Category: Travel

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Blogging Career Driving Food Health Holidays People Shopping Travel

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Let’s kick-off a fresh new week of blogging – right here – right now !

I.  Every Other Month – I’ve got my vacation schedule all lined-up for 2010, and it’s an ‘every other month’ deal. I’ve got no vacations planned (yet) for this month (March) and next month (April), but then in May I fly to the Dallas-Fort Worth Texas Metroplex to celebrate a whole series of exciting events with my family to include my sister’s-in-law 29TH birthday, my mom’s and dad’s 44TH wedding anniversary, my niece’s birth into this world, my brother’s 36TH 35TH birthday, Mother’s Day, and my brother’s and sister’s-in-law 3RD wedding anniversary. We’ll celebrate all of those wonderful events during the short time (4 days and 4 nights) that I’ll be over there. Vacations later on in 2010 include a return holiday visit to DFW in July, my 10TH Carnival cruise in September, and then back to DFW for Thanksgiving in November.

II.  7-4 – I’m currently experimenting with a slightly later 7 AM to 4 PM shift at work to see if I like it. I’m able to set my own work shift (within reason), and this is the second change that I’ve made recently. I started with a 6 AM to 3 PM shift, and then I changed it to 6:30 AM to 3:30 PM. The problem with leaving work at 3:30 PM is that I get stuck in thick rush hour traffic on Biscayne Drive and Speedway Boulevard heading in to Homestead due to schools in the local area that are letting out just before that. So far the 4 PM experiment is working out pretty good for me with noticeably lighter traffic at that time. Of course I now have to deal with much heavier traffic going to the base just before 7 AM than I previously had to deal with prior to 6:30 AM. Incidentally for those of you who think that the base is dead with nobody working there and nothing going on there then I suggest that you stand out in front of the base between the hours of 6 AM and 6 PM to see for yourself how dead our base is NOT !

III.  DIG ! – And now ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues – I present to you a complete list of everything that I dig according to my recent tweets:
– Publix Coconut Custard Pie
– The 2010 Buick Lacrosse
– My very normal internal parts
– The opening of Staples in Homestead
– My refreshing 25-minute walk in the cold
– My GINORMOUS hot Breakfast at Denny’s
– The booking of my 10TH Carnival cruise
– Tracking the number of miles I drive in a single day
– Eating Lunch at China Garden in Naranja Lakes
– Kelly Ripa (‘The Pipster’)

That is all for now. Be sure to catch my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’.

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Blogging Career History Life Music Radio Shopping Travel

Saturday Night Retro

17 years ago yesterday – on Friday February 26TH 1993 – I served my final day in uniform as an Active Duty USAF NCO (SGT). I did so at Andrews AFB MD just six months after Hurricane Andrew destroyed my previous duty station – the original Homestead AFB FL. The day was memorable for many reasons – a going-away luncheon in my honour, a snowstorm, and the first terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. A week later I moved back down to Florida (Melbourne) to start my new civilian life – which would eventually (and unexpectedly) take me back to the USAF in Tampa and then ultimately back to Homestead exactly a year later in March of 1994.

This year as I celebrate my 25TH silver anniversary working for the USAF (military and civilian careers combined) I look back fondly at those final six months in the Active Duty USAF from the end of August of 1992 through the end of February of 1993 up at Andrews AFB MD. It turned out to be the pinnacle of my military career. I certainly left on a high note, and that was truly a blessing in disguise that was unfortunately born out of the destruction and chaos that Hurricane Andrew left behind some 1,100 miles to the south.

Just a short trip down the road from Andrews AFB MD is the suburban bedroom community of Waldorf. Members of the punk-pop band Good Charlotte are originally from there, and they used to hang out as young teenagers at the sprawling St. Charles Towne Center Mall – the very same mall that I shopped at frequently while I was stationed there at the same exact time. Here’s their debut radio smash from a full decade later at the start of 2003. It’s all about those “Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous”.

This concludes another blogging week for me. It’s been a lot of fun getting back into the normal swing of things on here, and I can’t wait to do it all over again next week. Be sure to help me kick-off a fresh new week of blogging come Tuesday night when I present another new ‘Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’. Until then my friends – be safe – be good – and be reasonable.

