on my blog tomorrow.

St Patrick's Day, March 17, 2009----You probably can't see this picture too well. I took this picture about 7am while it wasn't light outside yet. I could not imagine that it would snow in the night. I was supposed to have a perm this morning but I left Beth a message that I was not going to be able to come in. I know the snow is melting now but I still don't want to deal with the weather. It is a good excuse for me to start doing my hair somewhere else. It is still a little hard for me to deal with Merrill Gardens. I loved it when I was there but it is not the same since Clayton is gone. I don't need to be around a lot of old people yet

Today is the last page of my diary from the Caribbean Cruise. (All of you are probably saying Yeah. Now maybe she can write about something else.) Of course, I will have to write about our Mexican Riviera Cruise.


Last page of my diary----Monday February 19, 2001

We got into Miami at 6am. We had a quick breakfast. Since we are going on the Everglades Safari Tour we have to wait for our bus in the Theater. We went to the Alligator Farm and also took a ride on an airboat into the Everglades. The airboat has an aluminum floor. It has a Cadillac engine and airplane propellers in the back. We had to wear ear plugs because it was so noisy. The Everglades are filled with Alligators. Our guide got out of the boat in his bare feet with his prod for Alligators. The farther you went the more you saw. I saw a Snapping Turtle. It was quite large and very colorful. Our guide said the baby alligators won't hurt you and you can see the large ones. He said he would rather step on a baby alligator than a Snapping Turtle.
Our tour bus took us directly to the Miami Airport. What a mess. We were supposed to have wheel chairs for Clayton and Frank. Donna asked and Diane asked and finally Donna got yelled at because two members of the family were asking. Donna filled out a complaint. We finally got a wheel chair for Clayton. Then the attendant pushed us to a pizza place we were going to eat at and she would'nt let us keep it. She said she couldn't let us have the wheelchair by ourselves.
We had to go through customs. They checked my carry-on. I guess I must have looked like your typical smuggler. I don't know if it was a random check or if it was the Pokeman toy I bought for Erik. The toy did make a lump in my bag.
Finally, we made it to Denver. They did have a wheel chair waiting for us this time and one for Frank too. The pilot apoligized to Donna for the episode at the Miami Airport.
9:45pm. At last we have landed at Sea-Tac. Had a wheel chair waiting for Clayton and Frank. Debbie, Kent and Erik were there to meet us. It was wonderful to see them. My children are always so good to us. It feels good to be back.
Someday it would be fun to do it again. But for now, farewell to Paradise and Hello to family and friends.

No exciting weather to talk about today. Actually, nothing real exciting yet today. So I will get right to the next page of my diary.

Sunday, February 18, 2001

Our last day to be spoiled. Off to the real world tomorrow. I am going to start packing after breakfast. When we reach Miami, we will have traveled a total of 3,007 Nautical miles on this trip. It is 7am and we are 442 miles from Miami.

I didn't pack after breakfast. Spent all morning on the sun deck. Donna came up too.

After lunch, I did finally pack. We went to dinner at 6pm. After dinner we went to the farewell show. It was so great. Our cruise director was in the act. He dressed up like a ballerina. He also gave us some warning of what to expect when we get home, like you can't walk out of an eating place without paying. If you drop your nightgown on the floor it is going to stay there and after you sit at the table for 15 minutes you will remember that no one is going to bring your food. Yes, we truly were pampered on this ship.

We have the greatest room attendant. His name is Sheraton. He just goes out of his way to please you. He is from Costa Rico. He is only 26. He has a wife and two children. He has just been extra nice to Clayton and me. I have a picture of him with me. He made cute animals with towels to put on our bed every night.

I think everybody but Clayton and I played Bingo. It did not appeal to me. I would rather be out in the sun. Diane won $321. Frank took a picture of her holding her winning Bingo card.

There is a beautiful casino aboard the ship. It is always crowded when you walk through it every night to get to the theater.

