12/4/11
We have now boarded the Mariner of the Seas for 2 weeks in the Caribbean, and we are hoping for some sun because it is drizzling in Galveston right now. Yesterday we flew to Houston and took the Supershuttle to Duane and Dorothy's house in west Houston. The original plan was that we would have dinner with them, stay at their place, and they would drive us to the ship today. When we arrived, Dorothy was there with her best friend Mary, and Duane was in the hospital! His lungs had filled up with fluid and he was having trouble breathing. They got him straightened out and he is back home this afternoon, but probably they can't travel for a while. The 4 of us had a wonderful visit and delicious dinner, which we were amazed at because Dorothy pulled it off despite the health crisis. Mary drove us to the ship today and we greatly appreciate that she did this, and that Dorothy arranged it for us. We have GREAT friends!
Yesterday when I was posting pictures from the Mediterranean cruise, I didn't finish before we had to get on the airplane, so hopefully, I can finish now.

Northern Israel (continued) The ruins at Capernaum:

The Monastery at Tabgha, built where Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, had wonderful old mosaic floors:

When the tour stopped for lunch at a restaurant near the shores of the Sea of Galilee, David, Diane, Elaine and I had a picnic. You can see by this picture that the water has receded quite a bit, because they have been over-using it, and also there has been a drought. The Sea of Galilee has fresh water in it, and the people of Israel depend on it.

Here is a picture of us dipping our hands into the Sea of Galilee to see how warm it was.

The last place we visited on the Sea of Galilee was this church built where Jesus preached about the Beatitudes. The grounds were beautiful and the church had many mosaics inside with all the words of the Beatitudes.

One of the ports, Kusadasi, was in Turkey, so David & Diane shopped for a carpet. Here is the carpet shop:

Lots of the streets in Kusdasi are clean, have decorative cobblestones, and cute shops. We wandered one block off the main shopping street and found this area where the "real" people live:

There is a nice harbor in Kusadasi and we were there on a sunny day:

One of the highlights of Athens was going to the changing of the guard at the Parliament building. On Sundays at 11AM the entire regiment takes part and it is quite colorful and they do interesting high-stepping:

Of course, most people visit the ruins when they are in Athens. Here is a shot of the amphitheater:

We were in Greece during the strikes and labor protests. On the walk through Piraeus to the metro to go to Athens, we encountered this effect of the labor strikes:

While we were on the ship, we received an award for having 280 cruise days with Royal Caribbean:

The island of Rhodes was our favorite. The old town is completely surrounded by walls, gates, towers and moats. Our ship docked right next to it.

One of the gates in Rhodes:

The narrow streets in Rhodes are lined with nice shops and often have trellis or flowering vines hanging down:

Our favorite handicraft item in Rhodes was utensils made of olive wood.

Some people devised innovate ways to market olive wood!

Most of the places we have been on this cruise have mosques with minarets. This one could be clearly seen from our ship and was within the city walls:

Chania, Crete has a delightful Venetian style port area. You can see it just behind us:

Greek people enjoy drinking ouzo, so we tried it while in Chania. It tastes like licorice and we liked it:

On the next cruise, the transatlantic, Ken & Carolyn Kimpton from Park Sierra joined us and we all went out for dinner at Portofino:

Palma de Mallorca has one of the largest cathedrals in Europe:

Funchal, Madiera has always been one of our favorite ports, partly because they have such decorative sidewalks:

An interesting looking fruit we found in the market was a combination of banana and pineapple. It was delicious!!

We explored Funchal with Carol & Byron, so Byron took this picture when we stopped at a streetside table for a local beer:

In La Palma, Canary Islands, we enjoyed the scenic small streets with colorful buildings:

Also in La Palma there is a life-sized replica of Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria. You can see our ship in the distance at the top of the picture:

On some of the sea days during the transatlantic crossing, they had special High Teas for Diamond+ members:

And we had a special gathering of all the cruise friends who are now "Newts": From left to right are June, Susan, Dorothy,Carol, Elaine, Diane, Marilyn, & Letty.

