CRUISIN' THE CARIBBEAN - AGAIN

Once again Lou & I headed out to explore a few more southern Caribbean islands via cruise ship. Our ten night adventure stopped at three new ports for us - Tortola, St. Kitts & Dominica - & revisited two previous islands - Antigua & St. Maarten.

Our ship - Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. We sailed on this same ship back in the summer of 2015 on our Baltic Sea cruise. The Captain was different but we had the same Cruise Director, Topi, from Finland so it was almost like visiting old friends.

The main pool area on the Lido Deck.

You can't set sail on an island adventure without a refreshing, tropical drink in your hand!

After two relaxing days at sea we docked in Tortola, the largest of the British Virgin Islands. All three of our new destinations were mountainous, volcanic islands. The roads from the coast to the inland areas are steep, tight switchbacks. The small 15 passenger buses sounded more like airplanes revving up to take off as they inched slowly up the almost vertical terrain.

Our first view of Road Town, Tortola, from the Serenade of the Seas. 

After successfully scaling the mountain with its treacherous switchbacks, cliffs & potholes, we were treated to a stunning view of Tortola & a couple of cruise ships. 

More of Tortola's beautiful scenery.

Our tour took us to Cane Garden Bay for an hour or so of beach combing.

Sipping the obligatory rum punch drink that is offered on many of the tropical island tours.

It amazed me how quickly we were high above sea level. Trust me, these roads are not for the faint of heart. I found myself praying more than once that the engine wouldn't blow up & the brakes wouldn't fail on these buses.

Once again I'm including several flower photos. I haven't taken the time to look them up but I know that M'Lynn or Jan will likely research them if either has the inclination.

One of the streets in downtown Road Town, Tortola. 

These shacks were all over the island - some sold trinkets & souvenirs while others offered island drinks or food.

We were scheduled to stop in St. Kitts back in 2010 but Hurricane Tomas diverted us from both St. Kitts & St. Lucia. A couple years later we made it to St. Lucia & finally visited St. Kitts this time.

Our ship docked in Basseterre, St. Kitts.

This famous clock tower in downtown Basseterre is known as the Berkeley Memorial Clock in the area called The Circus..

The microphone on our bus wasn't working too well so when you add that to the thick accent of our driver/tour guide, I have no idea what this is & was unable to find it online. But I did manage to snap the photo out the bus window.

Another interesting semi-abandoned church. I have no clue as to its name or history - just an interesting picture.

I do know the name of this attraction. This is the Brimstone Hill Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the most popular attractions in St. Kitts.

The view from the Brimstone Hill Fortress. On one side you can see the Atlantic Ocean & on the other the Caribbean Sea.

Another of the beautiful tropical flowers. 

I'm wondering if this is some type of ginger flower. I know there are red ones. Are there pink ones?

The entrance to Romney Manor. It is the oldest colonial plantation on the island & has been owned by only six families in its 350 years of existence.

Dominica was our third new island which put my countries visited count up to 56 - wow! I never dreamed I would see this much of our wonderful world! It still boggles my mind to realize how much traveling I've been able to do with Lou.

The view of Roseau, Dominica from our ship. Dominica was first spotted & named by Christopher Columbus in 1493. The locals did not want the island confused with the Dominican Republic so the pronunciation was changed to "DOM-in-eek-a".

Our island tour included rain forests & lush scenery such as Emerald Pool with its lovely waterfall.

One of the colorful bars, restaurants & shops along the road in the interior of Dominica.

Another stop on our tour was Trafalgar Falls which consists of two separate waterfalls, a tall thin one (above) & a shorter, wider one (below).

Our guide explained that the islanders call the tall thin waterfall the Papa Falls & the short wider one Mama Falls because men are usually tall & thin while women are short & wide. It might be somewhat offensive if it wasn't true in most cases.

Okay, I know this is a hibiscus. I was intrigued with the water drops on the petals & had to take a photo.

I think this is a ginger flower. All my horticulturist friends, am I right?

I have no clue what this one is but it really is gorgeous.

This is an interesting story. Years ago during a tropical storm a school group was visiting the Botanical Garden. As the storm worsened, their bus was moved under a tree for protection while the kids & teachers took shelter in a building. Later they came out & discovered the tree had fallen & crushed their bus underneath it where it remains today.

Ours was the only ship in town the day we were visiting Dominica.

The Office of the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica.

A few cruises ago we toured much of the island of Antigua. This time we simply walked around the port city of St. John's exploring some of the local culture. It's funny how sometimes I will vividly recall something from a previous visit & Lou has no recollection of it or vice versa. For example, I remembered exactly how the port looked & where we docked last time but Lou had no idea. However, Lou remembered a crazy statue that was not ringing a bell with me. 

