Friday on ms Amsterdam July 3

We woke up early and excited. Zip lineing, hooray and OH MY!!!
I wore my fleece lined leggings and a book t shirt and a book sweatshirt, and carried a jacket, but it was an extremely warm day and the sweatshirt proved enough. We did not have breakfast, we had to get up at 6:30 and be on the dock at 7:20.
Our driver of the Grayline bus that picked us up was a nice girl named Kat. She chatted with us, and the two brothers from our ship, who were also going. She stopped at another cruise line and picked up about 12 people who were going on a rainforest hike. When we reached the base camp for zip lining she let us off and continued on her way. Then, we were driven in a big four wheeler called a Unimog to the place where we got all hooked into our gear. Our guides, Taylor and Jeff were great. Young men, they were funny and casual but obviously very professional. I was nervous and they made me feel safe, I could tell they knew what they were doing. We left all our stuff, jackets, purse, etc in a big box and watched a tiny safety film, which was pretty useless.

We put on red helmets and gloves that are big and silly and they guys began helping us into our harness. As we left the little building we walked out to a small platform and our first line.

Before we started and often after that, they guys tugged on our gear and checked all the attachments. Tylor explained and demonstrated a little, how to zip line and then it was our turn. The brothers went first and then me. Tylor was at the next platform and Jeff hooked my sling to the cable and told me I could go. I thought about it for a brief moment and then stepped off.

   
Wow, it was great. The gear completely holds you so you do not need to use any strength to zip line. As directed, I held my little handels, leaned way back and crossed my ankles. As I neared Tylor he called out to break. I lay one hand on the cable above me and that slowed me down. We had been warned not to grip it. Just as me feet were at the platform Tylor reached out and tugged me in. It was like flying, like going up on a swing when you’re a kid and feeling sure that you can touch the clouds.
Tylor and Jeff always seemed to know whose clip was whose and gave us turns to be first. After we had zipped a few times, we went on the longest one, almost 800 feet. I would have been happy if it had been twice that long!
On one of the platforms, Jeff, the comedian, shouted “oh no, wait” to one of the brothers just as he took off. Not being the victims of this prank we laughed at his horrified face. But he laughed also. I sternly warned Jeff that jokes were not to be played on me.
Next we walked across a suspension bridge. It was more like a narrow wooden curb than a bridge. We were hooked on but about halfway across we all stopped and enjoyed the scenery. We had such beautiful sunny weather, we saw several eagles but no bear. We chatted and joked on the bridge and then finished the walk. The last part was very up hill, I got to a place where there were no knots in the rope and I was almost stuck, I had nothing to keep from sliding back. Finally I got a good grip on the rope rail and pulled hard and got across. There was a second smaller bridge and though I was hooked on and holding the rail ropes, I still slid on the slightly down hill part, I shouted that I was ice skating!
Then we came to the last platform. I was sad, we had been having such a very good time. It was too soon, I wanted to zip all day!

There was photographers along the way and the last one took some group shots. Once we got out of all our gear we went into the little store for some salmon on crackers, cookies and coffee. Terry bought a water for us. I bought 4 photos, one of each of us, and one group shot and one from the suspension bridge. They were very pricey but had to have them.
We looked at the small blacksmiths shop and visited Sitka, a beautiful bald eagle who lives there. She was hit by a car when she was a year old and lost a back talon and injured her wing. She is not able to go back and has lived there a long time. She is huge, 13 pounds, and very majestic.

Our van arrived to take us back to town. We chatted about our adventure and the driver pointed out interesting sights. Back in town our plan was to wander around and see the sights. We only had about 2 hours until our ship was leaving. Suddenly we realized Terry did not have his messanger bag. We did a quick cabin check and then panicked a bit. A nice crossing guard (live signals) gave us the number for a cab and we were soon on our way back. The driver was a nice guy and chatted with us about fishing and his life in Alaska. When we got to the store, he waited while we jumped out, Terry ran to his last spot and I went in the store where they were just looking at the bag and trying to decide what to do. Whew! It was a $70 mistake, but that’s life. Back in town, our time was very short, so we walked a tiny bit and then used the rest of the time to take advantage of having some internet.