After the cruise we went home with David & Diane to Austin and enjoyed a wonderful BBQ dinner at a unique place in the country. They have a lovely home and here they are in their family room:

12/3/11 We are now sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to Houston so I will try to post some pictures from our Holy Land cruise and the transatlantic. If you want the information about these places, you will have to scroll through the previous posts.
One of the beautiful views from the Isle of Capri, near Naples, Italy:

One of the more unique and interesting places in Capri was this perfume factory and shop:

Elaine and the view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives:

Graves on the Mount of Olives, a prime (and expensive) place to be buried:

Olive trees in the Garden of Gesthemane:

Front of the church built in the Garden of Gesthemane:

Oscar Shindler's grave:

Street cart selling Jerusalem bagels:

Walls and one of the gates of the old city of Jerusalem:

Narrow streets in Old Jerusalem:

Inside of the church that was built over the rock and tomb where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion:

One of the mosaics in that church:

One of the little shops along the Via Dolorosa in Old Jerusalem:

Snacks for sale in the narrow street of Via Dolorosa:

Men playing board games near the shops in Old Jerusalem:

Jewish man in traditional garb in Jerusalem:

Women at the wailing (or Western) wall in the women only section:

Man in fancy fur hat, a form of traditional garb for wealthy Jews:

Sign when we went to Bethlehem, which is in Palestine:

Graffiti on the wall separating Palestine from Israel:

View of Haifa from the top of the Baha'i gardens:

Closeup of part of the immaculate Baha'i Gardens in Haifa:

Church of the Immaculate Conception built over the ancient town of Nazareth:

One of the mosaics of Mary and baby Jesus sent from Thailand:

Back view of the church:

Ruins of the town of Nazareth located under the church:

They grow and eat a lot of pomegranates here:

First view of the Sea of Galilee with the Golan Heights towering over it:

Baptismal site on the Jordan River:

They even grow bananas in Israel:

12/1/11 Opps, it is now Dec.1 and I haven't posted for almost a month because we have been just too busy. Once we returned from the transatlantic cruise, we had to retrieve our car at Darran & Marielle's in San Diego. The next day we drove to Park Sierra, where we had left our RV, and we started loading it up with everything we thought we might need to clean, repair, and paint the vacant rental house in Santa Clara. The next day we drove to the house and got started. We had hopes of parking on the street near the house but Santa Clara police told us in gruff terms that we could not "live" on the street. So we went to the Santa Clara Elks Lodge, which was only 3 miles from the house. It was a bit expensive, for an Elks Lodge, but it worked out quite fine.
Luckily, the former tenants had not left a bunch of junk and they had also done a partial job on cleanup, so we were able to start painting almost right away. Elaine's daughter Tarra, and her husband Alonzo, helped us with some of the cleaning and repair work, plus they got some of their contacts to come over and give us bids for work that we couldn't do, such as carpet repair, exterior painting, shed roof repair, etc. So, by Friday, Nov. 18 we felt like it was in decent enough shape to put an ad in Craig's List and start showing it. Within 30 minutes we had 3 calls and the first 2 people who came over applied to rent it. The next day we got 2 more applications. The first couple who applied qualified and they are now our new tenants. They have also been very helpful in getting some things finished even after we left the area. We continued painting and fixing and finished the interior on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Hooray!
Thanksgiving we had a delightful time and delicious meal at Tarra & Alonzo's house in Fremont. Their 3 girls were there too and it was a fun family time. The next day we went back to Park Sierra to get our rig ready to travel to the Southwest for at least part of the winter, and also to start packing for our 2 one week cruises to the Caribbean which start on Dec. 4.
We then headed south and one of the first things that happened was our tow bar snapped a spring on one side, so the arm wouldn't stay extended. That meant driving the car separately. At least no damage was done to the car or the RV when it collapsed in. We have contacted Blue Ox and apparently it will be a fairly easy and inexpensive fix once the part arrives.
So now we are preparing to leave our rig and car and fly to Houston on Saturday. Our cruise friends, Duane and Dorothy McCarthy, who were with us on the transatlantic cruise a few weeks ago will be our hosts overnight, and they will also drive us to Galveston to the ship on Sunday. This 2 week period in the Caribbean will be a welcome vacation after all the hard physical work we did on the house. When we return, Dec. 18, we will have to make some decisions as to where we will go next. We DO plan to attend Boomerville in Quartzsite between Jan. 14-30 and also go to the big fireworks festival called Winterblast in Lake Havasu City in Feb. Hope to see some of you in these 2 places! The pictures I promised to post from the Holy Land cruise and the transatlantic cruise will be posted tomorrow, hopefully! Thanks for your patience.

