May 2019

May 7 - 22

Almost every day at least one of us has had a doctor or dentist appt. (mostly me) Working in as much as possible between travels. Eye exam and new glasses for me with some additional testing for early glaucoma in the right eye. Got my prep for the new bridge and I should get the permanent bridge in place the day before my deviated septum/sinus surgery. I also am having a lot of pain in my left wrist, which they think is just tendonitis. Not sure what could have set that off. (I'm right handed) So, I'm icing it and have a wrist brace. (and trying to stay off the computer, yeah right)

When I was shopping in Natal a lady who spoke no English handed me a note. Loosely translated it said "If love were enough in every prayer all of the ills of the world wound end. Happy Easter. God Bless You! In Portuguese…..

For those wondering where the 2021 World Cruise goes here is the itinerary:

The ports in red are new ones for us.

Sun, 01/03/21	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	– 4:00pm
Mon, 01/04/21	At Sea
Tue, 01/05/21	At Sea
Wed, 01/06/21	Cartagena, Colombia	7:00am – 3:00pm
Thu, 01/07/21	Panama Canal Full Transit	6:00am – 4:30pm
Fri, 01/08/21	At Sea
Sat, 01/09/21	Puntarenas, Costa Rica	7:00am – 7:00pm
Sun, 01/10/21	San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua	7:00am – 6:00pm
Mon, 01/11/21	At Sea
Tue, 01/12/21	Huatulco, Mexico	7:00am – 5:00pm
Wed, 01/13/21	At Sea
Thu, 01/14/21	Puerto Vallarta, Mexico	7:00am – 6:00pm
Fri, 01/15/21	At Sea
Sat, 01/16/21	At Sea
Sun, 01/17/21	Los Angeles, California	7:00am – 4:00pm
Mon, 01/18/21	At Sea
Tue, 01/19/21	At Sea
Wed, 01/20/21	At Sea
Thu, 01/21/21	At Sea
Fri, 01/22/21	Honolulu, Hawaii	9:00am – 11:00pm
Sat, 01/23/21	Kona, Hawaii	8:00am – 6:00pm
Sun, 01/24/21	At Sea
Mon, 01/25/21	At Sea
Tue, 01/26/21	At Sea
Wed, 01/27/21	At Sea
Thu, 01/28/21	At Sea
Fri, 01/29/21	Tahiti (Papeete), French Polynesia	7:00am – 9:00pm
Sat, 01/30/21	Bora Bora, French Polynesia	7:00am – 5:00pm
Sun, 01/31/21	At Sea
Mon, 02/01/21	At Sea
Tue, 02/02/21	Pago Pago, American Samoa	7:00am – 5:00pm
Wed, 02/03/21	Cross International Date Line	12:00pm – 1:00pm
Fri, 02/05/21	Suva, Fiji	8:00am – 6:00pm
Sat, 02/06/21	At Sea
Sun, 02/07/21	At Sea
Mon, 02/08/21	Bay Of Islands, New Zealand	7:00am – 6:00pm
Tue, 02/09/21	Auckland, New Zealand	7:00am – 9:00pm
Wed, 02/10/21	Tauranga, New Zealand	9:00am – 8:00pm
Thu, 02/11/21	At Sea
Fri, 02/12/21	Picton, New Zealand	7:00am – 6:00pm
Sat, 02/13/21	Wellington, New Zealand	8:00am – 6:00pm
Sun, 02/14/21	New Plymouth, New Zealand	7:00am – 5:00pm
Mon, 02/15/21	At Sea
Tue, 02/16/21	At Sea
Wed, 02/17/21	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia	7:00am – 10:00pm
Thu, 02/18/21	At Sea