Downtown St. Johns, Antigua from our ship. 

Three cruise ships were in port the day we visited Antigua. Not sure I like the weird eyes & lips theme on the middle one. Ours is on the left.

It is indeed universal. Little girls everywhere love Anna & Elsa from the movie Frozen. I couldn't resist snapping this photo to show Charley. On St. Kitts I noticed a little girl helping her mom in a craft/souvenir booth wearing an Anna & Elsa dress, also.

This is the strange, tacky statue in St. Johns that Lou remembered from our previous visit. It really is kind of creepy in my opinion.

St. Johns Cathedral is an imposing Anglican church perched on a hill in the capital city. The cathedral is currently undergoing a major renovation that is not expected to be completed for at least two more years.

It's pretty hard to get lost in most of these port cities since the cruise ships tower over the town. Just keep walking toward the ship & you will find your way "home".

On a prior stop in St. Maarten we headed to the French side of the island, St. Martin, & spent part of the day at Orient Beach. This time we took a taxi to Maho Bay on the Dutch side located at the end of the runway for the Princess Juliana Airport.

St. Maarten & the empty cruise pier next to our ship. We were the only one in town once again. It was nice to have smaller crowds since sometimes these island ports are swarmed with tourists.

Ahhh, the good life! Look closely & you can see the helicopter perched on the top of this yacht. Who needs a row boat, just fly into town.

Downtown Philipsburg, St. Maarten. A security guard told us to take the public bus to Maho Bay & the Sunset Bar to save money. We did - it was only $2 per person. But we took a taxi back at $10 per person to save some time.

I loved this sign! You can see the fence with barbed wire on the left - the end of the runway is literally right there & the beach is on the right. 

About 30 planes landed during the 4-1/2 hours we were at the Sunset Bar & Grill on Maho Bay Beach. We rented two chairs & an umbrella for $20. Each time a plane flew in, we jumped up to take photos. I practiced on the small planes & was able to get this shot of a Delta 757 coming in to land. The crazy ass spectators stand behind it - hats. sunglasses, towels, sand & occasionally people are blown into the sea.

Lou took videos & I took still photos. If you want to see his videos they are posted on his Facebook page. Search for Lou Padgug & hopefully you will be able to see them.

It amazes me that people are allowed to stand under these jets as they land. It is a huge attraction on the island & it really was fun to watch. Each time a plane was spotted everyone rushed to take photos, videos or selfies. My son, Darrin, says that this is on his "Bucket List" - I know he'll get there someday.

The Sunset Bar & Grill where people can sit & watch the planes land. They fly low over the beach & touch down at Princess Juliana Airport in St. Maarten.

In between jets landing at Princess Juliana Airport there were lots of sail boats & crystal clear turquoise seas to enjoy.

These two catamarans looked like they were going to collide but fortunately they missed each other.

On our taxi ride back to the ship I was able to grab this shot out of the window. It was another great trip to paradise!

HIDDEN FIGURES

AN EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT MOVIE!

Yesterday Lou & I spent a rainy afternoon at the movies watching "Hidden Figures", the Oscar nominated film about three black women who worked at NASA in the 1960s. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time - at least one made primarily for adults.

It is based on the true stories of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn & Mary Jackson. I have not met one person who knew the story of these brilliant, pioneering black women before this movie. Many African American women were intricate pieces of our early space program. How is it that it took 55 years for this amazing story to emerge?

The real Katherine Johnson (portrayed by Taraji P. Henson) is the only woman of the three still living at age 98. There is much "artistic license" taken in movies based on a true story. Unlike the movie portrayal, Katherine has said she did not experience much segregation at NASA although she knew it existed. John Glenn personally asked that she double check the figures right before his historic orbiting of the earth. That was true & did happen as the film showed.

Dorothy Vaughn (portrayed by Octavia Spencer) became the first black supervisor at NASA. She was the leader of the "West Computers" which is the name given the black women mathematicians. The "West" side was the area for the black employees. The term "computers" was used for all people who did the calculations prior to the use of machine computers. Darrin's flight instructor was a "computer" in her youth - he always thought the job title was humorous.

Mary Jackson (portrayed by Janelle Monae) fought to take night classes at a white school in order to qualify to become NASA's first black female engineer while she worked during the day as a "West Computer". Many of these events occurred at different times than portrayed in the movie but these three women were intelligent, well qualified & vital to our early astronauts returning safely to earth.

One of the things that surprised me is that this film is rated PG. There was no sex, no violence, no car chases, no explosions & yet it was a totally compelling story that was beautifully written & filmed. I was heartened that in this day & age there are still amazing storytellers that can move people to tears.