This picture was taken at 7:30am on Sunday, March 15, 2009. It was such a surprise. I can never remember a winter we had so many days with snow. For a few minutes there were huge flakes coming down. It did not last. Anyway, today turned out to have all kinds of weather. The wind was blowing hard and then we had a couple of minutes of hail. It came down so hard. Erik came down to my room and the wind was blowing the hail right up against my door. Then a little bit later we had sunshine. It is cloudy again now. We will see what happens next

Last evening Debbie, Donna and I went to the Southcenter to help Donna find a formal for the cruise. I always like being with my daughters. Donna found a nice formal and a couple of tops to go with it to make it different outfits.
I have got to tell you a funny story. Debbie drove us to Southcenter and we decided to use my car (still trying to get to 10,000 miles). It was pouring rain and Debbie being a nice chauffer dropped us in front of the store and when we were ready to leave she went to get the car so she could meet us at the door. Donna and I were sitting on a bench waiting for her. After a few minutes I said to Donna "I hope Debbie remembers she drove my car". After she came to get us, we found that she had forgotten and was trying to find her car with her remote. She remembered pretty quick. People are such creatures of habits.

I am up to February 17, 2001 on my diary. I don't have any more pictures that I took. The rest of my diary is just about being at sea and the few hours on Monday while we were waiting for our plane to depart. On Monday we went on an Everglades Safari Tour. I did not take any pictures because I was not thrilled with the idea of being on an airboat. I am terrified of water. On the cruise liner it did not bother me, but on a small boat it is a whole different thing. I decided my one goal that day was to survive the tour. Clayton sure loved it. He was never afraid to try anything.

Ok, here we go----

Saturday, February 17, 2001----
We are at sea now until we reach Miami. Diane has been E-mailing Karl. Apparently it snowed at home. How sad we missed the snow of the season. Ha! Ha! We sure had this cruise planned for the right time.
We are getting close to our Journey's end. I will certainly miss this wonderful tropical climate but it will be nice to go home and see family and friends.
7:30am. It is already 77 degrees. We have 894 Nautical miles left to reach Miami. Clayton was very tired this morning. I went to breakfast by myself. Clayton just wanted to sleep. He will probably wait till lunch to eat. We are all eating too much.
After breakfast, Clayton and I laid on the sun deck. It was breezy but nice and warm. I have certainly gotten lazy on this trip.
Dinner tonight was our last formal night. Donna wore my blue formal and I wore the pretty formal Diane made. It is purple and has a pattern and style that gives it an Oriental look. I didn't think I would fit into it, but I did. Diane made most of the clothes for Frank and her. Donna made Laif and her some clothes. I am too lazy to sew anymore.

After dinner we went to the show. Tomorrow night we have to be packed up and have our luggage outside our cabin before midnight. We have special green tags because we are going on the Everglades Safari Tour Monday morning.
We will see our luggage briefly at Customs in Miami because people have to take their own luggage through. After that, we should catch up with it at Sea-Tac.

This is a picture from Willemstad, Curacao with Clayton and the ship in the background. The other picture is from a tour we took around the town. Clayton is sitting in Jewish Synagog. The room where he is is for guests. The floor is sand. Only members of the Jewish Synagog can walk on the carpet.

Next page of the diary---This is our last port.

Friday, February 16, 2001---
We docked in Williamstad, Curacao at 8am. We will be departing at 6pm and will be at sea for the next two days.

Diane, Frank, Clayton and I all went on the Trolley Car Tour this morning. Diane had purchased a beautiful watch and gold necklace yesterday in Aruba. If you are into buying expensive jewelry these islands are the place to do it. I am not into buying expensive jewelry.

We wore Clayton out with walking back to the Trolley Tour. We had lunch on the ship and both Clayton and Frank were going to take naps. Diane and I wanted to walk back uptown. When we had walked back to the ship after the Trolley Tour, we crossed the river on a pedestrian bridge. It is a swinging bridge. When boats go through, the bridge just moves down the river on a track and lets the boats go through and then returns.
We really enjoyed the Trolley Tour and the history of the island. Very big, beautiful houses. Most houses had at least 17 or 18 bedrooms. The island was originally settled by the Spanish in the 1600,s. Eventually the Dutch took over. This island also is not in the Hurricane belt but they do have strong winds at times. Today was pretty windy. I think if you lived here, every day would be a bad hair day.

