A little bit of Spain. But not all of Spain.

 So, we woke up in Cadiz, Spain! We ordered breakfast room service because we didn’t want to wake up any earlier to go to the dining room. It arrived right on time and we gulped it down. We are doing a good job observing our cruising rules to not gaining weight. There are primarily two rules: always take the stairs and eat a ton of fruit and veggies every day. 

The stairs trick is legit because our room is on 12, the dining room is on 6, the pool is on 16 and the bars are 5, 6, or 7. We’re pretty much running up and down all day. The other day I think we hit 125 flights of stairs just that day. Whew! 

Anyway, we were soon walking off the boat in Cadiz! We booked an excursion to see the town and do a sherry tasting at a very famous winery, Sandeman. The bus tours can be quite the…duel with patience. Everyone is slow. Several people are always very grumpy if not flat rude. It’s not my favorite way to tour but sometimes it checks all the boxes.

The town was really nice- a beautiful city with tons of history. It was a cloudy day and in an area known for 300+ days of sunshine, the locals were thrilled with the chance for a drizzle and we weren’t too upset either!

The sherry tour was really well done. A man explained the entire process of making the kinds of sherry they produced. The winery was really nice with beautiful paintings of the wine making process, writings, pictures, etc. It was pretty hard to hear at times because our tour guide was soft spoken and the winery was very large. We might have missed a few things, but it was still a great visit.

At the end, we sat in a large room and got to have three tastes. A light, dry sherry, an amber sherry (not too sweet) and then we got to pick our 3rd and I went with the brandy. Our table mates were awesome. We had a couple from LA whose daughter and son-in-law are cruisers with a nice boat in Marina del Ray. And another couple from Indiana. That gentleman used to work for McDonnell Douglas and Boeing in St. Louis! I’ve somehow already forgotten what area he worked in, but not the same as my dad. At one point, we were all telling stories about our dogs and sharing photos of them. Humanity! 

As we were getting up to leave, Richard, our Irish buddy, came up to find us because he said he was sitting with someone at his table who said they were our neighbor! We went to meet her- a sweet older lady who, sure enough, lives in Atascadero which is the town just to the south of Paso. She’s very into wine so we enjoyed meeting her and telling her about Nicora. 

After, we were back on the bus heading back into town. Our bus tour guide did such a great job telling us about the tremendous fishing industry in Cadiz that we knew we needed to walk around and find a spot for some great lunch and wine. We strolled past a lot of places trying to figure it all out. There is such a country specific culture with restaurants that you don’t realize until you’re in another country. Do we just walk in and sit down? Do we wait to be seated? Will anyone speak English? How big are the portions? Some places seemed to only serve coffee. Some only wine. Some both. 

After a bit, I found a place that looked really promising and I could read some of the menu! We went in and the owner was terrific- very patient. Spoke enough English to fill in the gaps. Helped us pick out some tuna, ham croquettes, foie  gras, chicken. All tapas- so small plates. Just a couple of bites each. We asked about wine and he said, “local wine?” So we said, “YES!” And man did he hook us up! I took photos of the bottles because I knew I’d never remember by end of trip. So, there we sat, feeling quite European with our ridiculously delicious tapas and local wines. The people watching was great. Another very clean, respectful, vibrant, bustling yet not really crowded place. 

We do continue to be surprised by how many people here smoke. There are so few smokers in Paso I could probably forget people do it! 

COVID-wise, everyone wears a mask when inside. No one wears one outside. On the ship, the crew are all wearing the very high end KN-95 masks all day, every day. I feel bad for their faces! Masks are optional for guests and people do whatever works for them with zero issues. We always have ours but generally are not wearing them unless we’re in a crowded area or near someone hacking up a lung. The boat cleaning crew is off the charts. You can swing a cat without hitting someone wiping down every surface. We’re just making sure we wash our hands a lot, using sanitizer after holding the hand rails on the stairs, and generally trying to not be all up in other people’s faces. So far, so good.

The next morning, we were up drinking coffee in our room and the captain came on the loudspeaker. We knew something was up because a) we NEVER hear announcements in the cabin- they protect that and b) it was 6:30 AM. Turns out, the wind was blowing like heck to the point that even with extra tugboats, there was no way our boat was going to be able to swing into port. There would be no visit to Malaga! Poop! He warned that with this type of weather, we might miss another port or two. They were doing everything they could, and would keep us posted.

