September 1st -20th

Polynesian Cruise visiting Lautoka Fiji, Denarau Fiji, Suva Fiji, Savusavu Fiji, Apia Samoa, Pago Pago American Samoa, Aitutaki Cook Islands, Rarotonga Cook Islands, Bora Bora French Polynesia, Raiatea French Polynesia, Moorea French Polynesia, and Papeete French Polynesia.

I will post when I get back but I will Facebook entry the highlights.

WE ARE BACK !

It will take me sometime to to catch up as I load pictures, use notes, memory and asking Jackie what did we do plus the fact the last day coming home a flu decided to attack me. So here goes and I will leave my thoughts of the entire trip at the end.

I love my United Cab app to book and arrange a drive to the airport. Similar to Uber it uses a booking system, a scheduler, notifications, and a GPS tracker. Makes for a ease of mind, and a discounted cab fare so all is good. Some will say why not use a Uber. Yes a bit cheaper but i prefer to support someone that has paid a lot of money to run a company and not hire third party individuals just wanting to earn an extra buck not a living. IT is like people not tipping. Drive me nuts. Uber is a type of business that people flog to due to less cost not understanding the impact on the transportation industry. To save a buck by supporting a rogue business that cannibalizes the taxi industry is not something I want to do.

Our one bag weighed in a 42 pounds and it was fun to see our cabbie struggle to load it along with our other three bags. He was amazing, arriving right on time. And surprised his Prius had the room for everything. It was one quiet car.

Arriving at the airport it was literally dead. No one around. We got everything checked in and made sure our bags were tagged to go thru to Nadi via LAX.

New rules again at security and every airport is different which is too bad and confusing. In Calgary your liquids are no longer required in a separate bag or even take out of your bag. You still needed to remove your shoes and electronics had to be separate.

We walked right up to the US Border guard as no one was behind us or in front of us. A very nice gentleman that was quick, friendly and professional.

We decided to have supper at a beer pub beside our gate. Great food and service. Sitting at the airport with no one around was eerie but fun and this was at 4pm.

A late gate change which always happens. Due to a change of planes by Westjet we were 1/2hr late leaving. That in my mind is pretty good. Our headsets didn’t work on this WJ plane and I didn’t want to pay for entertainment for a short 4 hour flight so phone Solitaire.

We land in LAX and do our investigating as to our next flight. We were given directions and told an amount of time to get there. Take that time and times by 3 is what he meant to say. LOL

It was real long hike and I bet it took us at least 1/2 hr of fast walking to get there. We made it without a hiccup but talk about a convoluted path and confusing with vey little signage. Just as we were at our gate Alan & MaryAnn met us. Well Alan tried scaring us. These two with the standby flying are cool cucumbers with the different objections thrown at them. Yet here they were with smiles on their faces after a interesting time in Vancouver.

All loaded up and ready to go with Fiji Airlines. My best ride ever since Ward Air left the space. The food was delicious and the service superb. Multiple food runs including omelets, cookies, fruit etc. Free headphones supplied along with hot wash cloths, and eye covers. Great entertainment selection. As said best plane ride for a long long time.

We landed 12 hours later after getting winks of sleep and lots of food. Good for prepping to take a cruise. A nice smaller airport with a traditional greeting and a shell lai presented to us. The feeling of the warm moist air when exiting is beautiful.

We had a very scenic tour to our hotel which was a good 1/2 hr away. I love the tropics but the poverty that is everywhere is sad. Yet the people are the happiest as can be.

On arrival our rooms were hours away from being ready. They stored our luggage for us and we had the facilities to change into a swim suit or comfy clothes and use of the amenities.

Great service on arrival but I was disappointed in the hotel. For a hotel costing $1000 a night I expected more. The pools were wading pools and kid friendly. No swim up bar and not near the extravagance I expected. Needless to say no sun lotion as they were too large for carry on and we didn’t want to bug the luggage guy. I had the perfect plan but it failed. Somehow the sun got my shoulders and side back without me knowing it and yes I sunburned. A rarity for me and well planned just not executed well. It was the directional changes ie south being north screwed us up. Things were backwards.