11/3/11 My Goodness – it is November already (!) and the days have been flying by while we are cruising on the Mariner of the Seas. Since we have started the long trek across the Atlantic now, we are having 6 sea days in a row before we arrive in Nassau. This is Elaine's favorite part of cruising because it means long, lazy days on the ship, where we have all our needs met by the labors of somebody else! For example, we just finished having a nice lunch in the dining room with our old cruise friends, Duane and Dorothy McCarthy and 6 of their old friends, whom we didn't know before. Now we have several hours of down time before meeting friends in the Diamond Plus lounge for drinks. Later this evening there will be a special party and ice skating show for returning Crown & Anchor members in the top tiers. Then we will attend a first-rate violin performance in the theater by a lady we have seen before on another cruise. Tough life, isn't it?
The ports we have visited since my last posting have been fun and interesting. Our time in Athens turned out to be fine because it was Sunday and they usually don't have strikes and riots on Sundays when no one is working. We did see riot police in Syntagma Square, but all was well. At 11AM on Sundays the changing of the guard at the Parliament building becomes a big event because there is a marching band, and the entire regiment in their really unique uniforms marches in too. Then they do some tricky routines with foot stomping, balancing on one leg, pivoting and rifle maneuvers, before two guys actually replace the 2 that have been on duty. I got some really good pictures, which I will post when we are back in the USA. Elaine says she has never seen so many men wearing skirts in public!
By the time we got to the Acropolis, we had been walking around a while and Elaine was tired because of her cold, and I had a headache. There were big crowds to get in so we decided to just walk the perimeter on our way to the train back to Piraeus and see what we could, and then do an extended visit to all the ruins on our next visit. It was a lovely, sunny day and just walking around was enjoyable. Getting into Athens from the port was easy and cheap using the Metro. Whenever we can explore on our own, we always get so much more out of the experience.
The day we had in Athens was right after we had been in Kusadasi, Turkey and we found out from the news on TV that they had a huge earthquake in the eastern part right after we had left. Our hearts go out to those poor people when we see all the crumpled buildings and hear the stories about the deaths, injuries, and the rare instances of rescues. Many of our friends e-mailed us to make sure we were OK, and we appreciated it that we were the recipients of such caring concern. Thanks to those who wrote.
The next port was Chania, Crete, and we had a short day there, but it was charming. Once again it was easy and inexpensive to get to town using the public bus which picked us up right at the ship. The local market was right where we got off the bus and we got to have samples of raki and ouzo, two of the Greek liquors we have heard a lot about. They taste like licorice. We walked through the old, narrow, cobblestone streets filled with shops and restaurants, down to the port area. It was constructed during the time when Venice was a major world player, and thus is like a Venician port. There is also a fort on one side and a lighthouse on the other side of the harbor entrance. When we returned to the bus stop, firefighters and police were gathering in droves in the square and it looked like some sort of demonstration was going to be taking place, so we got on the bus and returned to the ship. Later we learned that the ship sailed late due to the difficulty of getting all the passengers back on board once those demonstrations started and the bus route changed. Good thing the bus drivers didn't decide to join the work stoppage!
The first cruise ended on Oct. 26 when we returned to Civitavecchia. It was rainy and cold so we stayed on the ship for a very nice special lunch for back-to-back cruisers. Then we started running into all our old cruise friends who were coming on board for the transatlantic. It was great to see everyone again: Carol & Byron Hall, Len & Letty Reeser, Duane & Dorothy McCarthy, Ken & Carolyn Kimpton, Susan Matthews, and June & Ralph Shortill, all joined us. The first night in the Diamond Plus lounge was chaos, even though they had moved us to Ellington's, a much larger lounge than before. Things are somewhat better organized now, although there still isn't a lot of available seating because there are so many return cruisers for these long transatlantics.