Diane and I did walk back to town after lunch. Donna didn't go with us as she had already walked too far and her knee was bothering her again. It was 82 degrees when we walked after lunch. We must have walked at least 3 miles before we got back to the ship. I think Diane was trying to see how many shops she could go into. It was fun. I had bought a nice carry bag in Jamaica. While we were going to the stores here, I saw a darling outfit on a model and decided to buy it. It has an orange background with flowers and there was a cute hat to match. As a matter of fact they sold me the hat off the model. I know the outfit looks better on the model than me, but it caught my eye and I just wanted it. Also I bought a cane for Clayton. I don't know if it will be practical to use but it has a horse's head and will make a good addition to his collection of canes.
I forgot to mention that when Diane and I went shopping after lunch, we were going to go across on the bridge. You have to cross the river to get into town. We walked up the street and we couldn't find the bridge. For a minute we thought we had walked on the wrong street and then we saw the track from the bridge. The bridge just goes down the river and completely disappears. We took the ferry across. There was a passenger limit posted. I forget what it was now. Anyway, I don't think anyone really paid attention because it was jammed full of people. After our shopping, the bridge still hadn't come back. People ride that bridge up and down the river even though signs are posted not to.
Curacao is the largest of the 5 islands that comprise the Netherlands Antilles. It is 38 miles long and 7.5 miles at its widest point. Approximately 170,000 people live on the island. Dutch is the official language. Also, like Aruba, the streets are narrow and neat but is like rush hour traffic even in the morning.
I just had so much fun walking to town with Diane and walking the bridge and riding the ferry. I am so fortunate the heat doesn't bother me. I love it. It was still 82 at 5:30pm.
Donna really did too much today and also the heat was bothering her. She and Laif cancelled the tour they were going to do because there was going to be too much walking and climbing. I have been having a great time. I suppose eventually the heat and walking will catch up with me. Not for awhile, I hope. Clayton isn't doing much walking as his knee is bothering him a lot. Also, somehow he managed to get a blister on his heel.
We went on the Sunset Catamaran Cruise. It turned out to be fun. I can see with the wrong crowd it would be possible to have a pretty wild time. There were quite a few people drinking Rum. The rest of us just had pop or punch. Everyone was having fun but it was a nice crowd. There was one lady on the boat older than me. We had a nice tour around the harbor. We saw the Sunset. It was getting dark when we got back to our ship. Our ship was all lit up and was a beautiful sight. There were two other cruise ships docked near us. The Vision was the largest of the cruise ships in port. The town is so beautiful at night. The shopping mall is right across the pier and all the bushes were lit up with Christmas tree lights.
We missed dinner in the dining room because of the Catamaran Cruise so we ate at the Windjammer Cafe. After we ate, we went to the show that had been cancelled. It was so good. Singing and dancing numbers from hit Broadway plays.


Picture of Clayton in the Jewish Synagog.

The small picture is of Oranjestad, Aruba. (Sorry it is small) I still have trouble with the scanning. Sometimes the pictures are big sometimes not. I need help in that area. The other picture is of my granddaughter, Heather (Darrell's daughter). She came to see me yesterday. We had lunch and a nice visit. She was surprised to see what is going on with the house. The last time Heather was here was for the "Christmas Eve Party" during the December blizzard. I told Heather I have a blog now and gave her my blog address. She has "My space" and showed me a picture of her boyfriend. He goes to college and will be graduating in two years. Heather is taking classes too and she also works for Best Buy in Puyallup.

On with the diary. Today is my oldest son, David's birthday. 50 years old today.

Ok, next page from my diary---

Thursday, February 15, 2001---

4:20am. We are now 44 nautical miles from Aruba. The temperature is 78 degrees. How incredible. I have to keep reminding myself that it is February. The report now says strong gale. Waves 13 to 20 ft. I am going back to bed for awhile.

6am. The ship has been rocking for hours now. It will seem strange when it stops. I slept good. I like the rocking when you are in bed.

The sea is starting to calm down. The report now says "Fresh Gale". The waves are only 4 to 8 ft. now. We are 17 miles from Oranjestad, Aruba. We have traveled 1,725 Nautical miles from Miami.

The Capital of Aruba is Oranjestad. It is one of the Netherland Antilles. We are about 20 miles from Venezuela. Aruba is 19.6 miles long and 6 miles wide at its widest point. It is approximately 74 square miles. Approximately 80,000 people live on this small island with 17,000 of those living in Oranjestad. The official language is Dutch.

