2018 Florida and Bahamas - Day Seven - Chilly Florida and Kennedy Space Center

Well…cruise is over.  Upon waking up, we were already at port in Port Canaveral.  I was up by 6 AM and showered.  I went up top to see what the weather was like and HOLY SMOKES…it was 30 degrees!  Below freezing in Florida.  We had not packed for such weather.  Our only hope was to see the sunshine and hope it would warm up a bit as we were headed to Kennedy Space Center for the day before we headed to the airport to fly home.

 

We were off the ship by 8 AM and on the pre-arranged shuttle (Cocoa Beach Shuttle) with other guests.  We drove into Cocoa Beach to drop the other guests off at their car.  They were making a drive to Alabama…some 10+ hour drive.  After dropping them off, we headed to Kennedy Space Center (KSC).  Upon arriving, the parking lot was pretty barren.  All good…if it was a warm day.  We entered the KSC a few minutes after opening.  We immediately headed to the bus tour that takes you on an hour long ride over to the area where rockets are launched.  We saw the huge building where rockets are assembled and placed on to the machines that slowly haul them to the launch pads.  Huge machinery.  One track of that mobile platform weighs 2 tons…I believe.  Crazy.  They told us the fuel consumption required for those movers…pretty amazing even though they are hybrids as they actually are moved by electricity.  The gas is used for the electric generators.  On our bus tour we ended up in the Saturn 5 facility where a full sized Saturn 5 rocket was held.  These rockets were used for all the Apollo missions.  What these men did sitting small on top of these firestorms is nothing short of miraculous and heroic.  It takes some real courage to do something like that for  your life career.  After returning on the bus back to the KSC visitor complex, we were able to then go into the Atlantis exhibit where they have the Atlantis shuttle on display.  Each of these areas show real stuff used and found that you can touch and get up close to.  Movies are playing constantly telling you about the role all these machines have played in technology enhancements that we use day in and day out.  But seeing a shuttle and hearing about the technology and the space station that it built was cool.  I had no idea that the shuttles flew over 130 missions!  I had no idea.  5 were built.  2 were destroyed in missions.  3 are on display around the country.  The last thing I will say about our visit to KSC was looking into the future.  That night, a rocket was to launch a satellite into space.  But the cooler thing was to happen the following morning.  The largest rocket ever was to do a test…more powerful than any rocket yet built all with the idea to get back to the moon and then to mars.  But these rockets are reusable.  They are programmed to return to the launch pad (or some other point) and land.  They had videos showing that.  Amazing.  But Mars is the goal by 2030.  I hope I’m alive to witness it.

 

At 3:30 PM, we met our shuttle once again.  They kept all our suit cases and stuff then came and picked us up to take us to the airport.  The driver was young fellow who basically told us his life story.  He did not quit talking…jabber, jabber, jabber for about 45 minutes.  Michelle was the listening ear while Jeff slept.  Denise and I were in the back just kind of listening to him.  He was  a nice young man trying to make a go of his life and situation.  Already divorced though and dealing with child management.  So sad what people do and the adverse impact on their offspring.

 

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to get some dinner and then head to our gate.  Jeff and Michelle departed us immediately.  They were flying on Delta in one terminal and we were on Jet Blue in another.  But they did not have seats assigned, so they wanted to get to the gate and work it out as soon as they could.  It was a race home as they departed 30 minutes before we did.  They indeed landed early, retrieved the car at the Park-n-Jet, then came to get us.  Actually, the whole day worked like clockwork!  We were home just after 10 PM in ‘warmer’ climate.  It was actually warmer in SLC than in Florida…hard to believe.

 

Another great trip seeing different parts of our country and a new one (Bahamas).  I doubt I’ll ever go back to the Bahamas.  Nothing there really grabbed me other than the ocean.  But as I learned at KSC, the bulk of the earth is water.  97% of that water is not consumable.  2% is in glaciers and things and cannot be utilized.  That leaves 1% for all of us to share to stay alive.  Pretty crazy numbers….conserver your water but enjoy it!  Until we travel again…..

 

Pictures:

Kennedy Space Center (KSC) entrance....

Bus tour to launch pads and Saturn 5 facility that had all the Apollo and moon stuff.

Saturn 5 Rocket....

Largest single story building in the world.  Rockets assembled and placed on to launch vehicle here....

Apollo capsule...

Actual flight suits used on Apllo missions.

Actual mission control devices used ....

Denise at the helm of a shuttle...

Booster rockets and fuel tank outside the Shuttle Atlantis exhibit....

Cool world exhibit....

The freezing tour group at cruise port waiting for shuttle to KSC...

