Posts Tagged With: travel

Our Galapagos Adventure, Part 2

Posted on December 2, 2025 by Doug and Jackie

Let’s continue with this fantastic adventure cruise to the Galapagos Islands.  As I mentioned earlier, the Galapagos Islands lie 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, isolated for centuries and only visited by whalers, pirates and eventually settlers who tried to cultivate a living on the islands.  The volcanic islands lacked dependable sources of water, with a few exceptions, and thus put a huge strain on the bird and animal life that arrived to the islands.  The need to adapt for survival resulted in species that are totally unique and were what we wanted to see on this trip.  We were not disappointed.

Our fourth day aboard was off the coast of Santa Cruz and North Seymour Islands.  Overnight we were rocked pretty good by large swells, caused by the deep water Humbolt current we were told, and this was the first time seeing lights of other boats and onshore activity.  Choices of excursion for the day were a morning beach walk with beach snorkel or simply the beach snorkel.  Up early to catch breakfast and get ready, we chose the beach walk, since it involved a brief visit to a brackish pond where other birds were expected.  An 8:30 wet landing meant wearing wet shoes and changing into dry socks and hiking shoes.  The beach was white sand, the color of the water was a beautiful blue and frothy white waves crashed over the black volcanic rocks and over the red crabs and brown sea lions scattered about.  It was very cool. The pond behind the dunes was quiet and we saw some ducks and a great look at a black-necked stilt.   

Back at the beach landing we changed into our snorkel gear to check out the sea life.  Turns out it was pretty stirred up and hard to see clearly, so we opted to slip off our fins and get out.  As we were doing so, someone pointed out “octopus in the water”.  Sure enough, there in the wave wash was a dark grey/purple octopus, maybe 12” across the spread tentacles.  We watched a bit before it disappeared deeper into the water.  How very exciting!

Back on board we went through the washing routine with our gear, showered and headed to lunch.  Today was a Spanish inspired lunch with lots of delicious choices.  We had a little chill time while the ship repositioned around the island, just off Baltra and North Seymour Island.  As the ship moved north we closely passed two protected islands: Daphne Major and Daphne Minor. These treeless islands experienced severe drought in the ’70’s and as a result their finch population had to adapt to eating much larger, harder seeds. It is very protected and is the site of finch studies. Moving along the cliffs we spotted some of the red-billed tropicbirds fishing.

Doug skipped the 3:00 snorkel but Jackie went out on this deep water snorkel that she said was a bit rough with some of the same fish and was back onboard by 4:15.  It was a quick turnaround for her, as we both took the 4:45 tender for a dry landing on the rocky coastline.  This was a big nesting area for the frigate birds and blue footed boobies.  There were lots and lots of frigate birds soaring around, some who would try to snatch fish from the nesting boobies, others hovering just above us.  

Of course I was clicking away with my camera and also filming with my gopro camera the whole time – carefully stepping over the many rounded rocks and around the sleeping sea lions.  I was filming a very curious juvenile frigate bird who was just a foot or so above Jackie when he shifted over to me and came in way way too close.  I backed away as his long hooked beak headed straight for me. What else could you do, their wingspan was nearly 4 feet across and I really didn’t want to swat at him – so as I was shouting “too close, too close” I toppled over some rocks and went down.  Everything was fine, I was just a bit humbled and embarrassed by this silly bird.  Yes, it’s on video.

Further along we encountered a cute group of three sea lion pups flopping about.  The group circled around them to take pictures and the pups kept creeping closer and closer to us.  Once again we were telling them “too close” but they didn’t listen of course and they curiously kept advancing.  It was really quite amusing watching as another couple of pups joined them and there was much barking and jostling and flopping around.  Very special and up close look at them.

Onboard for the drink of the day – the Yellow Warbler (well at least I got the drink, if not the photo just yet) – dinner and then choices for tomorrow’s excursions.  Jackie has been very careful on this trip with her dining choices, since she has an allergy to shellfish (crab, lobster, shrimp) that she wants to avoid.  The cruise line was advised in advance and our servers have always asked, but somehow something was overlooked.  She had a rough night and the next morning just wanted to stay in bed.  I shared that with the maitre’d and he ordered up a bowl of chicken soup for her and followed up all day with how she was feeling.

The morning activity was a trip ashore on San Cristobal Island to visit a nature center and then have time in town for shopping or wandering.  Lots of sea lions on shore and laying about on sidewalks and benches – you had to once again watch your step.  I watched several pups splashing around in the tide pools.  Town was pretty quaint, with lots of open air cafes and shopping nooks.  I snapped pictures, did just a little shopping and was back on board before lunch.  It was a rather busy port compared to every other spot we visited.  Only 3% of the islands are inhabited, but where they are it is pretty crowded.

Jackie was still not feeling too good, but I told her it was not a real important excursion day and to stay aboard and rest.  We had some chill time again onboard as the ship repositioned off Punta Pitt and we waited for our scheduled time to visit the island (visitation is strictly controlled).  At 4:00 I boarded the tender for a wet landing, then changed into dry socks and shoes for the long hike up and around the island.  This was a hike up a dry, tight creek bed, much like a small slot canyon, and it was a nice challenge.  You pretty much had to watch your footing the whole time, but as I stopped to get a picture of the blueish lichen on the rocks I noticed something odd on the rock ledge.  Oh, wow it was a small owl.  I pointed it out to our naturalist, who got very excited to see the Galapagos barn owl.  It was just roosting on the rock, not paying a bit of attention to all of us who were snapping lots of pictures.  Nice catch.

Further along the hike we reached some shrubs where blue footed booby chicks were sitting in nests – all white and fluffy.  There was also a new bird for us, the red footed booby, both adults and juveniles.  They were much more gray colored, but the feet were definitely red.  Along the cliffs we saw the third booby, the Nazca booby.  These were white with black wing patches and a yellow bill.  Several flocks were flying along the cliffs and you could catch a few nesting out on the rocks.  Very scenic area, with red and orange plants scattered on the rocks (probably a variety of sedum).  We turned back and found the barn owl still sitting on the ledge, ignoring us.  

Back onboard the ship Jackie was feeling better.  She said the captain and other staff checked on her all day and they figured there must have been some cross-contamination.  The chef prepared a special chicken plate for her and I tried their pumpkin soups and a flounder plate.  The drink of the day was the red footed booby.  After dinner we went up to the darkened 8th deck to look at the stars, even though we couldn’t find the Southern Cross or recognize any of the constellations (too many stars!).  

Saturday was our day to visit tortoises and to do some reforestation on Santa Cruz Island so after breakfast we departed at 8:00 for a dry landing at Puerto Ayora and a short bus ride to the Charles Darwin Research Station and a walk into the Fausto Llerena Giant Tortoise Breeding Center.  We saw our first adult saddleback tortoises here and pens with many other younger ones.  This breeding center is where they hatch and grow the tortoises until around 5 years old, then introduce them back to the islands where they are native.  Great spot for lots of information about how the tortoises were removed so heavily by whalers and pirates as a long-lasting source of food onboard their ships and the efforts now to repopulate them.

Walking back to our buses in town we had some time to shop for shirts, souvenirs and chocolate.  We made sure to get some that was tagged “Darwin’s favorite chocolate.”  Right.  Chocolate was top of his list.  Our next journey was up into the Highlands for a tree planting activity.  We hopped out of the van and found our sizes of rubber boots before hiking into the green, tropical Highlands to plant some Galapagos Scalesia trees to replace the cleared invasive species that had taken over.  This tree is important to the island because of the lichen that grows on its branches and traps moisture from the air.  Each of us had two saplings to plant, with tags that indicated our specific cruise and date, so if we choose to return in years to come, we might just be able to find our trees.  

Changing out of our boots and back into hiking shoes, we boarded the vans for another short drive down the mountain to the El Mansanillo Ranch and a tortoise preserve.  The Highlands were rather lush, filled with pastures of cattle, groves of fruit and greenhouses of vegetables.  It helped us understand that when our cruise chef said they locally sourced all of their food for the cruise, it was indeed possible from Santa Cruz island.

At the ranch we were greeted in a beautiful open-air pavilion for welcome drinks and a delicious buffet lunch.  One of the featured drinks was their own Boobies Beer, which was a nice blonde ale.  After fruit, salad, ceviche, fish and dessert – plus wine and shots of their distilled moonshine – we were treated to a local high school dance performance of traditional dances.  Very colorful and entertaining.  But of course the big event was stepping out to find the giant tortoises.  Not too hard to do, since we had been watching these large moving boulders since we arrived.  In fact they were on the dirt road leading to the ranch and our driver had to gingerly weave around them.  

In the lush green fields we walked among the domed tortoises as they munched on grass, moved about, watched us carefully … and it all just seemed so strange.  These animals were two and maybe three times our age.  They had the freedom to go wherever they wanted on the island, they weren’t penned in.  Wherever the food source took them is where they went.  These domed tortoises had shells that differed from the saddleback tortoises we saw earlier, the result of adaptation that was all part of Darwin’s observations and concluding theories of evolutionary change.  The food they ate (saddlebacks needed to reach the prickly pear fruit) determined how their necks grew and shells molded.  The grass did not require these tortoises to have the long necks and saddleback shells.  It was just amazing to see so many of these big creatures all over the fields and pastures.

We had a little more time in town before heading back to the ship.  This waterfront avenue was filled with pretty high-end shops and restaurants and was lots of fun to shop, even though we really didn’t have much extra room in the luggage for extra souvenirs.  Oh, and I finally got a clear shot of that elusive yellow warbler – on a windowsill no less!

Speaking of luggage, our briefing before dinner was all about how to pack up before midnight, followed by a photo review of our week’s cruise adventure.  Each of us received a jump drive with the powerpoint slide show to take back with us – and we toasted the entire crew with champagne.  Dinner that night was special – a group of 12 of us who had become pretty close on the excursions asked to be seated together for the last night.  It was a lot of fun, as we laughed and chatted about the adventures we all just experienced together.  The meal was delicious, with most choosing the beef Wellington, while I had grilled octopus (sure hope it wasn’t the one we spotted).  If I recall correctly, it was Ena and Al, Andy and Kristy, Carol and Kathy, Judy and Linda, Adam and Janice who joined us for that last meal (which seemed to have bottomless glasses of wine). 