8am. We haved docked at Oranjestad now. We went to breakfast. We sat next to a couple from Michigan. They had been married for two years and wanted to go on a cruise for their anniversary. It was their first cruise too. She said she was seasick all day yesterday. She said she laid in bed all day and couldn't move. She said she felt like she was going to die. She said she took some pills but it didn't do any good. She said she will never take another cruise. Too bad. It must feel like morning sickness when you are pregnant.

After breakfast, Clayton and I walked off the ship. All the shops are right close to the pier. We took the free shuttle and rode around town twice. There is a very beautiful casino there and a lot of people got off the shuttle there. Since we are only 20 miles from Venezuela, people fly to Aruba to gamble because gambling is not allowed in Venezuela.

Aruba is a very beautiful island. The streets are just beautiful greenery, flowers, palm trees everywhere. I was talking to a tourist guide and he said this is a very safe island. I think he had Jamacia in mind but did not say so. Because apparently Jamaica is not. Also he said they never have hurricanes because the island is out of the hurricane zone. Even though the streets are clean, they are very narrow. I couldn't believe all the cars. At 10am, it looks like rush-hour traffic.

We will be docked until 12:30am. We have traveled 1,742 Nautical miles since leaving Miami. There is a strong breeze but it feels good since the temperature is 77 degrees. One thing I will say about these islands is that they do not give you good hair days. There is always some kind of breeze. I suppose otherwise the island would get too hot. The tourist guide says the temperature stays between 75 and 85 degrees all year. The high today was 82.

Tomorrow will be our last port. We will be arriving in Willemstad, Curacao at 8am. Donna,Laif, Diane, Frank, Clayton and I are all signed up for the "Sunset Catamaran Cruise". It scares me a little because a couple of people I talked to call it the Rum Party Boat. You are supposed to be able to drink all the Rum you want. Donna says they have non-alcholic drinks too. The people I talked to said the tour was noisy and wild. I guess I will have to be brave and go since the rest of my family is.

We had dinner and went to the show. We saw the show they had to cancel. We missed the one with the Piano Entertainer which was given at 11pm on the same night we were in the gale.

This is just a picture of a Humpback whale. It has nothing really to do with my diary except it shows the ocean.

On with my diary---

Wednesday, February 14, 2001---

We are at sea today. It is Valentine's Day. 7am. We are in huge waves. you can feel this huge ship rock and creak. It is warm. Already it is 78 degrees. We are on our way to Aruba. The report from the deck says we are in a full gale. The waves are 8 to 13 ft. It is so windy on the sun deck you can barely stand up. The water is going up one side of the swimming pool and going back the other way. I didn't stay very long on the sun deck because I couldn't walk without hanging on but I wanted to feel that gale wind.

What an experience to be in this gale. Our ship is like a toothpick on this ocean of huge waves. I had watched the video on how this ship was built and what good ballast it has. Still you can hardly walk without hanging on inside the ship and the ship creaks. Now I can imagine how terrible it must have been for the sailing ships that got caught in a gale.

1pm. Report from the deck says winds are4-6 miles. Waves are now 13 to 20 ft. Sea is very rough. I went up to the 5th deck so I could watch the waves out the big windows there. It really takes an effort not to fall down. I hung onto everything in my path.

We went to dinner at 6pm. What a balancing act the waiters had to do. I admire them for being able to stand up with trays and dishes in this storm. The closer you get to the bow of the ship, the harder it is to stand. The show had to be canceled for safety reasons.

Diane had to go to the clinic to get some bandages for Frank's leg when he fell on the Myan Ruin Tour. She said the clinic was packed with people getting pills for sea sickness. Not just the passengers, but crew people too.

We are supposed to arrive in Aruba at 8am tomorrow. The Captain announced that we should have calmer winds by afternoon.

5:30pm. The sea still hasn't calmed down. We have to go up right now and get a group picture for Valentine's Day. We had this group picture (50 of us) taken on the stairs. More people are getting sick. It has not bothered Clayton, me, Diane, Frank or Donna and Laif. Donna said it started to bother her when she tried reading in bed. I think it is great. What an experience. I may never be in another gale in my life. The biggest problem is trying to find the floor when you go to take a step. I was thinking that David knows all about this stuff. 50 years ago I was sick all day on Valentine's Day and David was born the next day.

