Sunday, September 29, 2013, At Sea between Livorno and Civitavecchi (For Rome)

During the night we had a lot of thunder and lightning.  Even though it was stormy and raining the sea wasn't rough.  We were still in bed when we got to Livorno at 7 AM.  It wasn't light but the vibration and sounds of the ship changed.  When I looked out at 8, it was obvious that it had rained quite heavily.

We ordered coffee and juice in our room and lounged around while drinking them.  Most of the tours to Pisa and  Florence had left by 9, I could see the buses from our balcony.  The weather alternated between just cloudy and cloudy and raining.  Sometimes it rained quite heavily.

We went to the Horizon Court for lunch. After we had lunch we returned to the room.  The weather had cleared some and I was able to get a GPS position, the closest cache was 2.5 miles away.  I had centered my search on Pisa and Florence, not the port at Livorno.  I searched for 500 caches centered on those two cities, not realizing they were so far away.

There was a shuttle to town and back for 5 Euros.  The weather had cleared quite a bit so I took the shuttle into town hoping to get close enough to walk to a cache.  Even though the drive was about 20-30 minutes, it wound around quite a bit and really wasn't that far as the crow flies.  It was still 1.65 miles from the nearest cache.  I only had two hours until the last shuttle back to the ship.  I wasn't certain I could walk over 3 miles round trip, let alone do it in under two hours.  I walked around the block surrounding the square and took some photos.  It occurred to me that the European towns we have seen so far are very much like older Midwestern American cities.  The architecture is different but the towns are similar in that there are a few streets surrounded by a variety of buildings from the same period and the changes are away from the town centers.

Back at the ship I met Gerri and we went for an earlier dinner than usual at a pizzeria, Alfredo's, on board.  I had a Calzone and Gerri had a plate that was similar to Ravioli, but by a different name.  The meal was very good and the service was great.  Through the ever changing clouds we saw a beautiful rainbow.  We went to dinner early for two reasons; we knew Lou and Mona would be late after their tour in the rain to Florence and we planned to go to a game show in the Princess Live TV Studio.  The game show was Celebrity Liars.  The celebrities were the Cruise Director Sam, the Deputy Cruise Director Dan and the comedian we had seen the first night, Troy.  The audience had to select which of the celebrities was telling the truth about the meanings of five words that were presented.  It was funny but we only got two correct, the words were obscure to say the least and most of the definitions given had some sort of funny pronunciation or a meaning as equally obscure as the word..

After the show we had ice cream cones and listened to the piano player in Crooner's Lounge.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Saturday, September 28, 2013. At Sea between Toulon, France and Florence, Italy

We arrived in Toulon, France at 7 AM.  It wasn't quite light when I noticed the vibration difference aboard the ship.  From our side of the ship I could see the city of Toulon across the bay.  Gerri had read that there was a fee for a boat ride to Toulon and I wrongly thought we were moored, when actually we were along the side of a dock on the starboard side.  We called room service for coffee and juice and enjoyed that while we got ready for the day.  The sky was overcast and the sun was never out enough to cast shadows.  We knew that pictures were going to be of questionable quality today.

I checked and there was a cache just .17 miles away.  We went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast just before the breakfast part of the buffet was closing down.  I was disappointed with the quality of the food.  Gerri found some taco shells and taco ingredients abut we were running out of time for our tour time.  She nearly had to wolf down her food.  We met in the Symphony Dining Room and were divided into groups to accommodate the bus capacities.  Our tour took us from the port to a small town called Sanary.  We had some time to walk around but many of the shops and the fish market were closed.  The streets and roads were narrow and the buses had no place to park, instead they blocked streets when loading and unloading.  After we were turned loose I located a cache on my GPSR and went to find it.  I was successful and now have logged a geocache in France.

After loading up in Sanary we traveled to another bay along a coast road, that town of Bendol.  In the harbors of both Sanary and Bendol there were many colorful boats of various sizes and it was a shame the lighting wouldn't do them Justice.  I tried to locate a cache in Bendol but couldn't find my way to the Quay where it was hidden. There were a lot of shops open in Bendol, Gerri bought some souvenirs before we re-boarded the buses.  We took a major highway back to the harbor and were back at the ship by 5 PM. 