Well we did get our bags all packed up and outside the door for pickup by midnight.  We were up early to leave the room by 7:30 and catch breakfast before hopping aboard the tenders one last time.  The captain and crew were all there to wave us off, no doubt anxious to prepare for the next arrivals.  It was a contented bunch who docked and rode the shuttle to the airport, just a bit sorry the adventure had come to an end but thrilled with the experience.  We claimed our bags, passed through immigration, got our boarding passes and waited in the VIP lounge where there was food and water.  Unfortunately, due to national elections the next day, all alcohol sales and service in the country were shut down for 36 hours.  Ah well, we had our fill the day before.  

The chartered 2 hour flight back to Quito was just fine, with another delicious lunch served.  One in Quito the group broke up in several ways.  Some folks were headed to Peru for adventure, a few were going to the cloud forest in Ecuador and others had flights home a day later.  We were part of the group that had an early flight back home the next morning, so we were escorted to a hotel near the airport: EB Hotel.  This is a very posh euro style hotel that welcomed us with drinks (juice) and had wonderful rooms.  Once again, the lobby was filled with large arrangements of long stemmed roses.  Gorgeous.  Dinner in their restaurant was included and once again I had grilled octopus with shrimp over fettucini, with coconut shrimp for appetizer and a chocolate mousse for dessert.  

Breakfast buffet the next morning, early, and off to the airport by 6:30.  Celebrity helped guide us through the self-check process for LATAM Airlines and we were set to board a 9:05 flight to Miami.  There was just a bit of time for last minute chocolate and coffee shopping before boarding and we had no problems with the flight.  We learned later that some of the group who had a red-eye back home had their flight cancelled and spent the night at a less-than-stellar hotel.  That’s too bad. 

We connected through Miami and on to Atlanta, although neither of us found the Miami portion to be enjoyable at all.  Completely full and not a very polite group of travelers.  Perhaps we had been so spoiled with the Celebrity crew and escorts and the wonderful cruisers who joined us that nothing would have matched that experience.  But we were soon back home chatting about the wonderful memories we had exploring the Galapagos Islands. 

I hope you enjoyed this recap of our experience and will consider this for your future “life list.”  We can both guarantee you won’t be disappointed.  And when I have a bit more time I will edit the video I took and post it on my YouTube channel.  Thanks for joining us on the adventure.

Categories: Cruising, Outdoor Adventures | Tags: , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Our Galapagos Adventure – Part One

Posted on November 23, 2025 by Doug and Jackie

Amazing, incredible and like something out of time, we just returned from our Galapagos Islands adventure full of great memories, tons of pictures and maybe just a bit exhausted.  It has taken me a few days to even begin to put this together for you and I am really not sure the best way to share the adventure, so I will just start at the beginning, probably breaking this into two blogs. If you can read it on a screen bigger than a phone, you will enjoy the pictures much more.

You will recall that both Jackie and I are wildlife biologists and that I was a naturalist and park ranger early in my career.  Jackie taught biology to middle schoolers and natural selection and evolution were critical elements of that teaching.  So a trip to where Darwin first observed and later wrote about the process of natural selection was somewhere between bucket list and trip of a lifetime for us.

Quito, Ecuador

The Galapagos Islands are located 600 miles west of the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Island.  To start our journey with Celebrity Cruises we first flew from Atlanta to Quito, Ecuador – in the foothills of the Andes mountains.  Nearly 10,000 feet elevation. Once off the plane and with our collected bags we were met by Celebrity hosts and driven to our grand hotel, the JW Marriott – a drive that was about an hour on some very crowded roads.  A nice welcome, with arrival drinks and warm hand towels, and we were soon in our room checking out our goodies.  We each had a medium sized backpack and metal water bottle, compliments of Celebrity, that would be used for the cruise excursions.  We had some health and declaration paperwork to complete for the flight to Baltra, but the next day would be an excursion around the city.

The included breakfast buffet was a gorgeous spread of fruits, cheeses, pastries, omelets – I made sure to try the dragon fruit, papaya, cherimoya, golden berries and other fruits.  Cruisers were divided into smaller groups of 10 – 12 with a guide and by 9am we were on our bus headed into Quito.  The city sprawls across hills and canyons and is divided by tunnels running through the hills.  We headed into the older Spanish Colonial section first, reaching a hilltop with a huge metal sculpture of the Virgin Mary slaying a dragon – with views of the city and surrounding volcanic mountains. One nice touch was an earpiece we each wore that was connected to our guide, so we could easily hear everything that was said as we walked about.

Deeper into the UNESCO section of the city we began a walk along the crowded streets, filled with sidewalk vendors of all sorts and stalls of fruits, vegetables, cooked meats, candies, crafts – just a wild scene.  Each tour group also had an extra security guard who kept an eye on any locals who might be too eager – but we had no problems.  Our first stop was one of the many Catholic churches – decorated in an amazing Baroque style (which meant every surface had to be decorated, mostly in gold leaf).  We also visited the St. Francis Monastery, just off the large central square that was filled with performers and more vendors, some who had beautiful woven scarves of Alpaca – eager to show you all the colors and designs.  Inside the monastery was a beautiful courtyard, but of course I had to check out the monk’s brewery, which was more museum than active brewery, but they did serve their beer in a tasting room.

We kept walking around the bustling streets, into the square with the Presidential Palace and then to another monastery for a delicious lunch buffet served in the courtyard.  Back on the bus and an hour’s drive later we were at a museum park that sat on the equator.  We were told that the traditional equatorial marker just a block away (and quite crowded and fancy) was originally set by French explorers but more accurate GPS put the location where we were standing.  There were several demonstrations of the odd behavior of the Equator, such as no drain swirl on the Equator, but clockwise or counter clockwise just three feet to either side.  Tried to balance an egg on end (couldn’t quite do it) and we of course had pictures straddling the line. 

The museum had some historic shelters and artifacts to explore and after being treated to a chocolate tasting I chased down a fancy hummingbird and yellow bird (not sure of the species) in the shrubs and then it was back on the bus and an hours drive to the hotel.  A lot of traffic, even with some hefty public transportation – bus stations in the median of the roads, trolleys and double and triple section buses.  A quick moment at the hotel to freshen up and we were off again for dinner out.  We had a really delicious meal – yellowfin tuna appetizer, most of our table had a big veal shank, I had beef hind (like a pot roast), followed by a dessert selection.  Back at the hotel we had to repack our bags and take them to the lobby, keeping only our backpacks.  A requirement for the flight to Galapagos was having all bags checked and certified so nothing biological is introduced to the islands.

A note about the altitude and preparation.  We took some prescribed medications to help with oxygen uptake and were sure to keep well hydrated.  The regimen of pills was started the day before arrival and the day we left.  It seemed to help, but you still found yourself taking a big deep breath every so often.

To the Islands

Another delicious breakfast buffet (mmm, good coffee), then boarding buses to the airport – still in our groups, which did make it easier to meet some of our fellow cruisers.  The flight to Baltra on the islands was 2 hours, arriving with beautiful weather.  Much fuss was made about having the entry QR code on your phone to pass immigration, but it worked out fine.  We identified our luggage, which was brought to the ship for us.  Another short shuttle to the dock where we boarded the zodiac rafts for the first time and made our approach to the ship (with a brief visit to our first blue footed booby sighting on the rocks and lots of frigate birds circling overhead).  We are in the tropics now!

The “Welcome Aboard” greeting was wonderful, with the captain and all key crew shaking hands and welcoming us aboard – warm hand towels, champagne and an escort to our suite.  There a bottle of champagne, cookies and chocolates awaited us as we were shown how to operate the lights, the infinite veranda and shown the stocked mini bar. We had a few minutes to explore the ship before lunch at 1:30.  There are only two floors of suites for the 100 guests, the dining room and lounge/bar deck, upper deck with grill, bar and hot tub and the marina deck where your wet gear is and where you board the zodiac tenders.  Oh and there is a very small pool – like hot tub size.   

There was a 3:30 muster drill and a 4:00 briefing about the options for the next day’s excursions and how to connect to Wi-Fi.  Information overload.  Doug chose a long walk and snorkel off the beach for the morning, Jackie the short walk and beach snorkel.  For the afternoon we chose the tender ride along the coast followed by deep water snorkeling.  By 5:00 we were being fitted for snorkel gear, fins and wetsuits.  Snorkel gear was placed in numbered mesh bags and hung on hooks that corresponded to our suite number, wetsuits on hangers also numbered to our suite.  That was a fun exercise slipping into wetsuits that might have been a bit small, exchanged and then zipped up for proper fit.  These were short sleeved, mid thigh wetsuits, although we also brought some dive skins (essentially long tights and long sleeve UV shirts).

But wait, there’s more on this first day scramble:  A presentation about the ship followed by a champagne welcome toast.  Dinner, finally, at 7:30 and then back to the suite to unpack and hit the sack.

Morning Excursion

Monday was our first day official of the cruise, begun with a delicious buffet breakfast and followed by our tender assignments.  Boarding the tenders was a routine that we had to master.  First you had to have just the right things in your backpack – water bottle, reef safe sunscreen, towel and change of socks and shoes, depending on wet or dry landing.  Then you grabbed your mesh bag if snorkeling, put on a life jacket, THEN your backpack over that, carrying the mesh bag to your tender and handing it off to the crew.  Grab the rail as the steps bob up and down and then step carefully down, taking your place along the canvas floatation.  Zoom, zoom and we were off to the shoreline.

This was on Santiago Island, at Puerto Egas and a wet landing.  That meant you wore water shoes to step off the ramp at the water’s edge of the beach.  It also meant that to hike you needed to quickly change into your dry hiking shoes, leaving your water shoes on the beach.  The hike was amazing.  Beautiful weather in the mid 70’s – we were greeted by a pair of Galapagos Hawks on shore.  And what else?  How about some of Darwin’s finches, Galapagos mockingbird, frigatebirds, pelicans, lava herons, Galapagos doves, and … large land iguanas and little lava lizards among the cactus and scrub, fur seals, sea lions, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs … wow.  Just right there, up close and personal, as if they were posing for you.  Lots of pictures taken, of course.  Other birdlife spotted included the elusive (to me anyway) yellow warbler, oystercatcher, yellow crowned night heron and lava gulls.  You can pretty much preface every bird or animal with “Galapagos” or “Lava” … maybe “Darwin.”