10:00pm Still in a full gale according to the report from the bridge. I never knew waves could get so high. I am confident the ship will get to Aruba so I am saying Goodnight and going to bed.

This is my second post for the day. Be sure to read my previous post about my Teddy Bears. In case you are getting bored with my diary there are only a few days left. My diary has been getting me in the mood for the cruise I will be going on the 28th of this month. The picture is of Montego Bay, Jamaica. OK on to the next day of my diary.

Tuesday, February 13, 2001----

Now I know why I was so tired last night. I have "Montezuma's Revenge" and spent most of the night in the bathroom. I doubt if I even had three hours sleep.

We arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica at 8am. We have traveled 1,117 Nautical miles since leaving Miami. It is now 8:15am and it is 77 degrees. Diane and Clayton left on their Horse Riding Tour. I hope they have a good time. Frank went on a Safari Tour. Little old me stayed so I can soak up some more sun in the deck chair.

The Capital of Jamaica is Kingston. Jamaica is an Island about 90 miles due south of Cuba. Jamaica has a total land area of 4,441 square miles. 2.4 million people live on Jamaica. 70,000 of those live in Montego Bay. The official language is English.

Donna and Laif took a tour of the Island. They said it is a very dirty island and lots of junk everywhere. It is not an island where you want to eat anything. I slept in a deck chair and read when I could keep my eyes open. It was 88 degrees at 2:30pm.

Clayton and Diane got back from the horse riding. Clayton lost most of his toenail on one foot when he stumbled on a rock leading his horse. Also I saw that he had a big scrape on his elbow. I found out later that he had slipped in the shower while I was not in the room. Regardless of the toe accident, Diane said they had a good time. She said she worried about Clayton riding but realized as soon as he got on the horse that he knew how to ride. Donna and I decided we better take Clayton to the clinic so the doctor could look at his toe. It was bleeding a lot. Clayton managed to get a sunburn on the top of his head and his stomach. He looked like a Lobster.

The following is not part of my diary---

I just wanted to let you know that Clayton rode horses a lot in his younger years. One time Clayton and his brother, Gordon, rode horses all the way from Spokane to Bellingham. I can hardly imagine that. Clayton loved horses. He had an accident on a horse and hit his head. He was unconscious for I believe 13 days. It did leave brain damage but he did amazingly well in life. He was a Longshoreman for 30 years, 25 years with the Union. He loved life and he loved people. He was very religious and loved to talk to anyone about the Book of Mormon.

I have to show you my two new Teddy Bears and tell you why I have three now instead of one. Last night was Relief Society. I wasn't that anxious to go because it was cold and it was going to be dark but, of course, Debbie wouldn't let me whine so I went. I am glad I did go. There were lessons on food storage and also there was a tasting table. The Theme was "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without".

Also there was a trading table. You were supposed to bring items you no longer needed and trade for stuff you do need. Debbie brought a lot of things. Also, Debbie brought my rice cooker and my Omelet pan I don't use anymore. I picked up a notebook that Debbie brought to use for my Diary on our Mexican Riviera Cruise and I picked out a Teddy Bear. Sister Opstad brought lots of Teddy Bears. She said she had a duplicate of everyone she brought for the trading table. She said she has ninety Teddy Bears right now. She also makes all the clothes for them. She finds the Teddy Bears at Thriftshops. Sister Opstad told the sisters to take more bears because she didn't want to take them back home. So I picked out another bear. I said it was for Debbie but I would keep it on my bed. The Teddy Bear with the red dress is the one I already had.


I think I mentioned before that the beautiful quilt on my bed is one that Donna and Diane made me.

In this picture you can see I still have my "Wolfie" that I bought in Washington DC when Debbie and I went there last summer. Wolfie is on guard duty now watching over my bears. Am I in my second childhood? Or could it be that I never left my first childhood?

Continuing on with my diary of the Caribbean Cruise---

I could not find a picture to go along with today's diary so I just put this picture of the water on because, as you know, I love putting pictures on.

Monday, February 12, 2001----We arrived at Georgetown at 11:00am. We met Diane at breakfast this morning. She is feeling OK. She found her Supercard in another pocket. She said they had a great time at the Myan Ruins. She said there was quite a bit of walking and climbing. She said Frank fell down twice. I am not into climbing anymore. I just watch that kind of stuff on TV.

