Snowbirds Head South

Upon arriving home both Dad and I immediately came down with a nasty cold and cough, probably picked up from the ship where there were many who were coughing. Trying to recover from this delayed our departure for Arizona by a few days longer than planned. As is was, we pretty much just dumped all the freezables back into the motor home without organizing and left on December 14th to beat a predicted storm. Prior to that we did manage a trip to Idaho Falls to visit the McKnights for Travis's 11th birthday with the amazing cake that Leslie made

and to Pocatello to see Lance, Aubri and Taylor

as well as a brief visit with our dear friends, the Liljenquists and Gardners. In Utah our first night we spent with Laurie, Evan and the Ockey family in Springville, near Provo. The O'Donnals were able to come over from Provo for a while and we stopped at Brendon's school to see Leon's wife and son, Chrissy and Brendon, on the way south next morning. We were sorry we missed seeing Leon. That evening we made it to the St. George area and visited our beloved former Salt Lake City neighbors in the St. George suburb of Washington, Utah where we stayed with Murray and Collene Taylor overnight. While there my cold worsened again and I also became ill. Murray and Dad gave me a blessing and the next morning I was feeling a little better so we continued our journey. That night we stayed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona where we had many memories of our stay there last December.



While we were stopped along the south end of the lake for breakfast we also spotted a coyote doing his best to avoid us.

The following day, Saturday, we drove on to Quartzsite, Arizona where I went shopping for stones to make wire wrap jewelry at the flea markets along Kuehn Street. We then looked up and went for a visit with our old friend, Phil Mortensen who camps there on BLM land in the desert nearby every winter. After our visit we left Quartzsite and arrived at Countryside RV Park in Apache Junction about 6 PM that evening and set up camp for the next four months during a beautiful Arizona sunset.

Our first order of business after setting up camp was to dress down and head for a relaxing swim and soak in the pool and hot tub.

They were as clean and warm as last season and continue to be among the main attractions, besides our friends we have made, for us here. Since then we have made several trips back to the pool. Dad also called his cousins that live in the valley and one day while we were out and about we drove out to Queen Creek to visit Milo and Ivan Walker, whose home was our service project last winter to repair and paint the exterior. They were doing well and we had a nice visit. This morning we enjoyed the Saturday morning $3 pancake breakfast at the clubhouse. It is great with all you can eat pancakes, link sausages, scrambled eggs and a slice of orange with the trimmings. We then got in on our first shuffle board scramble. The boards are so well waxed that it is a real experience learning how far the puck travels with such a little push. It was a lot of fun and we met several new people, some of whom had been spending winters here at Countryside for the past thirty years. Tonight is Christmas Eve and there was a golf cart light parade and a party in the clubhouse. Many residents also do a nice job of decorating for the holidays.

This is our humble little Christmas tree.

Yesterday we got our internet up and running and have enjoyed Skyping with some of our kids and friends. This year we have a cell phone contract, however, instead of the prepaid plan from last winter so we are much freer to use the phones without the earlier limitations.

An Amazing Three-Week Adventure

This series of posts is our travel log for a three-week adventure that took us from home to Milan, Italy by air and from there onto the Costa Fortuna cruise ship to begin a trans-Atlantic voyage that would take us to visit twelve ports of call in six countries on three continents, cross both tropics and the equator while sailing 6645 miles including seven full days at sea after which we flew home from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Wed Nov 16
We buttoned up at home and, due to snow predicted for Thursday morning, we headed to the Airport Comfort Inn in Salt Lake City right after going to the viewing for Sister Dorothy Johnson to spend the night. Dad had been her home teacher for years and I was her visiting teacher. Her son, Brent and his wife Kathy are also close friends as well as Dr. Brent being our dentist for a number of years.

Thu Nov 17
We got to the airport and boarded our flight for Dallas/Fort Worth. We were traveling with two other couples,

Drew and Lorraine Day

Bob and Carma Johnson

both from northern Utah. Drew is a former Brazilian Mission president. There we boarded our next flight for Madrid, Spain. After sitting on the loaded plane for over an hour waiting for mechanical problems to be fixed they announced we would be changing planes. The flight that was supposed to leave at 5:45PM wound up leaving at 9:00PM.

Fri Nov 18
Due to the late departure from Dallas we missed our connection in Madrid and were re booked on a flight at 4:00PM to Milan, Italy. What they didn't tell us was that the boarding passes they gave us were only vouchers which we learned at the gate. After a mad scramble the six of us finally got booked after we were told there were only two seats left on the plane. This delay caused our luggage not to get to Milan with us. We also missed our shuttle to the hotel. A kind young lady who spoke Portuguese at a watch kiosk let us use her cell phone to make phone calls (our phones don't work in Europe) and we finally arranged a taxi to the hotel for the six of us.

At the hotel we had a late dinner waiting for us and met Larry and Cheryl Stamps who are leading our group on this trip.

After being up for twenty-eight hours with little sleep on a cramped airplane on the nearly ten-hour hour flight from Dallas to Madrid and all else we had experienced we finally hit the sack.

