Home, sweet home!

No time to sit on the deck right now, but at least we are home. Suitcases are empty, and the laundry room is a busy place right now!
Amy/Jason not only brought Parker and Missy home, they brought supper makings and welcomed us home with steaks on the grill...yummmm...good home cooking for a change. And good sugar from the two wee boys for dessert. Haley and Macey stopped by before picking up Ansley from dance class...and Brian arrived home for the weekend. Life is soooo good!!! I am happiest when I have all my 'chicks' around me.

Dick spent a couple of hours this morning trying to get the harbor symphony uploaded to both Windows Live Photo Gallery and onto youtube, but the file is too big for either. Bugger. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know!!! Now back to the stack of mail........

Day 26 - New York City, Atlanta, then Mayberry!

This lady was a mighty welcome sight today, well, as we much as we could see her at 5a. I don't think the pics will be that great, but she is still there, shining her welcome light for all to enjoy. The ship has all sorts of inspections to go through, so we are hoping to get off in time to make our 11:55a flight. I am sitting using up some of my last remaining internet minutes. We are almost home....and that feels soooo good!

It has been a fun trip...the weather has mostly cooperated...but it is definitely time for home and family. We've missed everyone...plus Sunday is christening day for our newest grandson and a celebration afterward. I'm sure there'll be pictures to follow. Ya think???

Ray, I am sorry the CD of the "Harbor Symphony" didn't load onto Bob's computer. We'll get it uploaded when we get home and get it posted on the website, so check back in a few days, OK? We have enjoyed listening to Bob the Pianoman play the piano and sing and entertain us. He is a hoot, as we say in the south!

Ciao, y'all! Later from Mayberry...............

Day 25 - At sea and our last day at the office...

Forget the Crow's Nest......this wound up being our 'office' where we learned a lot and had fun doing it!

Techspert Tricia is a FABULOUS instructor for the new Digital Workshop offered for the very first time onboard the Eurodam, and she is a great asset to the crew. I hope this program will expand on to the other ships in the fleet...and to ALL of the ships of Carnival Cruise Lines. Are you listening, executives??? Windows Live Photo Gallery is a user friendly program to manage photos (and a FREE download)...and Tricia has made learning fun for all ages, which is not always an easy task. And it gave those not interested in bingo, trivia, bridge playing, cooking, etc. (there are a LOT OF US who fall in that category of NOT interested), something to do besides read, nap and eat!

Mr. and Mrs. S., here is your lovely daughter Julie, all dressed up for the Black and White Ball last night. I got a very nice hug from her...and can verify that she is doing well, is happy, and is having a great time on this beautiful ship! I hope this brings a big smile for your day:-)

We are still working on photos on our ivylog sites, so continue to check them out for updates, and an eventual upload of the "Harbor Symphony." The cruise is definitely NOT over! Life is good!!!

Day 24 - Halifax, Nova Scotia--and answers to questions!

These are pictures from our Sept. '05 visit here in Halifax...oops, JC is right, that was at St. John! We did take a ride into town and took a few pics in the overcast, so I need to go through them and upload tonight. Pardon moi.....have a look anyway!





We also toured on 'the Hopper' when we were here in Halifax (correct city), and visited the cemetery where many Titanic victims are buried. This is a beautiful city, with much to see and do. One day is simply not enough! Tomorrow begins another sea day, our final one on this cruise. We'll enjoy it immensely!

Good rainy morning from Halifax, where we are ship bound for the day. We certainly have been blessed with good weather for most of this cruise, so we are not complaining at all...at least I had pre-posted the pictures above for your viewing pleasure. Pity the folks who are out on wet tours.

Much speculation about the surprise from last night, so I’ll first give the assurance that NO, I am not pregnant, and NO, there was no big win in the casino. What happened is all because of this blog thingy!

Event Manger Julie stopped me in the dining room and said that her PARENTS found my blog and have enjoyed reading it every day, and were sending us a bottle of wine to our table out of appreciation for helping them stay informed on this voyage! Now how cool is that?!!! All because of this blog thingy...my oh my.

I remember meeting Julie on our first visit to the Digital Workshop when she arrived to fill in when Tricia had to briefly leave the room. We had a nice chat then about blogs, cruises, etc., and have seen her around the ship many times, always busy, but always smiling..........she has a demanding job for sure. Julie included with the wine a nice letter of thanks on behalf of her parents...what a good daughter she is! Our thanks to Julie’s parents for the perfect bottle of wine...it was both our favorite color (red) and one of our very favorite brands! That was such a thoughtful gesture, and we do appreciate it. Please leave me a comment on the blog, OK? I’m trying to hook up with Julie to get a photo of her to post, but she is off working, dang it, so that’ll have to wait...but I’ll make it happen!

And I had another new blog connection...Ray, the brother of Bob the piano man, asking for my copy of the "Harbor Symphony!" Bob sez HI to Ray, BTW. I just got off the phone with him. I think we’ll be able to download the video to Bob’s computer, but if not, we can certainly take care of posting it when we get home and you can snag it for yourself. And Bob is hoping to get a ‘real’ copy of the symphony from the composer. Not to worry...it’ll happen and I’ll post about it.