Back at the black sand beach our group caught up with Jackie’s group and we changed into our wetsuits and snorkels, struggling to put on the fins, naturally, and slipping into the cold water (57 degrees!)  But oh what a beautiful reef.  Fish all around: yellow-tailed surgeon fish, king angelfish, parrot fish, blue sea stars, chocolate chip starfish and something we later identified as a Galapagos sea cucumber. As we were having fun watching the fish we were suddenly joined by a very playful and curious sea lion.  I mean so close he practically bumped into you – but no, he skillfully swam around and under you.  How special and what fun.  I did get video.

Time to slip off the fins, pack up the mesh bag, don our lifejackets and backpacks and step into the tender for the short trip back onboard.  The arrival routine was to take off backpack, lifejacket, wet shoes and wetsuit and then plunge/rinse the shoes, wetsuit and mesh bag in designated buckets to rinse off sand, salt and bacteria.  Hang up wetsuit and bag on proper hooks, rinse yourself off under warm shower and hand in towel – oh and beep yourself back onboard with your seapass card.  One deck up you were greeted with spiked hot chocolate and some small sandwich bites or brownies – what a nice reception.  Time for drying off, changing, catching lunch and just a bit of time before the next excursion.

Afternoon Excursion

By 3:30 the ship had arrived at Rabida Island and we were set for the afternoon activity.  We chose the wildlife tender ride with beach snorkel, so it was the whole wet landing routine again.  Dive skins, wetsuits, wet shoes, mesh bag, lifejacket, backpack, beep your card and off in the tender.  

The rocky shoreline was filled with wildlife:  a rare albino pelican, the infamous blue footed boobies (stop snickering), herons, swallowtail gulls, Nazca boobies and plenty of sea lions, fur seals and pups.  We landed at a red sand beach this time and saw flamingos on a small pond behind the beach. Our snorkel was with some of the same fish and another playful sea lion who kept swimming circles around and under us, sometimes leaping out of the water just for fun.  We were the last tender back to the ship and had to quickly shower and change before the wine and cheese gathering at 6:30.  This was also where we learned about and signed up for the excursion choices for tomorrow and got to mingle with the captain and crew (the captain was always out and about with us).

We were invited to join new friends Ena, Al, Andy and Kristy for dinner on the top deck under the stars.  Delicious meal and yes, you could see so many stars at this black sky location with little onboard light interference.  We had a final nightcap and off to bed.

Is It Only Our Second Day?

Overnight the ship moved to Isabela Island and after another delicious breakfast it was time for our first excursion: wildlife tender ride in Elizabeth Bay at 9:30.  From the deck while watching earlier tenders head out we saw whales later identified as minke whales, with sea lions swimming with them.  This was an amazing morning, as our tender moved quietly into a lagoon of mangrove trees and we started spotting EVERYTHING at once.  Look on the left, there is a green sea turtle, oh and another.  There are two sleeping on the bottom … oh, there go three spotted eagle rays and under them is a stingray.  On the mangrove branches were sea lions resting and arguing and a few others swimming around.  On your right is a group of golden cownose rays swimming past … oh look, a Galapagos penguin is zipping around, popping up and then circling back around.  There were flightless cormorants nesting in the branches and on the lava fields.  Our tender got so close we were just feet from the nest – pictures galore. What a morning!  

Back to the ship for lunch we went and while having drinks, guacamole and chips on the top deck we spotted more minke whales and sea lions in the distance.  While the ship repositioned to Tagus Cove we had time to talk with the onboard naturalists about what we have been seeing and identified a few of the fish.  I also figured out how the six zodiac tenders followed us:  they get stowed onboard after each stop.  Cables lift them up and inside the ship, stacked three high on each side.  When we reach our next stop, the ship opens up and the tenders are lowered out to the water and back to the stern, where the marina platform also lowers to the water.  Quite ingenious.  A kayak excursion was an option for this afternoon, so the kayaks were lowered along with the zodiac.  We opted not to do the kayaks, since photography would be difficult.

Afternoon Snorkel

At 3:00 we were off to do a deep water snorkel, meaning we slipped off the zodiac and couldn’t touch bottom.  This was along a rocky cliff wall in pretty rough water with current, so once in the cold water it took a moment to calm your breathing and relax.  Jackie was first in and I tried to catch up to her, but I have to admit it was a tough go – and after 20 minutes or so I was winded and got back onboard the tender.  That was ok, since from our tender we followed a group of 6 – 8 penguins swimming along the wall.  Jackie swam with 6 sea turtles, and was pestered by a pair of cormorants that got way too close. “Six feet, six feet” she kept telling them, the distance from wildlife encounters, but they seemed not to listen.  Back onboard it was the wetsuit routine, changing into dry clothes and we were back on the tenders by 4:45 for a short hike and tender ride.  The hike was up a lot of stairs to see Darwin’s Pond, a brackish inland pond.  Back to the tender and cruising along the rocky cliff we saw lots of marine iguanas, cormorants and penguins before back to the ship and the cocktail of the day: blue-footed booby.

We had our evening briefing about crossing the equator (which we will do twice this evening), choosing our activities for tomorrow and then dinner at 7:30 (the usual time).  Always a delicious meal, I opted for tuna ceviche then squid ink risotto with shrimp, squid and octopus.  Jackie had grouper, since we had sea bass the day before).  

Day 3

Wednesday we woke up with the ship anchored between Santiago and Bartolome Islands. After a quick breakfast of fruit, eggs and pastries we boarded our tender by 8:00 and were off for a dry landing at Sullivan Bay and a hike on the lava field. I remembered my geology from middle school and recognized the rough chunky  Aa (ah ah) lava and ropey pudding-like Pahoehoe lava that we walked across.  This was a huge lava flow that was a bit tricky walking over, but like a river of black mud frozen into rock.  There was some beautiful Galapagos cactus and the shoreline was crawling with Sally Lightfoot crabs.  These very colorful crabs have been all over each of the shorelines, moving fast and jumping between rocks sometimes.  

We headed back to the tender, onto the ship and Jackie got ready for another deep water snorkel at 10:00 along another stretch of the lava cliffs.  She saw lots of fish on this drift snorkel and several small reef sharks.  Once back on board we had lunch and finally some free time to relax on the top deck with more guacamole and chips, with vodka tonics.  Jackie mentioned that my hanger for the wetsuit was empty and we searched the spot for it, no luck.  The crew said it was probably grabbed by mistake and they sent two new ones for me to try (the 2X fit). With that problem solved we were ready for the afternoon excursions to Bartolome Island.  

We split up this time.  At 4:00 Doug did a wet landing and to the beach for a walk followed by snorkeling, Jackie went out at 4:30 for a shoreline tender ride.  On this snorkel around the unusual Pinnacle Rock I saw a reef shark, several starfish, including a chocolate chip starfish, lots of parrot fish and plenty of others.  Along the shoreline Jackie saw penguins and sea turtles breeding.  Back onboard the drink of the day was the Pink Flamingo before we had our excursion briefing for tomorrow followed by dinner at 7:30.  Tonight was a crab cake and a salad with grilled sea bass on top – and of course a delicious dessert.  We opted to skip the evening’s Karaoke night, grabbed a White Russian and were early to bed.

I think this is a good stopping point for Part One of this marvelous adventure.  Let me sort through my 1,000+ photos and gather my notes to complete Part Two in a couple of days.  Suffice it to say there are a few more stories and adventures ahead – you won’t want to miss them.

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Yes, Our Adventures Continue …

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Doug and Jackie

Oh my, it is now fall and I haven’t updated our adventure blog since our trip to Jekyll Island, the Okefenokee Swamp and Panama City Beach.  That was a wonderful adventure.  We haven’t had any other big camping trips, just keeping busy locally.  Moving to a new house has been a big step for us and is keeping us quite busy – some improvements and discovering what will grow on our acre.  Figs were a big surprise, keeping Doug busy with making preserves, tarts and breads.  We planted two crops of delicious corn, were overrun with yellow squash and were surprised with so many blooming flowers and shrubs.  And Doug has been crafting lots of new glass sculptures, bird baths and solar fountains, now that he has a new dedicated studio space over the garage.  Several new videos have been posted to his YouTube channel – check them out! 

We have also been exploring the “neighborhood” by visiting some fun wineries in the Georgia Mountains with friends and family – part of our Brew Crew. We still have a few great breweries nearby that feature some delicious craft beers and food trucks. We went kart racing at Atlanta Motorsports Park with family and had a blast! Jason is head chef there and is building out several great eateries for guests. A Taste of Woodstock local food festival was lots of fun and we volunteered to pour at Acworth’s mimosa festival (that featured a monster thunderstorm that drenched us just as our shift began!).

We did have a camping week at our nearby Lake Allatoona, which was great.  Our grandsons joined us overnight and we had fun with the kayak and paddleboards.  It might just have been our last camping adventure in the motorhome, as we have decided it is time to clean it up and put it up for sale.  It is rather sad, since we have had such amazing, exciting adventures in it over the past 10 years.  It took us to all of the national parks we could reach (excepting the Pacific coast), many fantastic state parks and so many wild and crazy adventures.  That may not end, just not in this particular motorhome.

You might wonder why this post, given that we really haven’t been camping at the beach, in the mountains, or someplace off the grid in the West.  Well, we have our next adventure coming up and I wanted to alert you to what may be posted on the blog by Thanksgiving.  To celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary this year, we decided to visit a place that holds a lot of meaning for wildlife biologists like us: visiting the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador.  This is a special place that instructed Charles Darwin on his theory of evolution.  Our trip will start with a day in Quito, Ecuador before flying to the coast and boarding our ship, the Celebrity Flora – limited to 100 guests and reached by a zodiac raft.  