2018 Florida and Bahamas - Day Six - Fun Day at Sea

January 17, 2018

 

After our day in Nassau, we set out to sea.  It was quite windy and continued to be windy.  The next morning I woke up fairly early and went outside.  It was quite warm but you could tell it had been raining.  Today was our ‘Sea’ day.  All activities were to occur on the boat…of course.  I think the boat could have made it back to our port of call (Port Canaveral) easily by morning.  But they wanted the cruise to be an extra day.  So the ship was traveling at a very slooooow pace.

 

I tried this morning to cut back on the food consumption starting with breakfast.  I went with a bowl of fruit is all with some chocolate milk.  All tasty.  I was really gearing
up for a Guy Feiry Hamburger.  They have an incredible burger station on this ship.  The lunch time burger did not let me down.  But in between breakfast and lunch, we played cards with Jeff and Michelle.  We had a really nice, lazy morning doing that.  Obviously, there is much going on the boat.  Denise and Michelle bit on the ‘Grand Opening’ of a new gift shop.  Frankly, they probably do that every cruise to get shoppers to think something is new about it.  Same old garbage to be sold and bought though which no human needs.

 

In the afternoon, we played a bit more cards and then we just went our own ways.  Some took naps.  I kind of just walked around and people gazed.  Kind of fun to do.  It was warm still but got colder as we approached the north.  We also quicly packed our suit cases knowing that we’d be up early wanting to get off the ship as quickly as we could.

 

After dinner, we went to the comedy club to listen to the PG show…the family show.  It turned out that some kids in the front row kept trying to get into the show and interrupting the comedian.  He just played along with it.  But the silly ‘Who is there?’ jokes started to get old.  We ended up leaving early anyway to get to the main show which was a Rock-n-Roll thing.  It was really, really good.  All kinds of good music with lots of dancing.  Some dancing got a bit sensual…but not surprised these days.

 

All in all, it was a nice relaxing day which was nice before setting sail home to Utah the next day!

 

Pictures:

Cards, cards, cards....lots of fun.

BBQ lunch....

The dinner stop each night....

Last supper....

PG Comedy Club....

The evening RocknRoll show...

The Blue People....

2018 Florida and Bahamas - Day Five - Hello Nassau!

January 16, 2018

Hello Nassau!  We woke up this morning with the intention to turn on the $10 per day call plan that AT&T has.  It was a good thing that we did.  The excursion that I had booked to do with Jeff had been cancelled due to weather conditions (high winds, rough seas) and they were trying to get a hold of us.  I was able to text them to let them know that I had received their messages.  So what to do now?  Denise and Michelle had booked an excursion off the boat to see the top 10 things in Nassau.  So they were covered.  Jeff and I decided to wander off the boat to see what the Bahamians had to offer.  After a good walk off the pier (5 cruise boats were here), we were bombarded with men wanting to give us a tour of Nassau.  Jeff was pretty quick to decide to do it.  The price was half of what Denise and Michelle paid and seemed to cover a lot of ground.  It turned out to be a pretty good tour, but pretty quick.  Maybe 2 hours is all long.  I think Denise and Michelle's was for over 4 hours.  I'm writing this as I wait for them to get back.

The tour took us through Nassau.  The country\city is a bit scary.  Seems old, run down and so on.  Pretty sad.  We saw their government buildings, hospitals, etc..  Then we went to Atlantis, which was on Paradise Island.  Rooms or very expensive there.  To have a day permit to use the amenities...$190.  Mikey Jackson used to pay $15k per night for his little room over the arch here!  All over priced.  We were dropped off so we could go through the casino...time enough for Jeff to drop $20 on 2 penny slots.  He was teaching me how gambling worked.  He did a great job!  We were also taken to a park that stared at the stars homes across the water.  We went to the Queen's Staircase where I swear the driver said 600 slaves created.  That would be about 1 brick per slave as the staircase was not that long or big!  Anyway...the funny thing was that in many of the stops we found Denise and MIchelle.  They were seeing many of the things that we were seeing.   I'll find out later if they saw more than us.  I'm sure they did.

Jeff and I came back to the boat.  I decided to get some 'Mongolian BBQ'.  Jeff went for the awesome looking burgers they have here.  Jeff could have eaten 20 of those burgers in the time it took to get my noodles seared!  Holy smokes...30+ minutes in line to get my veggies cooked and there were only 6 or so people in front of me.  Very slow!  But it gave me time to visit and learn about other people in line.  I kind of like that part of the cruise...speaking with people I do not know.  Drives Denise crazy.

Pictures:

Pretty picture of harbor at Nassau...cloudy, windy day.

Atlantis casino and resort....

Fort at Queens Staircase....