Fri, 02/19/21	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia	7:00am – 9:00pm
Sat, 02/20/21	At Sea
Sun, 02/21/21	Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia	7:00am – 5:00pm
Mon, 02/22/21	Yorkeys Knob (Cairns), Queensland, Australia	9:00am – 7:00pm
Tue, 02/23/21	At Sea
Wed, 02/24/21	At Sea
Thu, 02/25/21	At Sea
Fri, 02/26/21	Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia	8:00am – 10:00pm
Sat, 02/27/21	At Sea
Sun, 02/28/21	At Sea
Mon, 03/01/21	Bali (Benoa), Indonesia	7:00am – 6:00pm
Tue, 03/02/21	At Sea
Wed, 03/03/21	At Sea
Thu, 03/04/21	Singapore	7:00am – 10:00pm
Fri, 03/05/21	At Sea
Sat, 03/06/21	Langkawi, Malaysia	7:00am – 9:00pm
Sun, 03/07/21	Phuket, Thailand	7:00am – 6:00pm
Mon, 03/08/21	At Sea
Tue, 03/09/21	At Sea
Wed, 03/10/21	Colombo, Sri Lanka	7:00am – 7:00pm
Thu, 03/11/21	At Sea
Fri, 03/12/21	At Sea
Sat, 03/13/21	At Sea
Sun, 03/14/21	At Sea
Mon, 03/15/21	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	7:00am
Tue, 03/16/21	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	– 2:00pm
Wed, 03/17/21	Muscat (Mina Qaboos), Oman	8:00am – 6:00pm
Thu, 03/18/21	At Sea
Fri, 03/19/21	At Sea
Sat, 03/20/21	At Sea
Sun, 03/21/21	At Sea
Mon, 03/22/21	At Sea
Tue, 03/23/21	Aqaba (Petra), Jordan	7:00am – 11:00pm
Wed, 03/24/21	Transit The Suez Canal, Egypt	5:00pm
Thu, 03/25/21	Transit The Suez Canal, Egypt	– 5:00pm
Fri, 03/26/21	Jerusalem/Bethlehem (Ashdod), Israel	7:00am – 8:00pm
Sat, 03/27/21	At Sea
Sun, 03/28/21	Kusadasi, Turkey (for Ephesus)	7:00am – 5:00pm
Mon, 03/29/21	Gythion (for Sparta), Greece	9:00am – 5:00pm
Tue, 03/30/21	At Sea
Wed, 03/31/21	Venice, Italy	12:00pm
Thu, 04/01/21	Venice, Italy	– 10:00pm
Fri, 04/02/21	Ljubljana (Koper), Slovenia	8:00am – 6:00pm
Sat, 04/03/21	Split, Croatia	8:00am – 6:00pm
Sun, 04/04/21	Kotor, Montenegro	7:00am – 5:00pm
Mon, 04/05/21	At Sea
Tue, 04/06/21	Valletta, Malta	7:00am – 9:00pm
Wed, 04/07/21	Sicily (Catania), Italy	7:00am – 5:00pm
Thu, 04/08/21	Sorrento, Italy (for Capri & Pompeii)	7:00am – 8:00pm
Fri, 04/09/21	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	7:00am – 7:00pm
Sat, 04/10/21	Monte Carlo, Monaco	8:00am – 5:00pm
Sun, 04/11/21	Barcelona, Spain	10:00am – 10:00pm
Mon, 04/12/21	At Sea
Tue, 04/13/21	Malaga, Spain	9:00am – 6:00pm
Wed, 04/14/21	Casablanca, Morocco (for Marrakech)	8:00am – 9:00pm
Thu, 04/15/21	At Sea
Fri, 04/16/21	Lanzarote (Arrecife), Canary Islands	7:00am – 5:00pm
Sat, 04/17/21	La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain	7:00am – 5:00pm
Sun, 04/18/21	At Sea
Mon, 04/19/21	At Sea
Tue, 04/20/21	At Sea
Wed, 04/21/21	At Sea
Thu, 04/22/21	At Sea
Fri, 04/23/21	At Sea
Sat, 04/24/21	At Sea
Sun, 04/25/21	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	7:00am