Now, we both immediately felt so bad for the crew! They’d already dealt with us for 7 straight days at sea! Imagine how annoying people had probably gotten!! And now they were stuck again with us AND we could just imagine them all scrambling in that very moment to come up with things for 1200 people to do all day!! 

By 10:00, we had a completely new “princess patter”, which is our daily listing of activities. The amazing crew and thrown together a whole slew of things to keep people moving and grooving. We didn’t do any of those- we were wanting to sit outside by the pool but according to the captain, doing so might blow you right into the Mediterranean, so we decided to stay inside. What we did do was try to be extra nice to the beleaguered crew who really appreciated it. 

A bit later in the afternoon, the captain came back on the speaker with the bad news - no way we’d make it to Cartagena either:( Poop! But then he said - now for the good news! He was able to negotiate for us to arrive in Mallorca a day early and stay over night. Woohoo!! This was a big task because all the cruise ships are in the same, ahem, boat. So, getting one of the spots was a big deal. High five, captain! 

Now, of course, no one had an excursion planned because we didn’t know we’d be there. Imagine the poor shore excursion crew! Whew! We decided we would just roam around. We were sitting in Vines drinking a bunch of French wine and we saw our Irish buddies come in. We decided to ask if they wanted to meet up for lunch or dinner in town the next day. They seemed flattered and accepted right away. Sweet! 

With that, we meandered down to dinner. Our latest routine is to hit up James in Vines before we go to the room and he’ll let us sneak the good glasses and good wine up. They will deliver wine to your room, but the menus are all different for every place, including room service, and we’ve had them all by now and have ruled them out. 

We were excited for our Mallorca walking adventures the next day with Richard and Siobhan. 

Portugal! Absolutely gorgeous and delicious!

 Well, I’ve been to Portugal! We docked just fine and it was a bit cloudy with the tiniest of drizzle at first, but it actually cleared up mostly by the time we walked onto dry land. I have to say, it felt good to have feet on the ground again. In order to disembark, Portugal asked us all to complete a form the day prior where we listed our dates of vaccinations, including the booster. It had to be in a certain number of days…something like 270 OR you had to have the booster in order to go ashore. No problem for us.

We didn’t have a tour booked because nothing really appealed, so we just strolled off after breakfast and took the shuttle bus to the center of town to walk around. We saw our buddy Kelly on the bus- he’s trying to start a new business and was eager for WiFi to send some much delayed paperwork. 

The first views of the city- WOW! So pretty. Clean- so very clean. Gorgeous titled or cobblestone streets. Insane gardens, trees, flowers, paintings, sculptures all around. Every direction I turned was absolutely lovely. This area is known for their cork trees and, oddly, embroidery. Ok! Also, Madeira wine…which we were for sure going to taste.

We walked around and just enjoyed the beautiful city. Our British buddy, Glenn, had warned us that everything would be closed because it was Sunday. He was right. I mean, some touristy things were open and some restaurants but all the little stores were closed. We had decided we needed to buy wine glasses because (can’t remember if I mentioned this) the ones on the boat are complete crap. Meaning, they are tiny. Like 3 ounces. And so…well, tiny, that you can’t possibly swirl the dang wine. Anyway, no glasses could be found on this day. Oh well.

After a good, long walk, we decided to plop down in an adorable cafe called The Ritz and enjoy some Madeira wine and some WiFi. The waiters all spoke pretty good English, which was helpful in figuring out which Madeira we wanted to try. I speak Portuguese but not wine Portuguese. We decided to go with a 5 year and a 10 year and we shared. We wanted the 15 year but our waiter said the 15 years were sweet. Nope. 

We were having such a great time people watching, Madeira sipping, and WiFi browsing that we sat there long enough to want some food. Also, this was helped by us not being able to figure out how to get the check. But, whatever. So, we ordered some tomato bruschetta and some mushroom bruschetta. Holy cow- it was so amazing that my mouth nearly died. I don’t know what this crap we call bruschetta in the US is, but it no longer deserves to be called as such. Freshly off that tasty treat, we finally got the check, paid out in euros, and left for another walk.

