We Made It!!

We spent the night at the JFK airport and then next morning we took the shuttle to the airport and waited to be able to check in for our flight which was about 12:45.  The check in went smoothly and both bags were under the 50 pound weight limit.  We each had a carry on with snacks, medications, phones and plug ins for them along with neck pillows, socks and a few other necessities.  For the first time we took advantage of our Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card and the entrance to the lounges at airports. We were able to get into the KAL Lounge and now we are spoiled.  We had comfortable quiet seating with hot foods, every Kind of drink , beer and alcohol, clean bathrooms and showers and excellent service.  We had some delicious broccoli soup, nuts and chips along with a vegetable plate.  We charged up our phones and by 3:00 we left to get on line for our flight.  Although our seats were a tight fit we did ok.  We had dinner about 5:30 and then watched a movie.  We took something to help us sleep and as they turned down the lights we were both nodding off.  Our flight was 7 1/2 hours and neither of us got up.  About an hour before we landed they served a hot breakfast pastry and coffee.  We made it to the airport while it was still dark.  After collecting our bags which took a long time we headed to the Hilton Rome Airport.  The check in gal told a group of very weary travelers that our rooms wouldn’t be ready till 2 or 3!  But they had a free shuttle bus into Rome so many of us hopped on to stay awake and see a little of the city.  They dropped us off in the center of the old ruins.  We met a nice couple from Washington state and followed them to a little cafe where we enjoyed hot tea and a croissant.  Then we walked around a little through tight narrow streets full of merchants, outdoor cafes and curious tourists.  We spent about three hours in town and then decided to take the bus back to the hotel.  Luckily our rooms were ready.  We got to our room and were so pooped we decided to shower up and then stay in for the night.  We slept great and had plenty of time to catch our transfer to the port in the morning.  Embarkation was smooth getting on the ship and our rooms were ready there too!  We met our friends Betsy and Chuck Story in the holding area before boarding.  After dropping off our packs we headed to lunch and a good catch up visit.  The ship which is less than a year old was very clean and modern!  After lunch we headed to our rooms to get ready for the muster drill.  We were lucky to have the drill inside rather than outside.  Then it was to the back deck for the sail away 🎉!  The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the party.   After that we unpacked in our rooms till time for dinner.   We enjoyed the beautiful sunset on the lido deck and headed to bed relatively early.  When we hit omit our cabin we had a message to pick up one of our suitcases on deck one due to contraband!  They swore we had an iron but we said check our suitcase.  We have no iron!   They took our word for it and let us go.  We never could figure out what they thought was an iron. 

After a good nights sleep we spent the next day exploring sone of the ship and resting.  There was a movie that night under the stars and several music venues in the ship but we had an early night after a few games of Triominos.  Our next day thankfully was a sea day.  

We both slept in getting up around 9:30!  Of course we were still adjusting to the time change.  The morning was spent getting a little better organized and exploring more if the ship.  The captain shared that we would be passing through the Isle of Stromboli around 8:15.  A little later we would also pass by an active volcano and he said he would slow the speed a bit for folks to get a good look.  It really didn’t compare to the size of other volcanoes we have viewed.  But we did learn that several of the areas we would visit often feel the effects of earthquakes.  A few hours later we passed through the Messina Strait. The sea is very calm and we are feeling little to no wave action on the ship.  

That morning the ship presented a port talk about Olympia, Dubrovnik, Katakolon, and Corfu.  If you kiss the presentations you can always view them on your cabin TV.  There are lots of the usual things going on onboard like trivia, computer classes ( Windows only), Bridge, linedancing, wine or beer tasting, shopping specials, America’s Test Kitchen Cooking demonstrations, ship tours, chess, pickleball, and a whole host of other games and activities.  The ship has two nice pools; one that has a retractable roof and the other on the rear of the ship both with nice comfortable lounges, tables and chairs and full service bars. Or you can go to upper level floors for outdoor loungers.  Our favorite area seems to be the pool area with the retractable roof.  The ambiance is inviting and comfortable.  Some folks are reading, others playing games with other couples or just chatting and enjoying visiting. 

I have a calendar of our tours and activities along with a fairly long narrative of each port and what our tour includes. All our tours are third party with small groups.  Most require payment in Euros the day of the tour so with the help of my son in law Aaron I’m equipped with enough Euros to cover my tours.  If not they will exchange Euros for you onboard too.  

A big change on this ship is the theater!  It is no longer the typical stage with curtains and balcony seating. Now it is more like a high school or college stage for presentations.  It’s rather cold and sterile.  There are no more singers and dancers and not every night do they have entertainment like we are used to. Sometimes it is a movie like BBC Nature.  So we will see how we like this.  

