well, I have known all these things and the joy that they can bring...

A few updates from home.....

Emma continuing with her pottery wheel. She loves this and is turning out some cute pieces.
She talked to Poppy on the phone last night and said she missed us so much that she is crying....Betty is ready to send her to Poppy and Grandmas' for winter break......still too risky to let her fly alone even with a companion. She would probably open an emergency Exit or something....LOL

I think this is going to be a long winter for all the kids. Rachael is already texting to ask when we are going to pick her up in VA Beach and wanting to know her summer schedule. Is she going to take swim lessons? Is she going to art classes? That snow that was looking so good at Christmas is now not nearly as much fun now that it keeps coming. Yikes, it's only the end of January!!


My beautiful nieces....Evelyn and Janna Karpel..

and the rain can't slow me down......

Uh.....I forgot to take the camera off face detection when I handed it to the waitress.....is that why mine and Al's head's are twice the size of Joan and Salt's?????

Today we planned on meeting some friends from the Island (Grindstone) for a tour of the Market and lunch at Stavros. Since we had rain, the market tour was short but we had a great lunch and visit with Al and Joan Luce.

Salt and I took advantage of the rainy day and headed to the theater to see Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.

The thing that makes me feel most down is the feeling that I am living in a ghost town....

Yesterday we took a quick trip to St. Augustine to try and fit in a couple of things we didn't catch last year. Before we left, Gene had me stop at the Ocala National Park office and pick up my "Senior Pass" It has an initial cost of $10 but is good for a lifetime and gives you entrance to a lot of the federal parks, monuments, etc., either free or at a reduced rate. The really cool part is Salt can get in with me. There are SOME perks to getting old!!

There is so much to see and do there it is impossible to fit it all in to one or two visits. Next visit will definitely include one of the guided night ghost walks.....they look so cool.


Our first stop was at the fort..... Since the admission was $6.00/person we are already ahead with the pass!



I always like to add these pictures for Emma.....

this fort is in FL so even though it got cold.....I can't even imagine what the forts in the North were like. Everything was so damp/cold and moldy....

After we toured the fort, we meandered down to the old shopping section. Here are some of the herbs in the old drugstore. Very interesting as they had all the things they would help/cure.

It was fun going through the old bottles to see what is still being used .....

The quaint old streets.....

and the street musicians....this guy was truly a one man band....

this guy was an amazing banjo player.....why is he looking like this and on the streets?????

And our last stop....the St. Augustine Lighthouse in the fog......

Terry and Salt were the only two brave (or dumb) ones who decided to take on the stairs after a day of hiking.....

And this is what the guys looked like after climbing the 251 steps.....Terry, you are such an actor. I think you missed your calling...ha ha

Teach me a hiking song and rest assured I'll sing along...

After bowling (don't ask....) and lunch (Mt Dora Diner) a bunch of us decided since the weather was so nice and we ALL needed a little exercise after the cruise food overdose, we would skip over to one of the county parks for a hike. We have hooked up with a couple (Gene and Ruth) who love to hike, know the trails and have Salt and I back into some healthy exercise. Jim and Carolyn also joined us on this one.

Here we are on the start of the trail......


always interesting animals/birds/insects/plants lurking around every corner. Nature amazes me....when I first spotted this guy he just looked like a green leaf to me....NOT!

I haven't done my research after this jaunt so we are still all perplexed as to what these things are that grow on vines and were all over the ground in this area (next to the river). They look just like a potato, but I am clueless. Jill, any idea?


Salt and I taking a photo op about halfway through the hike.....I love the wooden trails. I am still leery about walking through the woods, (leaves and such) for fear of SNAKES.

At the end of the trail was this huge orange orchard.....Salt was very tempted until reminded him of the huge fines for snatching oranges!!!

Won't you sing a song with me....sing about the manatee.

We made sure we didn't call the kids and complain about the weather when the FL temperatures hit the 20's. We knew they would not give us any sympathy....especially Betty and Emma in the -18 without the wind chill factor. Now that we are back in the 80's I can post.

On Wednesday we got up VERY early and traveled to Blue Springs www.floridastateparks.org/bluesprings where the manatee come in to warm up and feed. Here is Ruth, making sure she doesn't get cold!

Not much chance of Darlene freezing either.