They had a huge buffet that was exceptional for our lunch and a great supper beside the beach where we were entertained by a group of fire dancers. Great meal and entertainment.

Our rooms turned out to be very nice. The entire complex design gave me memories of the La Quinta Resort in Palm Desert. As I said not what I was expecting. Funny as we prebooked our room some time ago and Alan & MaryAnn just booked and they received a ocean front room. !!! LOL

 The staff were beyond friendly and helpful. For some reason our table was picked by our waitress to sing a song to. Unbeknownst to us we would hear this song numerous times in our adventure. I may say too too often. LOL It is a traditional good bye song.

We went for a walk to around the complex and down the street. A few blocks away we enter the Radisson Hotel to have a look see. This was a resort hotel !

On the bus to board the ship and a lady is panicking as she lost her phone. She was hysterical and crying, She even ran back to her room.  Her bags were removed from the lower baggage compartments and checked. She kept crying and was very upset. Jackie got up and moved to sit beside her to help. She consoles her which calms her down and then Jackie attempts to help her locate her phone. She got a phone number from the women but it turned out to be the daughter not her number most likely due to her stress. Jackie said the women wanted to be incognito which is odd but she finally gets her real number. She then phones her and her phone is on silent but she sees a light and it turns out it was stuck beside her seat and bus sidewall. Staff even crawled on their hand and knees looking for it on the bus.  Only a 1/2 hour late.

Easy boarding the ship after we figure out the system for seating and lining up to board. We find Alan & MaryAnn already eating on the back deck. I miss the Princess App.

First day off and running. I have to say I LOVE THIS SMALL SHIP. After lunch we head to our rooms to unpack. This entire ship was just recently updated. It is in perfect condition and lovely. The rooms are great. I measured and it is 25 sq ft less than our motorhome. The only issue with the room is it has a real tight spot between the bathroom door, closet door and bed. The ship technology wise is far behind the Princess but only a personal liking not a need.

Love the ship with it’s many dining choices. It had 2 main dining buffet rooms, three smaller buffet dining rooms, a sports bar, an Italian dining room, a French dining room and a Brazilian Steak room and a Japanese , Mexican and Steak house. Norwegian Dine like no where else is definitely true.

Overall the passengers were younger and loads from the south with Australia and New Zealand having a lot of people on board. The USA was the largest group. We had over 200 Canadians’ on board

The show tonight was a violin player that was super and cool. He put on a great show. Beyond a regular talent this guys was awesome.

The four of us found a wonderful couple of spots to play games. In the library and in the Spinnaker Lounge.

We met every morning for breakfast at the small buffet sitting outside or in the main dining room. I found I preferred the main room for breakfast with it’s vast menu.

HUGE bonus is the causal dress code for the ship. I was able to wear shorts and sandals everywhere to eat.

LAUTOKA, Fiji

Our first adventure was at Lautoka. We were picked up by bus at the port and driven quite aways into the country. Once again the poverty is prevalent. The pricing for residents is ridiculous as they are paying $1500 usd a month for rent of a shack.

Our guide today was fantastic. the location of the mud bath was weird on first impression. Arriving to singing and meet & greet was awesome .Then a ceremonial sit with kava drinking. Communal bowl drinking of a narcotic so I should be OK. The other three wouldn’t partake. It is a root of s plant mixed with water. It is supposed to make you relax and remove anxiety. Tinkling of the lips after a few drinks is supposed to happen. I do have to say it was a not a good tasting drink.

Mudding each other was a blast.  We got covered. I had thought we would be in a mud pool but it turned out we were rubbing mud out of pails from a mud bog near us. Then we head to a drying station. It felt cool with the mud drying and shrinking. Our skin looks like an elephant. Then we head to a progression of hot pools for a rinse. Tricky maneuvering them with slippery rocks and bottoms. It was a cool adventure. They offered massages after the mud baths. Jackie had a long massage and foot massage as a birthday gift from Alan & MaryAnn. We ended up being the last one to the bus. Awesome experience.