Most of the daily program which also has vastly changed is devoted to selling something on the ship like jewelry, clothing, alcohol, bingo or the casino.  Very little information about the port or towns is provided and I miss that.  Our music venues are ; BB King Blues Club, Lincoln Center Stage ( strictly classical), Rolling Stone Rock Room and dueling pianos in the Billboard. 

Today we had our first meet and greet which consisted of folks associated with Cruise Critic.  It was well attended with about 80 folks. Holland provided coffee, tea and water along with sweet treats. The leader had us play a meet and greet bingo getting to know others and then we had a gift swap with those bringing something swapping with others. Folks seeMrs to enjoy it and I donated the tickets and helped hand out the gift bags. 

So that was our day at sea. We enjoyed dinner in the Lido and then some table games with our friends. We listened to music at the BB King blues club and headed to bed to get a good nights rest before Dubrovnik, Croatia. 

Our snacks at the private lounge at JFK!!

Headed to Rome. 

Old ruins in downtown Rome on our walk about



Our cafe stop in Rome for tea and croissants 

Doesn’t that look yummy??! 

Turtles on top of the fountain caught my eye. 

Cobblestone streets and narrow pathways. 

Meeting up with our friends and cheers to us!!

Our room and below large tv 

New modern bathrooms with large showers seen in mirror 

“ Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons. Jim Bishop

After arriving home from a quick trip with Aaron and Tess to Mississippi we had about two weeks to finish packing and preparing for our next adventure... a fall colors trip to upstate New York for four days then off to Rome to meet good friends of ours and help them celebrate their 50th anniversary on the Mediterranean Mosaic Cruise.  But more about that later 🚢

We were up very early for our Uber ride to the airport on Oct 9th.  By 5:30 we were at the airport and checked in. We had one stop in Atlanta and then on to LaGuardia. But our connection was late due to some airport construction in Atlanta so it made getting into New York an hour late.  We decided to spend the night at the airport and then pick up our car in the morning and head north.  Our flight to Rome was from JFK so we asked at the car rental agency if we could drop off there.  We had booked most of our hotels and car through our Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card which has been a great travel tool for us.  The gal at the car rental gave us a few extra hours and the alternate drop off location at no extra charge!!!  That had to be a first for us.  We took her name down and dropped a nice thank you to her via her boss. 

Dan planned most of our route but we both decided that getting out of New York City took a driver AND a co-pilot!  Even with our iPhone maps giving us directions it still took two pairs of eyes and ears to take it all in and stay in the right lane.  When we looked at our route initially we decided we would do best staying two nights at each of our hotels on the road and then branch out from them and see as much as we could.  The Catskills and The Adirondacks were our destinations for color “peeping”.  Neither of us had ever been to this part of the country or New York except for one day many years ago when we visited Todd in Cape Cod and we came in to the city for a day trip.  

Our first two nights were spent at Kingston, NY which turned out to be an excellent stop. We were amazed at the length and breadth of the Hudson River!  We passed Yankee Stadium and drove by exits of places we have only heard about in books, on TV or in movies like Yonkers, the Bronx, Sleep Hollow, Cornwall on the Hudson and many more.  We took hi-way 87 north which closely follows  the Hudson River.  We crossed the river around Poughkeepsie and saw the signs for the Franklin Roosevelt National Park in Hyde Park.  The beautiful fall afternoon was spent here taking a narrated tour of Roosevelt’s home, the grounds and then the presidential library which was the first presidential library.  One could spend days here!  The visit prompted a hunger within us to read more about both Franklin and Eleanor along with learning about the children and grandchildren.  W writhing about the Park was done thoughtfully and aesthetically beautiful.   The nostalgic feeling that overcomes you is warm, sad and sweet all in one breath.  It was really by accident that we stopped off here but it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. 

The colors of the turning trees wasn’t quite as impressive as the trip we took a few years ago through the Blue Ridge Mountains but still from all reports we hit the perfect time.  The rains have not come yet to strip the leaves off the trees and the temperatures have been cool enough along with the shortened days to still present some heartwarming vistas and camera worthy photos.  We passed by the Vanderbilt Mansion on our way out of the park but the time was too short to take a tour.  We headed to the hotel and along the way stopped to snap photos and take in all the exquisite Victorian homes, mansions and bed and breakfasts.  