Palma de Mallorca, Spain, is a lovely island off the east coast of Spain which we have visited once before. Royal Caribbean has sunk to using deceiving tactics such as putting in the daily Cruise Compass that shuttle buses are “required” here and in Funchal, Madiera, and they are charging $12 per person for them! We knew they weren't so we just walked out of the port and caught the public bus with David & Diane for 1.25 Euros each way. Had a lovely day poking around this scenic and historic city. The cathedral there is immense and easy to see from all the way across the harbor. Gaudi did some of the renovations near the altar about 100 years ago, so next time I want to go in and see it even though it costs 4.5 Euro to get in. We have trouble convincing ourselves that we should pay to get into churches....
The next day we were in Cartagena, Spain and again we lucked out and had lovely weather. This is a small and scenic town we have visited about 5 times so we mostly just walk around, shop a little, and did some computer stuff at the free WiFi at Burger King, near the port. It was interesting to see in the supermarket that they are now selling wine in 1 liter waxed cardboard cartons at very reduced prices, such as we had in 2001 when we were in Chile. It tastes great too. And, there were some small boxes too, like juice boxes, three in a pack, for about 1 Euro. Additionally, they have some wine in plastic 1 and 2 liter bottles, like Coke bottles. We didn't try any of that. One of the benefits of the cardboard boxes is that you can bring them on the ship in your daypack and they don't confiscate them because they don't know it is wine! We also passed a bride getting out of a limo in front of the church in a very gorgeous wedding dress, with the church all decorated and everyone looking so spiffy. Of course, she didn't look as pretty as Marielle, our new daughter-in-law who just married Darran in San Diego.
Our day in Funchal, Madiera was actually hot, but of course, these islands are off the coast of Africa, yet this one is Portugese. Lots of our friends went off to do the toboggan ride from Monte, the town near the top of the steep hills towering over Funchal. They have wooden sleds which they slide down the steep cobblestone streets with strong men wearing shoes with rubber tire soles who turn them, slow them down, and stop them when necessary. A ride costs 25 Euro for one or 30 for 2 people. I have yet to convince Elaine that we should try this, but Letty & Len loved it. We walked around and also went to the market with Byron & Carol. Letty wanted us to pick up some poncha for them; it is a local liquor made with rum, lemon or tangerine juice, and honey, so we tried it at a bodega. It was good but sweet, and we didn't get any for ourselves. The town is so scenic with streets and sidewalks inset with black and white stones in patterns, and lots of narrow pedestrian streets, which open onto small areas where there are tables and chairs outside for people to sit around and drink coffee, beer, or smoke and talk. We stopped at one in a quiet area and had a local beer called Coral. It was good, but not unusual.
The next day we were in La Palma, Canary Islands, and again the weather was warm and sunny. The Canaries belong to Spain. We were going to catch a bus around the island with Ken and Carolyn, and Diane Wilson, but it was a bank holiday so the bus schedule was erratic, and we might not have made it back to the ship on time. Instead we walked through the scenic little town to the other end where there was a replica of one of Christopher Columbus' ships, the Santa Maria. There was also a scenic viewpoint from a fort located fairly high above the town and the seafront. The town was loaded with beautifully restored old buildings with wooden balconies, most of which had wonderfully colored flowers artfully arranged all over them. I'm sure the town will seem very different if we go there again when most of the businesses are open. This time it seemed like a nice, quiet, sleepy, picturesque town with no stress and lots of beauty, with a very comfortable climate. The island itself has very high mountains that seem to rise very quickly from the seafront towns, so it is not heavily populated.
That was our last port until Nassau, and then one week from today this cruise ends in Galveston. The weather has still been sunny and warm on the ship but we have been experiencing big swells, and fairly often there are big booming noises at the front of the ship when it gets hit by rogue waves. We are hoping that the “motion in the ocean” doesn't get any worse because then people will start to become seasick. Also, the ice show and the production numbers in the theater, with lots of dancing, will have to be postponed.
Elaine is over her cold and we are able to work out in the gym every day and also attend some lectures and other activities. Probably I won't post to this blog again and until we are back in the USA and I can add some pictures. Thanks for cruising with us!