Another awesome meal with my Rose wine. Now I know Rose wine is girly but it is chilled and quite tasty. I can’t get a Caesar and beer can fill you up and the fruit drinks are too sweet so the Rose has been wonderful to find. And cold.

We played 5 crowns tonight with another victory under my belt. 

I woke up and on my side of the bed the sheets were covered in mud. Wow a long shower didn’t work to well. Even my pillow was brown.  Jackie’s side not so much. 

DENARAU fiji

No excursions today so we just planned doing a walk about near our tender location. We had anchored a long ways out today. We got to a cool shopping plaza with some neat shops. Jackie bought some gifts for the kids.  The Bone Fish restaurant had wahu fish & chips which was great and was recommended by someone we talked to.  I was a nice easy walk around day.

For supper tonight I had steak while the others had fish or curry chicken. Then they tortured me as we walked upstairs by the buffet with REAL food ie roast beef with mashed potatoes was the main item tonight. Darn ! While as I said I love the main dining the choices are limited and on the fancy side.

The show tonight was fun. A wacky lady who was a great singer but throwing in a lot of comedy including slapstick. She was rolling on the stage floor, pretending to fall etc. It was a entertaining but wacky show.

Games night in the library tonight with the Huggett’s winning. Must be the rocking throwing me off. Earlier in the day was my winning but I like to be consistent.

We had only been at sea for about a 1/2 hr or so and we stopped and the ship was starting a 180 degree turn in the middle of ocean. They dropped a tender. What happened and why we will never know but they kept asking for a person to report to them earlier.

It was real windy tonight which made our walking around the ship a little more difficult and caused the boat to rock a little more than normal. It was a daily thing to walk around the ship to get in steps and we only used the stairs. There was one day Jackie put on 18K steps.

Two days later and still this morning mud appeared on my towel when I dried after showering.

SUVA fiji

Each docking it was fun to see if we got the dock view or ocean view, Today the dock view which is nice in a way as lots of activity to see.

Today was our Firewalking and Village Tour Day.

It was a 1hr trip thru the country side. Tropical forestry is amazing and wonderful to see how the people live their actual lives. Poor housing and beautiful greenery.

We arrive to a quaint setting right on the beach side. Interesting through as they did provide running water for hand washing and toilets. The cleanliness may not have been our standards but doable.

We got Jackie up to celebrate and dance. She likes this. All three of them ONCE again had the chance to experience the local culture with a kava ceremony but they choice not to.

The firewalking was a little different than expected. It was really hot rock walking. They heated up the rocks in a fire than spread them to walk on. I would say extremely difficult and painful for a unexperienced walker and fun to watch the tradition unfold.

The ceremonies, the location and the overall excursion was a fun time. The tide was out a mile at least with it a complete sand beach. Muscles, crabs etc running around.

 Tonight’s show was the Not so Newly Wed Game. This was a fun game to watch. They had a newly wed couple from Germany and a 51 yr married couple on stage. Some of the questions and answers were hilarious.

One question in particular ” Where is the most unusual place you have had ice cream”

The couples struggled with the question as did I, but Jackie got it. “Ice cream” an innuendo of sex. Hilarious

I had a late note of an event that happened this morning at breakfast. Ironic that it is a older over weight lady with the possible name Karen attempted to come thru the doors from the pool which are heavier. She struggles and grunts and gets in to find no coffee as everything had been put away. Another huge grunt and slow spin and attempts to to struggle with the door again. A funny Karen moment.

Games again in the library. It seems a group of Chinese guests like this place also as we see them here quite often.

As I said this is a small ship compared to others we have been on so easy to get around and we had our favorite places to go to. I went up for lunch as I was ready and expected the other three to be soon behind me. Our normal spot was closed so I picked an easy to find logical common sense spot very close to where we normally are to have lunch and wait for them. i would have thought very easy to find. I had a wonderful pork loin lunch by myself.