Each of our seven days onboard will include morning and afternoon hikes, snorkels, exploration and discovery, moving between several islands.  We are so excited and maybe just a little nervous about this exploration cruise.  It should truly be a trip of a lifetime and I hope to have enough stories and pictures to share when we get back.  I will take a notebook instead of the computer, so it may take a while to compose the blog … and to sort through what should be awesome pictures and video.

So stay tuned for the big post-cruise posting while you are sipping your pumpkin spice latte and bundling up in the chilly fall weather.  Hope to share more soon.  And thanks for being a faithful reader.  Why not check out some of my glass sculpture videos?

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Driftwood, Gators and Flip-flops

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Doug and Jackie

As I sit in the morning sun at the campsite, composing my thoughts, I realize we are already the first weekend in May and out on our first adventure of 2025.  It has been a while since posting anything about our crazy retired life – so how is it we find ourselves camping amid thousands of rumbling bikes during the Thunder Beach motorcycle rally in Panama City Beach?  Well, let me share just how wild this year has started for us and why this is our first “breather.”

For the past several years we have been looking to downsize our home and move just a bit closer to our grandsons – while also having a little more outside space and room for our various activities and interests.  Late in 2024 we found the perfect spot and scrambled to make it happen, while still keeping up with our travel plans (the cruise on Wonder of the Seas in particular).  There were also a few modifications we wanted to make at the new house, including a better studio for Doug’s glass art and YouTube video space, in addition to moving our things, and getting the old house ready for sale.  It has taken much longer than expected and we really aren’t completely done yet.  But here we are at the beach trying to relax.

It has been a great trip so far.  The start to this adventure was our granddaughter’s wedding at the beach, for which my sister Linda and husband Norman flew out to be a part of.  They got to see our new digs, we hit up a couple of breweries “just because” and quickly got the motorhome prepped and ready for the first adventure of the year.  Into the motorhome went food and drink, clothes, essentials, a few boxes of stuff for the wedding and rehearsal dinner, the pets (Binx the cat and Kodi the dog), ebikes, the Jeep and off we went.  The wedding was to be on Jekyll Island, Georgia and we had a site booked at the island’s campground.  The trip was long (8 hours), since we opted to leave the interstate and take 4-lane backroads half of the trip.  But we don’t push the speed while driving the motorhome, so that was just fine.    

Once on the island things moved along on a pretty tight schedule, the rehearsal and dinner were perfect events to let everyone mix and get to know various relatives and friends.  But the highlight was the wedding the next afternoon – a perfect weather day on an amazing beachfront.  The tide was out, the groomsmen and bridesmaids standing with bleached white logs and trees behind them and the barefoot bride was soon making her way down the sandy “aisle.”  The framing and location on the aptly named Driftwood Beach was perfect and this rare spot truly let us all get swept away in the moment.  

We finished out the weekend biking around the island, visiting the historic area where the millionaire’s Jekyll Island Club hosted the country’s industrialists at the turn of the century.  Once everyone departed for home and we collected up a few boxes of the decor we had one more day before we set off for part 2 of the trip: the Okefenokee Swamp.  It wasn’t very far inland before we were at Laura Walker State Park on the edge of the swamp.  Perfect spot on a lake, with gorgeous weather once again as we decompressed just a bit from the weekend’s excitement.  Linda and Norm drove to visit friends in St. Augustine and we would all be reconnecting in two days for part 3 of the trip.

We had a boat tour of the swamp booked the next day with Okefenokee Adventures in the National Wildlife Refuge and made sure we got there early – it was about 45 miles away in Folkson.  A couple of school groups were arriving at the marina as we discreetly inquired if they would be joining us.  “Oh no, they have their own tour planned,” was the correct answer for us.  Former teachers can be so picky about spending vacation time with middle schoolers!

Our boat had only 8 of us, so it was a good group.  The blackwater canals dug to drain the swamp in the 1890’s, unsuccessfully, were lined with cypress draped in Spanish moss, their knees poking out of the dark water.  Other things poking out of the water moved closer to the boat to check us out or maybe just to meander along the shoreline – these alligators ranged from 6 to nearly 12 feet long, by my estimation.  They definitely were curious about the intruders and kept us in sight, sometimes submerging until all you saw were eyes and nostrils on the water’s surface.

We turned off the canal into a more natural prairie setting filled with water lillies, pitcher plants, iris and orchids in bloom.  It was really a magical journey.  We saw a nest of red-shouldered hawks with the juveniles standing at the edge, another hawk on a crag hunting for critters and a few turtles on the floating peat islands.  On a drive around the area we stopped to take pictures of more pitcher plants and orchids before stopping to visit a thoughtfully restored homestead in the swamp.

The next day it was time for part 3 of this adventure – a long drive across south Georgia and the Florida panhandle to our favorite beach spot: St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach.  Linda and Norm beat us there by one day, staying at a rental just a block from camp and steps from the beach.  They had already checked out two of our favorite watering holes, Patches Pub and Schooner’s, and texted that there were a bunch of motorcycles at Patches.  Uh oh, we managed to hit here during the Thunder Beach cycle rally – again.  That’s ok, we decided to all go back to Schooner’s for dinner and the sunset cannon blast and actually had no problem getting a table beachside.

At the beach it was windy, but the water was its usual perfectly clear blue-green color, with the white sand beach stretching along to the rock jetty.  Norm and I were maybe waist deep in the surf, watching dolphins beyond the waves and Norm had his eyes on an osprey to catch him in a dive for fish.  Suddenly I was startled by a big splash next to us as two dolphin zipped past us, missing by maybe 6 feet.  Norm turned at my yelp to see them and when he looked back up for the osprey it already had a mullet in its talons.  “Darn, I missed it.  I missed the catch,” he said.  Yeah but we almost got nailed by dolphin!  The dolphin spotting was worth it.  They continued to fluke and splash around, maybe only a wave away from us.  Very cool.

Next day we watched for more dolphins and were treated to seeing several devil rays swim by, a bull shark (identified by someone skimming along on an aqua foil), more osprey, lots of terns, a pair of skimmers and of course the return of the dolphins.  Great day at the beach topped off with dinner at Sharky’s on the beach.  Of course I had to have the grouper sandwich and we made sure to bring our souvenir cups along so we paid the refill price for drinks.  OMG we sound like old people.  The drive along the beach to and from the restaurant was a big show of bikes in every sort of color, style and sound.  Lots of fun.

Unfortunately, the big day for the rally was Saturday and it rained pretty hard on and off into the night.  Norm and Linda flew out and back to California late in the afternoon and we stayed dry in the motorhome, reading, making a quick trip to Walmart and planning the next few days here at the beach.

On our last visit to this state park in the fall we noted the improvements being made – repaving the main roads and a parallel bike lane.  Well they still haven’t finished, particularly the entrance area of the park, and the road to the beach access is now a one way loop.  Can’t complain about the new paving, but it makes it just a bit further around to get from campground to beach by car or jeep.  Not a problem for bikes and golf carts, though.  But it is still a great spot to stay, if you can wrangle a reservation.

Well our last days were gorgeous and the water was clean, clear and nearly wave-free.  The beach has been renourished, so it is a long, long walk to the water, but our beach cart makes it pretty easy to haul the chairs, umbrellas, towels and cooler.  What a great end to this three-stop camping adventure.  Oh, and on our morning bike ride we were treated to a bald eagle surveying his territory.  Naturally I did not have my long lens on the camera, so I hustled back to the campsite, switched out and got back in time to snap a few shots.  Still not as crisp as I would like, though.

Our journey back home runs about 6 – 7 hours, with a time change back to eastern from central time zone, losing another hour.  That usually puts us in Atlanta rush hour traffic, so we break it up with one more night near Columbus or Eufaula.  This time we stayed in FDR State Park at a nice spot beside the lake … with an overnight rainstorm.  Ah well.  Out early and back home in 2 hours we are now unpacking and planning the next outing.  I think it will be a week at the lake near us this summer, with the grandsons staying over for a night or two.

Thanks for joining us on the journey and stay tuned for more adventures.  Be sure to visit Doug’s glass artist pages on YouTube for some summer garden decor ideas or learn how to bake your own sourdough!  Adventures with Doug & Jackie – YouTube  Until the next adventure!

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It’s a WONDERful Cruise Life

Posted on December 9, 2024 by Doug and Jackie

Cruising again into the Caribbean!  Wow, I know it seems like we just got back from a Caribbean cruise – and we did.  In September it was aboard the brand new Utopia of the Seas with our grandsons and this first week of December is aboard the Wonder of the Seas, just the two of us.  We accumulated enough points on the Royal Caribbean credit card to get this cruise “free” (well, of course we had to buy the drink package and a few special dinners).  What an amazing adventure!  Let me give you some highlights:

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we were on the road with Santa’s sleigh to Orlando to stay the night before boarding on Sunday.  Normally a fairly easy trip, but this one took a few extra hours due to a few wrecks and slow-downs.  But we were soon checked in, having a flight of beer and dinner at Rock & Brews and talking about plans.  Parking, security and boarding were easy and quick and by 10:30am we were looking for that first “welcome aboard” drink.  Awesome!  Our room was Deck 9 all the way forward, with a nice big window out the bow.  It gave us a bit of extra space, too, but you had to watch your head.

On the pool deck I zipped down the Perfect Storm waterslide, the one that ends in a big funnel.  And since it was pretty quiet up top I had to try the FlowRider while the line was short – in fact there was no line!  My first attempt was a little wobbly, but the next time up I was able to quickly get up on my knees on the board.  Getting off can be tricky, however.  Love it!

Our first stop the next day was at Perfect Day Coco Cay.  We opted to purchase a day at Hideaway Bay, the new adults-only beach and pool on the island since we did not have youngsters with us this trip.  What a nice spot!  A huge heated infinity edge pool overlooks the private beach area and several bars and eateries surround you.  A huge swim-up bar made it easy to quench your thirst and we munched on various slices of pizza and apple empanadas.  It was sunny and warm, but there was quite a breeze.  It made it feel just a bit chilly on the beach, so after a dip in the salt water we stayed mostly in the pool.  A tram back to the ship made it easier on the return.  Overall, great day.

One of my goals was to search out all the various Old Fashioned drinks at the bars.  It made for very tasty evenings of toasted marshmallow, apple pie, peanut butter and jelly and basic Old Fashioned with several types of bourbon.  Now that is my kind of scavenger hunt.