Today Donna, Laif and Clayton are going on the Snorkel-Sting Ray tour. The cruise ship is anchored out some distance from the Island. The water is too shallow near the island for the cruise ship to anchor. People will be going by Tender into Georgetown. Not I. I have been watching those tenders bob up and down and how you have to jump on and off. Of course, Clayton, Donna and Laif have to get on one to go on their tour. Another nice relaxing day for me in the sun on the deck chairs.

Georgetown is the Capital of the Cayman Islands. Grand Cayman measures 76 square miles and is about 22 miles long and 8 miles wide at its broadest point. The population is approximately 32,000 people. English is the official language.

I met a lady who is 81 and her husband is 84. They are from Michigan. They have a handicapped daughter who is probably close to 60. I talked to the daughter quite awhile. Her mother has been pushing her around in a wheel chair. She says at home she has a motorized chair. She said her mother and dad own a produce store in Michigan. She said they will not retire. They both work at the store 6 days a week. She has been going on a cruise every year with her parents since she was seven.

I forgot to mention that Diane is going on the Snorkel-Sting Ray tour. Frank is going on the Grand Cayman Highlights and Turtle Farm Tour.

I said goodbye to Diane, Donna, Clayton and Laif about 11:20. I hope they all have fun. Can hardly wait to put on my swimsuit and lay in the deck chair. I sound like I am going to miss them terribly, don't I?

Everyone got back safe and sound from their tours. They all said they had lots of fun.

Right after dinner, I was so tired that I didn't even go to the show.

This is a picture of Doug. He has been in charge of doing the texuring and painting of the kitchen. He is doing a great job. In the top picture you can see that he is just starting to put the paint on and in the lower picture you can see one wall of how it is going to look. The color is very nice. It will give the room a warm feeling. I will miss out on some of the remodeling when I go on my cruise. The kitchen is going to be so beautiful when it is all done.

Picture of Cozumel, Mexico and picture of our cabin.

From my Diary---

Sunday, February 11, 2001--

I met Diane and Frank when they were on their way to the Inca Ruins Tour. We did not sign up for that because it is one of the more rugged tours. Donna and laif did not go either. Anyway, Diane had been sick all night with "Montezuma's Revenge". Also she lost her Supercard. She couldn't get a new one until this morning because the computer was down.

Donna and Laif went into Cozumel this afternoon. Clayton and I just walked a little way and I took a few pictures. It is very warm today. I don't know how hot it is, but my shirt was stuck to me. This is the first time I have ever been in Mexico. Cozumel has a population of about 65,000.

Laif's luggage finally got to their cabin today. We departed Cozumel at 6pm. Our next port will be Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We will be arriving at 11am tomorrow. We went to dinner and then the show. I was really tired and went right to bed after the show.





This is my third post today. Be sure to read my two previous ones. One about the kitchen and one about the snow.

I put some more pictures of the kitchen on. Be sure and check Debbie's blog. She has some great pictures. Kent took the upper cabinets from the kitchen and put them in the laundry room. It looks great.

Be sure and check the post below this one. I have pictures of the snow I took this morning. I am getting so carried away with this blogging. I love it. I will put one more chapter of my diary on today too.

WINTER CONTINUES!!

Today is Monday, March 9, 2009. This will certainly be a winter to remember! Doug, the painter, was supposed to be here at 9:00 AM. He called to say the snow was too bad where he is and that he will try to get here later if he can, otherwise he will be here tomorrow.

I have it easy as usual. I can just stay in my little "cave" and not have to deal with the weather. Snow is very pretty if you don't have to be out in it.

I stayed home from Church today, partly because of the weather and partly because Doug was supposed to be here at 9:00 to start the painting. He did not get here until about 10:30 so by that time Debbie, Kent and Erik were back. He did the undercoating today and will be back at 9:00 tomorrow to finish the painting.

As you can see I put two more pictures on about the cruise. One picture is of me with our wonderful room attendant, Sheraton. He is from Costa Rico. He is 26. He is married and has 2 children. The other picture is of the Captain. His name is Leif Otto Bang. He is from Norway and has been at sea since he was 14.

I will continue on with my diary.