I had some lunch while Terry finished loading pictures to our laptop and ipads. I had chicken and mashed potatoes again, safe and easy, tastes best to me. They were having a beerfest on the pool deck and though I skipped the beer, I did take some of the bratwurst to Terry. Along with 2 very large pretzel breads. For dessert, Angie scooped strawberry and chocolate with nuts and chocolate syrup for me.
I was able to make 6:30 dinner reservations for tonight at the Pinacle Grill. Hopefully the food will be better, since it is $29 apiece but anything will beat ship food.
We went to the Pinacle Grill with high hopes. We were seated in a nice booth, and the hostess laid a jacket across on of our chairs to imply Terry had a jacket, pretty funny. We were served an appetizer that was escargot in a cream sauce, it was wonderful and we had a good feeling. I ordered a baked potato and a medium rare, bone in rib eye. Terry got the same and we also ordered grilled asparagus. For starters Terry had crabcakes and I had lobster bisque. The potato was good of course, and I though my steak was delicious. I did not care for the asparagus or the soup, but Terry found them to be ok. He though his steak was too fatty. I only wished I had smuggled in a baggy, because I must have left over half my steak and they wouldn’t wrap it to go. I had coffee and sherbet for dessert and Terry had fresh berries. The best part of dinner was how peaceful it was in the restaurant instead of the chaos of the Lido deck.

After dinner I went to the lounge to watch another singing/dancing show and Terry headed for the room. He had to take his key to the front desk because it stopped opening the door, but they fixed it. When the show was over I went back to the cabin and we spent the rest of the evening watching movies. It was very relaxing.
I filled out the breakfast order form and hopefully the food will be decent.
I have been doing most of my writing in the ships library, it is fairly peaceful here and the table / chair height ratio is perfect for me.
Tomorrow we will get to Victoria about 6pm. A long ride ahead of us.

Wednesday on the ms Amsterdam July 1

We woke up at 7 to see we had arrived at the dock in Junea during the night. We are both looking forward to todays adventure. Once dressed, we looked at breakfast but did not eat. I wore my plush lined leggings and sneakers, we both brought our warm coats and beanies. A row of busses were parked at the dock and many people walked around holding signs with the name of the tours. I bounced around excitedly while Terry stood to one side watching the action. There was also a row of booths with people selling a variety of tours.

We boarded our bus with 7 other people.

The ride to the heliport was about 20 minutes. Once there we watched a short safety film and the guides helped us get our glacier boots on.

We were divided into groups, mostly by weight (lol). Terry and I were with a man and his mom, she seemed very brave to me. The lady and I had to sit in the front, which I would not have chosen. I was tense as the helicopter took off, but I began to enjoy it. The feeling was more like an amusement park ride than anything else. The ride was about 12 minutes and then we landed on the glacier. Wow.

 

There were guides who stay on the glacier, they have a hut to keep warm in. We were greeted by Bre, our guide, and she walked us all around. Bre showed us pools of water and explained how those pools formed. For many, the rocks that happen to be on the glacier get warm in the sun and then melt their way down, making a pool of clear, very blue, glacier water.

Following a suggestion I decided to try the glacier water. I lay flat on my stomach and dipped my mouth down and took a drink. It was cold and fresh and tasted just like water. (I really am laying down!!!)

Bre pulled out some ice for us to hold and look at. We each bit off a piece, so much fun.

 

After about 30 minutes our helicopter came back for us. Of course I was an expert now and did not squeak or flinch once on the way back. It was a lot of money for a short experience but we are glad we did it. Glaciers are such a special part of our world, I wish everyone could see them in person. And I will say that the guides truly appreciate the glacier, it is more than just a job to them. They realize that the world has a changing climate and no one knows how long these things will last.

  

 

We returned to the ship to change and clean up and then we went on a stroll through Juneau.

  

 

 

And another new friend in our room!

Our Alaskan Cruise

Woke up way to early, but very excited. Our Uber drive picked us up at 6:30am and drove us to John Wayne Airport. Our flight left at 8am and then we changed planes in Sacramento. Southwest is a pleasure to fly. When we landed in Seattle, we got our luggage and then Uber drove us to our hotel, The Mediterranean Inn. Once we checked in and dropped off our luggage, we walked up the block to find some lunch. We ate at the Mecca Cafe. I had a burger and Terry had a club sandwich. The food was ok. Service was nice. Back at the hotel we relaxed in our room and then called Uber for a ride downtown. There was a HUGE gay pride celebration and we loved these cross walks.

When we were wandering around, admiring all the rainbow flags, banners and smiling people we came across Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop. How interesting, legal marijuana just sitting on shelves for all the world to see. You showed proof of age to a guard and then inside was a stand with menus on it. The different “strands” and a wide variety of edibles was really interesting. When we called for Uber our driver said he came to this location all the time, often with people who just got off a plane. Who knows, CA may be next?!?

Eventually we returned to our room and visited the roof top deck. It is very nice and Terry took some great pictures.

