First Sea Day

Aloha Everyone,

Every cruise is wonderful. You are anticipating and looking forward to visiting places you've read about, and to meeting interesting people. But more importantly, this is also an opportunity to learn about oneself.

"The Book of Joy" by His Holiness Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams was based on 5 days spent in April 2015 in Dharansala, India to celebrate His Holiness' 80th Birthday. To find this masterly book in the ship's library itself was an amazing fortuitous event.

I plan to utilize my time on board productively setting aside time for J.J. and I to do walking exercises, enjoying meal times, conversation with fellow passengers, and to participate in onboard entertainment activities. On this vessel, there is no separate room that is available to do my yoga and meditation practice. My modified studio will be a section in front of a row of exercise machines that is wide enough to place a yoga mat, but not a high enough ceiling to lift my arms up or kick my legs.

Aloha -- Cathi

Carnival Conquest - Bon Voyage!

Aloha Everyone,

J.J. and I are off on an eight day cruise on the Carnival Conquest. We might not be able to upload anything on this blog until we return.

There was an interesting mural onboard the Carnival Conquest:

Our view as we left port:

More in about a week!

Aloha -- Cathi

Lunch at Cabo Blanco - Peruvian Cuisine

Aloha Everyone,

With a temperature of 91 degrees Fahrenheit and high humidity, I took 2 showers to keep me feeling clean.

The day was spent getting Honu and us ready for our cruise. The highlight of the day was returning to Cabo Blanco for more Peruvian cuisine!

Tomorrow, the two of us sail on Carnival Conquest to the Caribbean. Looking forward to our 4 new ports of calls -- Aruba, Dominican Republic, Curaçao, and Grand Turk.

Aloha -- Cathi

Getting Ready for Our Caribbean Cruise

Aloha Everyone,

We have 2 days to get ready for our cruise on Saturday. J.J. finds cruising a break from being on the road. I just love it!

Doing laundry was on top of our "things to do" list. To avoid mid-day heat, we tackled this weekly task early and finished before 11:00 am.

Drive to downtown Hollywood, Florida took us less than 20 minutes. J.J. and I like the "circle" a circular route that takes you in and out of downtown restaurant area.

Cabo Blanco serves Cuban and Peruvian dishes. It was an excellent choice. The calamari appetizer served on a bed of salad with 3 different sauces was amazing! I preferred it over my red snapper with peppery black beans. J.J. had lechon asado (pork dish) but said it was just okay, nothing extraordinary. I think after the calamari, other dishes paled in comparison. Stylish and handsome waitress, Natalia, was not Cuban or Peruvian, but from Bogota, Columbia.

Post office to mail the package full of Georgia pecan to my Mother followed by a stop to FedEx to get prints of the travel documents for Carnival Cruise. I had a nice chat with Margaret who was also patiently waiting for assistance in the FedEx office.

Three nights ago we used our portable heater in Honu. Since arriving here, we've been running Honu's AC.  

Aloha -- Cathi

West Palm Beach, Boca Raton to to Hollandale

Aloha Everyone,

J.J. and I heard of an interesting place to eat in Palm Beach, but we decided to skip. Palm Beach has always attracted the rich and famous and infamous. Mar-a-Largo is frequently in world news as Trump's Winter White House.

To avoid lunch hour traffic and tourists, we stopped at Boca Raton Mall for lunch. Spanish words, Boca Raton, literally translate as Rat's Mouth but Boca  can also means inlet. I chose a Mediterranean salad with falafels, olives with cilantro sauce. It was so delicious and filling. I paid $12.82 and packed 1/2 for my dinner:-). J.J. had a Chinese food plate which he said was good.

We arrived at Embassy RV Park in Pembroke. The management team is friendly, welcoming and simply wonderful!  

It is 85 degrees hot and resident ducks are patrolling around Honu. I have to mix essential oils to make organic tics and mosquito repellant.

Aloha -- Cathi

Drive via Daytona Beach to Cocoa Beach

Aloha Everyone,

I woke up too early. Usually I fall back to sleep but I decided to take advantage of the extra time to do drawings of Riley, Marc & Shelley's grand dog and Baron, Dee and Lee's Schnauzer.

Also caught up answering Hawaii friends' emails, but due to six hours time difference, I waited until pass 8 am in Hawaii to send them out.

I-75 freeway in the opposite direction was getting crowded as we approached Daytona Beach. Canadians and other "snowbirds" from Northeastern states generally head back to their homes after April 15th.

We have checked in at Sonrise (correct spelling) Palms Christian RV & Rally Park. A large wooden cross stands in front of the shower and toilet building. Otherwise no ongoing rally - looks like any other RV park. It was 82 degrees when we arrived this afternoon. With no trees to offer shades, no free WiFi and still charging the winter rate of $51.75, we found this park to be overpriced. Finally at 8:00 pm, the temperature is a comfortable 75 degrees.

Aloha -- Cathi

To Fort Lauderdale

Aloha Everyone,

Georgia has been the leading pecan-producing state in the U.S.A.

The pecan is a large tree which grows to 66–131 ft widely spreading its branches to 50 ft on average. A pecan belongs to hickory genus which means it is not really a nut but a fruit. While visiting a market near Manila, I learned that peanuts grow underground and it is also not a nut but belongs to genus of legume, like peas.  

Large billboards beckoned us to stop and check out Adcock Pecans and Peanuts. There were so many varieties of "nuts" on display. J.J. and I selected some to mail to my Mother who just returned from her 10 days trip to Japan.

Some towns are perfect place for us to stop and get things done. After our gift shopping, we went to Walmart to purchase provisions; loaded diesel; found a place for lunch; and took a nap. By the way,  "Oishii" meaning tasty or delicious was an interesting establishment. This restaurant was our lunch stop. You select your ingredients then the cook will grille it for you. The staff all appeared to be Westerners. J.J. told me that his dishes had no resemblance to Japanese food. It was more Chinese. I have become flexible when it comes to dining out. I enjoyed my house salad with no dressing and Vietnamese vegetable spring rolls.

The two of us are in Florida heading to Fort Lauderdale where we will be going on a cruise to the Caribbean. I will write more about it in my upcoming blog.

From I-75 South, we took I-10 East and are staying at Lake City RV Resort in Lake City. The owner proudly informed us that since he acquired the business two years ago, many upgrades have been made. Facilities include a large club house where he invited us to help ourselves to coffee and snacks. It is well appointed and so are the restrooms and showers.

The man using his mobile phone under a net intrigued me. I wondered if mosquitoes and other insects only attack his face and not the rest of his body.

Aloha -- Cathi