I tried craps in the casino each night, but it was really not much action at all.  Most of the few players were new to the game and it wasn’t until the last night that we had a reasonably full table and some action.  Too bad, I enjoy the game.

On our port calls to Cozumel and Costa Maya we stayed aboard to enjoy the pools and hot tubs, lounge chairs and solarium with lots less crowd.  Surprisingly, there were lots of infants and toddlers on this cruise.  A fair number of elementary aged children and a very international crowd.  You just never know, but as former teachers we are always on the lookout.

The ship was decked out for Christmas and the large tree on the promenade deck was a favorite spot for picture taking.  We had such fun people watching from either the Schooner Bar or the Pub as couples and families paraded by or tried to stop others from walking through the selfies.  Formal wear competed with crazy Christmas sweaters, light-up necklaces and matching family outfits that would look crazy in any other setting.  We were in the spirit too, as Jackie had crocheted a gorgeous tree for our door decoration and I pulled out one of my Christmas ties.

And of course the food was always something to think about.  We got a bit goofed up with our main dining room reservations, as is usual for us somehow.  A change in policy with Royal puts reservations with My Time dining starting at 6:45, and we wanted to eat earlier to get to the entertainment.  We did manage to eat on the special nights (lobster and prime rib nights) but also reserved the Hooked seafood specialty restaurant and 150 Central Park restaurant for some delicious meals.  Well worth the added cost.  I have a sampling of food photos (who doesn’t?) to show you the good eats.  Oh, and Jackie got her beet salad, with plenty of beets arranged artistically.

Our last night was pretty special.  We went to Giovanni’s Wine Bar for a wine flight and charcuterie platter and pretty much filled up.  Our waiter was great, telling us about each wine and giving us a full pour of each, which was included in the drink package!  He also slipped us a dessert plate of petit fours.

The entertainment was fabulous, although the volume was chest thumping loud.  Aqua show featured all the expected elements of high dives, aerialist, slack line and water dancing – high energy and splashing for sure.  The ice show was just wonderful, with lots of jumps, spins, costumes and dancing.  And the two theater shows included a song and dance show with every sort of stage movement and wire harness possible and later the Effectors, a superhero story with all sorts of special effects, including lots of little drones and one big drone that circled above the crowd, with the bad guy aboard!

Our only excursion was at the port of Coxen Hole on the island of Roatan, off the coast of Honduras.  We were driven to the other side of the island to do a three reef snorkel with lunch following at the beachside spot.  Christopher, of Christopher Tours did a great job of navigating the crowded, muddy streets of Coxen Hole and hosting us for lunch at his adventure spot. 

How did it go? Well, the first snorkel was a shallow sandy reef filled with large colorful starfish.  The water was warm and felt wonderful.  We moved further along the shoreline to do a float above the coral reef, filled with lots of coral, fish and fans.  It got a bit shallow at times and we had to flatten ourselves to make it up and over some of the coral.  It was getting pretty windy and choppy, with a pretty good water current, so I felt pretty winded by the end of this long snorkel.  Plus, I think that holding the gopro camera hampers my swimming a bit.

The third spot was a swim around the wreck of an old tanker just at the reef edge.  I started out, but was still pretty winded from the previous swim and opted to head back to the boat.  Even with my light swim vest, it was a challenge to work against the current and wind chop.  We were also warned about the fire coral and shallow areas to glide over, so I think it was the smart move.  Jackie said the fish weren’t much more plentiful and it was a bit rough, too.

Back at the dock we had a choice of chicken or snapper, so I opted for the local fish.  Served whole and fried, so I picked my way through a surprisingly good lunch.  Local cerveza, too.  Altogether a nice excursion, even though the town of Coxen Hole is a challenge (extremely poor and crowded).

Back aboard ship we just took it easy.  I tried to find all of the special art – this time it was astronauts not monkeys (on Utopia).  We found nice loungers on the pool deck, spent some time in the adults only solarium, listened to all the live music we could and sampled food and drink everywhere.  Funny story about our favorite bar, the Mason Jar.  They featured some of the best Old Fashioneds – Apple Pie came with a little apple pie, Peanut Butter and Jelly came with two little PB&J sandwiches – and they had a nice country music trio playing at night.  We were warned by the bartenders that these were Romanian country singers, but you know what?  They sang the tunes with the right southern twang and it was only when they chatted between songs that you couldn’t follow their Romanian accent.  Rather strange.  It was all good, until they started in with John Denver and we were sure they had no idea where West Virginia was . . .  

So, that is how we spent the week after Thanksgiving.  We planned this cruise back in May, not knowing we would also be moving in December.  Yes, just weeks before the cruise we found a house we love on an acre of land just minutes from our grandsons.  It is only the next county over, but it will be a big change for us: single floor living with some elbow room and a nice big workshop for Doug’s many craft adventures.  So the end of the year adventure is to de-clutter, pack up and move before New Year’s.  Are we crazy?  I think maybe.

Until next time (and it may be a while before I am back online), enjoy the holidays and happy adventuring!

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Beach Camping Between Hurricanes

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Doug and Jackie

We were lucky when so many others were not.  You see, we booked a week’s stay at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, Florida during the “iffy” hurricane month of October.  We managed to book this back in the spring, something that is nearly impossible to do, and were looking forward to our annual beach vacation at our favorite spot.  Even though we just returned from a wonderful family cruise in the Caribbean, without any tropical storms, there were storms developing – the first was Hurricane Helene.  Here at home we had only rain (7”) so packing the motorhome and getting the Jeep ready was no more difficult than usual.

Off we went, with Binx (cat) and Kodi (dog), towing the Jeep and ready for beach fun.  We usually break up the 7 hour trip by stopping halfway at Lakepoint Resort State Park in Eufaula, Alabama, but we were making such good time that Jackie got on the phone to look for options closer to PCB.  As she was searching the Florida state parks it occurred to both of us that we were traveling just 2 days after St. Andrews reopened from the hurricane closure and maybe there would be availability.  Well, in fact our reserved site was empty and we were told to “come on down” before 5 and check in.  So we kind of got a bonus day, arriving by 4 and setting up camp.  

And of course the first day was gorgeous.  Calm waters, a slight breeze, even yellow flags for swimming.  You never know what to expect at the beach here, but recent renourishment has left a wide beach on the Gulf side and on the lagoon side along the inlet.  Nice.  And the water, though brackish and tea colored, was the perfect temperature.  So what did we do?  Enjoyed our time at the beach and beach bars of course.  Here are highlights, with lots of pictures. 

  • Bobbed and floated in the flat, calm Gulf of Mexico
  • Tried snorkeling, but it was just a bit too murky along the jetty
  • Grilled some delicious meals
  • Ate fried grouper and hush puppies at Schooners
  • Stayed for the awesome sunset and cannon burst (ok, it’s a small cannon) 
  • Took our “refill” mugs to dinner at Sharky’s and had frozen daiquiris with our meal of Mahi tuna tacos
  • Avoided a few jellyfish on the first few days
  • Wondered where all the dragonflies were coming from, they were everywhere
  • Rode our ebikes around the park several times

  • Saw a bald eagle twice
  • Swatted away small biting flies at the beach
  • Watched the dolphins feed just beyond the waves
  • Saw lots of mullet and other small fish
  • Watched osprey and pelicans circling and diving for fish
  • Caught several more beautiful sunsets
  • Noticed the upgrades to the roadways in the park
  • Went shopping at Pier Park on one cloudy day
  • Found a new winery and stopped for a glass
  • Sunsets, sunsets, sunsets

As our final day approached, we watched the weather reports for the growing storm in the Gulf.  As you know it quickly developed into category 3, then 5 Hurricane Milton.  Reports of evacuees driving north out of central Florida, gas availability and traffic jams had us a bit concerned, but we were north and west of the path so we stayed to the end of our reservation.  That put us leaving just two days ahead of landfall.  But our trip north was no problem – light traffic, easy gas fill-up. 

Again, we wanted to break up the trip home so we booked a night at Roosevelt State Park near Callaway Gardens north of Columbus, Georgia.  Great pull-through spot in a quiet wooded park that was quite nice.  Next morning we finished the trip with a 2 hour drive home, that only got nasty when we hit the interstate around Atlanta.  A couple of wrecks had things backed up, so we dodged around them on back roads.

So we now find ourselves unpacking, cleaning the motorhome, doing laundry, grocery shopping and all the usual stuff when you come back from vacation.  We are also quite thankful that Hurricane Milton missed us and did not cause damage for any of our extended family in Florida and South Carolina.

What’s next?  Mostly some home time with family and friends.  Just after Thanksgiving we have yet another cruise set aboard the third largest ship in the world: Wonder of the Seas.  Sounds crazy, but this one is a points redemption cruise from our Royal Caribbean credit card – and it is just the two of us.  We feel extremely fortunate to be able to enjoy this active, retired lifestyle – it makes the years of hard work worth it.

And I would sure appreciate it if you checked out the many videos posted online of my “Adventures in Glass” series.  I’m deep into this hobby of garden sculptures, fountains and birdbaths and filming the process.  View, subscribe and enjoy: youtube.com/@adventureswithDougandJackie  

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A Utopian Family Cruise

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Doug and Jackie

Yes, we are aboard the brand new, second-largest-in-the-world ship: Utopia of the Seas for a fun family cruise. This is an amazing adventure onboard with my sister Linda, her husband Norm and my daughter Karina, son-in-law Jason and our two wonderful grandsons.  This 4-night cruise fit perfectly during their fall break and was easy enough for us to reach in Port Canaveral.  And of course the unofficial cruise director (me) had the typed agenda all set – after all, this was a big ship with much to see and do – we wouldn’t want to miss anything.  ((I have a YouTube video of the highlights)

For us, the best way to cruise from Port Canaveral is to get to Orlando the day before, stay the night in a hotel near the airport and then make the 45 minute drive directly to the ship in the morning.  Linda and Norm flew in from California, arrived late evening due to delays enroute, but we managed to gather and plan for the morning’s departure.  Everyone had breakfast and was ready on time in the morning for the drive to the ship – I am proud of my cruisers!  