I then went pool side to sun tan a bit. Again one pool on this boat and no one can find me. I saw Alan below me and yelled his name but he didn’t hear me. A nice day for tanning.

I took a shower after the tanning and mud still coming out of my pores.

More games and some losses continuing to add up. The girls even beat us at Crib.

SAVSAVU fiji

As I said I enjoy the main dinning breakfasts immensely. Great service and selection and not chaotic. It is always funny to see what others like. I will say salmon, parfait’s and Nutella are far from my liking but to each his own.

Excursion today is about an hour away. 

This is our first day with overcast and slight drizzle but warming to 25 degrees out. Turns out we had showers or rain for at least half of the day. It made our tour even better adding to the experience.  Luckily the ship handed out a strong Deet as we were going deep into the forest. We had a culture tour booked but on the tender a cruise staff excursion member helped us change to the rain forest walk and waterfall. The guy a very handsome Brazilian helped our girls out. The beauty of this place is unmatched. As we waited for our bus we walked a bit into town. We saw at least three skinny skinny dogs. Alan bought a couple of cans of tuna and gave it to them.

The road to the waterfall was actually dangerous being very steep and with drop off edges. Plus muddy and narrow. Add the rain.  All I can say is excellent driver.  Cool that this bus had a stick which is a good thing with the inclines and declines of the road. Arriving at the event it was just recently built.

Once again the staff was amazing. The trail was a little slippery especially as one was distracted by the beauty of the rain forest. They had piled up red mahogany live edge slabs that were from a 36 inch tree or more.

Another opportunity to experience kava wasted by my group. The walk through the forest was unbelievable and a very nice waterfall at the end of the trail. Unfortunately, due to the rain the water wasn’t clear as it was laden with mud.

The greenery is unbelievable. I did NOT see one mosquito the whole trip. Got shots and extra strong Deet and nothing to be afraid of. Not one.

Super fun day and I loved the rain and its addition to our adventure.

A great night for games for me.  Lol

A at sea day and a cloudy rainy day so no sun tanning. Jackie and I were sitting near the pool when I see chairs being blown everywhere on the upper deck. People are scattering everywhere as gusts of wind and heavy rain happen.  Two young staff members on the top deck picks up chair and is hurled to the deck with the wind and he hits his head hard.  His buddy tells at him to move and does the exact same thing. They run for shelter while holding his head. 

I had said to Alan & MaryAnn I would love a BLT. Low and behold we arrive at the main dinning for lunch which is a first and on the menu a BLT. Then disappointment as it comes with no bacon. Just like my roast beef situation my joy was snatched away. I had a LTC sandwich which was OK but disappointed. I learned my lesson not to customize a selection. I had just wanted cheese on it also. Sad

Tonight the Huggett’s cleaned up at the games. We walked on the track a few miles again which is nice getting in the steps to allow excessive eating and no weight gain. MaryAnn is a great walker not a slow one which is nice. I will report the results near the end. LOL

The step thing is funny to hear about and watch. The watches are so skewed. A simple arm movement will register as a step. Especially with a women moving her arm back and forth while walking. Most Fitbits and Smart gadgets do not use GPS but an internal 3 axis accelerator than converts movement into steps. You can literally NOT move one step and still have it register taking 10 . The more expensive ones or a GPS watch gives a more accurate number but is easily fooled also. What is good is people are moving.

And I will say by any measure we moved a lot with days of 18K steps plus everyday the flights of stairs was huge. I was surprised as from Day 1 to Day 14 I did not make it from the bottom of the ship Level 3 to Level 9, our level ( 12 flights of stairs) and not have a puffing or breathing heavier than I wanted. It just seemed odd I couldn’t get that conditioning up in 14 days.

Too much eating again today as another sea day. Lots of walking around the ship. I sat outside on my patio for a long time enjoying the warmth but no sun as it was over cast.

With the big storm coming the ship placed barf bags on every staircase landing. I have never seen that done before. Hopefully no one needs them. DO NOT LOOK AT THE WAVES.

APIA , somoa

Time change again today.