We drove very near to the cache that was closest to the ship but it was outside the secure entrance to the ship dock.  Since we were close to sailing time and there was a long line to get back on the ship, I choose not to walk there and try to find it.

After we got back to our cabin Gerri went to the Horizon Court and brought cheese and crackers back to the room.  We lounged around for awhile and started getting ready for dinner.  We choose to eat at traditional seating and meet the others assigned to our table.  We had a great meal and then went to a late show in the Princess Theater.  The show featured a former member of the Lettermen group, Mark Preston.  He put on a good show and we enjoyed the old songs.

When we check e-mail and FaceBook, I had no further information on the circumstances of my cousin Eddie's death    Eddie was seriously injured in the late 60's while in the Air Force and has suffered from complications from those injuries ever since.  He was also diabetic and had all the problems attendant with that disease.  When we visited him a few weeks ago he was hospitalized overnight after a routine colonoscopy and released with further tests scheduled.  He was also scheduled for a hernia repair procedure. We still don't know what the cause of his death was.  Ed and I were raised by our mothers and lived most of ort childhoods with them and our grandparents. We were raised more like brothers than cousins.  Even though he was a little more than a year older than me, Ed and I were always in the same grades in school.  We were hunting and fishing buddies and nearly constant companions.  He joined the Air Force shortly after we graduated from High School and was married not long after that to his first wife.  After a year in college in West Virginia I moved with my mother and stepfather to southern California.  Ed and I very little contact until after he was injured and returned to Charleston in the late 60's.  After moving to California, I didn't go back to Charleston until 1979.  After that Ed and his current wife, Lottie, kept in pretty close touch.  We became close again and we made serval trips and visited them over the years, especially after I retired.  The long and short of it is that I will miss him very much.

I Digress.  We returned to our room at about 11:30 and were in bed by 12:30.  I didn't book any shore excursions in Florence or Pisa.  The port is Livorno and I hope I downloaded caches near enough to the ship to walk to.  Tomorrow has a high chance of rain and we were told that there is a big bicycle race in Pisa and traffic will be hectic.

Friday, September 27, 2013, At Sea between Barcelona and Toulon

We got up at 7 AM.  We had to have our bags out and ready to go at 9 AM.  We had gone to bed early last night.  I woke up at about mid-night and got dressed, went to the lobby and borrowed a stapler.  I had forgotten to attach our luggage tags to our bags.  After getting that job done I went back to bed.

After getting our luggage ready we went and settled up our bill.  The bill for the phone calls to cancel my credit card was almost as much as our meals.  We had breakfast and were joined by two of the other couples we had met.  We boarded our bus at 12:30 for the 30 minute trip to the port.

After checking in and getting our cruise cards/room keys we looked around the duty free stores.  We didn't buy anything.  We made our way to our room and started un packing.  The view from our balcony was of a container loading dock.  The sky was overcast, pictures of the port area weren't very good.  At 5:30 we had our safety drill.  After the drill we went to the Club 6 for a welcome party for Platinum and Elite members, we are platinum.   They  served good guacamole dip and chips plus a variety of cheese and vegetables to snack on.  After that we went to the rear of the ship to watch the sail away.  Barcelona is a busy harbor.  Two other cruise ships and other vessels left port and we saw a couple of ferries come in and unload tractors and trailers.  We have no idea where they came from.  I did get one good shot of the sunset and a fair shot of part of the Barcelona skyline.  Our ship, the Royal Princess backed most of the way out of the harbor, turned and headed out to sea.  Our course is mostly NW toward our first port of call, Toulon, France.

After the sail away we went back to our room and got ready for dinner.  The dining room is large but broken up into smaller seating areas.  There are two tables for four.  Our table mates are Lou and Mona from Coronado Cays, CA.  The couple at the adjoining table were from Tucson, AZ.  After dinner we made our way to the front of the ship for the welcome aboard presentation by the cruise director and her staff.  We also enjoyed an introductory act by a comedian that will be in a show later this week.  We enjoyed his act and will make a point of seeing his entire show.