As you can see, the Space Needle is very close to our hotel. And we could see Mt. Rainier.

Hungry again we walked around and ended up at T.S. McHugh’s. This is an Irish Pub. They hand make pot pies, but $20 seemed too much for something that might not live up to its reputation. Terry had a seafood salad with excellent scallops. I had a Ruben. We both enjoyed our meals. My french fries were extra good.

We went back to the deck to take sunset pictures.

Now we are back in our room for the evening. Tomorrow we plan to take our time, boarding is not till 1pm or so. This trip is off to a good start.

Showers or Flowers

California is in an awful drought. I think many people don’t realize how bad it is because water is so essential and we have “always” had enough.
My husband and I already use very little water, but we let our lawns die and will be moving to a drought tolerant landscape soon. Just not watering the lawns cut our bill by 50%.
I love green lawns and flowers and trees very much. I also love taking a shower, washing my clothes and flushing the toilet. If we can’t have both, then I vote for showers, we can buy flowers from another state.
California is a desert and people need to accept that and make some changes. And being grouchy at farmers is silly because we eat what they grow.
Whether or not you want to believe in climate change, the weather in California is different and we need to do different things.
I will post pictures of my drought tolerant yard when the landscaping is done.
Get out there and get those rebates and change those lawns to something beautiful that uses less water. It can be done.

 

No snowpack, low water and the last one is Shasta Lake!

Live Theater

                                                 

I went to the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts to see a production of South Pacific. I was there with a few friends and we all enjoyed the show. South Pacific has great songs and in my opinion the male lead in that show is a hard role. The lead in this production was amazing. He had the strong operatic voice that the role calls for and was also handsome and a good actor. All of the cast did a great job.

There was a part in the play where the soldiers stood to sing the National Anthem. We in the audience quickly scrambled to our feet and sang along. I noticed that most of the (few) children in the audience did not sing, and I believe it is because thanks to common core, singing is not taught in the lower grades and today’s kids do not know the words to many American favorites including our National Anthem. That is a very sad thing and I hope parents will take action and demand that the schools reinstate singing.

I love live theater! It is so special. Rather than the scenery being realistic, the actors are real and that brings the stories to life in a way that gathers the audience to a shared experience.

                      

I have been attending live theater since I was a teenager. Two of my favorites from those days were the original production of “Tommy” and another show called “Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road”. My friend Marsha and I enjoyed both these shows so much that we scrambled for every penny to afford to go to each more than once.

As the years went by and I saw more theater I became even more enamored of this genre. “Into The Woods” is my all time favorite but “Wicked”, “Phantom”, “Joseph”, “The Adams Family”, “Young Frankenstein”, “Anything Goes” are all wonderful and that is barely scratching the surface. There are also many plays that are not musicals, and those are also great.

If you have never been to a play, give it a try, I think you will like it. And if you are a playgoer, take a friend who has never tried it. Theaters can’t stay in business without customers and live theater is an important part of civilization.

If you have never been to a play, give it a try, I think you will like it. And if you are a playgoer, take a friend who has never tried it. Theaters can’t stay in business without customers and live theater is an important part of civilization.

Swindled by an RV Dealer

My husband and I decided to trade in our RV and get something larger. We found the new coach we were looking for just a short distance from our home at McMahon RV. We did all the paperwork, traded in our RV, gave a $25000 down payment and began planning our first trip. The RV we had selected had some slight damage and we left it to be repaired. While waiting we got a notice from the new lender saying they were not going to lend to us because of some issue with the dealer. When we went to check this out we were told it was all a misunderstanding and not to worry. We still could not get our new coach because while repairing it they did much more damage.

Pretty soon it seemed like everyone was suing McMahon and they locked the place down. We asked for our old RV but they would not give it to us. We asked for our $25000 but were told there was no one available to authorize a check. We asked the Westminster police to help us get our old RV but they said they could not. We discovered that there were 5 McMahon dealerships and many other customers were in a similar situation.

We contacted our original lender (US Bank) for the RV we had traded in and were told it had not been paid off and we were still responsibility for the payments. We paid them every month for an RV we did not have. We called and wrote them asking for assistance. We heard sympathetic words, but they did not help. A lawyer wrote a letter on our behalf, to no avail. DMV began an investigation and pulled McMahon’s license to sell vehicles.

After 6 frustrating months, we told US Bank we felt we had to default on the loan because we did not have the vehicle. They offered sympathy but again no assistance. And then, because things were not bad enough, they proceeded to ruin our credit. My husband’s excellent credit dropped over 200 points. And then to keep things exciting, American Express lowered our credit card limit without telling us and we were embarrassingly denied in front of friends. Oddly, the fact that we had paid American Express off monthly on time for 3 years seemed to not matter. The fact that we had never defaulted on a loan in our lives seemed not to matter.