We got word that May 9^th they started our house. We are awaiting a call from the project manager to see if they have any projected dates. We drove over there to check it out and the neighborhood was an explosion of workers. It looked like an ant farm with all the workers & their equipment. (on the whole neighborhood) It was hard to drive down the streets. We said we’ll need to come back Sunday when they won’t be working to get photos of “our dirt”. 

 entryway to Valencia Cay at Riverland

 Riverland is the master community - we are in the first one - Valencia Cay

 our dirt (next to the house)

 this was during the week when it was too busy to really see it

not our house, but the same model and color (though the lighting here doesn't do it justice)

We drove through Del Webb which has been open quite a few more months and they just aren’t doing as well. It feels “cheaper” and while they had some occupied, just not as built up as our neighborhood. So, we feel we made the right choice for us. They had homes in various stages of construction, but no one was working there.

We went back on Sunday, so we could get some photos of the area without all the construction chaos. There are quite a few occupied homes in the front area that was started first. They have sold over 500 homes in 9 months. 

Tour of our model. https://youtu.be/bGHHdYqRf8Q

Here are some photos of the Sandhill Crane family:

There also are a pair of Wood Ducks that visit the pool here. Greg has seen then quite a few times actually in the pool. This is the male in full breeding colors.

We are trying to get a packing strategy planned for our road trip. Greg ordered a cooler that plugs into the car (and an adapter for it to plug in at hotels) and it fits on the floor in the back seat. Suitcases and duffels have been selected for “best fit”. We won’t need a lot of clothes, but we do need a few warm layers as well as summer clothes and birding clothes. 

I saw my ENT yesterday and he explained the surgery to me and probable recovery time. Right now, we figure at least 3 weeks before traveling. (after the surgery on the 23^rd) We’ll see how it goes. So, I’m trying to get my travel stuff together now since I’m sure I won’t want to be digging through storage after the surgery. I was hoping he would say it wasn’t necessary after my oral surgeon removed the offending tooth/root and suctioned out the sinus. He said he wanted to say I had 100% deviation (space to use to breathe), but it’s at least 90%. So, yes, I still need the surgery and I have to admit I feel like I’m getting “stuffed up” again. I feel lucky that I felt so good for the WC and having the oral surgeon do his part first was a good call.

Since Betty asked to see the magnets and a few trinkets that I gathered along the way, here they are. 