The lead women did wonderful jobs of portraying these intelligent, determined women. They were all accomplished mathematicians who did the job far better than their white male counterparts. I certainly hope someone wins an Oscar for one of these roles.

I am discovering that I really like Kevin Costner as an actor who is exceptional at the nuances of a character. Research showed that his character was a composite of several directors. The same was true of Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) & Kirsten Dunst who portrayed NASA supervisors.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to be entertained & inspired without all the loud, craziness of many of today's films. I can't remember the last time applause broke out in the theater at the end of a movie! It did yesterday & I wholeheartedly joined in through my tears!

OREGON COAST

We hit the road again! This time for a "mini" road trip to the Oregon Coast traveling 1248 miles over four days - short for us. 😃 The weather in both California & Oregon had been ferocious for weeks with torrential rains & winds in the lower altitudes & heavy snows in the mountains but luckily there were just a few showers during our getaway.

Mt. Shasta in Northern California was a breathtaking sight! The 14,179 foot mountain was completely blanketed in snow.

This Steller's Jay was determined to help us eat our lunch when we stopped for a picnic on the shore of Lake Shasta. He did stand still long enough for us to snap some pretty good photos.

Our goal on day one was simply to reach Grants Pass, Oregon, & get a good night's sleep. Along the way we made an unscheduled stop at Crater Rock Museum in Central Point, Oregon. They had a huge collection of rocks, shells, dinosaur artifacts & thousands of other interesting items such as this miniature carousel made of rocks & gems.

The primary focus of our road trip was Oregon lighthouses & bridges. Lou did his usual research learning that there are eleven arch bridges, all constructed in the 1930s, & designed by American bridge engineer, Conde McCullough, along Oregon's coastal highway. Over the course of two days we saw seven lighthouses & ten bridges.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse north of Newport was the only lighthouse open for tours & climbing since we are in the middle of winter. It has 114 steps & a first order Fresnel lens that is still in operation. The day was foggy & overcast putting a bit of a damper on our photos but the following day made up for it with beautiful skies.

The Rocky Creek Bridge, also known as the Ben Jones Bridge, was a little tricky to find but we would not be deterred. The others were all on Highway 101 but this one was off the main road. Lou's notes & a bit of deducing led us to the bridge.

The Depoe Bay Bridge was simple to locate but figuring out how to get a photo of many of these bridges was often a bit more difficult. This one had a pedestrian walkway under the bridge that made it possible to get this shot.

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is only a few miles from the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. According to the docent, Yaquina Head was built too close to Yaquina Bay by mistake causing it to be closed after about 30 years since two lighthouses in such close proximity weren't needed. 

The Yaquina Bay Bridge is 3223 feet long with a soaring steel arch flanked by two steel deck arches & a "jewelry chain" of five concrete deck arches.

One of the perks of driving around searching for views of the bridges was stumbling onto old harbors, villages & other interesting photo ops. While hunting around Newport for an unobstructed view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge, we came across a ton of sea lions. They were quite the attraction as lots of people were milling about taking pictures.

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Every available space was taken up by literally thousands of sea lions! These were just below a walkway but out in the harbor was a huge rock (above) completely covered by sea lions. They could be heard a block away barking loudly.

I discovered that they would be sound asleep then one would suddenly bite at another. They would start yelling, fighting & wreaking havoc with each other. Ten seconds later they were all sleeping next to & on top of each other again.

Our second night was spent at the SeaQuest Inn Bed & Breakfast between Yachats & Florence, Oregon. This B & B is literally right on the ocean with beautiful views, lovely rooms with jacuzzi tubs & a scrumptious breakfast cooked by our innkeeper, Sherwood.

The back of the SeaQuest Inn - the waves were crashing about 20 feet behind me when I took this photo.  The sliding door second from the right on the lower floor was our room, The Dominica, complete with an oceanview large jacuzzi tub.

The front of the inn with its lagoon. The facility was built as a bed & breakfast about 35 years ago. It was a delightful place to stay & we highly recommend it.

The Great Room - it has music, games, reading material, chairs & afghans to watch the waves plus wine, cheese & crackers in the late afternoon. There are seven guest rooms but only two were occupied during our stay. It was nice to have the place almost to ourselves. Dave & Christine were the other couple who we enjoyed meeting & talking with for quite a while.

After bidding farewell to Sherwood, Dave & Christine we made our way south for a full day of lighthouse & bridge exploring.

Big Creek Bridge is one of the simple arch bridges designed by Conde McCullough.

Heceta Head Lighthouse from the overlook across the cove. We walked about 1/2 mile uphill to visit this lighthouse. It is not available to climb until inspectors clear it as being safe after a five year restoration project.

