Quartzsite Cruiser

Jacqui, I think I speak for all of us when I say take care of yourself and Shadow. I hope the place for disabled dogs will take her. She definitely should not be put through the stress of being shipped back to Egypt. We' will miss you, but your health comes first, and we'll be here when you are able to join us and when you need support. (((((((((BIG HUGS))))))))) Lenda

Bruce, thank your for the pictures from Delft. We took the train from Amsterdam to Delft once and toured a Delft factory on the outskirts of town. We did not see much of the central part of town, and we only saw The Hague from the train. I didn't know baking soda would dissolve and travel with the steam. I tried using a paste of baking soda and I think vinegar to clean the oven in Quartzsite. You were supposed to let it set overnight and remove the paste with water the next morning. It was supposed to remove the baked on grease. The paste was very difficult to remove, and it did not remove the worst of the grease. Once the oven dried, there was still baking soda residue in places. Try as hard as I did, years later I can still sea white residue in places. Moral of the story, Ill use baking soda for cooking but not cleaning. 🤣 Lenda

At least, the vendors are honest and tell you the watches are genuine fakes. 🤣 Lenda

While I have sympathy for the families who lost loved ones in the crash, this lawsuit is another example of a frivolous lawsuit. About ten years ago, we booked a floatplane trip to Misty Fjords on our own since we had a two for one coupon. We came within seconds of flying into a mountain. We survived because the pilot pulled up and turned very quickly, but we felt the near miss could have been avoided.. At no time did we ever consider blaming HAL for the near miss. They had nothing to do with our decision to book the flight. However, the next time we want to see Misty Fjords, it will be on a boat, and even that comes with risks.

We have been to Copenhagen five times beginning in 2003 on the Rotterdam, on what was the precursor of the VOV. In 2005, the Marco Polo overnighted in Copenhagen, and we were then three times on the Prinsendam, 2011, 2016 and 1017. These pictures are a compilation from all the cruises. In 2003, we did the ship tour of the three major castles, but I only remember Kornberg as being one of them. Here are two of the outside in the rain, and one as we sailed passed on our way into port two years later, when we had much better weather. We have done the Ho-Ho a couple of times and the Ho-Ho boat once. On one of the times on the Ho-Ho, we toured the Carlsberg brewery. It was okay, but I'd suggest waiting until Dublin to go through Guinness. From the drop off point, you could either walk or take the wagon.. A few pictures from the tour. In 2005, on the overnight when we were on Marco Polo, we went to Tivoli Gardens and had dinner. We wound up at a Norwegian café/deli. One of the things I tried was reindeer sausage, and it was good. The nighttime visit was in August, so it was still light fairly late then. We also went back to Tivoli on one of our Prinsendam cruises. These pictures are for the Garden Club. On one of our cruises, I think it was 2011, we got off the Ho-Ho and walked through Christiania, an international community and commune of squatters that started in 1971, and was known for its cannabis trade. The government cracked down on the trade in 2004, but when we walked through, several people tried to sell us some. It was an interesting experience. One picture from our Ho-Ho boat ride. The main pedestrian street. Somewhere on that street is our favorite bakery with the best Danish. A couple of times when we were in Copenhagen, we happened on a special event or group performing in the City Hall Square. One such event was a food festival, but it was mainly fish, which the locals seemed to enjoy. We never expected to see a musical group dressed as American Indians and playing native American music. We never learned if they were locals or if they really were Native Americans, but they sure looked like the latter Many of the wind generators off the coast. Lenda

Good morning from sunny central Texas. It looks like the breeze is just starting. My mother was left handed, and her teachers tried unsuccessfully to make her switch hands to write. DH is the middle of the three brothers. We are not allowed to have a garage sale here with the exception of the one sponsored by the POA. I either donate things here or take them to Quartzsite to sell there. If things ever work out, I have amassed a lot of stuff to sell, but the last couple of years have not been the time for a garage sale. I agree with the quote. Sometimes a little fear is good. The meal sounds good and so does the wine. We'll pass on the drink. We have been fortunate to visit Copenhagen several times. I'll repost my pictures in a few minutes. @dfish I'm glad the meeting with the realtor went well. I hope the picnic is not rained out. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, please wish your GH HAPPY BIRTHDAY for us. Safe travels tomorrow. @lindaler Linda, it sounds like you've settled into your new life in Mobile. @smitty34877 Terry, I'm glad everyone is feeling better, including Tana who is having a better day. I'm also glad you have help taking care of her while everyone regains their strength. @ger_77 Gerry, I hope your DH's cough clears up soon, and I hope you stay well. @kochleffel That is an interesting story about your roommate. It's amazing how hard they used to try to make lefties into righties. Lenda

Happy Anniversary. Haveca great cruise on a great ship.