Alan & MaryAnn won at games again today. I see a trend that I am not liking.

No excursion today so went into town and looked for a beach to snorkel at. We walked 8 kms one way and then back past the ship and finally found the beach. ( 1400 steps per kilometer)

The place was a little dilapidated and run down. The entrance fee was $5 per person. And they had very very few rental snorkels or fins for us. The tide was out so the water level was low. The others did not come out but I went out a long ways to the edge. Extremely difficult walking over the coral, the slippery rocks. Some fish but others said just over the edge was good. Too bad as it could have been a great spot with a little work and money spent.

While eating supper we witnessed a huge lightning storm and thunder. I love these and it lite up the sky.

Tonight was our specialty dining option at the French Bistro. The food here was spectacular along with my new friend Rosa wine. On check in though I was questioned about my open toed sandals. No where in the dress code did it indicate such a rule. After a consult she allowed me in. A simple mistake as women allowed a open toe sandal everywhere and not MEN. ( the next specialty dining spots I wore socks with my sandals. That is a good look. LOL )

Pleasantly surprised at the food menu choice, the ambience,  the presentation , the quality of food and service which was all a 10 out out 10. Our waitress named Lika delivers my soup and only has mushrooms in bowl. Taken back as I didn’t know what was happening she then precedes to fill it with the actual soup broth.  Our entrees  arrived with silver coverings on them and she removes Alan and I’s with our fabulous looking meal. She then removes Jackie’s and MaryAnn’s with their plates being empty. Another waitress delivered their meals in a bowl and placed it on the plates. Made for a good laugh. A super fun waitress. First class dining and exceptional food.

Tonight’s production show was great . Always talented young artists on these ships.

We watched a Trivia contest in the Bliss lounge and then disco band came. Alan & MaryAnn headed bed so Jackie & I danced the night away right until the very end. Last song. LOL

It is funny as I saw a group of guys and girls at the pool, at the Bliss lounge and at the Spinnaker Lounge behave like drunks. Noisy, obnoxious, and annoying. Slimy would be another good adjective to describe them. Why it seemed they were everywhere we were was odd.

PAGO PAGO american somoa

This morning Alan & MaryAnn saw lots of jellyfish from their balcony so were hesitant to go into the water. Loads of walking again today up thru the town and back to a beach left of our ship. Some interesting things to see. The Huggett’s headed back to the ship but Jackie and I continued to the beach. A very nice sandy beach. No jellyfish that got us anyways. We stayed there, enjoyed the water and beach for quite awhile.

It reinforced my thoughts and resolve that you HAVE to book an excursion at EVERY port. To walk around sometimes is nice, to find a on shore excursion can be good but it is much easier, noy a lot more costly, much safer and when in a special spot experience as much as possible. The next cruise I will be booking excursions asap and at every stop. I would have even taken a culture event, LOL

We put on a few miles today. they group was walking a little slower today so I headed up front. I went around a corner near our port opening and waited for them, It took awhile. I had to go back and look for them. It turns out juts along conversation with another passenger from our ship.

Two stops without an excursion booked I don’t care for. I didn’t want to force my way on others. Forget the cost even if 200 bucks for a tour ride for 1/2 hr it is still better than a walking tour yourself.  It was a long haul booking excursions early which I like to do and I sort of gave up and didn’t push and I feel we paid a price for our lack of urgency and commitment.  Luckily we have booked the next stops with some awesome events. We still have two special dining coming up also.  I am looking forward to the Italian and we will see about the Brazilian. Pouring rain as I write my notes for this on my deck.  Rain but 80 degrees. That is humid. A fishing troll boat must have came to shore as I was outside as all of a sudden I smell fish. Were are those barf bags. Fun to watch older people walk on the deck fearful of falling with the wet surface. The boat uses a anti slip paint. MaryAnn and Alan along with us motored over the wet surface with no fear. Alans shoes even squeaked at every step.