By the way, our new Irish friends told us to head straight to a large bank ATM on land to get euros. We got a great exchange rate and our bank will refund ATM fees - so this was a win. Also, their ATMs knew we spoke English just from reading our card. I found this funny because we have to select our language in our own dang country but not in a foreign country. Ha. 

Things seem quite cheap to us here. This doesn’t mean they are- perhaps our we live in wine country in California selves don’t quite see pricing accurately. We normally pay more than $100 for lunch with drinks. This was about half that.

Anyway, I found a lovely lady sitting in a garden working on embroidery and I bought two kitchen towels from her. I love buying kitchen towels and Christmas ornaments when I travel because they are things I get to use periodically and get reminded of the places I’ve been. 

We took the bus back to the port and then walked back out along the sea to check out some more shops and things that were open for us touristas. We found another lovely seafront cafe so we sat there for a bit and took the waiter’s recommendation of a medium bodied, dry, white Portuguese wine and it was just delicious. 

I went to use the bathroom and found the most hilarious doorknobs ever. They were an actual (I mean not a real one) human hand that you had to grab and turn. It was so weird!! So weird in fact that I grabbed the wrong one and walked right into the men’s room. So, that was cool. 

After another hour or so of people watching, dog watching, general hang out time in Portugal, we decided to walk back to the ship. 

I love days like this. I don’t need much entertainment, if any. I enjoy walking a city. Talking with locals. Eating the local food and drinking the local wine. It was perfect. A delightful city that I would happily visit again if given the chance. 

The next day, we had a sea day again. My brain can’t figure out why because a) it’s stupid and b) we don’t have google. Portugal is attached to Spain so my brain wants to think that we can leave Funchal Portugal one night and arrive at Cadiz Spain the next morning. But no. And, even more odd (to me) we went way out to sea to the point we couldn’t see any land. I guess we just went out and hung out. Whatever!

So, we rallied all our friends for the Nicora wine tasting at 4 in our favorite wine bar, Vines. Jason had told our main man, James, about it in advance so we didn’t overwhelm them. Everyone showed up and we shared the Euphoric and Buxom. Man- was that ever a hit! Everyone is still talking about it. They asked a lot of questions and just really enjoyed hearing about Nick, Nicora, and wine making. The only downside was that the rest of the wine we had afterward tasted terrible! 

Aside from th Nicora tasting, which was for sure the highlight of the sea day, we did a load of laundry and chilled out some by the pool. Laundry is interesting. Here on the boat, we can do a week of laundry in one load. At home, we are doing like 9 loads a week. What is wrong with us? You can live simply if you try! 

We went to bed early ish because our first day in Spain was to start early the next morning with a 7:30 am appointment to disembark. I always go to bed early at home, but the 7 days in a row of day light savings has changed me, apparently, and now I stay up till 10-11 and wake up at 7-8. I don’t even know who I am anymore. This is the European me. 

The Mysterious Wine Dinner

 Well, last night was the infamous and mysterious wine dinner and it was worth the wait! There were only 12 of us and we became fast friends. We had a couple from Ireland, a couple from Mexico, a couple from New Mexico, and three couples from California. 

The dinner was hosted inside one of the main dining rooms in a private circular area of the room. The food was very, very good. The final course was a filet mignon that was prize worthy. There was also a gnocchi dish with Asiago cheese that might possibly be the best thing I’ve ever eaten. The wine pairings were interesting in that we thought it was a wine dinner paired with Silverado wines (A Napa Winery) but it was actually just one Silverado one, a Cabernet, at the end and a variety of other wines. Which was just fine with us. The first was a pouilly-fuse from France and I really liked it. 

I am a bit bummed there is no sommelier on board. I just assumed there would be. We were so spoiled by JoJo our som on the Holland America cruise to Australia. I was hoping to learn a ton about European wines while on boat. The head waiters are doing a good job - they have a good deal of knowledge- but it isn’t quite as in depth.

Anyway, with the wine dinner last night, we have found ourselves some people! Wine people usually do get a long and we all sure did. We went to the wine bar afterwards and had another glass of wine with the whole crew afterward. Vines, the wine bar, is the only place on board that serves red in a decent sized glass. The other places are giving out these tiny little glasses that you couldn’t swirl a single drop in without blowing it out all over the counter. Our main dude, James, is the bartender there and he hooks us up. He also once gave us what felt like an entire glass of gin at 11 am- which wasn’t really the hook up we wanted, but it’s the one we got;)  

Our new friends are all older couples, of course. They shortest amount of time married, other than us, was 32 years!! We had a 54 and a 52 year marriage in there, too. So great to see couples able to stay together and still having so much fun after all that time. 