It is funny how the blog world has rapidly grown in the almost year that I have been posting. I began this blog only to share with family/friends so they could keep up with us when we are off on our many travels. It has now grown to include ‘meeting’ folks from all corners of the world, and we love doing that...in the real and online. Thanks for the comments...Bee, I am soooo glad you now have your iphone. I’ll check it out next week, so get good at it by then! I see one in my future. Sarge, I am enjoying your take on the convention! Keep it up! :-)

Leave me comments...I do read/respond to them...let me know what I’m missing from your corner of the world. Lois, I loved seeing all the old wedding stuff on your blog...very special! Comedy Sandee, I miss your daily chuckles and thank you for your comments, along with Loving Annie and Dong in the Philippines and Becky in Zurich.......AK family cruise? Sounds good to us, Amy! Life’s short; make fun of it...go cruising! Enjoy your day.....

Tuesday night...

We had a very nice surprise happen tonight at dinner, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what it is...hehe That'll keep y'all in suspense for a bit, right? Hmmm, what do you think it is??? Did we win the lottery? Did Dick win big in the casino? Did Ed McMahan finally find us for the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes? I wonder....what could it be????????

Sleep well...sweet dreamns....life is good on the High Seas!

Day 23 - Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Dick and I were on the Cabot Trail Loop back in September 2005 (above) and the sun was shining back then. We visited the Fortress of Louisbourg, and the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. Concerts at the Louisbourg Playhouse are outstanding, complete with tea and oatcakes! We toured the Maritimes with 9 other motorhomes back in '05, and enjoyed seeing the city of Sydney by a different mode of travel today...on foot!

The fog never lifted yesterday, so we stayed onboard and played with the Windows Live Photo program, uploaded pictures, and read...no nap either. Bee was so right--we just pretended it was a sea day. We did get to go to the Captain's special cocktail party for the Mariners Club. Do you think that he'll remember meeting us??? He apparently is a shy fella...he's gotta hate some of his duties for sure!

Today is overcast, but at least not foggy. We got off the ship and walked around the town, and visited one of the historic homes of a former Anglican priest, a craft sale at another church, and the shops at the pier where locals were selling their crafts. Amy, I did find an item that you requested.

We had lunch back onboard; Dick is watching a movie on TV. Oh yes, our TV receiver now works and we now have CNN again, so we'll be catching up on the news and hearing more political crappola (we didn't miss that!).

Check out the pictures that we'll upload later on today. The crew was having another boat drill, and it was hysterical. The 'tendering' into the port yesterday didn't go so well, so the guys were out practicing this morning. And practicing some more. I think the captain kicked some butt last night. We sometimes have to remember that this is still a shakedown cruise and keep everything into perspective. Anyway, Dick took lots of pics of the boat drill and other stuff in town. Hope you enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who has been following our journey and posting comments. We are definitely on the homeward stretch now, and that feels sooo good. But we aren't done with this adventure yet, so stay tuned for what happens next...Halifax tomorrow. Life is good!

Day 22 - St. Pierre & Miquelon

As we pulled out of port in St. John’s, the "Harbor Symphony" was indeed a delightful orchestration of sounds. Ms Eurodam sounded her horn...tugboats, pilot boats, any boats all sounded theirs in resounding response to our departure, and it was a loud but happy delight to our collective ears (and I caught it on video, complete with sound!) We were heartily welcomed by our neighbors to the north. A ceremony featuring a real, live band welcomed the ms Eurodam captain to the shores of St. John prior to our departure, where local dignitaries presented the captain with the proverbial key to the city, and a continued welcome back to this delightful port.
Performance by the flautist last night was great, as were the HALCats and David later on in the lounge. The onboard daily entertainment leaves a lot to be desired, unless you like bingo and the marriage game...not! Thank goodness for the digital workshop, books and naps.

Bonjour! Today we are in foggy France...I’ll bet you didn’t know it was so close to Canada!

These tiny islands comprise a speck of French territory located in the middle of Atlantic Canada. It was first settled by the French fishing fleet in the 1500s, and for some reason, the British never bothered claiming these islands during their colonial conquest of North America. I'm sure the Brits won't be getting this land back either, although the Portuguese actually got there first but lost it to the French.

This was a very popular place during our Prohibition era. Canadian distilleries legally exported their products here, and then the rumrunners picked it up and ran it south to the US. How 'bout that!

Of course with the fog, we can't see diddly right now, although we had about a one-mile visibility when we docked this morning at 8a local time. The pier is only 300' long, which is way too short for the Eurodam, so folks are going ashore by tenders, two by two. Not people, tenders are going in tandem for safety in this now very soupy fog. We can't even see the island off shore about one-half mile that we could see earlier. And the tenders are waaaay backed up trying to get folks on shore, so we are waiting to see if the weather clears up. If it doesn't clear, we'll probably stay onboard, as it won't be much fun trying to sightsee when we can't SEE!

We haven't had CNN/BBC news in awhile. Dick said they probably forgot to include satellite receivers for this side of the world. Well, it is not that...I found out through a very reliable source this morning that the receivers are onboard, someone just forgot to activate them (meaning: they don't have the local card to insert in it!). Helllloooo...didn't someone look at a calendar and realize the Eurodam was gonna be out of Europe and the use of their receivers from over there...and would be in North America in late August??? Just askin'. This is definitely still a shake-down cruise...let me count the ways......!

Later...life is still good!