Cruise to the South Caribbean

My expectations for this cruise were low-key; I didn’t foresee anything spectacular.  Don loves cruising—the pool, the food, the entertainment, the pampering.  When I travel, I like historic and cultural destinations, amazing nature, and active pursuits.  Endless water with no land horizon is not high on the list for me.

We joined a group of 50 from Palm Valley on Holland America’s Westerdam, so we knew we would meet more neighbors from our Florida home park.

 Half-Moon Cay is Holland America’s private island experience.  It was clean, controlled and crafted for a great beach day.  The water was too cool for much swimming, but the weather was perfect for beach wandering, sunning and Tai Chi on the beach. 

 

We had a Rum Runner drink while listening to a great Trinidad guy playing the steel drum.  The steel bowl has many circles hammered into the metal bowl that forms the inside of the drum.  Each has a different tone when he strikes it with the rubber-tipped drumsticks.  Very cool.

 

I was excited about the prospect of snorkeling, so we saw Aruba from a large sailboat.

 

Don didn’t like the experience, so after a short dip, he just watched and enjoyed the water and view from the sailboat.  We anchored above a WWII wreck, the Antilla, about 50 feet down.

 The side of the ship with cannon and railings was clear enough with striped sergeant major fish and gorgeous iridescent blue tang and other small and long fish swimming around in schools.  Lovely.  After the two snorkeling stops, the crew served rum punch very generously on the way back.  I admit to being a bit woozy.

 

Curacao was our third shore stop.  Willemstad has quaint Dutch architecture with tall, narrow, brightly colored buildings and a swaying pontoon bridge across the shipping canal/St. Ann’s Bay.  The whole town had an old-world, yet tropical charm.

 

I bought a ring and necklace pendant of Tanzanite, a rare, violet blue stone mined only on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.  Then I convinced Don that I really had to have earrings to go with it.  It is a gemstone investment. (Let’s hope.)     

We toured the Kura Hulanda Museum, part of a large collection of restored 1800’s buildings which comprise a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The museum’s main feature is African history and culture culminating in the slave market held on that site.  Testimonies from slaves as well as slavery promoters and the original paraphernalia and buildings make this sobering and poignant.

 

 

Days at sea mean something totally different to Don and to me.  He hits the buffet, suns by the pool, swims, eats, naps in a deck chair, has ice cream, suns by the pool, eats, swims—you get the idea.  I try to cram in so many seminars and travel talks that I sometimes have to grab a bite on the run.  This cruise I pursued computer and photo skills, tai chi, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, holistic healthy lifestyle.  I am not sure how that fits with the typical cruise over-eating and drinking, but there is always next week to put it all into practice.  I had three acupuncture treatments for my hip bursitis problem that has plagued me for two years since mountainous hiking in the Southwest in 2011.  The doc stuck 17 to 22 thin needles into my hip and leg, which have to stay in for half an hour.  It does not really hurt.  Tattoos hurt more, but don’t tell our son Troy that.  The acupuncture did help long term.

 My expectations were exceeded.  We were pampered.  We went to the main stage show every evening and then the piano bar.  We had a great time and really enjoyed spending time with new friends from our park—a lasting joy.

 

March in Florida

A pair of sand hill cranes nested in our lake and have been parading their two chicks through our yard.  Amazing how fast they grow bigger.

Look familiar?  We got sick of paying $80 for a fill-up for the truck, so we bought a PT Cruiser from a guy we know here in Palm Valley.  I drive the truck, Tara’s car, and Stephen’s car, and I can never remember where the windshield wipers are in all of them.  So we bought a familiar car; it’s even bright blue like our Cruiser in Wisconsin.   The woody look and oogah horn make this one really fun.

Saturday we visited the Shrine of St. Michael in Tarpon Springs near Tampa. It is a holy place--I felt God there as we all prayed. I prayed for the Lord to reach into each spot of cancer in Stephen's body--the tumor in the stomach that started it all, the pericardium, then on to each vertebrae, the pelvis, coccyx and femurs. The delightful Greek woman docent anointed each of us with oil as she chanted in Greek, kissed us and said she loved us. She also took the picture.

After a fabulous Greek meal on the waterfront in Tarpon Springs, we drove to Tampa and biked its wonderful shoreline unbroken paved bike/walk/jog/skate trail. 