I finally convinced Jackie to have mudslide and she loved it

Rarotonga, cook islands

Jackie bought a wonderful cover up from a local vendor with the Polynesian theme. They were laughing as large butts is what Samoa men want and like. The ladies were having a lot of fun with it. We walked to a snorkel beach. Sand and more sand. Fish and coral a ways out but without a mask not the perfect situation. The four of us are getting major steps in to combat the food and drinks.

The nightly entertainment of a comedian, magician, Broadway show each time has been wonderful. Games shows we have watched are fun. Music bands are great every night. At sea today and WINDY . We met a nice British couple that had owned a greenhouse. She was 80 yrs old and they have been on 64 cruises together. They even have been on the Rocky Mountain Express, Calgary stampede, Antarctica, and other amazing trips. Cloudy and windy but I applied lotion to my head and chest. Wouldn’t you know it I burned a small section of my legs and my forehead were I missed. Darn. Arrived next port Aitutaki Cook Islands and the ocean was too rough for us to tender in. So another day at sea. A way ways over cautious. I could have used my tin boat in the ocean today.  I can imagine the taxis and small businesses were not happy. No credit due back which is good. But we miss a port.

My drunk idiots again show up at Karaoke. Swearing and acting stupid and hogging the mike. The following day at the pool we see them. The one girl (guess 35yrs) had three sets of chairs reserved. One set in the sun, one set in the sun and another with friends. It was obvious she had fake boobs.  Alan thought he smelled plastic burning when she walked by . Plain ignorant of their behavior. And to run into them so often.

It is always fun to people watch  at the pool.  I will say this. This cruise has maybe 4 kids on it and maybe 10 people over 80. A lot of the 50 to 75 crowd and  lot of thinner active people. The track around the ship is always busy. This is the first cruise where we used the main dining for breakfast and I am sold.  It is so nice and quiet with excellent choices and just a way better experience.

People were seeing whales this morning near the ship. As we were walking around the track each time someone would point and try to take a picture. The water is so aqua and beautiful it is hard to describe.

We sat in the shade for the burn to heal and played games. MaryAnn had horseshoes today winning at everything.  This brings up a interesting point.  In the Philippines to register a name or costs more for a middle name so families join names together.  Our waitress explained it to us and I bet that is why MaryAnn is what it is. 

My white skin watch band on my wrist turned a color. Years of never seeing the sun gone. Lol Jackie was a little off today so I went for supper with Alan & MaryAnn and to the show.

For a Canadian Chef he sure likes his seafood . It took awhile for everyone to pick something they liked.  I have never ate so much chicken. lol The show was an odd one.  More like a kids show with balloons and a unicycle. Fun but odd.

We watched a great movie that was a true story of a MLB pitcher.

RAROTONGA, cook islands

Rarotonga is beautiful.  Tenders could not go for a few hours due to high waves. This time they had it right. On our return even rougher water.  A lady scared screaming to her husband I am scared. Please ! . It was a easy fun ride.  No one should be scared.

We had about $150 bucks worth of Fiji dollars that no other country like to take so we got lucky finding a Western Union to exchange it for us. Odd as they had to exchange to NZ dollars then to USD so a little on the pricy side for exchange but a must do.

Another country driving on the wrong side of road. So many different countries visited with different ideas depending on the history of its discovery.

We bought a round trip bus ticket to go around the island. It was a great way to see the island and the culture of the people.

MaryAnn wasn’t feeling well and we didn’t have a snorkeling spot so they headed back. Jackie and I carried on and found a wonderful beach with a grass and sandy beach. Even easy to walk out into the ocean.

Traders Jacks was a bar right on the beach with a over view of our ship. The beach was awesome with a lot of people swimming and a few snorkeling without issue.

We head back to the ship and while Jackie was resting I went upstairs to the bar.

Both Jackie and MaryAnn are not feeling well so are limiting what they are doing but still doing most everything with breaks so Alan and I went to the show to see a great country star that started as a NCL singer. This guy could be a super star if given the chance. Great show.

We head to the Bliss lounge for another game show. An adult  game show that was fun.  Our drunks were there again.  Funny how annoying they are.  Alan said when he was in the line up someone told him a fight had happened . I was checking for black eyes but couldn’t see any as I would suspect these guys to be involved.