These are my last pictures for the day. We were in Edinburgh once in 2016 on Prinsendam, and three times on Prinsendam in 2017 on multiple B2Bs. These pictures are from 2016 and our first visit in 2017. The second time in 2017, we took the city bus out to tour the Britannia, and the third time we did the Ho-Ho and walked the Royal Mile from top to bottom. In 2016. we took the Ho-Ho around Edinburgh. When we were in the vicinity of the castle, we ran into extremely heavy crowds who were in town for the Tattoo and the Fringe. Several blocks were turned into pedestrian only streets and the Ho-Ho had to make a detour. Even the area around Waverly Station was crowded. From our detour on the Ho-Ho The new bridge across the Firth of Forth. It was nearing completion, with just a few spans waiting to be installed. It was opened the next year by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2017, we did a ship's tour to the Falkirk Wheel, which is an engineering marvel. It connects two canals which are on different elevations. Boats enter one of the two chambers on the wheel and are either raised or lowered to the other canal. The chambers, for want of a better word, used Archimedes' principle of water displacement, so they do not have to add or remove water when the boat enters and exits the wheel. I strongly recommend a ship's tour to visit the wheel, since the tours are guaranteed a time to "ride" the wheel. We entered the wheel from the lower canal, were raised to the next canal, sailed down the canal, turned around and went back to the wheel to return to the lower canal. Entering the wheel on the lower level. Coming back toward the tunnel and the wheel. Entering the wheel at the upper level The view across the countryside from the top of the wheel was spectacular, even on a cloudy day. Canal boats in the canal near the Kelpies. Lenda

These are my pictures from St. Andrews. Since several Dailyites have shared their pictures from the Old Course, I am only including one. The rest are from our afternoon in St. Andrews. Our first stop was St. Andrews Cathedral, really the ruins of the 12th century cathedral. Our next stop was the Old Course, where we had free time. After we looked around the Old Course, we walked back into town. Our first stop was the University of St. Andrew. We walked into the chapel but were not even allowed time to take one picture because the were setting up to take some pictures, IIRC. The rest of the pictures were taken as we walked around town. A pretty park and playground Lenda

Good afternoon. I have a lot more pictures from our five visits to Edinburgh, and I thought I'd share some more here and in other posts. @bennybear Brenda, a great pictures of the moon. Our condolences on your DSIL loss of his mother. @Cruzin Terri Terri, glad you are off the steroids. I hope you won't need them again. @Vict0riann Ann, I'm happy to know you and Pat are Covid free and are now back in the world. @ger_77 Gerry, I'm sorry your DH tested positive, and I hope you don't get Covid. @Live4cruises Welcome home. I'm glad you had some healing time while you were away. I think we all need some healing time from all the stress and uncertainty of the past two years. @aliaschief Bruce, great news on the negative tests. @XBGuy Thank you for the story and the nice comments on all our postings on here. I tried to use correct grammar and punctuation, but I'm the first to admit, I'm guilty of ending many sentences with participles even though my 10th grade English teacher drummed proper grammar into our heads. She had us diagramming post-graduate college sentences. I also had a college journalism professor, "Col. Mary" , a colonel in the Marine Reserves, drum proper word usage into our skulls. They were two of the toughest and best teachers I had. I cringe reading some posts on other social media sites. Also, I'm sure you've noticed that proofreading is a skill that did not take. Our first visit to Edinburgh was on August 25, 2011. Because we wanted to see as much as possible in one day, we took a morning panoramic city tour which included a tour of Edinburgh Castle, and an afternoon tour to St. Andrews. The day we were there was Armed Forces day, and not only were the veterans in my earlier picture marching, but many military units too. I found out today, thanks to Google, that Prince Charles was there and gave the troops a salute. I'm going to post my pictures of Edinburgh here, and the ones of St. Andrews in another post. Some of these pictures were taken from the bus, and are not the greatest. A couple of pictures of houses. Preparations for the parade Even though it was June 25, the stands for the Tattoo were already being erected. The entrance to Edinburgh Castle The Governor's House circa 1731 For @Cruising-along Carolyn, here are a few pictures from inside the castle. The rooms for the royal family, without furnishings, are first, followed by the quarters for the soldiers. Looking down on Edinburgh from the castle Lenda