Today, was the Super Tuscan wine tasting lunch. As Jason said last night, “I’d like to find the person who thought these two events should be back to back and punch him in the face.” A day or two separation would have been nice! Anyway, there were 70 of us in this one so it was much more crowded. We all met up and attempted to sit together but we were at the end of the line and there weren’t any more big tables so we all had to split up. We’ll find them again later and will open a Nicora for them from the stash we brought with us. They were all very familiar with Paso wines and big fans so we feel confident they will like it. 

We missed the St. Patrick’s celebration because the wine dinner went so long, but we’d heard some live Irish music earlier in the day. Also a Rasta band. Not sure how that factors into St. Paddy’s day, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. It is funny sometimes on a boat with mostly decades older people because they are unfamiliar with a lot of “current” culture and music and don’t play along. During the Rasta band, the lead singer said wave your hand if you’ve heard of Bob Marley and literally no hand moved. Ha!! It does make me question some of the choices- like today the mid day movie is Rocky Horror Picture Show and I’m pretty sure no one went because it started at 2, I walked in at 3 and no one was there and it wasn’t playing. I mean. You gotta read the room here. 

We’ve got one more full day of sailing tomorrow before we hit land for the first time in a week. Days at sea are really great because you really don’t have a choice in unwinding. You can’t get off the boat. There are only so many things to do. You have to learn to make peace with it and fill the time. I like to have open periods of nothing really. Yesterday, the sun was out in the afternoon so we sat by the pool for a couple of hours just hanging out. This is how we saw the Rasta band. I don’t have to be, nor do I want to be, constantly entertained. It’s nice to have the space to think thoughts. Or think nothing. I don’t have that in my normal life. 

Anyway, we have nothing booked yet (still) in Portugal. From what we can tell, we’re coming into multiple days of rain. Hopefully it isn’t just a major downpour the whole time. I know we’ve got several walking tours planned. Either way, I get to see a bunch of places I’ve never seen and I can’t wait! 

The internet continues to be really spotty. As in most spots, there is no internet. But, I was able to get the most important message which was that my brother’s heart surgery was complete, he was ok, and then finally that he was released. Woohoo!! 

Day Light Savings For Days

 It is now St. Patrick;s day. I’ve completely given up on trying to know what time it is. So, the clock moves forward an hour every day at noon. And while you might think this is pretty simple to grasp, I assure you, it is not. One thing is- there is never a noon. At noon, it is immediately 1. That’s messed up. Also, our phones are on airplane mode so they can’t keep up with the time. So everyday we have to try to remember how many hours off the phone is. And, because it happens at noon each day, you spend the first part of the day understanding one time and then the second half trying to adjust to a new time. My brain has died. 

The seas continue to be very calm. I wasn’t sure what to expect about a transatlantic crossing, but this exceeds expectations! I’m keeping up some with the Dramamine because you have to stay ahead of it. I’m not messing around here. 

We’re meeting some people now. Usually when we’re sitting at dinner. We always have our own table, but we’re seated close enough to chat. I have to say, being wine maker/olive growers never seems to bore anyone. The other night at dinner, half the wait staff was gathered around Jason talking. This started with us sending back our wine. We never send anything back- ever. But this was truly awful. Jason told the steward that the wine was corked. Thus it began.

One thing we’re realizing is that this cruise we’re on is really at least 3 cruises. We thought it was just two. When we get to Barcelona in a week, people will get off and new ones on. We’re excited about that mostly because we’d love to meet people from Barcelona and become friends before we end up there with days to spend in a month. This happened on our last cruise in Australia and it was such a delight! Also, perhaps some younger people will come onboard because the cruise lengths will be shorter.  We shall see.

The staff on board are terrific. Excellent memories. Shoot, there is already one guy, Ivan, who works in the art gallery, who might now be naming his first child Rachel. Bam! 

Yesterday, we got wild and went to bingo. On the first game, I won and didn’t know it. Jason called bingo and didn’t have it. The next game, I played the wrong card. Jason got bingo (for real this time) and scored $125 bucks. The 4th game I had to play the card I’d already played which was truly more effort than I was wanting to make. We are both not good at bingo and also quite good at bingo, depending on how you want to view it.