The park ranger was doing his official count for the day, and when he returned he had counted 197. Great day for viewing!!

I did get several pictures of my own but this one in the Orland Sentinel was so much better....

We hiked the trail and went rushed off to Denny's for the before 11:00 special ended and then headed to the Fruit/Vegetable market.

A million ways to spend your time...When I get back I'll drop you a line

Oh my gosh....for the first time in over two weeks I am spending the WHOLE day at home. I knew if I didn't get a start on this blogging I would be SO behind I would never catch up. I hope I can go through my pictures and put some chronology to all the activities....

I thought since Salt just came down with the information on next year's cruise I should get my butt in gear. Next year we will be on a BRAND NEW ship that as of yet has not even been launched. It is the Carnival Dream. We will be 7 nights on the Western Caribbean, leaving from Port Canaveral and stopping at Rootan, Belize, Casta Maya, and Cozumel Mexico.

As soon as we boarded the ship http://www.carnival.com/ We headed to the buffet lunch and had to pass the pool (one of the pools) and water slide. My first thought was how much fun the grand kids would have if they were with us. Maybe another time....

Of course right after lunch we headed for the casino to check it out....no gambling until we were several miles out into the ocean.

Here were the boys (Terry and Salt) checking out the upper deck before we set sail. Why do people say that when the ships are all motorized??????

The first night of dinner we were visited by pirates, and show girls....and of course all kinds of photographers!

We tried to get in as many functions as we could without getting total burnout before the end of the cruise. The first night we caught the early stage show and comedian.

I have TONS of pictures, but I am only posting a few from each event. After this post I have to catch up on the week since we arrived home.

Of course I would have a picture of taken of all the money I won....you won't see one of me with my pockets turned outside....LOL

The waiters, who are all so interesting and attentive, entertained every night....a silly song or sillier dance!

of course the guests joined right in...

Arriving in Freeport...we took a taxi downtown for some browsing and a little shopping and the BEST Conk Fritters I have ever had!!

All of the dancers were great, we particularly got a kick out of the Break Dancers.....

We looked forward to our "surprise" every night. Carnival is big on towel creations. I almost bought a book because I thought it would be fun for Emma and Rachael this summer....however, then I thought again....what if they don't want to take them apart after they make them. I had visions of more dirty towels than we already deal with in the summer. With the beach, showers, and hot tub, they add up fast!!!! As a matter of fact, Emma's made Salt and me these "gift cards" for Christmas. Mine was that she was going to make breakfast for me and Salt's was she was going to be careful about leaving wet towels around. She SO thinks out of the box!!!

Arriving in the port of Nassau

Salt and I joined a Moroccan band....for 5 minutes....ha ha.

Outside the port of Nassau there are about a hundred "tour guides" trying to catch your attention and business. We ignored them until we came upon Dr. Feelgood...(my name for him) because he was so funny. He took us all around the island (in a rickety old van) spewing out history, and the Bahamian take on punishment for criminals. The best part was our stop at Atlantis www.atlantis.com .

Anna Nicole Smith's house......

The entrance to Atlantis......

Ruthie in front of the condos in the Atlantis resort...... More of Atlantis.....

The magnificent aquarium that wraps around the interior of the Grand Hotel

some of the fish in the amazing aquarium.....

We all jumped into the "chair" for a photo but Ruthie had to be the cutest. She is so tiny the only thing I could think of was "My name is Alice Ann" (Lily Tomlin).

The Atlantis casino had these fabulous hand blown glass sculptures. This was called the sun.

These statues were so amazing....It was hard to believe they were all hand blown glass. This one was called "coral".

This was a very interesting stop....our guide explained that Nassau was once totally under water and explained in detail how they carved out these walls and drained the water. I am enclosing the web site for the Queens Stairs www.bahamasgo.com/treasures/queensstaircase.htm which is some more interesting history.

and, even though we have done the "Straw Market" too many times....we did a quick sweep!

I was SO tempted to get all the grand kids one of the shells that had been made into whistles (more like bullhorns).

The Bahamians have so much fun with COLOR....I love it! This horse is for you Emma!!

Gene and Ruth at the Captain's Dinner.

The last night was Mambo night...the backdrops and costumes were phenomenal....Gene informed me the thongs even had sparkles on them......hmmmm.