Nearly everyone in the world knows that Svend surprised me with a 30 day cruise around South America for the 31st anniversary of my 39th birthday! I was hoping for some new slippers, but oh well. Anyway after a slightly harrowing prelude we are sitting on the deck of the Oosterdam, one of Holland America’s “small” ships with 1800 passengers .
A little over a week ago, we left the Dorchester domain and headed toward sunny Florida. Still in Massachusetts, we blew out a tire in the 5th wheel which caused a 2 hour delay and mucho dineros of course, but fortunately no harm done. A few hours later we made the incredible rookie mistake of paying attention to the Google map witch who convinced us to cross the Hudson over the George Washington Bridge. Now if we hadn’t lived in New Jersey for 20 years we could possibly forgiven for being so stupid, but no. Our punishment was another couple of hours of delay laced with sudden downpours just to add to the fun.
We did manage to have a lovely mishap free visit with the South Carolina relatives on the journey, after which we busted a back window of the truck by backing up the camper at a sharp angle (which is not supposed to happen but it did.)
My personal favorite disaster happen a couple of days later when I tripped on a brick path and fell on my face, rattled my brains and worse, scratched my glasses just days before the great embarkation! There was no way my double stigmatization prescription could be replaced. Oh well, shockingly I had thought to bring an older pair of glasses, not quite the right prescription and only slightly scratched. Happy ending,
Actually a few good things happened that week. We made it to the cozy neighborhood of Kerrville Circle where a lot of downright good people happen to live. Of course my bother and sister-in-law are among them as well as the generous JIm and Deb who hosted the neighborhood Friendsgiving. We were very thankful by that point. Jim and Deb are also hosting the Taj McHaul (aka the camper) until our return which we appreciate very much.
OK spoiler alert, we made it to the ship without any further misadventures. Our good friends Elsie and Walt drove us over Alligator Alley to Miami in plenty of time to set sail. No luggage fell into the briny, we didn’t have Covid, the engine didn’t fail. Boy we we relieved to see the lines cast off so we could relax,
Six days later and we now are cruising through the Panama Canal, a true modern wonder. This is my second trip and Svend’s hundredth maybe? We’ve spent three days at sea and one day in Aruba in which I finally have swam in the Caribbean Sea. Seems strange that I’ve never been to the Caribbean, it was a beautiful beach!
All of you cruisers certainly must know that a day at sea does not mean a day of rest. We’ve been to lectures and shows, pools saunas and hot tubs of course, trying to exercise and walk, trying not to eat and drink too much with varying levels of success. I now know everything about The Spanish Galleons, The influence of the Dutch in the new world and the Panama Canal. I will be happy to bore you will all the details when we meet. In addition to the lectures we have seen a comedy show, an excellent string quartet, A four part harmonizing group (one of my soft spots) and an 80’s tribute band. One barely has time to lounge around, but we do manage to squeeze it in.
We’re zoning in on future lifelong friendships, as you all know Svend can chat with anyone in various languages. Naturally we have met the prerequisite Danes and Swedes that one meets wherever in the world one travels (Great Wall of China for example) anyway one particular couple are not just Danes but they live in the next town from Egon and Farfar and we have mutual acquaintances. Of course! And another couple from Florida who seem very promising.
OK week one - my adoring fans have asked for a blog and here it is. Hopefully I won’t emulate my favorite animal the sloth ( who no doubt are lazing around the very trees I’m gazing at right now as we glide through Lake Gatun on the way to the next set of locks…