If you have ever cruised, you know the anticipation and delight as you approach the pier, the huge ship looming over the parking decks and embarkation building, as big as a skyscraper.  Security and check-in have become much smoother with the help of digital passes, but it is always a hustle and flow of people, bags, kids, walkers and wheelchairs.  But this was definitely the smoothest and quickest check-in ever.  You make your way past the photographers and up the ramps and suddenly the crew is welcoming you aboard and into the ship!  Wow, how exhilarating, how fun, what energy, how LOUD!  Ok then, let’s get the party started and make our way to the food and fun.  Ready?  Let’s go!  

We split up, Linda and I headed to the dining room to be sure we had a table for 8 set for the 5:00pm seating and the rest heading to their muster station for the safety briefing.  That finished, we exited up the elevator to a quieter location to find food and drink.  This was the first time aboard a Royal Caribbean ship for Jason, Karina and the boys, so they went off exploring.  I was headed to the Windjammer buffet in search of what I heard was a seafood spread featuring lobster tails.  I wasn’t disappointed.  Lobster, clams, mussels, shrimp – oh my!  And in the buffet.  That is definitely a first for me.

By 1:00 we were able to check in to our rooms, where our bags and room cards were waiting.  We each had balcony rooms, some overlooking the Boardwalk deck, some overlooking Central Park.  Exploring the ship, checking out the bars, pools and such was the next adventure – and learning that the sail away party involved more LOUD music and party vibes.  It was definitely an upbeat atmosphere onboard.

So what did we do for our 4 days?  Was it enough time?  We packed in everything we could and more, and it was just right for a week off.  Here are highlights:

I already mentioned the seafood surprise on day 1.  Dinner was just as delicious.  We made our way to the early seating, main dining deck 3 and after a bit of a “let me check” moment to find our reservation, we were escorted to the center of the room, under the huge chandelier, to a round table with high backed chairs – the premier spot of the dining room!  How special.  The boys were perfect each night, ordering their selections of fruit cup, fries, chicken fingers, toasted cheese or spaghetti (I kind of forget exactly), and of course ice cream.  Our servers Christopher and Tamera were excellent and attentive.  And we waved the napkins in salute to the kitchen staff.

The first night’s entertainment was in the main theater for “All In!” a song and dance performance that was great fun. Good that we had reservations to get good seats and we were even treated to lighted drones flying about.

Nassau Port Day:  We stayed onboard to enjoy the pool, flow rider, rock climbing and more, since a lot of folks had left the ship.  Wyatt and I made a run down the waterslide and he and Owen got plenty wet in the pool and Splashaway Bay. Norm found some comfy couches and chairs in the shade by the pool and Lime & Coconut bar and we kind of claimed the spot each day.  A mid-afternoon shower sort of chased the crowd away, but we hung in there, since the bar was right there (don’t want to waste that drink package).  The show at night was in the Aqua theater in the stern of the ship: Aqua80Too.  Amazing feats of diving, splashing, swimming, aerial acts, and slack line.

Sea Day: (and I might have my days a bit mixed up, it was THAT much fun). Doug and Wyatt did the boogie board on the flow rider just before lightning struck and a storm rolled in.  The boys played mini-golf, ate ice cream, searched for five chrome monkeys onboard, ate ice cream, watched the superheroes parade and ate ice cream.  Jackie, Linda, the boys and I tried the dry slide Ultimate Abyss and survived. The highlight of the day was a power failure aboard that shut down all power for a few hours. The worst part was that the AC wouldn’t turn back on for a bit and things got pretty warm. The show at night was a tribute band that was a bit “off” for the lead singer. 

Perfect Day CoCo Cay:  We were in port with Harmony of the Seas and were a bit worried about a crush of people, but it really was not a problem.  We found lounge chairs, splashed in the water of Harbor Beach on Chill Island, bobbed in the Oasis Lagoon pool and had delicious food (and ice cream) at the Chill Grill.  Rumblings of thunder had us exit the water for about a half hour, but no rain and we were back in quickly.  The show this night was in the ice arena where we had front row seats for “YouTopia.”  Very cool skating and dancing that was very high energy.

There is a quick story for this night:  Owen and Wyatt had a big day in Coco Cay, so their family decided to eat in the Windjammer while the rest of us did the dining room.  We met up later and they raved about the seafood selection and other good food in the buffet.  Hmm, well since Jackie, Linda and Norm were watching the comedy show I thought I would wander up and see if it was true.  Oh yeah, there were piles of stone crab legs, mussels, shrimp, clams – so I just had to grab some and find a spot by the window overlooking the boardwalk.  “We see you” texted Karina.  What?  I looked around me, none of my peeps were there.  “Outside” texted.  What?  “On our balcony” she texted and sure enough, across from me and down a few balconies were my grandsons waving to me.  They spotted me having my second dinner (and you would think you could go unnoticed on this ship of 6,000 plus!).

What else did I discover?  I tried to find all the bars, especially those that were new for me.  I had a toasted marshmallow old-fashioned in the Schooner Bar, PB&J old-fashioned in the Mason Jar, Peanut Butter Pina Colada in the Pesky Parrot Bar … well, you get the idea.  Our main dining room meals were delicious.  Prime rib, Caribbean pork chop, lamb shank, beef bourgeon, onion soup, coconut shrimp, crusted salmon, escargot, calamari, crab cake … all top notch, great service.  I got my 2 for $30 t-shirts (used to be $20!)  Jackie and I spent some time in the solarium pool and we all got the hang of the new elevator system.  You tap your destination on the pad and it tells you what elevator to take.  No other buttons.  We found the traveling piano player, I spent two nights in the casino playing craps (pretty much broke even), we tried the plunge pool hot tubs, the boys rode the carousel a few times and we all walked around plenty.

The pictures tell the story, and suffice it to say a wonderful time was had by all of us.  We started early, stayed up as late as we could and started it all over again the next day.  Until the final morning’s departure after breakfast, goodbye hugs and the drive home.  Jackie and I made a detour to drive Linda and Norm to see family in South Carolina, so we spent the weekend with them before driving ourselves home.

So what’s next for your favorite adventurers?   In a week we head to Panama City Beach with the motorhome, but a hurricane is headed there before our visit, so not sure of the outcome.  

I am also in the midst of making lots of glass garden sculptures, fountains and birdbaths and filming the process.  I have them posted on my growing (can you believe it?) YouTube channel.  I would appreciate it if you view, subscribe and enjoy:  youtube.com/@adventureswithdougandjackie But we had a large pine tree come crashing down on my hanging pieces and it pretty much smashed about 30 pieces.  So there will need to be some repairs made.

Stay tuned.

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Red River Gorge and Rain

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Doug and Jackie

As we left the campground of Hocking Hills State Park and made our way along the narrow serpentine roads out of the hills it was West Virginia in our sights, one more state to add to our “places camped” map.  We mostly followed along the Ohio River on the West Virginia side, which was a pretty torn up two lane due to a lot of trucking activity, railroad crossings and a patchwork of road repairs.  What fun in a large motorhome!  But as we got closer to the destination, Beech Fork State Park, the roads got narrower, winding once again, and then a complete stop for the trailers, cars and trucks ahead of us.  What was up?

It happened that a fairly large mobile home was being moved/towed out of the area and they might have managed to get stuck in the shoulder or something.  It was a half hour of sitting, watching the engine temperature to be sure it didn’t spike while at idle, asking folks who were walking to check it out, and then we began to move.  Yep, there it was, taking up most of the road, with traffic slipping past, half on/half off the roadway.  It was a tight grip on the wheel, slow as she goes, hope we don’t scrape kind of move that put us finally past the “house” and maybe a mile up the road to camp.  Ok, enough excitement.

Campground was pretty large, sitting alongside a quiet lake and less than half full.  We unhooked the Jeep, backed into the site and got ready to relax for two nights.  No big hikes here, no caves, just a quiet spot by the water.  Well, some drizzle overnight with a chance of more rain the next day.  We’ve been lucky to only have some brief overnight showers and otherwise gorgeous sunny weather daytime, so we couldn’t complain.  But this big thunderstorm rolled in just after lunch and pounded the RV.  Booming claps of thunder and just a lot of water came down as we smugly congratulated ourselves for not being in a tent.

It cleared off by dinner and we sat out to watch some good birds around us.  Yellow warblers sang “sweet sweet, I’m so sweet” and flitted in the nearby trees and then we spotted a larger yellow and black bird.  Hmm, wait, there is the male … a bright orange and black Baltimore Oriole.  Nice.  The female kept coming back to pull strips off the old milkweed stems, no doubt getting nesting material.  And while watching a couple of mallards walk around the shoreline, we noticed another pair that were in fact wood ducks.  Tried to get some good pictures as they swam off and we remarked that this evening on the lake was pretty cool indeed.

As we got ready to hit the sack, Jackie said her pillow felt wet.  Wait, the bedspread was wet, too.  Very wet, as were the layers below: the blanket, the sheets, the mattress topper, foam egg crate and the memory foam mattress below!  What?  It seems that the rain must have puddled on top of the slideout and made its way inside (were we not fully extended?).  That meant we were draping sheets and blankets around the motorhome to try to dry out.  We pulled out the couch and slept with just two small afghans – but it was surprisingly comfortable.  

In the morning there was a slight breeze and plenty of sunshine, so we draped the blanket over the awning support, used the dashboard as a drying rack and raised the mattress off the platform to get some air circulation.  After a walkabout with the dog (saw a box turtle), morning showers and a garbage run, it was time to dump the tanks and hit the road.  Our trip back into Kentucky was barely 3 hours, but the twisty 2 lane was waiting for us.  Jackie volunteered to drive the Jeep out until we found a spot, maybe a rest area/welcome center in Kentucky, to hitch back up.  That made it easier to navigate the country roads until we were on the Interstate.  

But signs announced the rest area was closed, so Jackie exited and headed for a Flying J gas station.  Only problem was that a nearby ATV/UTV/Motocross event must have just concluded – there were super muddy 4-wheelers on trailers everywhere.  Absolutely crazy busy, but we found a level spot to connect the Jeep and get on down the road.  