My heart goes out to Jacqui @kazu and to Shadow. Poor Shadow, after a life on the mean streets, she deserves better than this. Jacqui, has been through so much in the past eight months, she also does not deserve to have to go through this additional emotional pain and turmoil. Sending virtual hugs and support to Jacqui. For both their sakes, I hope Jacqui can find a good, loving special needs/disabled rescue for Shadow. Finally, shame on the original rescue group for not disclosing the problem or not finding a special needs place for Shadow. Lenda

Good morning again. The smoker is ready to put the ribs in in a few hours. I wanted to get it set up while it was still cool outside. This is what I posted on March 12, 2021, a very good day since March 12 is my birthday. We have been to Edinburgh five times all on the Prinsendam, so we docked at Rosyth. The first time in 2011, we took a morning tour to Edinburgh and the castle, followed by an afternoon tour to St. Andrews. In 2016, we were late docking due to tidal conditions, and our tour to the Falkirk Wheel was cancelled, so we took the train into town. In 2017, we did several b2bs, so we were in Rosyth and Edinburgh three times. The first time, we made it to the Falkirk Wheel, but the tour was nearly cancelled. The guides for the two buses had to cancel and there were no replacements. We were given the option of getting off the bus and getting our money back, or doing the tour anyway. The two drivers went out of their way to make it a memorable tour even without out any commentary. The wheel provided a guide for the boat ride. The bus drivers even made a unscheduled stop at the statues of the Kelpies, mythical sea creatures that steal children. As usual, there was one grump who complained about the lack of commentary on the bus. A view of the stands being erected at the Castle for the Tattoo. The stands are vey steep and tall, and since I do not like heights, I'm not sure I will attend the Tattoo because with my luck I'd be on the top row and miserable. When we left the Castle in 2011, we had to wait for our bus until a parade of veterans assembled and marched by, followed by a band, and pipers. It was worth the wait to see how proud they were. The Kelpies. We visited the Britannia, but I will only show one picture of the sitting room. The last time we did the combination of the city bus and the Ho-Ho, since I wanted to go to the statue of Greyfriars's Bobby. Here is the statue and his grave in Greyfriars's Cemetery. Finally, a couple of pictures from the town. The first was taken in 2016 during the Fringe and the Tattoo. You could hardly walk down the streets. Lenda

The Perseid Meteor shower is one of the best, but with the last super moon of the year, it might be difficult to see many meteors. It's been quite awhile since we've had Kool Aid. We still have all our old vinyl records, the stereo we bought in 1970, and a modern turntable. The quote is very true, and I have a friend I can call at 4 am, though I probably wouldn't. DH might like the meal, but I'll pass, and will skip the drink, too. I would like to try the wine, but it's more than we would pay for a bottle of wine. Tonight, we'll have smoked baby back ribs, potato salad, and corn-on-the-cob. We have been to Edinburgh several times, but not to South Queensferry. We were on the Tahitian Princess and Prinsendam and were able to sail under the bridges and dock in Rosyth. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, the bridge you showed is the railroad bridge which was opened in 1890. We have taken the train across it to get to Edinburgh, @mamaofami Carol, I sorry your DDIL died so young. Our condolences on the loss of your dear friend. @StLouisCruisers Safe travels back to Ohio this afternoon. I"ll look for my pictures in a little while. Lenda

🎂 🎉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RICH! 🥂 🍾

Thanks, Graham. I was pretty sure you two had run away from home again. Have fun. Lenda

Vanessa, I originally looked at my activity, but guessing the correct page was trial and error and could be time consuming. I started using the search feature. I go to search, click on this forum and all my words, then I type in the port name. Then, I scroll down to the correct date. I either find my post or another, and open the Daily. Then, it's easy to find my pictures, and cut and paste. Like other features on CC, the search doesn't work correctly, but I usually can find what I want. Lenda

Good news about your DH. Did the people at the medical appointment have any ideas about the cough since he tested negative? BTW, pizza tastes just as good on Thursday or Saturday, or any 😉 day. Lenda