I have written both Experian and American Express hoping an explanation will help with all this credit mess, but I have no idea if they will care.

My DMV Investigator said that he is working on over 100 cases like ours against McMahon.

US Bank wrote us last week and said they had our RV in their possession and if we made up the missing payments and covered some fees we could have it back and continue to make payments. I called for more information, like WHERE did you find the RV and why didn’t you help find it before? These questions were not answered. They said that they could not tell me the location of the RV, it was in California or maybe in Wisconsin. We could not see it prior to getting it back and if we did take it back it would not repair our credit. We had not seen the RV in a year and had no idea what condition it might be in and they would / could not tell us. We said, “no thanks”.

And FYI, if you read every word on a vehicle contract, yes I mean those long yellow pages, you will discover as I did that there is not ONE word protecting the customer, it all protects the dealer.

We had written the Attorney General, but apparently hundreds of regular people being cheated by a big company is nothing she can be bothered with and we were referred to DMV.

I feel very bitter about this, mostly because as a customer who has obviously been cheated, lied to and had money stolen from, there seems to be no real support. Sure we can spend a bundle trying to get back our $25000 and money to pay off the RV, but the lawyer fees will probably be more than we can get. Small claims, which allows suing a person for up to $10,00 reduces that amount to $5000 if you are suing a company, so that is no help at all.

We are blessed to be able to easily live on in spite of all this, we have no real need for high credit and will be fine with dumping American Express if they won’t budge. All in all it is extremely frustrating to know we are right and innocent and to be unable to do much about it.

The Super Bowl

               

I admit I watch for the commercials. I tried to pay some attention to the game but I kept forgetting which team was which. I did however think that last interception was exciting. It was a pretty fast football game, I wish they were all that fast.

I liked some of the commercials, the Nationwide warning about childhood accidents was sad but I hope people will take heed. I enjoyed the Clydesdales and the puppy, as always.

I thought the other Budweiser commercial was too long and boring. I had already seen the rabbit and tortoise BMW on Ellen, didn’t think much of it either time. There was also a very long NFL commercial, I’m not sure why they bothered, seems as if the game is commercial enough.

The halftime show was ok, I like Katy Perry, the dancing sharks were fun. I did enjoy the robot tiger. I thought the National Anthem was well done, for a change.

There was a fight near the end of the game. I guess emotions were just running too high, but it shows a lack of class and reinforces stereotypes.

I suppose I’ll watch again next year, unless I can find something better to do.

 

NASA

 

 

 

 

 

After two glorious days visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter we decided to go to NASA on our last day. We drove about an hour to the Kennedy Space Center and took the tour. This was a great experience. I have to say I get very patriotic while I was there. I wish we still fully funded the space program, I would certainly rather my tax dollars go there than to fight wars.

We took the bus tour and saw the craft assembly building  It is the worlds tallest building by volume and has 8 acres of floor space. It was not open to tourists that day as it was being used by Space X. The tour bus drive had tons of information, unfortunately delivered in a monotone, but still interesting to me.

Do you see me peeking out of the rocket?

  The big building!      

 

Here is some of the info that caught my attention; there have been 135 shuttle missions, 12 men have landed on the moon and the shuttle platform weighs 9 million pounds. Because this area is the lightening capital of the nation they have a giant lightening rod and lightening towers. When there is a launch the noise is too loud and to muffle it they release 4 million gallons of water in 30 seconds. They use kevlar to protect console operators from flying debris during a launch, debris can travel as far as 3 1/2 miles! The touch down speed of the shuttle is 250 miles per hour and the runway is as wide as a football field is long. Wow, lots of big numbers!

We were surprised to learn that though NASA owns 250 miles of land, most is a wild life refuge. There are manatees, eagles, alligators, dear and other animals. The fences are topped with a curved part so the alligators do not climb over, apparently if the fence is straight up and down they are able to climb it. We also saw a hug eagle nest that is over 50 years old.

 

  

 

The bus ride covered miles and miles and there were two brief informational movies shown when the driver was not talking.

When the bus ride was over we explored the open buildings and the rocket garden. I got to touch a moon rock, I found that exciting.

One of the displays explains all about how the astronauts go to the bathroom in space, not my idea of fun! We ate lunch in the Rocket Garden Cafe, the food was ok, and though the birds were very aggressive, none of them dive bombed us.