We watched a Hans Zimmer concert on the huge projector by the pool in the late afternoon and got some sun. It’s oddly easy to spend a lot of time inside and not notice somehow. The fresh air and sunshine was great. I want to do this again today because it will be a Mumford and Sons concert (Irish, after all) but we have a winemaker’s dinner tonight.

Oh, so we signed up for this dinner like…well, one day. But no one has been able to tell us when it is. Or where. We’ve asked waiters, bar tenders, the maitre’d, called some random phone number. Finally, we were told it was the 15th and we would receive an invitation that morning with the time. Which is sort of odd, really. I mean, I am trying to see all the live music here. I have plans! Anyway, on the morning of the 15th, there was no invite. Finally, someone told Jason the cancelled the 15th and it was now the 17th. But no time or place. Wait for the invite. WHY MUST IT BE MYSTERIOUS? Today, the invite arrived by hand delivery from some chef. That seems a bit overkill, honestly. Also, apparently, we have to dress up. They are eager for my “graceful presence” which is English for them obviously having never met me. But, I brought wine colored velvet pants for such an occasion as this. 

We’re now 4 days from Portugal. Time finally feels like it is going slowly, which I am very thankful for. I want to feel every single one of these stress free days away from my very busy life. That said, I continue to be very pleased that I miss the ranch and the busyness of it. It is a very good life, indeed. 

Boarding the Ship!

 On the morning of embarkation, we were up early all excited and ready to really get this thing going. We were in boarding group 2 which seemed to mean we should arrive between 11:30-12:30. If you know me, you know that this means we got there at like 10:30. Hey, they don’t say the early bird gets the worm because the early bird gets the shaft and sits around waiting, right? Right! We had a great Uber driver who dropped us at the right spot, a porter immediately took our 5 bags (2 back packs, 1 medium suitcase, 1 hanging bag, and 1 wine suitcase), and then we were in line!

The first part of the line moved pretty quickly. We had to show passports, COVID vaxx cards, and go through a metal detector. Fine. Then we went upsairs and stood in another line so we could again show passports, vaxx cards and now also negative COVID tests from the last 3 years. This line was a little slow because some people hadn’t uploaded anything prior to arriving. They had to start at the beginning with taking their pictures, etc. Sort of confusing because, in theory, you entered a different color line if you had already uploaded everything…that was a good idea but in the end, all lines ended up in the same spot with the same group of verifiers.

This boarding process is always a little stressful because you don’t know exactly what will happen, it’s crowded, it’s hot (why is it always hot?). This brings out the worst in people who have control or patience issues. It’s fun to watch- so long as you aren’t traveling with one. Every time we saw something lose it, Jason would look at me and say, “NOPE.” Then, we would mentally add them to the nopebook of future people to not hang out with. I mean, at my age, I’ve already met more than my fair share of butt heads. Why would I invite more in?

The lines also gave us a little bit of time to look around. We were pleased to see at least 4 other people who might be in our decade. What do you know?

Once on the boat, we, of course, went straight to a bar and had gin and tonics. I mean, like one does. They said our rooms would be ready by 1 so heck, we were killing time and making friends with bar tenders. I was starting to feel pretty dang excited.

For an entire year, we’ve been on an unending roller coaster of emotions and worry with this trip. Would it ever happen? Would COVID cancel it? And in recent weeks, really, Putin? Now we have to be at war, too? On that note, we figure that we might not get to go to Turkey. We’ll see if they need to divert us elsewhere. If we get diverted, I’m just putting it out there that I want to divert to Croatia and Venice. Ok, thanks.

We cruised to the room to check it out. Looks good! Very pleasantly surprised with the closet space, the shelves, the space between furniture. It feels much more spacious than our Holland America cruise. W00t!

Since our bags hadn’t yet been delivered, we busted out of there and went to explore. This is a much bigger ship than our last and there are all kinds of cool spots. We found our way to deck 16, the lido deck, so we decided to have some lunch. There is still a buffet, but you can no longer serve yourself. The crew is masked and gloved and they do all the serving. Works for me. Buffets are normally nasty so this is a big upgrade in my book.