Umpqua Lighthouse sits above the entrance to Winchester Bay near Reedsport.

This mile long span is the McCullough Memorial Bridge built in 1936 to cross Coos Bay. Many of these bridge & lighthouse photos were taken from quite a distance away. Thank goodness for cameras with big optical zoom lenses!

Cape Arago Lighthouse on Sunset Bay was the most difficult to find. Fortunately, our GPS had it listed as an attraction & led us to the overlook. The lighthouse is not open to the public & is on Native American land.

The Coquille River Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1939 due to improvements to the river channel & advanced navigational aids. Restoration was begun in 2007 & is ongoing.

Our daylight was running out as we "raced" to Cape Blanco Lighthouse located six miles off of Highway 101. Dusk was descending making the light beam more visible at our final lighthouse. This one was also closed for the winter of which  we were aware.

Along the way there were ample opportunities to take some wonderful photos of the shoreline, buildings & sand dunes. Our first full day was overcast & cold but day two turned out sunny & beautiful for which we were thankful since it was the middle of winter!

Every now & then you get lucky & snap a shot that needs no tweaking or enhancement. This was taken in the late morning even though it looks like sunset. The clouds & water patterns made a great subject.

Rocks & driftwood are abundant all along the Oregon coast.

I love reflections! These buildings along the Old Harbor in Florence, Oregon, made for a lovely photo taken from a pier across the water.

The pier in Florence we walked out on to snap the reflection photo above (the buildings were to the left). When I turned around to walk back I had to snap another beautiful shot.

The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area features miles & miles of giant sand dunes. 

Another area of the Oregon Dunes glowing in the afternoon sun.

This was my second trip along Oregon's shoreline, the first being about 25 years ago. It has some gorgeous scenery with rugged landscapes & huge rocks but I guess I'm just a California girl through & through because it still can't hold a candle to our majestic Northern California coastline.....IMHO.

FEEL GOOD PHOTOS

After all the stress of the past few weeks with the illness, passing & funeral of my wonderful mother-in-law, Bruni, I felt the need to share some of my favorite "feel good photos" of my Charley from her last time with us. When I look at her sweet, smiling face it warms my heart, makes me feel good all over & reinforces that life goes on. 

We have such a great time together. Here we are at her & Darrin's apartment in Hayward making some good old-fashioned Rice Krispie Treats.

Charley loves to bake! I remember making Toll House chocolate chip cookies with my grandma. It is such a delight to be able to do it with my granddaughter.

Of course, the most important ingredient in any recipe is love!

As Charley gets older she wants to do more & more by herself. Anyway, the worst that can happen is we have to sweep up four cups of Rice Krispies from the floor.

When Darrin was a kid  he loved going to Jack London Square in Oakland to see the trains go down the main street & eat at the Spaghetti Factory (which is no longer there). Our family would take turns choosing a restaurant when we went out to eat. When it was Darrin's turn, Allen & I made sure that we were up for a trip to Jack London Square since he picked it every time!

Our Charley is creating her own traditions at this East Bay landmark.

Charley loves to ride "Wolfie", the wolf statue from Jack London's "Call of the Wild" novel. That is Jack's cabin recreated in the background.

Our girl following the wolf footprints that meander all through Jack London Square.

Thumbs up! Darrin says he has about 20 similar photos since every time Charley wants her picture taken.

Charley & Daddy waiting sort of patiently for our pizza to arrive at "The Plank" restaurant.

Most of you know about the "Favorite Rock" in Pacifica on the coast. Charley absolutely loves visiting her rock & watching the sunset.

The Northern California coast really is beautiful....almost as beautiful as our little sweetheart.

This is one of my favorite photos ever! Darrin took an incredible shot!

They took me to their favorite rock in Pacifica. I had been there many, many times but it took on a whole new meaning when shared with Charley.

Once the sun set, we had promised Charley we would go to Taco Bell in Pacifica for dinner. Yes, she is definitely related to me & loves Taco Bell. It is literally on the beach but doesn't look like a normal Taco Bell since it blends in with the surroundings. As we got out of the car, Charley says, "This isn't Taco Bell." Took a little doing but we finally convinced her it was indeed a Taco Bell.

A couple of California Girls.....born & raised.

We love playing with Maya & Jada, identical three year old twins, who live in the apartment complex with Darrin & Charley. Last year when we met them, I introduced myself to their mother as "Charley's grandma, Gaga." Somehow, the comma was eliminated & I became "Grandma Gaga" to Maya, Jada & their parents.

Maya, Charley & Jada, I think. Or it could be Jada, Charley & Maya. Either way I know Charley is in the middle.

Maya, Jada, Charley & Grandma Gaga!