10/22/11


Our latest travel adventure has been fun so far. On Oct. 12 our friend Flo Palumbo drove us to the San Diego airport. We were there way too early, considering it was merely a “puddle jumper” flight to LAX, but they had told us to be there 3 hours early because our flights were international. At LAX we had no problems getting our British Air flight to Heathrow, which arrived at 10AM on the 13th. Then we had a short wait before the flight to Rome. Arriving at about 4PM, it took a while to get our one checked bag and get to the train. Had to take one train to Trastavere Station, which took about 30 minutes, and then catch a different train to Civitavecchia, which took 1 ¼ hours. So it was dark by the time we arrived. It was also a fairly warm evening. On the train we met Nobi and Brooke, a couple from San Francisco who were taking our cruise and also staying at the Villa Susanna with us. We all walked to the hotel, which was about 5 blocks away. It was a very clean, no-frills place where we were warmly welcomed by Luigi, given a map, and suggestions for dinner places. We four had a very welcome red wine and pizza at a local restaurant and got better acquainted. The shellfish spaghetti others were eating smelled and looked wonderful, but when we tried to order it, they were out, darn it. Maybe we can get some on our next day there – the 26th.
Villa Susanna was a nice quiet place, with everything we needed and at a good price, considering this is Europe. The next morning we had cold pizza for breakfast and hauled our luggage into the main part of town where we caught the free shuttle bus to the ship. It was like coming home to board the Mariner of the Seas, since this is the ship we took Around the Horn in 2009, a 46 day cruise, and in January of this year we took all our kids onboard for the last Mexican Riviera cruise the Mariner did before moving back to Florida. We had a happy reunion with David and Diane Wilson in the Windjammer buffet over lunch, and fell right back into the usual routine of having Happy Hour drinks in the Diamond Plus lounge. As usual, we have been seeing people we have met on other cruises.
Our first port day was in Naples, where Elaine and I have been before. That time we walked through the city to the train station and went to the ruins at Pompeii, the city which was covered during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD. This time we walked to the hydrofoil station and took a fast boat to the Isle of Capri. Thank goodness we weren't taking a regular boat because it was very windy and there were fairly high waves with whitecaps. Upon arriving on the island, we took the funicular to the town above the port area. There were tremendous views and the small town is full of boutique hotels and expensive stores. It was quite a charming place, and we enjoyed walking to the Gardens of Augustus. On the way we passed a place where there were old stills outside as part of the landscaping in front of a perfume factory and store. It is an industry that has been in effect here since the 1300's. The clifftop views from the gardens were incredible, as Capri has quite steep slopes. There is also a natural arch in a sea stack off another part of the coast, so we walked through another part of the town to see it. The fun of doing all these walks is to see the flowers, houses, streets, stores, restaurants, etc. on the way and see how the people here have lived for hundreds of years.
After 2 sea days, we arrived at Ashdod, Israel, which is the port nearest to Jerusalem. We had booked a tour through Guided Tours Israel so that we could explore in a smaller group than if we had done a shore excursion offered by Royal Caribbean. Our group had 16 and we were hauled around in a comfy Mercedes van by a very competent driver and an enthusiastic guide named Isaac. There was some trepidation about what might happen this day, because it was a holy day, and also the day when the big prisoner exchange was going to take place. Israel wanted one of their soldiers back, he had been kidnapped 5 years ago by the Palestinians, so in exchange, they released more than 1000 Palestinian prisoners, many of them terrorists. However, as we drove to Jerusalem, it became obvious that the holiday was working in our favor because traffic was lighter than usual. The streets are very narrow, hilly and winding and our driver was an expert at getting us to the sights.