We found our way to a nice parkway going into the Red River Gorge area that had a large, level rest area that was perfect to have lunch, get a few maps and unhitch, since the Natural Bridges State Resort Park was just 2 miles up the road.  Perfect.  Up the winding road and we found our destination: Middle Fork Campground in the park.  As we dropped down into the riverside camp spot I had to wonder if the posted sign “Warning, Flash Flood Area” would come into play, with rain and thunderstorms predicted for the next couple of days.  

Since it looked like wet weather was headed our way, we quickly drove around to the one feature we wanted to see:  Natural Bridge.  You have a nice option to ride a chairlift “Sky lift” one way to the top or round trip.  Oh heck, the trail down looks to be about a mile, so let’s ride up and hike down.  The trip up was gorgeous, with lots of blooming wildflowers and ferns below us, mountain laurel in bloom, even some Sweetbay magnolias blooming.  At the top we hopped off and hiked over the sandstone bridge and then circled down and under the arch.  Very cool spot and some pretty narrow stone stairways and passages.  And although the hike down to the parking area was mostly downhill and the blooming mountain laurel was colorful, we are certain it was much longer than the “1.75 miles” noted on the trail sign.  Jackie was ready to crash as we finally saw the parking lot, with more steps yet to go!  Wow, that took the last of our energy. Watch the video of the hike here: Hiking Natural Bridge

And yes, back in the RV our bedding had finally dried and we could get a proper night’s sleep.

The next of our two days here was a kayak adventure through an underground, flooded mine.  Certainly not something we have ever done.  Several layers of light clothing, water shoes and the GoPro camera – we were set. After our safety briefing, suited up with life jackets and helmets, we grabbed our paddles, slipped gracefully into the kayaks and off we went into the cold darkness.  What fun.  As we paddled along the 40 degree water that went as deep as 12 feet, we saw some of the large rainbow trout that were stocked and fed in the waterway.  This wasn’t a wild, natural cave system, but it was certainly a unique experience that we loved. A video of the trip is posted here: Kayaking Gorge Underground

As if that wasn’t enough exercise for one day, we headed out after lunch for a drive around the Red River Gorge and the Daniel Boone National Forest to do some short hikes to arches and sandstone rock outcroppings.  The weather prediction is for more rain and thunderstorms, so we wanted to get out before the rain hit.  But somehow the rumbling stayed in another valley and we stayed dry.  A short hike to Angel’s Windows and then Whispering Arch (half miles out and back) convinced us that we had seen enough of rock walls, arches and outcroppings for now.  But one cool drive through a tunnel on the way back to check out the lodge, I hear they have a Trails End Tavern that would be a nice end to the day.  Yeah, but it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so we were left to sit in the lobby and connect to WIFI.  

That’s ok, we had a nice bottle of wine and a steak on the grill back at camp, with a cool evening to sit by the river and wonder about the coming rain and flash floods.  

Final day in camp was spent editing pictures and writing updates for the blog, once again heading to the lodge for a WI FI upload.  Thunderstorms rolled through the park and maybe 200 yards below our spot several trees came down. One hit a camper’s car and the wind blew a canopy into the creek. Lucky all we had was rain at our campsite.

The next morning we pulled out and headed home, with one last stop outside Knoxville at a KOA.  Big storms on the drive. We both reflected on this 3 week trip and decided that it was really pretty great.  We were able to follow the spring awakening through a part of the country we had not yet explored.  The caves, caverns, rock formations, waterways and hiking trails really made this exploration special.  And of course we love staying in National and State parks when we can.  Wildflowers in bloom, spring birds singing, even the rainstorms all refresh the spirit and make you thankful to be able to enjoy it all.

This is probably the last post of this adventure.  Thanks for coming along with us.  Sign up for notifications so you don’t miss our next adventure.  And yes, check out some of the many videos I posted on our YouTube channel. I hope to post video highlights soon.

What’s next?  We have some repair work we will be doing in the RV.  The carpet ripped during our Pigeon Forge trip so we have plans to replace the carpet and flooring in the main part of the motorhome.  We have a few days reserved at our nearby lake this summer when we will have our two grandsons stay with us and a fall break cruise aboard the new Utopia of the Seas ship.  Oh, and another trip to St. Andrews State Park on the Florida panhandle in the fall. Stay tuned.

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Kentucky Caves and Camping, Part 2

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Doug and Jackie

It was time to leave the bourbon sampling behind and head out to Carter Caves State Park, just east of Lexington.  To update you on the gasoline situation and check engine light, my next fill-up was with a higher octane gas and another can of high mileage Seafoam cleaner and the engine seems to be running just fine.  I believe the source of the problem was a low octane gas from Buc-ee’s that caused the problems.  We did just fine on the drive to Carter Caves.

Our camping spot this time is at Carter Caves State Resort Park, arriving on a Saturday.  The excitement here is for the caves and hiking trails.  We wound ourselves along a pretty narrow road, creek on one side, wall of limestone on the other and plenty of cars heading past us.  Seems awfully busy for a rather remote spot in the Daniel Boone National Forest.  Arriving in the campground explained things, it was loaded with trailers, trucks and kids and bikes and more kids and more bikes … wow.  Fortunately our spot was a pull thru but once we unhooked the Jeep we decided it would be a better back-into spot.  Very tight quarters among the pickups and trailers.  Let’s hope things change by Monday morning.  We leave on Tuesday.

At the Welcome Center we learned there was an afternoon tour of X Cave, so we booked it, changed into the proper shoes and sweatshirts and followed the guide into the very cold cave.  X Cave is so named because you can traverse two passageways that cross in the middle, each one passes through the hill, so you enter, cross, exit the back, then return back into the cave to walk the other passage.  The cave was a dry cave with very few drip stones but some nice formations and pretty easy walking, if narrow.  It had lights added and some modifications made in the 40’s and 50’s to make passage easier (you used to have to climb a rope ladder to get to the entrance).  Even though not pristine, these are very cool caves.

As we drove back to camp I spotted some distinctive black and white birds that compelled me to grab the camera and walk back to catch them.  Not much luck, so back to the campsite I went.  Our neighbor noticed the camera and said “you looking for those woodpeckers?”  “Yes, but no luck,” I replied.  “Well they’ve been busy all day in the tree above you.”  What?? Sure enough, a pair of red-headed woodpeckers were digging a nest into the upper trunk of the tree – right above us.  So, I was able to get a few good shots.  Nice bird.

Gorgeous sunny weather meant the temperature climbed into the 80’s, then dipped down pretty cool at night.  I feel like we have traveled back in seasonal time, too, since the leaves here are just coming out – mostly a lot of oaks with pollen (I thought we were done with that).  Back home we went through this about 2 – 3 weeks ago.  

Sunday morning we booked an early tour of another cave, Cascade Cave.  This cave had some water dripping and flowing into it, with a few more formations and several large rooms.  We saw some small bats along the way and got a pretty good picture of one hanging tight to the ceiling.  Maybe the size of a large prune.  Excellent hike though. Video of the two caves is posted here: Hiking Carter Caves

We also hiked short distances to see some of the natural bridges here in the park.  Some of them are huge, wide and tall tunnels through the rock, one seemed ready to fully collapse, with stacks of shale looking more like stacks of books.  One has the roadway crossing above.  Lots of wildflowers blooming, most of which I remember, some ID eludes me (and I left our books at home).  All of them look very cool up close.  I found out the lodge on property had pretty good WI-FI so I was able to upload the first part of the blog for you to read.

Tonight is steaks on the grill and some bourbon drinks sitting out in the very nice evening while we watch the campground empty out.  It is about 90% empty now, as the weekenders head home.  Much quieter and relaxing.

Monday morning was our day to try another cave, self-guided Horn Hollow Cave.  We needed a permit to hike this, so at the Welcome Center we filled out the form as the ranger asked “You have flashlights?”  Yes. “You know about the water, right?”  No, what water?  It seems a creek runs through this cave, from ankle to mid calf deep, and we needed to rethink our shoes and pants.  Back to the campsite to put on shorts and pack some water shoes.  Now we were set to begin the hike to the cave, up and around some boulders, cliff faces and such, pretty much up most of the way until we slipped down to a dry creek bed where the cave entrance beckoned.  We changed into the water shoes, got our flashlights ready and I put my GoPro on a headband mount.  Ready!

Well, when you are the only ones entering a dark, wet cave, it’s a bit intimidating.  And the water was COLD.  Left? Right? Let’s follow the flow of the water to the right.  It was pretty low in spots, but plenty wide and the flashlights were a big help, obviously.  A small fish and a crayfish were spotted in the water, but no bats around.  After about a quarter mile through the cave, the water began to run downward through a smooth channel and we were quite suddenly at the other end of the cave.  How cool was that?  So now what?  We didn’t see an obvious trail out of the stream bed, so we opted to retrace our steps and go back where we entered.  Changed back into our hiking shoes, had some water and granola bars and rejoined the trail back to the car.  Altogether it was about a 2 mile hike, but once again an uphill climb awaited us just before the end.  A video of the cave portion of the hike is posted here: Horn Hollow Cave

Ok, back at camp and time to chill for the rest of the afternoon.  In the morning we will pack up and drive to Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio for more trails and caves and maybe another week earlier in the spring! Keep an eye out for more of the adventure, and try to look at these pics on a big screen.

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Bourbon, Bats and Caves

Posted on April 28, 2024 by Doug and Jackie

It’s April and we are off on another adventure!  Let’s get you caught up.  When last I posted we were waiting for the repairs to our motorhome to be completed.  The damage from a collision took out several of our basement doors, the boxes around the electrical and water hookups and generally made a mess of the left rear of the motorhome.  Well the long wait for parts, installation and paint matching was complete by the end of March.  I have to give a shout out to the folks at Open Road RV in Acworth for getting this done and keeping me posted on progress.  Also, thanks are due to GEICO for covering this major repair.

Next on the list was to have some preventative maintenance on the engine.  Our local mechanic did a one day service to replace the serpentine belt, spark plugs, wires and coils (awesome!) and then alerted us to front brakes that were 90% worn.  Ok, new brake pads then.  Plus a charge to the cabin AC.  Ouch, that was a hefty bill, but much better than a breakdown on the road.  We are just shy of 100,000 miles, so it was worth the peace of mind.