Milan and Savona, Italy and Cruise Ship (continued)

Sat Nov 19
We got up to a delicious buffet breakfast at the NH Grand Hotel Verdi where we stayed last night in a nice comfortable room. We then left for a guided bus tour of Milan and learned much of it's history back to medieval times. Much was also explained about Leonardo De Vinci who grew up around this area as an illegitimate son with no last name. Consequently he became known by his Italian first name of Leonardo "from" (De) what was known as "Vinci."

Ancient castle with moat now drained but very evident

Yes, it was a little chilly

Duomo Cathedral built entirely of marble

Large "Indoor" but open air mall

We then took a couple-hour bus ride to Savona to board our ship. The first part of the trip was rather boring with much flat farmland. Later on it became mountainous and the highway became a series of bridges and tunnels along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. There were literally dozens of tunnels of varying length from fifty yards to about a half mile.

Once on board the ship our luggage caught up with us and we were off to sea. The two couples with whom we traveled and two others joined us at our table for a nice dinner before looking around the ship a bit and turning in for the night.

Our Ship (Costa Fortuna Genova)
This cruise was unlike any other we have experienced. The ship itself was very beautiful and clean and the service was excellent. There were close to three thousand passengers but only about fifty spoke English as their native language. All announcements including entertainment introductions in the theater, lifeboat drills, etc. were made in six languages in sequence: Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and English. Virtually everyone you met in hallways, elevators, etc. were speaking a foreign language. It felt similar to our time in Europe this summer. It also precluded some traditional cruise events such as a scavenger hunt, sexy legs and belly flop contests or the newlywed game. Nearly all entertainment where vocals were involved was in some foreign language also. Here we have provided just a glimpse of some of the ship's highlights.

Our ocean view cabin

Atrium

Typical painting on stairway

All elevators had painted doors except glass ones in atrium

One of three formal dining areas

Our dining table group: L->R: Jerry Sanford & Lorie Ross, Lorraine & Drew Day (seated), Dottie and Darvel Allred (standing), us, Carma & Bob Johnson

One of two pools (other was in solarium that could be covered)

Crowd gathered for token "baptisms" by King Neptune as we crossed the equator

Malaga, Spain and Morocco, Africa (continued)

Sun Nov 20
This morning the group of LDS members on the cruise got together for a mini testimony meeting with the rest of the group joining afterwards for a get acquainted round table. This was a lot of fun and we got better acquainted with our group members. We took it easy most of the day and after dinner on a formal night we watched an older but still talented and energetic Spanish-speaking entertainer named Pepito Alvarez's show. While we didn't understand most of his dialogue we were able to understand a tribute he gave his father for inspiring him to be the success he has been during his career.

Mon Nov 21
Today we visited Malaga, Spain on our own.

We did a walking tour of several sites near the port. As with so many European cities we visited this summer there was a huge and ornate Catholic cathedral. However, unlike in Belgium, there was no open central plaza associated with it.

We then visited the ruins of an ancient Roman theatre situated on a hill. This was huge and interesting but looked like the complex included much more than just the theatre.

We then walked around a bull fighting arena but it was not open to see inside.

On the return we walked through a beautiful park with meandering pathways, lots of tropical trees and flowers, statues and fountains. It was a very pleasant day overall.

Tue Nov 22
Today we joined our entire party of thirty-eight for an eleven-hour tour in Morocco on the African continent. We first visited the city of Casablanca.

We had a knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide. The most memorable stop was at the Hassan II Mosque on the Atlantic Ocean shore. This is the third largest mosque in the world. After visiting so many beautiful Catholic cathedrals it was an interesting contrast with a house of worship of the Islamic faith. It was completed in 1993 and is huge and ornate inside and out with a minaret over 600 feet high. The first thing you notice is that there is no seating, just carpeting on the spacious marble floor for religious services and an obscure pulpit from which the imam preaches.

Pulpit is in rear on right side

The guide explained much about the Islamic faith and practices. As with other Christian sects it was interesting to note their practices and beliefs that have some things in common with our LDS faith. We then traveled north about sixty miles along the coast to the city of Rabat where the seat of the Moroccan government is located. We got to drive through the walled complex where the king's palace and houses of parliament are located. We then visited another religious shrine built on the grounds where the remains of an ancient mosque which was destroyed by an earthquake a couple of hundred years ago. A former admired king was buried there.

 

We then took a walk through an ancient part of the city known as a Medina. Behind the fortress walls were residences with walkways only a few feet wide. It was like finding your way through a maze.

While there were many nice buildings and upscale homes there were also many very poor, trashy shanty towns. What was interesting to note, however, was that no matter what the class there were satellite dishes projecting from sides and rooftops of every building.

Apparently once the equipment is bought you have a lifetime free subscription to satellite TV. There must have been one dish for every one of Morocco's inhabitants. We had lunch at the Restaurant Saadi in Rabat and finished with stops at two shopping places. There were many hand-woven rugs, articles made of wood, jewelry, clothing, etc. but I didn't buy anything hoping to find something to bring home from Brazil.