Our first stop was at the Mount of Olives, where there are thousands of graves because the Jews believe that at the second coming, anyone buried there gets raised from the dead. A grave there today costs about a million dollars. Suddenly there was lots of gunfire, which our guide said signaled the successful prisoner exchange and everyone's joy that the Israeli soldier had been returned alive. We went to the very beautiful church towards the bottom of the hill with an ancient olive grove. Then we walked through the Zion Gate through the old city walls and into the heart of Jerusalem. Here we spent hours exploring the Jewish and Christian quarters, Church of Holy Sepulcher, the Via Dolorosa (the walk that Jesus did with the cross, so the stations of the cross are marked), tried a Jerusalem bagel, walked across some roofs for a good view back at the Dome of the Rock and Mount of Olives, and shuffled our way through the Shuk, or marketplace, full of small stalls and very much like the convoluted streets and bazaars called souks in Morocco, Turkey, and Syria. Then we went to the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall, which was VERY crowded, due to the holy day. Our guide gave each of us a small piece of paper, told us to write a wish on it, and then we were supposed to roll it up and put it into a crack in the wall. The papers are eventually collected and buried in a holy place. There is a men's section of the wall and a women's section. The wall is supposed to be holy because it was part of the original temple.
After a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane, we dropped off our guide and crossed into the Palestinian Territory to see Bethlehem and the church of the Nativity. Israeli citizens are not allowed in Palestine, so we had a different guide there. At the end of that, we were taken to a big shop which sold nice jewelry, and lots of religious items. Shopping is required for all tours in Palestine because their economy is so depressed. We didn't buy anything.
The next day we were in Haifa, which is in the north. It is a hilly city, like San Francisco. The world center for the Baha'i faith is there and the gardens and buildings which stretch all the way up to the highest street are the most incredible we have ever seen. The gentle Baha'i faith believes in the unity of all the major faiths, tolerance, peace and justice. The sounds like a great philosophy to us! From there we headed out of the city to see Nazareth and the Annunciation Church (largest in the Middle East), Capernaum, Tabgha, Sea of Galilee, a kibbutz, a baptismal site at the Jordan River, and the Mount of the Beatitudes. Going on this tour was the best way to see the countryside which is much greener than near Jerusalem, and where most agricultural pursuits are taking place. The Sea of Galilee was a lot bigger than we expected and towering over the eastern slope were the Golan Heights. We now have a better understanding of the topography and some of the difficulties the Israelis have been facing since 1948.
Yesterday we were in Rhodes, which is one of the most interesting walled cities we have ever been in. It is a Greek island, but only a few miles from Turkey. In its long history, it has been held by a wide variety of countries, (Italy, Turkey, Germany, Greece), and also the Knights of the Order of St. John, which have all contributed to its charm. So there is quite a variety of ruins, churches, mosques, minarets, etc. here, and wonderfully convoluted streets within the old city walls. Of course, shops, stalls, boutiques and restaurants have all taken over the best spots along the main walkways. There is a nice promenade along the waterfront, and we had a beautiful day to explore on our own, with David & Diane. We tried to follow a walking tour I had downloaded, but it was impossible so we just wandered around and got lost and it was delightful.
Today we were in Kusadasi, Turkey, which is about 10 miles from the ruins at Ephesus. We all had been there before, so we skipped the tours and wandered around the town on our own. It is mostly about shopping and the streets are clean and pedestrianized with nice shops and restaurants all over. We walked through the old part of the city where the buildings are distinctly dilapidated, the streets are dirtier, and clearly where the local people live. Most of the cities we have been walking around are infested with cats of every age and condition, probably because they can find food and shelter easier than dogs. One of the Turkish carpet sellers got us into his place and gave us a lesson about the different qualities, materials, and prices. David & Diane were interested in getting a carpet for their bedroom, so we looked in a couple of other places too. At the end of our excursion, they went back to the first guy to see if they could bargain for one that had caught their eye there.
Tomorrow we will dock in Piraeus, the port for Athens. There is some question as to whether we will be able to go into the city, because of all the strikes, protests, and outright rioting that have been taking place there, especially in Syntagma Square, one of the tourist areas. We would like to see the changing of the guard at the Parliament Building and also visit the Acropolis and the Plaka, since we have never been to Athens before. We are hoping that it will be calm tomorrow for our excursion.
Elaine has picked up a cold and is taking it easy this afternoon so that she will have some energy for tomorrow.
Internet minutes are costly on the ship and I haven't been taking my netbook off the ship to find WiFi places, so I have not included any pictures with this report. Once we have a chance to add pictures at a later date, I will share them with you.