We have resolved to use the stairs as much as possible during our cruise.  Partly because of the exercise benefit and partly to avoid the usually crowded elevators.  We will spend a little time finding the closest stairs between decks.  The stairs seem to go up or down two flights and then we have to walk forward or aft to find more stairs to get to the desired floor.

Back in our room Gerri read for awhile and then went to sleep.  I stayed up awhile to write this blog and post yesterday's blog.

I got word via FaceBook that my cousin, Eddie Skiles, had died Thursday.  I didn't get any details, we visited him earlier this month in West Virginia.

Thursday, September 26, 2013, Barcelona, Spain

We met Jim and Jane in the breakfast room at about 9:00 AM.  There we also met their  friends Art and Chris.  After breakfast we all went downtown for the city tour on the red line.  This tour was longer than yesterday and in some ways better.  There were fewer trees blocking our line. Of sight and the tour went to the harbor area.

An other couple we met from B.C. We're taking the bus to Montserat earlier this morning.  We were on the tour until about two o'clock before going back to the hotel. 

I did find out the Internet signal was much better in the lobby and I finally finished yesterday's blog.  I did find that I could attach pictures to the draft blog and then go in on Gerri's computer and move them around and add captions.  You will have to pardon any pictures that seem out of order.

We wer both tired fom long days and called it a night early.

Tomorrow we have to get our luggage ready by 9, and be in the lobby by 12.  That is a change f rom why we were told yestday

Wednesday. September 25, 2013, Barcelona, Spain

We went tto the restaurant on the first floor for the complimentary breakfast.  We learned a little more each day, we can order eggs made up how you want them.  So far the coffee maker is a mystery.  We have had to ask for help every day.

After breakfast we went to meet with the Princess rep in the lobby.  We have to have our luggage tagged and outside our room at 9 AM.  We have to be in the lobby at 10:00 for transfer to the ship.  We aren't so sure why so early since the ship doesn't sail until 7PM.

On the blue line tour

Our adventures, and misadventures, started at the tram station near the hotel.  Our credit card wouldn't work without a PIN.  We never use the PIN at home, so we don't know it.  Our debit card from the Credit Union wouldn't work.  This morning we had met a couple from San Fancisco, Jim and Jane, that are also going on th same cruise as we are. Their debit card worked so we went along on tickets they bought.

Before leaving the hotel we had bought tickets to ride a tourist bus around the city.  It was a hop on, hop off type tour.  There were three lines available.  We decided to take the blue line tour, it was the middle one in length.  We only got off the bus once to buy water and sodas.  At the end of the bus tour we got back on the tram to go back to the hotel.  When we reached our tram stop we got off, Gerri and I planned to stop at a nearby grocery store for a few items.  That was when I discovered my wallet missing.  

The police station where I reported my wallet stolen

Back at the hotel they gave me the address of a police station to make a lost or stolen report.  I spent a considerable amount of time on the phone canceling my credit cards.  Fortunately Gerri had brought along our Visa card, so we still can charge things until we get the new Master Card.  After reporting to time credit card companies, I went to the police station to make a report.  Of course it is Spanish.  But, hopefully it will do until I can get back and get a new drivers license and other documents.  Since we are not going to be home until December, I asked for the new cards to be sent to the house.

It took a couple of hours to make the report and get back to the hotel.  We had dinner at the Tast restaurant again.  Gerri had a pasta dish with pesto sauce and I had a filet with vegetables and French fries.

Scooters are a common mode of transportation in some areas they are parked by the hundreds

On the blue line tour

Back in our room I finished the blog for Tuesday.  I may not have many pictures on the blogs until we start using Gerri's camera.  Up until now most of the picture I have taken are on my iPad and I haven't figured  out how to get them into blogger.  The internet connection is also very slow in our room. Another mistake I have made, I didn't t bring my computer which I am familiar with and receives pictures from my iPad.  I composed most of this blog on my iPad.  The pictures are from our tour of the city and I have posted others directly to FaceBook.