I have updated a couple pictures in the previous blog about our Florida cottage since we have continued to buy a few pieces as we find them in our now favorite resale/consignment shops.

Florida Cottage

We have been in Orlando since early December, living in our daughter’s driveway in the camper, helping take care of little Basil and Levi during our son-in-law Stephen’s three heart surgeries and cancer treatments.  If he had not had the fluid build-up in the pericardium around the heart, he might still not know he has stomach cancer that has metastasized.   He has a better prognosis in Germany with their holistic approach to building the body’s immunity and hitting cancer with a double whammy of chemo and heat—pinpoint heat aimed at each spot of cancer and whole body high fever during the chemo.  While they are in Germany, we stay in the house and care for the boys. 

But we couldn’t keep the camper in the driveway indefinitely, so we checked out many of the 55+ manufactured home communities around Orlando.  Finally one little house grabbed our attention with its fabulous view of a little marshy lake with lily pads and cypress trees and teaming with birds. 

So the camper is in storage, and we eat every meal on the lanai (Florida screen room with plastic windows) watching the ducks, cranes, and ibises.  When Tara and Stephen go to Germany again, we will move back into their house to care for the grandboys, but in between we have our peaceful refuge.

We bought new beds and mattresses, recliners, and a couple other new pieces.  Most of the furnishings are used though.  We have had a ball searching through consignment shops, antique stores, flea markets, resale shops and rummage sales for the shabby chic look.

The seven foot orange French provincial sofa and red rug sound shocking, but the effect is bright and fun.

My favorite place to sit looking out over the lake.

We eat most meals on the lanai.

Our bedroom is purple, of course accented with violets.

The guest room is ready and waiting.

The kitchen is part of the great room.  The whole house has been remodeled with new cabinets, floors and so on.

Sunrise from the lanai.  This is paradise.

Winter in Florida

Our winter in Florida has included a few fun outings in between the downward progression of our son-in-law Stephen's health.   Fluid building around his heart in the pericardium had to be drained twice; then doctors removed the pericardium and discovered cancer which proved to be stage IV stomach cancer.  He is getting treatment in Germany where they do much more than in this country--heating the body and the cancer points, and extensive holistic treatments.  We take care of Basil (age 4 1/2) and Levi (age 2 1/2) a lot.

We have gotten away for a couple weekends with friends Jim and Sharon in Arcadia.

Our son Troy came for Christmas for a nice long visit.  We went to Leu Gardens one day--a beautiful botanical garden a few blocks from Tara's house.

We also went to Disney Animal Kingdom one day.  Troy said he was putting them up on EBay--they are kind of screechy.

Taliesin and camping with little boys in Spring Green

Gram Gram with the boys at our house

Our son-in-law, a builder, has been wanting to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin.  So when their family visited, we arranged for the little boys’ first camping trip.  After we  packed the camper the night before, we realized Levi (age 2) had disappeared.  I searched the house for him and then looked outside.  He was standing on the steps of the camper waiting to get in again.

Tara, Stephen and the boys with our new rig.  Stephen loved driving it.

Basil and Levi had a great time being in the campground in the woods.   They ran around and around and around outside the camper.  They got to roast marshmallows at night and even cook their own breakfast of bagels and sausages over the fire. 

A great playground just down the lane from our site drew them often.

 Basil learned to putt a golf ball in the miniature golf course.

 Levi would rather use the putter to dig in the wood chips.

Taliesin was fascinating.  The house and studio wrap around a hill overlooking a valley near the Wisconsin River.  Our guide was a local farmer’s wife from a bit farther away.  Her husband and mother-in-law cannot understand why she “would want to promote that awful man.”  Wright was not well liked in Spring Green due to his arrogance and scandalous divorces and mistresses, not to mention his difficulty paying his bills.  However, his genius was universally recognized; his passion for bringing nature into his structures was magical.  Stephen and I did the long tour to see everything.  Tara, Don and the little boys did a short tour.  Levi was not impressed.

The cantilevered porches on the living quarters

The barns were important to the estate.  All architecture students worked the farm too.

The Romeo and Juliet windmill was contoured to withstand winds on the hill.

 

Stephen enjoyed the tour.