We went to the pool deck for the sail away party at 3:30. But, we didn’t sail away and there was no party. There was a little rain and some wind. I’ve never yet been on a boat that left anywhere near the time they said. No exception here. It wasn’t until about 8 PM that the boat left. At that time, we’d just sat down for dinner and didn’t get to see our big launch. Dang it!

Our bags finally got delivered about the time we were starting to get nervous about it. We got everything put away and while doing so, our room attendant showed up with champagne. I accept! 

So, here we are lying low for a week at sea crossing the Atlantic. It’s different when you can’t get off the ship for a long time. We remember this from crossing the South Pacific. It’s kind of fun for the crew because they have longer times to do their things, right? LIke you have can a show or something last an hour because we have all the hours of the day to use and not just a couple hours at night around shore excursions. But, it is also draining for them because we never leave:) Food wise, you know nothing fresh is coming on this boat for 7 days. If you want sushi, you are eating it day one and then avoiding it like the plague the rest of the time. By the end of the week, we’ll be out of whatever the favorite wine by the glass is, we’ll be recycling dinner entrees into soups, etc. I don’t mind it. I like the creativity that comes with it. I will also like it when we hit Portugal on Sunday and we restock all the fresh stuff. 

Speaking of this kind of thing, we can’t get gas for a week either. Imagine how much gas this ship must hold to haul us all the way across the Atlantic non-stop for 7 days! Mercy!

We haven’t met any cruise friends yet, but it is early. We’re hoping to find our Rod and Louise (the couple we met and friended last time) soon. Today is the first art auction and first wine tasting and this is what we did the most of last time. Perhaps our people will be there. 

As of now, Jason is attempting to nap. He hasn’t slept much at all in our first 2 nights. I’m writing, listening to live piano music, and sipping a Bloody Mary. Not bad for whatever day this is! 

Last Moments on Land

 I’m writing today from somewhere in the Atlantic between the Bahamas and Bermuda. We’re on our second full day at sea - and we’ve got 5 more before we arrive in Portugal. The seas are behaving and the Dramamine is working! Praise the Lord!

We had a great time chilling out in Fort Lauderdale. We were a little bit worried about doing this because Florida has been such a consistent COVID hotspot and we had to test negative to get on the boat. Our brains kept running a script of- what if we test positive? What will we do? Can we get our money back? Ugh. 

We now have 2 groups of friends who own condos in the area and their places are just 11 miles apart! We spent most of the time with Karen and Steven. Their place is in Delray Beach and it was perfect. We had the first 3 nights there to ourselves as they were still in New Orleans. We went to have seafood at the beach 2 nights and dined in the other. It was very relaxing and much needed after, well, the last 2 years. 

Our other friends, Dana and Cecilia, have a place in HypoLuxo, just south of West Palm Beach. They came back into town mid week so we got to hang out with them and spent Wednesday night there. We would have stayed another night but they left for Italy on Thursday. Unfortunately, by the time we get to Italy, they won’t be there anymore.

Both sets of friends have 2 little dogs so we got to catch up with dog snuggles. We have known Tyler and Riley for years but it was fun meeting Elvis and Benji, Karen and Steven’s dogs. We sure miss Brix!!

One night, we went to dinner at this amazing Italian place called La Sirena. It’s Dana and Cece’s favorite. They’ve become friends with the owners and chefs, We laughed so hard. The place has such a huge wine list there are 2 books of wine to look through. Both Vogel (Dana’s winery) and Enriques (Cecilia’s winery) were in the book! So fun to see them succeeding. 

Back over in Delray for our last couple of days, we took a cool walk through a portion of Everglades and spotted 3 alligators and all kinds of other interesting and weird creatures! SO MANY BIRDS. Ack! Delray Beach has this great bar and restaurant area on Atlantic Ave so 2 nights we went and bounced around happy hours. Delicious, fun, and very cheap! Frankly, anything would be fun with Karen and Steven.

So, on sabbatical #1 we stayed with them at their amazing waterfront condo in Brisbane, Australia. Here on sabbatical #2, we stayed with them in their perfect condo in Fort Lauderdale. We put them on notice that they need a new condo in 4.5 years for us to visit on sabbatical #3. 