10/11/11 It is sunny in San Diego as I am writing this in Darran & Marielle's apartment. We took the newlyweds to the airport yesterday morning and they are now in Puerto Rico, enjoying their honeymoon. I'm sure they needed some rest time after all the preparations for their wedding, which was so perfect and beautiful. The ceremony was at 5PM Saturday on the lawn of the Dana Hotel, overlooking Mission Bay. It was sunny and a comfy temperature. I didn't get very good pictures of the ceremony because we had to stay seated in the first row, but I will post a few of the ones we got before and after.
Here is a picture of the newlyweds with her parents, Ann & Bill Gomez, and Elaine and Mary (the Moms):

You can see how beautiful both Marielle and her dress were. Here is a picture of her with her sister, Meg, her matron of honor, holding onto her train:

Marielle's parents put up lots of bucks for this event and many of their family members and friends came from New York, which is where Marielle and Meg were raised. Here is a picture of Ann & Bill walking Marielle down the aisle:

Darran's best friend, Brian Lowe, and his wife Jen, have been such supportive friends for Marielle and Darran while they have lived here in San Diego. Brian has been the main force encouraging and helping Darran start his own construction company, which renovates commercial spaces. Brian was Darran's best man and Brian and Jen hosted a wonderful rehearsal dinner in their backyard on Friday night. It was a tropical BBQ, the food was delicious, and they had entertainers which did dances and music from many of the South Pacific islands. My pictures didn't turn out very good because it was dark, but here is a picture of Brian and Jen at the wedding:

When Darran was in junior high and high school in Roseville, his best friend was Kody Bush and he practically lived at the Bush house when he wasn't in ours. Both Kody and his brother Chase were groomsmen in the wedding and here we are with them:

Terri & Chuck Bush and their youngest son, Jesse, sat at our table at the wedding, which was a real treat for us after all these years of not seeing them:

Maybe you can tell from these pictures that the reception was held in a very beautifully decorated room at the Dana, with wonderful food, great service, and lots of dancing music. The party went on until nearly midnight. We all had ample opportunity to interact with people we hadn't seen for years, and also meet Marielle's family and friends from the East. Darran's Dad, Bob Clemo, hadn't seen his sister and her family for nearly 20 years. Here is a picture of him with his sister, Joyce, who came from Colorado:

For 4 days we were blessed by having all the rest of our kids, their partners, and families with us at the beach house we rented. Here are some pictures of them:
My daughter, Laura, with her fiancee, Dennis, and her girls, Michaela and Paige:

My son, Thomas, lives in San Francisco and drove down with my niece, Kathy, and her daughter Camille. His partner, Robert, couldn't attend due to a recent surgery, so here I am with Thomas:

Kathy is the only daughter of my sister Myrna, who passed away in 2005. Here she is with her daughter, Camille:

Elaine's daughter, Tarra, her husband, Alonzo, and their 3 girls, Ari, Alia, and Analy were such a big help at the condo, and also these girls enjoyed the beach so much, just watching them made us smile the whole time:

I'm sure there are other people I should mention or pictures I should include, but probably I have taken enough time already. Please forgive me if you are reading this and I left you out. Today we are rushing to get laundry done, pack, and do the last minute prep for our flight to Rome tomorrow. Luckily our RV friends, Flo Palumbo and Co Eisele are nearby in their RV and are going to join us for dinner tonight and then drive us to the airport tomorrow. Don't know when we will have a chance to post again, since we will be on a ship for 28 days starting on the 14th.
Watch this space for more travel tales and less family oriented reports....