I gave up and called it a night at about 1 AM.  Gerri had gone to bed a little earlier.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013, Barcelona, Spain

We arrived at the Barcelona airport at 8:15.  By the the time we got our luggage, located the cruise rep, got the taxi to the hotel and checked in to the hotel it was 9;30,  We had breakfast and then went to our room.  We relaxed for awhile.  I checked the GPSR and walked to three nearby caches.  My first caches in Europe and Spain.

Back at the hotel we went to the Tast restaurant and I had a hamburger and Gerri had a pizza.  Both were very good, or maybe we were just very hungry.

Back at our room I logged my caches, the Internet connection was very slow.  We were in bed by 11, Gerri read for a while after I went to sleep.

Monday, September 23, 2013, Over the Atlantic Ocean

We got up at 7 to allow time to deal with any details that we may have overlooked yesterday.  We had our coffee and caught up on e-mail and FaceBook.  We had decided only to take Gerri's laptop.  I backed up the quicken files from my computer and restored them to hers.  On the cruise I will use my iPad for e-mail and FaceBook and we we will both use our Kindles for reading.

I put away the water and sewer hoses, only leaving the power cord hooked up.  We were scheduled to be picked up by Richard in the shuttle at 11:30.  At 11:15 I took in the slide rooms and raised the jacks.  I also turned the air conditioners up so that they won't run all the time and hopefully enough to keep things aired out.

When Richard arrived I set off an insecticide bomb in the coach and the basement and closed things up.  A few days ago Gerri had seen some ants, so I hoped to kill them and prevent anymore ants or spiders from taking up residence.

Richard dropped us off at the airport at about noon.  Our flight leaves at 1:55 for Philadelphia.  The flight to Philadelphia was delayed by heavy rain and was turbulent most of the way including the landing.

Our arrival gate was A5 and the flight to Barcelona departs form A15, so we didn't have far to go.  The flight to Philadelphia was two and a half hours and the flight to Barcelona is scheduled to be seven and a half hours. 

Dinner was served and I watched a movie, Avatar, and then we slept or read off and on.

Sunday, September 22. 2012, Margate, FL

We got up at 7 this morning and had our coffee.  Our plan for the day was to drive to Celebration to visit old friends and co-workers, Joe and Jody Greenwood.  Joe has suffered quite a bit from congestive heart failure and has been in the hospital several time this summer.  We thought even though it is a long drive we had better take the time while we are in the area and visit with them.

I had to go out and dump the holding tanks.  While I was outside Jody called and had to cancel the visit.  Joe has had a couple of bad nights and Jody may have to take Joe to the hospital today. When we return from our cruise we will be going near Celebration on the way to Lake City, maybe we can take some time then for a short visit.  The problem is that the trip from Margate to Lake City is 389 miles.  That doesn't leave us much time for stopping as it is already further and longer than I like to drive in a day.

Not being gone all day has the potential for cutting down on the packing frenzy this evening by spreading that chore out over the entire day.  Actually, Gerri does the packing and I try to stay out of the way until I'm given a specific task.  I made another pot of coffee.  At 9 AM Las Vegas time we tuned into Bible study net-cast from Oakey Blvd followed by the Worship Service.

In the afternoon I went to fill the coffee water container at WalMart.  I also did four caches while I was out.  I should reach 4200 at one of our ports of call on the cruise.

The packing is nearly done.  Gerri called Princess and made sure our departure times hadn't changed.  I also went on line and printed luggage tags and boarding passes for the cruise.

Gerri fixed pork chops with beans and rice along with a carrot and cabbage salad for supper.

After dark I put in all the window awnings and the door awning.  We both plan showers this evening so I left the water and sewer hoses hooked up.

After cleaning up and watching a little more TV we called it a night.

Tomorrow and part of Wednesday will be spent flying to Barcelona, Spain.

Saturday, September 21, 2013, Margate, FL

There was more rain during the night and this morning.  We had our coffee and I made some phone calls making reservations for later in the trip after we return from our cruise and get to Texas.