On our last day in town, we turned in the rental car and then took an Uber to the beach to check out a cool bar a friend of ours had recommended (he grew up in the area). If you are paying attention, you likely realize it is spring break time. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so old!! So many baby faced young people partying. In some ways, it was lovely to see people having fun again. In other ways, I varied between not wanting to be in the middle of it and hoping COVID didn’t kick up again. One alarming thing you need to know about is apparently the only swimsuits being sold these days to ladies are ones with thong bottoms. Man did we see way too many buns! Buns everywhere! I am so glad this was not a trend when I was young- I never would have even dared to wear such a thing,

We had to walk down the beach a bit to find a restaurant that wasn’t absolutely blaring loud music. (Did I mention I’m old?) I love music! But I hate shouting over it. Plus, it was like…11 am. I hadn’t even had breakfast yet. Bah! 

After that, we caught another Uber and proceeded to go directly to the wrong hotel. Lol. Never done that before! So, then we changed our trip and took the same Uber to the right hotel. This ended up taking another 30 minutes because OH MY GOSH I FORGOT TO TELL YOU HOW LONG THE DAMNED STOPLIGHTS ARE IN FLORIDA. Seriously. What is wrong with those people? I could literally feel myself losing periods of my life while sitting at red lights. 

Anyway, normally, we’d want to stay right on the water but spring break was down there breaking and we were happy to be a couple of miles away. We sat out at the pool for a bit before grabbing some glasses of wine and going up to the room. We ordered a great pizza from some Italian joint nearby and went to bed early.

Back on the Hope In Spades Ranch, life continues to be wild and unpredictable. Mark and Christiana are ranch sitting and, unless they are lying, they seem to really be enjoying it. This is quite a feat considering how much work there is to do on a regular basis. And, the pruning crew has been there for days working their magic on the top 24 rows. One morning Mark called and said the crew wanted to use the tractor. Jason said, “ I wouldn’t normally say yes to this but I don’t have the time to worry about it.” I’m so proud of him! They needed it to pull the very large wood chipper around to mulch up all the cuttings. Mark, a photographer, took drone photos every day and we were able to track the progress that way. Pretty clever! 

Something kind of fun- Mark and Christiana recently sold nearly everything they owned and moved onto a sailboat. This sounds like a dream but is a lot of work. They needed a break from Boat Work. We needed a break from Ranch Work. So, they are minding the ranch and we are on a boat! BAM! 

In a couple of weeks, my parents will fly out to California and take over ranch sitting duties. By then, Mark and Christiana will have the place all settled down and in good order for the hand-off.

Fort Lauderdale Lazy Days

 On Wednesday, March 2 we left the ranch! Sabbatical was starting to feel real. Night one, we just flew into Dallas and spent the night at the Hyatt DFW right in the airport. It was easy and not stressful, which was a good beginning. Not so good was something Jason ate really upset his stomach so he started the night sick.

The next morning, we cruised back into the airport early to go eat at the American Airlines lounge for free. This is definitely a nice perk of traveling- free food, free drinks, comfy chairs, sort of private bathrooms. All important. After, we hopped our flight to Fort Lauderdale. Happy for our free first class seats which came with free lunch and more free drinks. Bam! 

As with our last sabbatical, we’ve been saving up our miles, so all flights on this trip are “free” and first class.

On the ground in FLL, we grabbed our bags and our rental car and headed north about 30 minutes to find the condo in Delray Beach. Our friends Karen and Steven offered to let us stay for free! They are coming in later in the week but we’ll have the first 4 days to ourselves. 

There was some traffic which sucked but the good thing was we had a nice moment or two talking about how much we love living in Paso where we haven’t been in traffic the entire 2 years we’ve lived there.

Got to the condo just fine- super cute place with everything you need. We decided to skip groceries for the night and just head to the beach for drinks and food. Did some good people watching and car watching, too. Lots of very high end cars rolling down the A1A. 

Since that first night, we’ve been enjoying very lazy days- something we do not get on the ranch. There’s been swimming, walking, reading, tv watching, cooking, driving to the beach for seafood, napping, and fly killing. What’s up with the flies, FL? I appreciate the slowness of it all. I don’t want the time to go by too quickly. 

This morning, at Karen’s suggestion, we’re packing up a picnic lunch and heading to the Fort Lauderdale jazz festival. Should be a great couple of hours of music and sunshine. What’s not to love?

Then, we’ve got 6 nights to go before boat time!