Good afternoon, after an unplanned hectic morning. Just as I was finishing my last post, we got a call from the hospital in Cleburne where DH's MRI was scheduled for next Monday afternoon. They had a last minute cancellation at 11:15 this morning, and could we make it. We had less than an hour to get there, and DH was still in bed, but we made the appointment. DH said they did one MRI without contrast that took about 15 minutes. They then injected the contrast and did a repeat MRI. He said they used the newest MRI that was a Tesla 3, and added that it was noisy. We have a copy of the MRI to take to his next appointment at UT Southwestern, and the report will be sent to the PA in Dallas. @JazzyV Vanessa, that must have been a sight watching the trucks back at mile or more down the street to the bridge. @aliaschief Bruce, I have enjoyed touring Scotland with you these past weeks. Have a safe flight to Amsterdam. and a great cruise on Rotterdam. @cunnorl Charlene, I hope you get the flight straightened out. Is there a possibility you could get to Union Station in LA and take a train to San Diego? I don't know if that would be too difficult with your DD. We rented a car in San Pedro to drive to San Diego several years ago. The rental agent said locals could make it in 1 1/2 hours, but we should allow 2 1/2 hours. Five hours later, we arrived in San Diego. Of course, it was the first good Saturday in spring, and everyone was headed to the beach. @grapau27 Graham, are you by chance on a moving location that Pauline does not want you to mention? 🛳️ Lenda

Good morning again. It is about 9:30 and it 70F. It will warm up today, but the rain seems to have lowered our temperatures some. Before I go any further, I misspelled Louisbourg in my previous post when talking about the recreated fortress. @ger_77 Gerry, I'm sorry your DS tested positive. I hope your DH's cough is due o something else and that he tests negative. Glad you could stock up on salmon fillets. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, I hope the hotel can rebook your stay at the same price. I've read that it is better to book directly with the hotel and no on the corporate web-site or a travel site. Doing it directly can sometimes get you perks too, or so I've read. @grapau27 and @Paw13, Good for yuo, Graham and Pauline, for booking seven cruises. Have fun planning them. @cruzn single Enjoy your day on Grand Mesa with your family. Don't forget the bug repellent. On September 4, 2019, Veendam stopped in Sydney on her TA after spending the summer in Europe. That day, we did not rent a car, but walked into town. On all our previous visits we had never really looked around Sydney. It was a cool, pleasant day for wandering around. Part of the waterfront near the dock. This interesting building that @StLouisCruisers Sand showed us, is the former Bank of Montreal building, and in 2019, it was a museum. The main street in town A couple of interesting murals On the way back to the pier, we passed St. George Anglican Church that was open to the public. The church was established in 1785 as the Imperial Garrison Chapel. The picture of the exterior is courtesy of @Crazy For Cats who took the picture on his recent New England/Canada cruise. While many of the large cathedrals are stunning, I like the smaller, more intimate churches. This one is no longer used on a regular basis. Neighborhood near the church The waterfront An aluminum sailboat Sydney from the ship Lenda

Good morning from sunny central Texas. We sure enjoyed our much needed rain yesterday. @Seasick Sailor Joy, I'm sorry the rain did not make it to you. On the 5 pm weather, there was still heavy rain south of us, but I guess it petered out. I will pass on the presidential jokes, but will celebrate sons and daughters day. We are not much for playing in the sand. The C. S. Lewis quote is interesting. I like margarita pizzas, and we always get one when we're in Italy. We'll pass on the drink and the wine. @RedneckBob I enjoyed your story about the appetizers. Like @richwmn Rich, proofreading is also not my strong suit. @dfish Debbie, safe travels today. Enjoy your family picnic on Saturday. @smitty34877 Terry, I could not like your post. I'm sorry Tana is having a rebound case with high fevers. I'm glad you got someone to help with the caretaking, and get more if you and DD need more time to recover. I hope Tana can recover from the rebound case quickly. She has been through so much already. We have been to Sydney, NS, five times and all were on Veendam. In 2013, we did the roundtrip from Boston twice, so we were in Sydney four times in four weeks. These are my pictures from those visits. Each time, we rented a car and toured the outlying areas. The Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site After we left the AGB site, we drove part of the Cabot Trail, but did not have time to go very far. On the way back to turn in the rental car we stopped at this museum, which was interesting. It is about the Jewish settlers in the area. The next time, we drove in a different direction to check out the area where the coal mines had been active. We visited the Sydney Mines Heritage Museum, and also toured on inactive mine, and learned that most of the tunnels were under the ocean. They gave us ponchos and hard hats to wear since water dripped in the mine, and many places had very low ceilings, one was just four feet high. The next two visits we also drove around the area. One stop was the Fortress of Louisburg National Historic Site. A small boat harbor. Lenda