Distillery Tour...a couple of drunk ladies.

Shelling Conk....

Chickens at the distillery...

Pretty flowers...

2018 Florida and Bahamas - Day Four - Freeport, Bahamas (Paradise Cove)

January 15, 2018

Hello Freeport!  Love sleeping in a dark cabin on a boat.  Pretty nice.  Nonetheless, I was awake at 6 AM.  I don't know.....body just programmed to be up then I suppose.  I laid in bed pondering life and what this day would be like.  It turned out to be really nice.  

We met Jeff and Michelle at 7:45 AM to get some breakfast.  3 of us went to the omelet bar.  Pretty good omelet filled with massive amounts of stuff!  After eating, we headed off the boat to catch our ride to Paradise Cove.  The ride was fun, led by 71 year old Nathan Parker.  He has lived his whole life here and has been doing this driving job for 20 years. The ride took us through main towns of Freeport.  It is apparent that the economy struggles here.  Lots of folks just meandering around.  Buildings half built.  Apparently there was a hurricane in 2016 that caused a lot of damage and they are till recovering from that.

The ride to Paradise Cove took about 25 minutes.  Upon arriving we were greeted by folks who checked us in and made sure we had paid.  Once we had done that, we were given 'snorkeling' instructions on safety and where to go.   It was a pretty long swim out to the best part of the reef.  But it was well worth it.  Once Jeff and I got out there, the terrain turned from sea grass to a coral wall that dropped off pretty good.  There were tons of fish...very friendly fish that followed you around kind of begging for chum...I guess.    The depth was probably anywhere from 20' to 40' in some areas.  I thought it was really nice.  We snorkeled for a good hour or morel.  But the surf was a bit rough due to the windy conditions.  And it was tough to walk on the rocky parts as you left and came from shore.  Jeff, with his damaged foot, lost his balance and feel three or four times.  But I'm sure he would say it was worth it.  I did have my GoPro with me so I hope the videos I took are ok.

At about 12:30, we decided to take the shuttle back and go just enjoy the ship.  I had French fries on the brain.  So once we arrived, off we went to get some.  Turns out that Guy Fieri has featured the burger stop on these lines.  They looked really good. One burger type is bacon made into a big patty...no beef!  I think Jeff had that one.  We did get a couple of tacos (pork and fish).  Both really good.  But the French fries were exactly what the doctor ordered for me.

After grabbing a quick bite, Jeff, Denise and I went up to the Serenity Deck to see if there were hot tub openings.  No cigar there.  But we did lounge a bit and just enjoyed the sun and cool air.   Michelle stayed on land in the shops seeing if Freeport could fit into her suit cases.  :-)

Dinner tonight was formal night.  Surf and Turf it was for me.  Great food.  The entertainment was pretty impressive technically.  The singers, girls good, one guy is pretty bad!  But nonetheless, entertaining.  After the show, we got out of our nice clothes into something that let the food expand better in our stomachs, went to the Spencer's room and played some cards...Hearts and Fingers.  Denise won both times.  Tomorrow, more snorkeling!

Pictures:

Lots of unfinished houses like this as we drove in Freeport...

Some colorful shops for selling stuff.  We must be in the slow time...not a single one open.

Our destination for the day.....

Fun to be with my gorgeous wife vacationing....although I am having to share her with her sister!

Denise and Michelle....

Jeff and Michelle....You can see the rock formations out in the water.  We had to navigate around the buoys (just above Jeff's head) to the right and head out to those rock formations.  Once you arrived there, the depth dropped from 2' to 4' to 20' to 40' with much warmer and clearer water.  Unfortunately, the walk out there was pretty painful with tender feet like mine.   And Jeff, with his bad foot, stumbled a few times and fell.  I thought he'd be all bloodied up ready for shark chumming...but he came up ok each time.  Anyway...It was a pain to get to the reef but pretty awesome once there.

Shopping area by cruise boat where we met our bus driver....

The standard cruise affair of folding your towels into scary animals....

The harbor...

Paradise Cove....

When we got on the boat.  I think Denise boot legged this one.

2018 Florida and Bahamas - Day Three - Off to the Bahamas We Go!

January 14, 2018

Today is Sunday and it turned out to be a nice day of rest.  While at Epcot, I suggested to Jeff to call Alamo and see what it would cost to drop the car in Port Canaveral.   After speaking its corporate and getting a very high quote, he called Alamo at the port.  They said to extend the car and drop it there, it would only be $75.  That was an amazing price.  To go to the airport at a reasonable time, we would pay for another day plus $15 per person to catch a shuttle.   When we arrived at Alamo, Jeff went in and in the end, he got the car for the whole week for $139...much less than previously quoted.  We were amazed!