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Blogging God History Holidays Home Life Music Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s not hold nothin’ back.
– Can we talk here ?
– Be reasonable – do it my way.
– A couple of nights ago I posted my weekly ‘Grab Bag O’ Thoughts‘.
– It was all about my recent vacation on the high seas and on exotic lands.
– It served as the ceremonial grande finale of my vacation of a lifetime.
– It was a lot of fun and a great change of pace all last week.
– I threw out my normal daily routine and lived on ‘Vacation Standard Time’.
– But that was then and this is now, as The Monkees once sang.
– This is not reality – it’s actuality !
– It’s back to the old daily grind.
– But this is a great Life that I am now living.
– I always look forward to going on vacations.
– But I also look forward to returning back home again after those vacations.
– I’m slowing easing back in to a normal day-to-day routine.
– My 5-day-a-week blogging schedule is back on-track.
– Tonight I’m rejoining my Life Group after taking last week off.
– I hope to walk around my neighbourhood in the frigid air on Saturday morning.
– That’s right – I’m ready for another cold early-morning ‘Walk-A-Thon’.
– I return to Life Pointe Church bright and early this Sunday morning.
– Incidentally I’m hosting the 9 AM service, so come and see me.
– I can’t believe that the month of March is less than 79 hours away !
– Where did February go ?
– Where did normal South Florida weather go ?
– Our coldest and wettest winter season in about a century continues.
– We’ve had wind chills in the 50s all day long today – RIDICULOUS !
– Tomorrow morning actual air temperatures could be in the upper-30s.
– But wind chills could be as low as the upper-20s !
– Remember that you lived through all of this when you complain in July.
– Oh yeah you know that you’ll be whining about the heat and humidity.
– We all do it, and it’s only natural to do so as we live here in paradise.
– As I stated earlier my blogging is back on its regular schedule.
– This Saturday night on the ‘Retro’ I’m flashing back all the way to 2003.
– And of course there’s the ‘Disco Party’ tomorrow night.
– I don’t blog anymore on Sundays and Mondays, but I still tweet.
– My last 7 tweets are always available here on this blog.
– Check the right-hand side panel just below this month’s calendar.
– Those are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this final Thursday night in February.
– Have a safe and peaceful evening my friends, my brothers, and my sisters.
– Come back tomorrow night ready to dance at the discotech.
– You won’t regret it pal.

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Animals Driving Holidays Nature Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

From the 13TH through the 21ST of February of 2010 I sailed for 8 days and 8 nights aboard the luxurious Carnival Freedom. It was my 2ND cruise in 28 months on the 110,000 gross ton / 952 foot long ship. I had previously sailed from Rome Italy to Miami Florida on a 14-day Mediterranean / Transatlantic voyage during her maiden journey to the U.S. from Europe in October and November of 2007. The combined 22 days and 22 nights on the Carnival Freedom is the most for me on any single cruise ship in my 19-year sailing history. I’ve also visited more new countries for the first time ever via the Carnival Freedom than via any other cruise ship. In addition to Italy, Spain, and Madeira (Portugal) I can now add Costa Rica and Panama to the list of new countries visited.

I.  Cozumel México – This is my all-time favourite port-of-call for no other reason than the fact that I’ve been there more often (by far) than any other place in the world during my cruising history. It’s like my one-day home away from home once or twice a year. I know what to expect there, and I know where to go there for shopping opportunities galore if I wish. I’ve been there so often that sometimes I don’t even get off of the ship – but this time I did. I actually went on a rare shore excursion this time around to take advantage of some unusually chilly winter weather for the island (cloudy with scattered rain showers and stuck in the 70s). During the 4½-hour sightseeing and shopping tour one of the highlights was a tequila farm and factory. I didn’t partake in the extended taste test of a wide variety of random tequilas inside; however, it was fun to watch the others who did as well as listen to some of their outrageous feedback such as “This tastes like Windex … I LOVE IT !”  Classic stuff – and a fun excursion all around ‘my’ island home of Cozumel.

II.  Limón Costa Rica – Last Wednesday morning I set foot on Costa Rica for the first time ever – just below the 10°N latitude line (about 690 miles north of the equator). It was a rainy and coolish morning (by Costa Rica standards) with temperatures stuck in the 70s. Eventually the sun came out late in the afternoon and it got hot outside. But back in the cool light rain I took a combination bus, boat, and train tour of the eastern lowland countryside. The boat ride on a river was cool, as we eavesdropped on crocodiles napping, sloths just hangin’ around, and abundant monkeys high atop a tree. We actually saw one young monkey fall from the top of a tree and land much further down on some branches and leaves. He was OK, but now he may be alone for the rest of his life. Allegedly (according to our tour guide) once you’ve fallen from a tree you’ve cast disrespect and dishonour amongst your neighbourhood and nobody wants to be seen with you ever again. Harsh dude !

III.  Panama – Early last Thursday morning shortly after sunrise the Carnival Freedom pulled in to the port in downtown Colón along the northern (Caribbean) coast of Panama. 13 busloads of my fellow cruise ship passengers (over 525 of us) were then loaded up and transported southeastward across the country to the Pacific coast. The drive took about 1 hour and 20 minutes along modern highways and tollways guarded by fully-armed Panamanian militia. Once on the Pacific side our 13 busloads got in to 2 ferries (comfortably), as we began our partial transit through the Panama Canal starting with a beautiful view of the downtown skyline of the bustling capital city of Panama. I never really understood how the Panama Canal actually worked until I got to experience it firsthand. It is definitely one of the greatest modern marvels ever made in the history of the world. Incidentally the Pacific side of Panama is nearing the end of a rather severe dry season. It hasn’t rained much on the south side of the country so far in 2010, and that was quite evident as all of the grass was brown and crunchy. It was very hot there – well into the 90s. The north (Caribbean) side of the country was milder, greener, and lusher. The three highlights of this mighty educational day in Panama were no doubt the one-third transit of the Panama Canal, seeing the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans within 90 minutes of each other, and driving by land and sailing by sea right through the great Continental Divide of the Americas.

This was a wonderful vacation at sea and on land way down south that truly exceeded my expectations, and I can’t wait to do it all over again in about 6½-months when I embark on my next great Carnival cruise vacation !