Gerri went out shoe and clothes shopping.  I stayed at the coach.  I got the wheel covers out of the Jeep and washed them using Orange Clean.  After washing the covers I treated  them with Aerospace 303 plastic and rubber treatment.  I was pleasantly surprised with how they cleaned up.  I had used soap and the power wash on them before with poor results.  This time I was happy with the results, the covers look better than at anytime after they were new.

Before Gerri came home I started to walk to the office to see if there was someone that could occasionally check on our coach while we are gone, Gerri came by in the Jeep and took me to the rest of the way to the office. .  I digress, this morning while paying bills I realized that I had been telling everyone we would be leaving on Tuesday the 23rd and the 23rd is actually on Monday.  That shortens our preparation time.  We made sure that the shuttle was coming to pick us up on the right day, it was.  We left a set of keys for the motor home and the Jeep at the office in case of emergencies.  Jacqueline at the office said she would have the person that would be doing the checks come by later and talk to us.

A very nice gentleman named Peter came by later and we discussed how we would leave the coach.  Peter has a company called Multistar Enterprises, which does this kind of services and cleaning I showed him where the power breakers inside are located.  I also gave him my e-mail address in case we can't be reached by phone.

I made a few more calls about places to stay after we leave Florida and before we get to Texas.

It rained some more in the late afternoon.  Later we had Carnitas for supper.  Gerri did some more packing for the cruise.

We went to bed at 11:30.

Friday, September 20, 2013.

We aren't quite alone, one of our distant neighbors

 After our morning coffee and computer time I went to the office and made arrangements for us to be taken to the airport on Tuesday and to be picked up at the dock on October 27.  The shuttle will pick us up at our site and deliver us back there.

Our mail arrived while I was at the office.  Going through that will be a task for later in the day.

I have written before that our area of the park is pretty much unoccupied.  There are other RV units here.  The company plans to sell just under half the lots and retain the rest for rentals.  Many of the owned lots have "Tiki Hut" type shelters, out door kitchens and small storage buildings.  Most of the lots are like the one we are on, a large parking area covered with pavers and surrounded by grass, hedges, and small trees.  Who ever planned the lay out seems to have done a good job maximizing the occupancy and at the same time providing plenty of room and privacy for each site.

In the afternoon I dropped Gerri off at a hair salon.  She got the works, hair cut and coloring, pedicure and manicure.  While she was doing that I went caching.   I found four.

After I picked Gerri up we went to the closest Walgreen Drugs and received our flu shot.  We were the only ones in line, so we weren't there very long.  We continue to go to Walgreen's each year as they have us in their computer which contains all of our information, so we only need to fill out a small portion of paperwork before the shot.  We were surprised we didn't have any co-pays with the latest changes lately.

We then went back to the park and just hung around.  I did go through the mail.  Wendy had weeded out all but the first class mail and there was still a lot of junk.  Out of the whole passel there were only four things that need my attention.

At sunset looking at the clouds lit up in the east

Gerri made dinner using the shrimp we had frozen while at Hilton Head Island.  She pan sauteed them with lime, garlic and butter and cilantro.  Then she served it with the green beans, which she added mushrooms,  and potatoes au gratin left over from last night.

I did get this picture of this evenings sunset.  Unfortunately there are power lines to the west, but that wasn't where the beauty was.  The clouds behind us to the east were the ones lit up.  After dark it rained again.  But, not for long.

After TV and computer time we called it a night at about 12:30.

Thursday, September 19, 2013, Margate, FL

I had a terrible night, didn't get much sleep.  Monday after I cleaned the love bugs off the front of the coach  I was collapsing the ladder and it fell against my right leg. It took some skin off and I bled a little.  I did my usual cleaning and bandaging and didn't think much more about it.  Yesterday evening my leg hurt quite a bit and then kept me awake most of the night.  When I got up this morning I could see more bruising and some redness.   I fixed coffee but then took some antibiotics and a pain pill and went back to bed.  After a couple hours of sleep I felt much better.  I got up and had some coffee while I kept my leg elevated and iced.