There were lots of gift shops of course, I bought book marks and a official guide book. They also sold Big Bang Theory items which I thought was pretty funny. Many people bought stuffed shuttle toys for the kids.

Our ticket was also good for the Astronauts Hall of Fame, a few miles up the road, but we were ready to head back to the hotel. It was fun and educational. If I am in Orlando again, I think I will go back.

 

Hobbies

My husband and I do things together and we also have our own hobbies. He really likes scooters and has four. He is shopping for another as I type. I really like books and have several thousand. I can read more than one at a time and often do. He can only ride one at a time, but he gives them all a turn. I suppose it sounds like a lot to many people and maybe it is, but we worked for everything we have. I had my first job at 14 and Terry has worked all of his adult life. We both commuted to our jobs, did our best to put in a fair days work, and earned our pay. No lottery winnings, no gifts of money, no bequeaths from family, we worked. It’s a good way to get what you want.

Diagon Alley

Today Terry and I went to Universal Studios in Orlando Florida. We went to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. After walking from the parking lot and halfway through City Walk and a slow bag check we were finally in Universal. A question to a nice worker and we were on our way to my destination! Soon we were in London! We passed Kings Cross but did not board the train, after all, school doesn’t start till Sept. 11. We spotted the Knight Bus, dark purple and 3 stories tall. Then we saw #12 Grimald Place. While I knocked on the door, Kreacher looked down at me from an upper window. He did not let me in….. Then we went to Diagon Alley. We did not go through a pub, but simply went through a hallway, but OH MY, once y we were really in Diagon Alley! I stood stock still, awestruck to see my beloved book come to life. I wanted to run wildly around screaming look, look, look, but I restrained myself, though my face got sore from smiling so hard. As we walked along, our heads turning in all directions, we saw a stage. We paused and Celistina and her back up singers came out. She sang my love is a hot caldron and it was wonderful. We passed a small off shoot of Gringgotts that was a money exchange but the rate for wizard money was much to high, $35 US for 3 wizard coins, no thank you. Then we saw the real Gringotts with a huge dragon sitting on the roof. Terry stalked that dragon and took a great picture of him shooting fire from his roaring mouth. We went into Gringotts to take a cart down to a vault. As we strolled along we went through a lobby with several working Goblins. One head goblin directed us to an elevator that took us to the carts. Once off the elevator we were in an office. A goblin was about to direct us when BIll Weasley came in. He greeted us and argued with the goblin a little. We were about to go to the carts when Harry, Hermione and Ron flew in on a dragon, they shouted to Bill that they were sneaking in and then flew off. We continued to the carts, each one had 4 rows of seats that held 4 people. We were in the front seat. (back to reality, it’s a roller coaster and I don’t want to be in front!!!) We had safety goggles (3-d glasses) and off we went. It was fast but fine until Harry and pals came flying by shouting they had been discovered, Bill appeared and just as we were about to be engulfed in fire, he cast the spell and shot water on us. Then the ride became wild, monsters attacked us, walls caved in and the tracks gave way. When safety seemed close, Bellatrix and Valdemort appeared and began to shoot spells at us and threaten us. Of course we were saved by the heros, Harry, Ron and Hermione flew by on the dragon and blasted open a wall so we could escape. We were all applauding and cheering as we pulled into the station. WOW! Once we were back in Diagon Alley we saw it all. The Owlery, Eyelops, The Daily Prophet Office, Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkins and Olivanders. I did not buy a wand, Olivander was not there, why get one without him. We did see that many of the wands caused magic to happen here and there, but we still passed. ($35-$50). It was great inside Weasley’s Wizard Whizzes, I saw Puking Pastilles and all the other funny items the boys invented.I went to Florean Fortescues to get ice cream, YUM! I did not select the butterbeer flavor, but many others did. Terry spotted a narrow opening and it let to Knockturn Alley. We entered cautiously. many wand holders made spooky magic happen as they waved their wands at the various displays. We did go into Borgin and Burkes, it was filled with creep things including the Vanishing Cabinet that Harry hid in. They also had The a Hand Of Glory on display. We got out of there without any incidents. We finally found the Leaky Caldron, it was a large restaurant with long tables and benches, we did not go in. Butter beer was being sold in souvineer mugs, but I will wait to try it at Hogsmede. We walked through the entire alley two more times and then reluctantly (me anyway) left to check out Universal Studios. (info on this place is another blog). Tomorrow we will take the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts and Hogsmede, I can hardly wait.

SPECIAL INFO – when you go into the London phone booth, near the knight bus, and dial MAGIC  it will connect you with the Ministry of Magic.