Anyway, we had a lazy morning as a result.  No hurry to get to anywhere.  The drive to the port was about 1.5 hours long going on non toll roads.  We really got to see the country side.  

We arrived at 1 PM and were on the boat by 2 PM.  

We went right to our room and dropped what luggage we had and headed up to get some lunch.  Naturally, we ate too much!

Just before we started to leave, I started getting texts from my good friend Steve Eaton.  He and his wife Karen drove to the pier to wave to us as we departed.   And lo and behold, we actually saw each other and waved.  It was nice that they would do that.  I'm sad that we did not get time to be together this trip.  But maybe next time.

Well, after the whole muster thing, off we went feeling colder than when we cruised from Seattle to Alaska!  It was so windy and cold.  We have been praying that the trip south would warm the air and the water.  We shall see.

Dinner time (6 PM) was upon us quite quickly.  The service and food was quite good.  Fun again to be able to choose a couple of Menu items for each course.  Thank goodness portion sizes are small.

After dinner, we went into the main entertainment place and watched people do silly stuff.  They had a single woman dance class, a men against women question answer thing and so on.  Eventually, we went back to Michelle and Jeff's cabin to play some cards (Hearts).   I think I won...but don't tell any of them.  At 10:15, we went off to watch the opening night production.  It was ok...nothing to shake a stick at.  About 11 PM....I was tucked in bed trying to go to sleep which was not easy since my stomach was rolling a bit.  I ate way too much lunch and dinner.  I won't do that again!

Pictures:

Nice condo in Kissimmee...

Our boat taken by my friend Steve who was on the pier....

The guy in the white shirt is me with Denise by me....

Boat photos....

Coast Guard escort...makes me remember of Dustin's days in the Keys....

Michelle's snorkeling mask.  Looks like I'm going to the moon!

Inside photos of the ship...

Elevator shaft....

2018 Florida and Bahamas - Day Two - Epcot Center

January 13, 2018

I’m doing my blog using voice  controls standing in line to get on Soarin at Epcot.  I will describe our day at Epcot little bit later.

Sleeping was horrible last night. Denise gave me a sleeping pill and I believe the sleeping pill caused me to get a very dry mouth.  The same happened last night on the airplane.  So at 2:30 AM I woke up to use the restroom and had a real hard time going back to sleep.  But, I eventually fell back to sleep and woke up around 8 AM.   Now back at our condo, food is a bit scarce.  We ate snacks for breakfast, which was perfectly fine.  I ate pretzels filled with peanut butter.  I'm not sure what Denise ate.  Michelle and Jeff get their systems going by drinking prune juice (Dr Pepper) as their morning breakfast juice. 

Jeff decided this morning that his legs and feet were not doing well. They were really swollen.  So he decided to stay home. Denise, Michelle and I all came to Epcot center to enjoy the day. Fortunately I put in extra clothes, some long pants and a long shirt. What a blessing that is been. It is really cold here today lots of clouds and small winds.  At the end of the day, it was 47 degrees.  Pretty cold here.

Upon arriving at Epcot center Michelle decided that she would get one of the jazzy scooters taking around the park. That has been pretty fun to watch.  Park attendees did not know that they should have taken insurance out with her driving this thing.  I've seen it hit two walls, a couple of poles keeping lines in order and so on.  Definitely a crazy driver she has been but giving us all some really fun laughs along the way. 

Epcot center is a slow pace as you go from country to country around this lake. We’ve enjoyed staying warm by watching all the cool movies\shows that each country has.  For lunch, we had burgers and hot dogs.  Yes...go figure with all the good foreign food around, that is what we ate.  So embarrassing.  But, it was better than what Jeff was eating.  He had no car back at the condo.  So he was surviving on Buffalo Pretzels, cheese crackers and Dr. Pepper.  He was still alive though when we returned back.  

One of the fun things that Denise and Michelle did was to go into the various shops, seek out hats pertinent to that country and then put the on and get pictures.  In Canada, we saw some cool hats that the 'Cast Members' were wearing.  But the guy said they no longer sell them.   He offered his hat to them but after I said she had head lice, he retracted his offer.  It was pretty funny watching his young face.

Naturally, cold and all, we closed the park down watching the big show over the lake.  It was a really fun day in many ways, more so than I'd ever admit in public.  Tomorrow...cruise day.  We're all kind of excited about that!

Pictures:

The scooter lady!  (Way too much fun!)

Hats around the world...you decide what country they are in.  And ignore the photo bomber in the first pic!

Ok....I caved in for one hat pic.  Don't tell anyone!

Some shots around Epcot....

My Morrocan belly dancer!