Saturday, February 10, 2001---

We are at sea today. I spent most of the day in a deck chair in the sun. You can go out as early as you want because it is not cold. It got in the high 80's today. we are on our way to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. We will be arriving tomorrow at 7am. People who are going to theMyan Ruins will be getting off there and will be catching up with us when we get to Cozumel, Mexico. We will be arriving at Cozumel at 9:30am.

Tonight was a formal dinner. Donna and I wore formals and Clayton and Laif wore Tuxedos. There were two dinners. We are in the main dinner seating and Diane and Frank are in the second seating. Also two show times. They see the show before dinner. We see the show after dinner. Before dinner we went to the Captain's Introductory Party. The Captain's name is Leif Otto Bang. He was born in Norway. He went to sea at 14 and has been at sea for 42 years. We had our picture taken with the Captain.

We went to the show again. Very good. Laif's luggage has finally been located, but he doesn't have it yet. He got $100 for clothing. Of course, you have to buy your clothing on the ship. They have about anything you need in the way of clothing.

This is the second post I have done today. Today is March 7, 2009. It was snowing when I took these pictures this morning. The snow did not last too long but I thought it was worth noting because it should not be quite so cold this month. We might have some more snow tonight and tomorrow according to the forecasts.

Pictures of Clayton and me boarding the "Vision of the Seas" on Friday, February 9, 2001


On with my diary---
Friday, February 9, 2001---We met with the Immigration Officials at the hotel at 10:00 am. We had to show our documents and passports in order to board the ship. We got our Supercards when we checked in to go on the ship. A Supercard is what you use for everything on the ship. They use your credit card and total up everything you spend and you get a statement of your charges on the last day. The Supercard is also your room key. At the very end of the cruise you do have to pay the tips in cash. You don't pay any tips until the end of your cruise.
We got to board the ship at 11:00am. Our ship is "Vision of the Seas". It is one of the newer ships in the Royal Caribbean Line. I think someone said it was 3 years old. It is 915 ft. in length. The passenger capacity is 2,435. Total crew is 765. It weighs 78,491 tons. That is a lot of weight.
When Clayton, Darrell and I went to Ketchikan shortly after we were married to visit David and Debby, we used to go down to the pier and stare at those huge cruise ships that come in there. I had not the slightest idea that we would ever one day be on one.
The ship is not scheduled to depart until 5:30pm, but we were allowed on early so we could have lunch and find our cabins. We had lunch at 11:30 and our cabins were going to be ready by noon. We ended up not departing until 6 pm because some of the luggage had not gotten on the ship. It took most of the afternoon, but we finally all got our luggage except one of Laif's bags came up missing. It was the one that had his swim trunks and other essentials.
We had a great dinner. After dinner we went to the Masquerade Theater for a live show. There is a different show every night. It was 11pm before I finally got in bed. I am getting wild in my old age. Clayton and I slept good. It got up to 80 degrees this afternoon. Just unbelievable. Sun! Sun! Sun! It is hard to remember that it is really February.

Thirteen days until Spring. Twenty-three days until our Cruise to the Mexican Riviera. I got out some pictures of the Caribbean Cruise that we took in 2001. I am so glad we were able to do that. Clayton and I enjoyed it so much. It was the first cruise we had ever been on. I put two pictures on today. One is a group picture of some of the people on our cruise. I am the one down in front with the blue dress on. The other picture is our Family Group .

I kept a diary of our cruise. I intend to do that for our Mexican Riviera cruise too. Anyway, today I am going to post the first day of my diary from the Caribbean Cruise for you to read.

Diary of our Cruise to the Caribbean---February 8, 2001 through February 19, 2001

Thursday, February 8 We left for Sea-Tac Airport about 6:30 AM. The first snow we had all winter. The crew had to defrost the wings on the plane. We were about 30 minutes late taking off for our first stop at George Bush Airport in Houston Texas. We had to hustle to make our connection to Miami, Florida. Between Donna and Clayton we would not have made it except for the electric cart. Donna is just getting over Broncitis and fighting Asthma as well as her bad knee. Frank rode too because he can't walk too well either. What a mess this family is sometimes. Laif and I hoofed it clear across that airport. This is one big airport. After I get back, I am going to have to buckle down and keep up losing weight and doing my exercises.