So after a good cleaning, inside and out, sanitizing the fresh water tanks and packing all our gear we are off on this next trip: the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.  Yes, we will sample what we can, but rest assured it won’t be while driving the motorhome.  It starts off with a visit in Nashville to our niece Rachel, who is graduating high school and her brother, Colin, who is celebrating his 21st birthday.  A good time for the family to gather.

You may have noticed in the photos that we have a new travel companion: Binx.  It’s been two years since Merlin passed and Jackie felt it was time for a new young cat around the house.  This is the first motorhome trip for Binx, and so far he is doing just fine.  He and Kodi bump noses and stare at each other, but they haven’t quite gotten to the “let’s play” stage yet.  A little more time in this large box of a motorhome and they should be best buddies.

Up the road then to Mammoth Cave and camping in the park.  It was a pretty easy drive up from Nashville, only a few climbs – I was sure to keep an eye on the engine temperature and that did not seem to be a problem at all.  However, we had a new one pop up way back before Chattanooga, which I kept to myself until I met up with my son and brother-in-law in Nashville.  It seems that only a few miles away from a fill-up at Buc-ees mega gas station I noticed the check engine light came on.  And it stayed on, teasing me to be worried about the engine.  With all the work we just had done on the engine, I was kind of scratching my head about the cause.  It was familiar, as I think the last time it happened and I got all concerned about NOC sensors and the code that the computer gave, it was after another fill-up at Buc-ees.  Well just get me to Nashville.  

Before heading out of Nashville I added a can of Seafoam gas cleaner and crossed my fingers.  I was surprised then that the light went out before we made it to Bowling Green and I was certainly happier.

Rolling into Mammoth was gorgeous.  Just a bit behind our spring leafing in Kennesaw, but everything was greening up nicely.  We pulled into our site, a dry or boondocking site, and leveled up, put out the slides and fed the pets.  It was early afternoon so we went over to the visitor center and booked a 3:30 tour of Mammoth Passage.  The cave is only accessible by guided tour (except in the busy summer season), so we were curious to try this extra tour that entered through the Historic Entrance.  We have hiked in a few cave systems before: Carlsbad Caverns, Florida Caverns and one near Pike’s Peak.  This was totally different.  

After a low passageway we found ourselves in a huge underground tunnel.  Of course this is a well maintained system of walkways, railings and lighting, but it is also massive.  And dry.  There were no dripping springs, pools or stalagmites and stalactites.  Just rough walls that opened up passageways that felt more like underground subway or railroad tunnels.  One intersection aptly called the Rotunda had a huge open and circular ceiling.  It almost felt like the underground lair of some superheroes or maybe MI-6’s lab for Q.   Very special, quite cold.  We saw a few small bats on the ceiling, but not massive colonies.

This campsite had no electricity or water, but we had onboard water, the generator for electricity, gas for heat and the fridge and stove and although it was getting below 50 degrees, we figured we were fine.  Until we weren’t.  Running the generator seemed to leave gasoline fumes in the camper, so we shut it off and aired out.  Overnight Jackie’s CPAP machine quit, the heat didn’t come on and the fridge was off.  A bit of morning panic, as there was no power from the house batteries at all. And it was cold!

The next day we had another tour booked that started off at 9 am, so we were out and hiking into the cave early.  This tour took us to another entrance area by bus and it felt more like traditional caving experiences.  A more narrow passageway that tried to bang your head or poke your side was fun to traverse on our way to stalagmites, stalagtites and flowstone.  Lots of those formations to see and a final stairway down behind Niagara, a large formation that was very cool.  This area Iof the cave had lots of cave crickets, who we learned leave the cave every week to feed and return.

Back at camp after the tour we unhooked the house batteries, called an auto supply store in Cave City, about 30 miles away and when they said they had replacements, off we went.  With the new batteries installed, we felt much better.  The fridge was running again (even though it runs on gas, it needs electric for the control panel) and except for charging the phones and making coffee, we were ok.  Took the Keurig to the restroom to make coffee and charged phones in the Jeep.  Never a dull moment.  But the generator will have to wait until back home.  I suspect it has something to do with last fall’s accident.

We had time to wander around the trails a bit, since it was such a nice afternoon. The Green River flows through the park and there was an actual free operating ferry across one of the roads. Plus a really great loading ramp for kayaks up and down a long stairway. We also saw numerous wildflowers some springs and a few of the original CCC camp cabins.

Overnight it wasn’t nearly as cold and we had some rain. Lying in bed while trying to ignore the barking dog asking for breakfast, Jackie said her CPAP machine stopped again overnight.  Oh No!  Please tell me we didn’t kill the new batteries!  Actually, it must have come unplugged, since everything else was fine.  Sigh of relief.  We showered at the camp store, feeding quarters into the shower to keep the water running, then packed up, hooked up the Jeep and made our way off to Bardstown.  This was maybe 80 miles away, easy drive on a smooth interstate with little traffic.  We opted to veer off the interstate on a nice 2 lane road that took us to Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace and boyhood home.  A unplanned but beautiful stop on a gorgeous drive through green Kentucky fields.  Today’s final stop was the campground in My Old Kentucky Home State Park just outside Louisville.  This is the week before the Kentucky Derby and we are set to celebrate the upcoming race with some mint juleps and lots more bourbon sampling.

Bourbon sampling was easy, since less than a mile down the road was Heaven Hill Distillery, featuring Elijah Craig and Evan Williams.  Since I had my Kentucky Bourbon Trail Guide and time was running short, we hit the bar and ordered a flight each.  I had a rye sampler and Jackie went with bourbons.  And I got my book stamped.  Well we couldn’t stay long, since we found out the distilleries all closed their tap rooms at 5 and it was already nearly 4!  Next stop was Bardstown Brewing, maybe 4 miles back.  Great tap room and they had a nice selection of bar food.  We ordered their special meatballs and greens and a plate of ahi tuna tacos.  And we learned something new: benedictine.  It is a sour cream and onion spread that is usually served on cucumber sandwiches, but ours was served with the meatballs.  Yummy.  Oh, and an Old Fashioned each of course.  Best food at a bar I have had in a long time, and the drink was yummy.  And I got my book stamped.  But it was too late to visit any others.

Something that really surprised us was the way they stack and age the barrels of bourbon.  These huge barns/aging houses (rick houses) really are monstrous and numerous.  There is an entire art to their design, construction, temperature, humidity – all of which affects the bourbon.  BUT I was reassured to see there would be no shortage of bourbon for the foreseeable future.

Day 2 of our bourbon sampling was to begin with a quick stop nearby at Lux Row Distillery.  Another gorgeous operation, very modern buildings amid some historic ones and the most beautiful Kentucky bluegrass you will ever find.  We had a sample of their Rebel 100 Rye and promptly bought a bottle it was so good. I got my book stamped and we drove in to Louisville to sample Whiskey Row.  Whoops, wait, was that Jim Beam we just passed?  Quick, turn around and let’s stop.  So we saw the green grounds of the distillery, dotted with the warehouses and the iconic white barn and family farmhouse.  Just had to sample some Knob Creek and Basil Hayden before continuing onward (plus a stamp in the book).

The challenge was to find a couple of distillery tasting rooms but more importantly to get checked-in at 6 different bars on the Urban Bourbon Trail to earn a shirt.  It involved a lot of walking along Main Street, but the weather was great and the rewards better.  So an Old Fashioned and Mint Julep at Evan Williams Experience, a stop at Old Forrester and Angel’s Envy, a photo op at the Louisville Slugger bat factory, ummm lunch at Troll Under the Bridge for a delicious Reuben sandwich and beer cheese with pretzels followed by a few other spots for bourbon drinks … and then to the visitors center to collect the t-shirt!  Yippee, mission accomplished.  We drove back to camp and kind of crashed for the rest of the evening, skipping supper (but fed and watered the pets).

Day 3 in Bardstown/Louisville we drove to Versailles, KY to visit two distilleries:  Castle & Key and Woodford Reserve.  Plus, I was going to connect with a good friend from my days with the Professional Lawn Care Association.  The drive was easy on the Bluegrass Parkway and we were soon sipping on cocktails at Castle & Key Distillery.  The grounds of this restored distillery were amazingly beautiful, with the original buildings nested in the green valley.  The folks at this spot were very friendly and the drinks impressive.  Jackie had a Bloody Mary and I had a four cocktail flight that was terriffic.  I was so impressed with their gin that I snagged a bottle to take home.

It was time to venture just a few miles down the road to the mother ship:  Woodford Reserve.  It is one of my favorite bourbons, so I was excited to stop by.  But I have to say the experience was lacking something.  The grounds were beautiful, but other than the rick houses that you could only see from a distance, the buildings were recently built and really lacked charm.  It was just a retail store (that was out of much merchandise) and a small bar.  Of course we both had Old Fashioneds on the deck, but it just didn’t match my expectations.  Perhaps if we had booked one of the tours it would have been different.

Then it was time to drive the beautiful bluegrass countryside and find my friend from days past.  Sandy was waiting for us on the porch of her gorgeous farmhouse and we had fun reminiscing over the good times of our past together.  It was good to meet up after 25 (?) years.  She even pulled out one of the group pictures from our PLCAA days.   

The next day in Bardstown was pack-up and get moving day, but we had just a bit more time in the morning to find two distilleries:  Maker’s Mark and Willett Distilleries.  Maker’s Mark was supposed to be within 30 minutes, Willett was 2 miles away.  But a half hour down the road and the directions said another half hour to Maker’s Mark, so that was scuttled and we stopped at Willett instead.  Again it was beautiful grounds and an old distillery, where I got my book stamped and we headed to hitch up and head east beyond Lexington.  

Our next stop is Carter Caves State Park in the Daniel Boone National Forest.  Our big bourbon sampling adventure is over for now, but not forgotten.  My recommendation for any who want to try this is to focus on the actual distilleries and not get too excited about the downtown Louisville bars and tasting rooms.  But do take note that all the distilleries, downtown or out in the hills, all close at 5 p.m.  Well, I hope to find some Wi-Fi soon to post this story and some of the many pictures so you have an idea of what we have been up to. More to come, and thanks for reading along.

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