We took as many back roads as we could and as many jaunts to lakes and waterfronts.  The area is really rural with heavily forested areas everywhere.  It was obvious to us that summer is most possibly their peak season with lots of little eateries, ice cream shops, kayak and canoe re talks along with beaches and camping /RV parks.  Lots of these were closed up but I imagine it’s a loud, busy and congested area in the summer.  The next few days we visited several state parks, refuges and stopped for an Octoberfest and some oompah!!  We stayed two nights in Clifton Park and from there traveled to Round Lake, Saratoga, Lake George, Lake Lucerne and took a hike in Prospect Peak. One of our lasts parks was Saratoga National Park which again was a unique stop over depicting the chilling battle between the Redcoats and The Patriots in the Campaign of 1777. The visitors center was full of interesting exhibits and a well done movie. One can take a 9 mile drive through the park to see the locations of the battles, the Redoubts which are wooden and earthen fortifications.  It’s hazard to imagine the bloodshed and loss of life when looking at the peaceful farmlands and serene vistas.  

We slept in a little on Monday the 14th and then with our trusty iPhone plugged into the car we took off for New York City to return our car and spend  the night at the Holiday Inn Airport. Tomorrow the 15th we fly to Rome. We will get there Wednesday morning early then spend the night at the Marriot at the airport.  On the 17th we will take a transport to the port of Civitavecchia where we will board the Nieuw Statendam for 24 days doing the Greek Isles, the Mediterranean and then cross the Atlantic bringing us back to Ft Lauderdale on November 10th. 

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Almost to LaGuardia and what a shot!!  I think I should send this to Southwest!!

Where we started the tour of Roosevelt’s home and library. 

One of the beautiful trees on his estate 

 His home 

The room he had added on to the old original homestead. Each end had a fireplace. You notice his wheelchair in the photo. The place had 9 bathrooms, servants quarters, at least 9 bedrooms , and lovely porches and vistas. Roosevelt has a lift otherwise the dumb waiter which held his wheelchair to get from floor to floor. 

His burial site... his wife is close by 

Just lots of fall photos

Lots of milkweed was found and several Monarchs were spotted!

Dan found two salamanders.  That made his day. 

A squeeze shoot where folks were rock climbing. If you couldn’t get into this shoot you wouldn’t be able to get through the crevice to get to the climbing area!

Nice reflection! 

This was a self serve kayak rental!  We had never seen this before. You call a number and give your cc. Then they give you the code to unlock your kayak!!  Pretty great idea 

More beautiful colors 

Top of Prospect Mountain Home

Oompah! 

Saratoga City Park 




Photo in the visitor center of the Campaign of 1777 battle 

Flight T&A Boarding Now!!

We finally made it home after being gone most of the summer.  Even though it was still HOT in Arizona it felt good to be home and have room to stretch out, do laundry whenever we wanted and sleep on our own bed.  We were home by mid September, unpacked the camper and got it stored.  For a few weeks it was put things away and get caught up on being gone.  Dan and a Tess got started back into flying with the Red Rocket and everyday he was fixing and repairing something either at our house, her house or the hangar at Buckeye that Aaron and Tess lease.  I got started back into water aerobics, canasta and mahjong at the center on main.  

On Wednesday the 25th of September Aaron and Tess cake over for dinner.  He proposed that we get in their six seater the next morning at o dark thirty and head for Cleveland, MS to surprise Todd and his family with a visit.  The weather looked good and it was Todd's last free weekend before he would be tied up with college recreation activities with students every weekend.  Tess hadn’t seen Todd since a year before and so we said “Why not?”!  We could each take 40 pounds and we would stop every two hours for fuel and bathroom breaks.  We gathered a few clean pair of underwear together and some toiletries and by 5:45 the next morning we were in their pickup headed to the airport. 

We had great weather all along the way and Dan and I were able to stretch out in the back seat and enjoy the view from above.  We made it to Cleveland by sundown and surprised ( somewhat!) Todd and Zoey who met us at the airport.  We spent Friday and Saturday there getting to visit Zoey’s school and see her at lunch, enjoy a BBQ with his neighbors and then help him out with a greenhouse construction at Zoey’s school which is part of Krista’s job this year with Food Corps.  Sunday morning we were at the Cleveland airport early and left Todds truck for him to pickup later.  We headed west on somewhat the same flight pattern although this time we would dodge a few strong and threatening storms.  We holed up for a half hour in Texas waiting for a front to pass by and we were home just a sunset landing in Buckeye.  Four tired folks unloaded and piled into the truck after securing the plane.  Thanks so much Aaron and Tess for sharing your trip with us and showing us more of our country from 7000 ft above it :). We had a wonderful experience all the way around.  And we learned never surprise Todd!!! Ha ha. 

Leaving Buckeye 

Pilot and co- pilot!

Views from above

Taking a break and refueling 

Landed at Cleveland 

Zoey is excited! 

Fun with Papa!

Presents from Aunt Titi and Uncle Aaron 

Lunch at school!

Then too much fun with Aunt Titi


And let’s keep papa busy 😂

Heading home

Fueling again 

Storms looming

Sunset in Buckeye


Safely home and thankful for the adventure