The Next Adventure

After two days at sea, we stopped at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. I've done a walking tour of the city during a previous cruise and was disappointed at how "touristy" that was. This time around, I signed up for the El Sonador River Experience which took us into the rainforest in Yasica Arriba. The excursion started by boarding a open air minibus at the cruise terminal, the drive to the river took about an hour during which the guide gave us a short history of the island and the way of life here. Upon arrival at the base of operations, we were given life vests and safety helmets. I changed into my rash guard, running tights (to protect from impact with rocks/branches) and water shoes. I was a little worried about jumping into the river and floating down rapids: breaking a limb would definitely mess up my vacation. We hiked along a trail to where we would get into the water. The areas where we went in were quite safe although the water flowed fast in some sectio...

My cruise buddies and I went on our annual new year cruise, this time departing from Miami on the MSC Divina, Dec 28. I flew to FLL on Dec 25 to stay with Suzie who has a condo in Ft Lauderdale. We have not seen each other since the previous year's cruise (on Virgin) and had a great time catching up with wine and snacks on the balcony. Two days later our two other friends joined us. We had a great Korean hot pot and BBQ dinner before getting an Uber to the Miami cruise terminal on embarkation morning. The drive was stressful as the tunnel to the terminal was closed and traffic was backed up for at least two hours. We could not understand why they would close the tunnel on with so many of the cruise lines departing today. Fortunately, just when our driver was about to turn around and go the long way, the tunnel opened and we got through. After that it was relatively easy to check in and board. This is the first time we cruise on MSC. Unfortunately we were not impressed by the se...

I decided to move to Texas! Spent most of the summer preparing the house for sale. My brother and his wife came to visit, and we went fishing and crabbing while waiting for the house to sell. We stayed at an Airbnb in Scotland, MD and camped at Jane's Island State Park; caught a lot of crabs. Beautiful sunset at Jane's Island! We also visited Annapolis which was all decked out for the fall. The house sold 12 days after listing, then it was a mad scramble to complete the process, finish packing and getting a PODS container delivered and loaded, etc. Our move was delayed after the car got rear ended by a hit and run driver. Since the house had closed, my daughter, 2 cats and I stayed in a hotel for a week. I selected a hotel near BWI because it had a secured parking lot for my fully loaded RV. After I got the car back from the auto shop, we caravaned from MD to Texas. Stopped at campgrounds so I could get electricity. Our two cats were not happy campers! We made ...

I had wanted to take the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, BC, Canada today. Even found a parking spot near the ferry terminal so I could go as a pedestrian and check out Victoria. Given that my RV's doors would not lock, I felt uneasy leaving it in a busy public parking lot the whole day. I called around, hoping to find a RAM dealership that could work on the van. No luck, everyone I called, as far as Tacoma, had no availability. I gave up the rest of my travel plan and decided to start driving home directly, scraping the itinerary for the return journey that had included the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, SD. In any case the weather was getting hot, and I was tired of being on the road. Went to a Panera Bread for breakfast, used their wifi to plot my new itinerary that involved a lot of driving. I spent the first night of my return trip parked next to my friend Judy's house in Tacoma, then left early the next morning. Was anxious to get home to take the RV ...

Checked out of Bogachiel State Park early to drive to Rialto Beach, 30 mins away, just to dip my hands in the Pacific Ocean. It was a foggy drizzly morning. Parked at the top of the beach, near the restrooms. The beach below was an amazing sight, there were pieces of drift logs all over but not as extensive as Ruby Beach. As I walked down the pathway to the beach, I saw some people picking and tasting orange berries from the bushes along the path. Picked a few to try, they were tart, a bit like raspberries. I found out later that these are sea buckhorn berries, which are nutritious and used for juice and jams. The beach area was quite big, there were a lot of pretty colorful stones. On the way back to Port Angeles, I took more photos of the beautiful scenery and vegetation. Stopped back at the ONP Visitor Center, wanted to take the shuttle up to Hurricane Ridge ($1 fare) but there was not enough time to go up, walk around, then take the last shuttle down. Decided to drive ...