10/4/11 This is our last night at Park Sierra, after a hectic couple of weeks of packing, socializing, and getting ready for our next batch of travels. Tomorrow we leave here, in our car, heading for San Diego. Elaine's son, Darran, will be getting married to the perfect woman for him, Marielle, on Saturday evening. Tomorrow afternoon and evening we will be staying with our long-time friends, Kathy Cleveland and Sally Wurts, at their condo in Poway, near San Diego. Thursday, we will drive to Pacific Beach, an area of San Diego where Darran lives, and where we have rented a large beach house located between Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean. After we get the keys and do a bit of shopping to stock it with a bit of food for the hungry family, we will be enjoying the solitude while waiting for the kids and grandkids to arrive. Elaine's daughter, Tarra, her husband Alonzo, and their three daughters, Ari, Alia & Analy will probably arrive first. Late in the evening, my daughter Laura, her fiancee Dennis, and her 2 daughters, Paige and Michaela, will arrive. Friday, my son Thomas, will arrive with my niece Kathy, and her daughter Camille. So there will be 14 of us staying at the beach house. Luckily, it is really 2 condos hooked together, with 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, and 2 patio/decks w/ BBQ's. The beach is 2 blocks away and Mission Bay is just a few blocks in the other direction. The Dana Hotel, where the wedding will be, is also just a few blocks away.
Friday evening we will all attend the rehearsal dinner, at the home of Brian (the best man) and his wife, Jen. Saturday is a beach day and then at 5PM, the wedding. Sunday will be another free day to enjoy the beach house, then everyone leaves on Monday. Elaine and I will stay in Darran & Marielle's apartment for 2 days while they are on their honeymoon in Puerto Rico. On Wednesday, the 12th, friends will drive us to the airport, so we can catch our flight to Rome. On the 14th we will board the Royal Caribbean ship, the Mariner of the Sea, for a 12 day cruise to Turkey, Greece, and Israel. Our good cruise friends David & Diane Wilson will be with us. Then we 4 will stay on the ship for the next cruise, which is a 16 day transatlantic from Rome to Galveston. On that cruise we will be joined by at least 6 other cruise friends. We will be back in Galveston on Nov. 11.
Wile we have been here at Park Sierra, we have been having some fun social times. Our friends Flo & Co brought their friends Pearl and Cheryl with them, and were also joined by another rig of women: Ann, Susan & Anne, all from Superstition Mountain Resort in Apache Junction. We had them all over for Happy Hour one night and then they all brought dinner another night. Here is a picture of Pearl, Cheryl & Anne.

At the other end of the tables, our Park Sierra friends Glenda & Elleen were enjoying their time with Ann, Susan & Flo

Saturday was Susan's birthday, so we all went to the Queen's Inn Wine and Beer Garden in Oakhurst, and followed it up with dinner at the Sweetwater Steakhouse.

Both the wine and the food were excellent, although the service left a lot to be desired.
There were lots of food events with Park Sierra people too. Here we are having dinner at the clubhouse with Vicki & Jan, Brenda & Dave Niel, and Wally & Verna Baker.

There were also several excellent dinners at Dave & Brenda Neil's place, our across the street neighbors, because they had friends visiting. Happily, we were included because Brenda is a fabulous cook! Here is a picture of Elaine, Brenda, Judy Tillery, and our other neighbor, Jeanne Taylor, on the Neil's patio:

Our other neighbor, Carol Rodely, was taking care of her grandchildren for a few days, so they made cupcakes to share. Her she is with Camille, offering us some:

One of the first days we were back, we attended a very nice wine tasting and dinner at Birdstone Winery, because we are members of their wine club. They had live music, prizes, and as always, wonderfully delicious wine to go with the nice appetizers and dinner. We sat at a table with 6 people we did not know, and had a delightful evening with them:

Yesterday we had a Happy Hour here at our lot to welcome back our neighbor Jeanne, and also say goodbye to our friends before we leave again. About 20 people were here and we enjoyed having them very much. The weather had turned cool, so we had a fire in our pit which was toasty warm. Quite a change from just a few days ago when the temps were in the 90's!!! Here are our friends Gloria Taylor, Ken Kimpton, Elaine, Roy Jensen, and Rich Baumann. Of course other friends were around, probably at the food tables!

Please check in again after this weekend because I hope to have lots of wedding pictures posted!