Buffet for supper on the rear deck was amazing with the sun shine.  I had pool time, food time and patio time trying to balance my burn versus tan. 

Still surprising how many younger people on this cruise. And as I said before this is an expensive cruise due to it’s location and distance so surprising. Mostly NZ and Auzzies as it would be a lot less expensive for them.

With the younger crowd comes the abundance of thong bikinis. This is a good thing. Checking out the crowd over the trip we have many retired rich farmers with suspenders, the drunks, some friend trips. A few plastic enhancement women and quite a few duck lipped women.

I will say the amount of alcohol people can consume is crazy . A vacation fun time it is understandable but most of these are retired people. Not my thing but still more consumed in 14 days than perhaps 4 months of regular living.

BORA BORA , French Polynesian

  Another wonderful morning this time at Bora Bora. I may be incorrect but this has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The aqua marine water is incredible. Today the event I was looking forward to. 10 out of 10. We whipped out to a special spot in the ocean. It was completely white sand at the bottom of the ocean. We all got ready and descended down. Our depth was supposed to be 10 ft which surprised me that our ears popped. I have been deeper in a swimming pool. I am sure we were at least 20 ft deep. We had a wonderful spot to explore. Our guides were hilarious and fun.

We get all suited up and ready and one by one drop into the ocean. Now MaryAnn doesn’t know how to swim and still jumped. She impressed us all.

You are placed in a metal helmet that weighs about 80 pounds with a cord and hose to supply to you. It is heavy enough to keep you down without floating up.

Unfortunately the experience didn’t happen for Jackie as she panicked and didn’t want to go. Between the weight of the helmet, the unknown and the noise from the air it got to her. I couldn’t help or force her to come as I was down and it is a process getting up and down. I feel bad for her missing it but I do understand knowing her. The unknown, the noise, the feeling trapped in a heavy hood. Plus the fact of not feeling well . I know when I dropped I felt a tinge as my head basket started to fill with water but luckily I figured out how to get it to suck it back out

It was an amazing experience. To be able to walk on the bottom of ocean, breathe normal. have thousand’s of fish at your face as you feed them and to pet a huge sting ray as it passes you is unreal. And they let us stay down quite long that it was a worthwhile adventure.

I put our swimming with dolphins in first place but this is in a solid second place excursion.

On our return we hooked up with a newly wed couple and took a taxi to the Beach Club for a afternoon lunch. Not even close to what I imagined. i was thinking beautiful high end white building overlooking the clear blue water serving cold drinks and music. It turned out to be a run down old shack, not clean, and incredibly mismanaged. We arrive after our $5 per person taxi ride and enter and immediately the confusion started. We were hustled to one side and then the deck and then told to go to another area as they were closing. And on and on. I am glad everyone felt the same. Get out of a poorly run establishment ( maybe saved our lives) and head back to the ship. As luck would have it a run down beat up old man with a home made bus picked us up for $5 a person and drove us back to the port.

We found this little spot right at port for a quick bite. This was shocking to me as the overall population of all of these islands is impoverished and the lack of service and mismanagement of an asset was astounding. The Beach club and now we sit and a cruise ship carrying 1800 passengers in in port and you don’t take the opportunity to elevate your business is unbelievable. In one town our ship didn’t leave until 7pm yet all of the stores closed at 4pm. Beach club not serving and this small two person run restaurant wants to close at 4 when customer after customer retuning to the ship wanted a drink or bite. It is nuts. You just don’t do that if you want to get ahead.

We actually shut it down like old people tonight. 

RAIATEA French Polynesia

A absolute beautiful port. BUT tiki huts need work badly. First impression mean everything. This island has better housing and infrastructure. Our excursion today was a pearl farm and snorkeling. Our driver did not start the engine and it was a hot house in our van. Then grumpy Italians on board started whining. Suck it up buddy. One guest was late so we had to wait in the heat as the van was large and takes a long time to cool. The drive around the island was very nice. We had a boat trip out to a tiki hut away out in the ocean. Funny as I thought the thatch looked fake and sure enough made out of plastic but very real looking. 