I think our rain may have ended, but it is still very cloudy and there is still thunder, so we may get more rain. As of now, we've gotten about 1/2 inch. Right after the rain ended, it was nive and cool ourside with low humidity. it is 79F now, but the humidity is back. Edi, I think I would call your PCC or Flight Ease. just tp ,ale sire they did cancel the flights. I've never hear smores used for anything but the chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker treat. Lenda

You can never count on help, much less free help, to spread mulch or do anything correctly One time, we had lightning hit a transformer near the house while I was cooking. It blew out the element on the electric stove that was on, but no other damage. I just turned the element off and moved the pot to another one and continued with dinner I grew up with my father working for the electric utility and DH worked for a sister company, so I knew to respect electricity. I also realized that the rest of the stove was all right. We later discovered the lightning the lightning had taken out our telephone service, back in the days of Ma Bell. It took the electric company mere hours to replace the transformer, but MA Bell days to get our phone back in service. Lenda

Woo-Hoo!!!!! We are getting some much needed rain, and now thunder and wind. Bob, sorry the lightning played such havoc with your house yesterday. I'm glad no one was hurt and the house was not damaged. Hope all the systems are up and running now. Susan, I'm sure you have thought of this, but there is probably some hiking in Dyea besides going part way up the Chilkoot Pass. Even with the additon of a zip-line and dog sledding, it is pretty much a wilderness. That's great news they changed your reservation back without any fees. Even better news was no wait! Vanessa, sometimes just looking for something can lead to major weeding and tossing. Good for you. Was of now, we have gotten 0.11 inch of rain, and it's still coming down. Lenda The rain is now up to 0.25 inch, and still coming down.

Talk about frustrating. I had my post with all the pictures of Buenos Aires ready, clicked on Submit Reply, and POOF! 😱 So I'll try again, and hope I don't wind up with two posts of the pictures. We visited Buenos Aires twice. The first time in 1999 on Noordam III. We had an afternoon and a full day there. We took a ship tour of the city, including Recoleta Cemetery the first day. The next day, we took a train to Tigre on the Lujan River. All my pictures of that visit are pre-digital. In 2015, on Ruby Princess, we took the shuttle into town, and got a Ho-Ho tour. Downtown Buenos Aires in the distance as the ship docked. Scenes of town from the Ho-Ho A monument to commemorate the 25 May 1810 revolution, a week-long series of revolutionary events that took place from May 18 to May 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires. It started the Argentine War of Independence, and it is considered the birth of modern Argentina. Casa Rosada (Pink House) is the seat of the Argentine national government and houses the president's office. It was the scene of much of the city's history, and it was from the balconies of the Casa Rosada that Juan and “Evita” Perón addressed the masses during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The balcony scene in "Evita" was filmed at the Casa Rosada. Guards outside the Casa Rosada A neighborhood street More pictures of La Boca After the Ho-Ho, we walked over to this shopping mall, but did not stay long. We took a taxi to San Telmo district to wander through some of the antique stores. Since it was Saturday afternoon, most of the stores were closed. We did find some street vendors and Plaza Doreggo. The Buenos Aires skyline and moon as we sailed toward Montevideo. Fingers crossed that this posts this time. 🤞 Lenda

Good morning again. Carolyn, the Mexican Marshmallows are very light and fluffy, and are made with Mexican vanilla. The testure is very different from the marshmallows you can buy at the grocery store. Your can buy the smores kit which has the marshmallows, Biscoff cookies, and Belgium dark chocolate. It's available around the Christmas holidays, and you can buy the marshmallows separately. DD and DSIL get it at Amy's Ice Creams in Austin. This is a link to Amy's Ice Creams, which also makes very good ice cream. https://amysicecreams.com/ Hope I didn't jinx anything with the link. When our great PCC left after the birth of her second child, her voicemail had a message that she was no longer with HAL and to please ask for a new PCC. The humidity is why we moved from The Woodlands, 30 miles north of Houston, to central Texas. Thanks for the pictures of the Amsterdam. "A rose by any other name..." comes to mind when I see the Amsterdam and the Rotterdam. Our thoughts are with your DD and the people of Taiwan and for their safety.. I hope the Chinese come to their senses and get over their snit. Lenda