 Cape Town, South Africa - 4 sisters wood carving

 Phuket, Thailand - hand-painted fan

 pouch made by Cathy

 Sri Lanka - hanging elephant windchime still in the box

 South Africa Christmas ornament

 Dunedin, New Zealand - Kiwi keychain

 Singapore Chinatown - year of the pig

Dunedin, NZ - Albatross Express cruise -  magnet

 Maldives - Ray magnet

 Singapore Chinatown - year of the pig

 Mauritius - Dodo Bird 

 Cape of Good Hope magnet

 Barbados wooden hand carved hummingbird ornament

 Natal, Brazil - box

 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - magnet

 Stewart Island, New Zealand - magnet

 Darwin, Australia - magnet

 Sabi Sands Safari - South Africa

 Honolulu, Hawaii - magnet

 Walvis Bay, Namibia - ornaments carved from a nut 

 Natal, Brazil

 Natal, Brazil

 Natal, Brazil

 Barbados - magnet

 magnetic clip from Allison

 Puerto Vallarta - magnet

 Guadeloupe - magnet

 Reunion Island - magnet

 Barbados - magnet

 St. Helena - magnet

 Cape Town, South Africa - magnet

 St. Helena - magnet

 Cape of Good Hope - magnet

 Natal, Brazil - magnet

 Langkawi, Malaysia - magnet

 Langkawi, Malaysia - magnet

 Seychelles Island - magnet

 Raiatea, French Polynesia - magnet

 Huahine French Polynesia - magnet

 Cape Town - magent

 Sabi Sands safari - magnet

Sri Lanka - magnet

 Darwin - magnet

 safari lodge - magnet

 Komodo Island - Indonesia - magnet

 Durban, South Africa - magnet

 Huatulco, Mexico - magnet

 St. Martin - magnet

 Tahiti, French Polynesia - magnet

 Maldives - magnet

 Phuket, Thailand - Tiger Kingdom magnet

 Dunedin, NZ - Natures Wonders - magnet

 Walvis Bay, Namibia - magnet

 Sri Lanka - magnet

 Natal, Brazil - magnet from Bob

 Mauritius - magnet

 Stewart  Island, NZ - magnet

 Nosy Komba, Madagascar - magnet

 Nosy Be, Madagascar - magnet

 Dunedin, NZ - magnet

 Princess magnets

 Reunion Island - small bag made in Madagascar

 Komodo Island

 Nosy Komba - Madagascar - hand stitched

 Nosy Be, Madagascar - the dress I wore through the Sacred Tree

 Phuket, Thailand - hand-painted bowl made from coconut shell

 Reunion Island - jewelry box - closed

  Reunion Island - jewelry box - open 

 Nosy Komba, Madagascar - hand-made lemur

 Nosy Be, Madagascar - hand-made lemur

 Sri Lanka Tuk Tuk (still in plastic)

 Walvis Bay, Namibia - carved wooden dolls 

 Luderitz, Namibia - little dish

 South Africa - hand carved & beaded lady (safari lodge)

 South Africa - beaded giraffe (safari lodge)

Once we get in the house and have a proper place to get better photos, I will take better photos and add them to my existing albums of magnets/trinkets. I don’t always even like the particular magnet I end up with, but sometimes time is short or there just isn’t a lot to choose from. 

Links to those albums are here: 
Europe Trinkets - https://photos.app.goo.gl/V5nVoZATAKrYExWv9
Africa Trinkets - https://photos.app.goo.gl/3VxCYha2zdB8cKEQ6
North America Trinkets - https://photos.app.goo.gl/qMLKFAodcmpPDcKE9
South America Trinkets - https://photos.app.goo.gl/JyNCSb5gRwaTz9g56
Asia Travel Trinkets - https://photos.app.goo.gl/diSBEhBCUuc7K4Hv5

Besides researching our road trip, we just booked our trip for 2020. We are doing the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express from Vladivostok to Moscow via Mongolia June 13. It’s 15 days and we will add a few extra days to explore Moscow after the train trip. We booked it with Michelle of Nature Expeditions International (NEI) We booked through them for the Amazon trip and the Antarctica trip on Quark. Whoo Hoo, Siberia & Outer Mongolia!

Here is the link to the tour https://www.goldeneagleluxurytrains.com/journeys/trans-siberian-express/

Day 1 Vladivostok, Russia

Day 2 Vladivostok, Russia

Day 3 Khabarovsk, Russia

Day 4 On Board – Russia

Day 5 On Board – Russia

Day 6 Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia

Day 7 Ulan Ude, Russia

Day 8 Lake Baikal, Russia

Day 9 Irkutsk, Russia

Day 10 On Board – Russia

Day 11 Novosibirsk, Russia

Day 12 Yekaterinburg, Russia

Day 13 Kazan, Russia

Day 14 Moscow, Russia

Day 15 Moscow, Russia

I’m still working on adding photos to the blog. I have got to find a better way to keep them in order after I get them all moved around where I want them. That is taking way too much time as I go. Not sure why Google has such a horrible system. Picasa worked very well, and they replaced it with something worse. (IMHO)

This Sunday we visited our lot again and they have poured the foundation. Today the construction 
supervisor called to introduce himself and exchange emails for future contact. 

 they have poured the slab

2019  Honda CR-V Touring model

Until next time (after recovery from the septum/sinus surgery)…….

Thanks to those that have sent me their well wishes! Nice to have such great friends and family.

I just finished uploading the photos that Captain Benoit took of our snorkel trip in Tahiti. There are a lot of them so I won't add them to the blog, but the link to see them is here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fJ52grdHk58uVXSo9