We finally got on the plane. It was about 4 hours from Sea-Tac to Houston and it will be another 4 hours to Miami. About 20 minutes out of Miami we had a medical emergency, which turned out to be Donna. Donna and Laif were sitting toward the front and Diane and Frank and Clayton and I were sitting near the back so we didn't realize at first it was Donna. Donna couldn't get enough air because of her Asthma and also she was just getting over Broncitis. The air was really stuffy. They gave her oxygen. Once the plane dropped altitude she was better. One good thing is that we had clearance to come right in. After we got off the plane, one passenger turned to Donna and said "I'll fly with you anytime". Everyone was getting so tired. When we landed at Miami International there were medics and a wheel chair waiting for Donna but she only needed the wheel chair.

We were bused to the Radisson Hotel. One couple that was not with our group was getting off at the Hilton. After the bus driver dropped them off, he started to pull out and a van tried to go around him. The van hit the bus. The bus driver couldn't see the van because it was right alongside. He didn't even know it hit him until someone told him to stop. The police had to check it out,etc. We got on another bus to finish our trip to the hotel. We were all getting extremely tired. We had planned on eating out when we got to the hotel but no one had the energy to go out in our little group which consisted of Clayton and me, Donna and Laif and Diane and Frank. We decided to order in Pizza. We ordered Domino's Pizza. It took over an hour. I think I will complain to Debbie when I get home.

Finally, at last, bed. The bed was very comfortable and I slept good. I meant to mention about the plane. It was a great flight and I felt relaxed, which for me, is something. I even managed to sleep between Houston and Miami. It was 82 degrees when we came into Miami. All this happened on our first day. Donna is feeling better but is still coughing a lot. I am afraid she is a lot like my father. Asthma, Allergies run in my family. My sister is like that too. I know I am lucky to have missed it.

Well, so much for Day One. I wonder what will be in store for us tomorrow. Already I love the warm temperature. How wonderful it is to even be able to run around even at night in February without a coat.

I would not like to live in Miami. It is too large a city and I am sure not the safest.

OK. That is it for day one. I will try to find time for day two tomorrow.

I decided to put these two pictures on from today. John didn't get here until after 11:00 and left a little after two. He got a bit more done and said he will try to be earlier tomorrow. I can see why Debbie and Kent wanted this job hired out. It is a lot of work. It has been so cold today. It snowed a little this morning but did not stick here. There was snow in Issaquah this morning. There is a threat of snow Saturday night and Sunday. Will winter ever end? I was checking the weather at a couple of places that we will be going on our cruise. This week it is in the lower 80's. My kind of weather.

I decided to put a couple of more pictures on. This is the refrigerator wrapped in plastic. The stove is wrapped also. I decided since I keep mentioning John that I would put his picture on too. I asked him if I could take his picture and he said that was fine. I told him I wanted to put it on my blog. He was surprised when I told him I have a blog. It looks like the kitchen will be tied up for awhile. The ceiling needs to be textured and some walls also. It should look really nice when it is painted. I am having fun doing the pictures. I will be glad when Debbie is back. She is much better at the picture thing.

I took these two pictures this morning from yesterday's work. John covered the post yesterday. It looks good. It really stands out in this picture. Below you can see where John put the wallboard in by the door, which used to be a sliding glass door, of course. It is a little hard to tell from the pictures, but having the wall out makes a really nice room. John didn't get here until 3:30 today. He had another job he had to work on this morning. I guess I will continue to take pictures until Debbie gets back. The rooms will be painted a nice Beige.

It has been an interesting day so far. The guys came to do the drywall work. Doug and John. They started where the lights will be for the island. I was checking on things after they were working a bit and as you can tell from the first picture, they plastered over the box where the drop lights were supposed to be. I told John that drop lights were supposed to go in there but he said there were no wires. I knew that wasn't right so I called Debbie in Atlanta and sent her a couple of pictures. She called Kent and I had John call Kent. As you can see from the bottom picture, John opened up the hole. I am glad I caught that. It saved a little work. I am not a trained Supervisor but I guess I better keep my eyes on things. I don't know what they thought of an 81 year old lady questioning their work.

I fixed my breakfast and lunch in my room and did my dishes in the bathroom sink. I guess I will be doing that for awhile. I am glad I saved my Microwave that I had at Merrill Gardens. I bought my own refrigerator shortly after I moved here. I have all the necessary comforts. I will continue to take pictures of the kitchen because Debbie will be gone all week.