Like I said yesterday, we are alone in this section of the park.  This morning workmen came around sealing the asphalt and were surprised anyone was parked here.  They were very nice and parked the Jeep in another area for us in case we had to go out.  They want the sealant to set 12 hours before anyone drives on it.

I got the pocket queries that came in for our cruise entered into the GPS unit.  Some more will come in tomorrow and Saturday, I can only submit 5 queries in a 24 hour period.

Our not so sunny corner of the Sunshine State.

Gerri went out to a Sam's club to pick up a few items.  She had to walk to where the Jeep was parked and find her way out over the windy park roads.


I iced down and elevated my foot most of the time during the afternoon.  Shortly after Gerri got back from shopping it rained some more.

Gerri fixed dinner from the fridge.  Codfish almond crusted filets, Potatoes Au Gratin both from Omaha Steaks along with green beans.

I brought in the suitcases from the basement and Gerri will start getting the clothes that we will take on the cruise ready for our flight on Tuesday.

I called it an early evening at about 9:30 after watching a couple of old westerns on the DVR. 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013, Margate, FL

It rained off and on during the night.  I got up at 7:30 after the thunder claps got closer together.  I fixed the coffee and watched the rain. It rained hard but not for long.  By 10 there was quite a lot of blue sky showing to the west.  In almost every other direction the sky was black.

This park is large, 645 sites on 104 acres.  All the amenities make it a true resort.  They have everything that a major hotel/resort offers and then some.  www.aztecrvresort.com  The daily rate per site cost is high, but they were the only park in the area that was willing to give us a substantially reduced rate for the time we are on our cruise and not in the coach.  An interesting aspect of this and some other parks in the area that I had called is that when a machine answers the choices are press one for English or two for French.  At this park all the employees I have been in contact with speak English with a heavy French accent.  During the peak season they offer a special pot luck every week where only English is spoken, to make English only speakers feel welcome and at home.  About 65% of the winter occupants are French Canadian snowbirds.  Like I said yesterday, we are alone in this section of the park.  It is quiet, but I don't know how long an inveterate BS'er like me can go without neighbors.

Yesterday when we left Ft. Augustine there was no display on the R5000.  That is the unit in the dash that displays the backup and side view cameras.  It also is the entertainment and information screens.  The only control I had was the radio volume and off and on.  I don't depend on the side view cameras, but really miss seeing directly behind the coach.  I am used to being able to see the Jeep behind us and also being able to see obstacles when backing up.  I plan to take the dash cover off and make sure there are no loose wires or cables.  When it comes to this type of things those are the only first aid I know.  The screw holding the cover on isn't a flat or Phillips head, it is the star shaped head that takes a square head on the screw driver.  I have to wait until it's a little dryer out to get the right tool from my tool box.

No luck finding a tool to take the screw out of the dash cover.  My star drivers were too large and neither metric or English Allen wrenches fit it.  I resorted to mangling the screw head with pliers and finally got it out.  I didn't find any obviously broken or loose wires or cables.  I tried unplugging all the connections but the unit didn't change when I reconnected them.  I also took the unprecedented step of consulting the user's manual, no help there.

In the afternoon we went through our medicines, dietary supplements and toiletries to make sure we had enough for our cruise.  Then it was off to CVS to pick up what we could there.  When we left CVS I got a text from Chase asking if a $###.## charge was valid on my MasterCard.  I guess spending that much at CVS threw up a red flag.

Gerri fixed pork chops, peas and couscous for supper.  After all these years it still amazes me the delicious meals that she can whip up from the simplest of ingredients.  After supper we watched TV and I downloaded some pocket queries of caches around our ports of call that we will make on our cruise.  I looked up the ports on Google Earth and tried to find a cache near the ship dock.  Then centered on that cache I downloaded 500 around it.  Hopefully some of them will be near where we dock.  I want to do at least one cache in each of the countries we visit.  We have 15 ports of call in the 6 counties that the ship visits.  I can only do 5 pocket queries a day so I have spread out the requests.

It rained some more during the evening and we called it a night around 11:30.