The Pearl farming was very interesting.  It takes up to 6 to 8 years for a medium sized pearl. That is a huge financial burden .All man created by cutting up the conads and using a nucleus cut into the oyster to make a perfect pearl. The color of shell color determines the color of pearls with these guys making black pearls.

They had a necklace selling for $70k usd. We watched the whole process which was pretty neat.

Snorkeling was an after thought.  30 pairs of fins and one pair only, larger than size 8. Not good. I am hoping salt water sanitized the mouth pieces. I impressed again with MaryAnn using her noodle and snorkeling away.  The spot was not conducive to good snorkeling. Few fish, too shallow and oddly enough not the pristine aqua water.  But still fun. 

Walked around town but everything as I previously said closes at 4pm so pretty much stupid on the stores part. When they know a ship is at port keep them open until 7p.m. We have noticed the same attitude towards customer service with restaurant’s in particular not wanting business like we did in Brecon UK. Shuffled out and not wanting to serve. 

Supper on the back deck tonight which is fabulous.  A large moth kept us entertained.  For the last couple of nights with the girls not feeling well we limited our activity. Finally a coconut dish. Yahoo.

MOOREA French Polynesia

Without having to pay we saw a whale breach numerous times and today at least 20 dolphins playing and jumping just off our balcony this morning. That is good luck.

Today was our 4 x4 tour of the island. This was an exceptional package seeing and doing so many different thing.

We jump into our open back 4 x4 and head. First incredible scenery with many stops and interesting information. The island is sinking and the water is rising. So some beaches are now water covered. We visited the spots where numerous movies where filmed like Mutiny on the Bounty. The island is beautiful. Our next stop was learning about pineapples. So many different types. Another crop that takes for ever to grow. It always surprises me to see pineapples growing in dirt and not on trees. It is a dangerous job to work in the fields with the centipedes. They wear knee high rubber boots.

Hibiscus trees that flowers are yellow in the am and pink in the afternoon are pretty neat.

Next stop was to check out the Moorea Anaconda’s. I think he was teasing us but they are huge and referred to as eels. One lady just about had her finger bit.

A lookout at the top of the mountain after a neat trail ride was awesome.

Our guide was born and raised here but spent two years in France. One in the army as it was conscription and one year in prison as he didn’t get along with the rude French. This man comes from a family of 24 kids. For a celebration event he has dogs that hunt down 200 pound wild boars to cook. They tire out the boar so much and hold it down he comes and stabs it. A great guide.

Then the Brazilian steak house.  To much meat but delicious. I was surprised everyone picked this as it is a meat lovers choice and my party is far from that. A wonderful nice birthday supper and I even convinced the waiter to sing when he wasn’t supposed to. He checked around and started to sing and joke with us. Against the rules but he and us had fun. He even played a fun trick with the birthday candle. 

September 17th Jackie’s 65th birthday

Up early and bused to a beautiful hotel beach side to spend the day and await our plane ride.  Free lunch and drinks all day . They really took care of us. 

Alan and MaryAnn left even earlier and we don’t know what flight they will be on.  It sounded like an overnight stay in LA or Van for them.  Booking the flights and hotel with NCL went easy and hassle free and very nice. Our hospitality room and service was exceptional. Food and drinks all day at a beautiful resort. Funny though as we went poolside and ordered a drink we got a Canada Dry for $8 usd. Back to our hospitality room for free ones.  Lol  arrived at our hotel 9am and leaving for the airport at 5pm. Most people were struggling with Europe style plug-ins. I went to the front desk and they lent me a converter.  Nice to watch others panic when their phones are going dead.  Lol we have a multiple country kit but didn’t bring it. First night we used a USB cord. Luckily a gentleman brought a multi port usb charger so about 5 at a time were charging.

Quite a long wait for security for no reason. Must be island time. it was the most strict customs I have seen for a long time. Shoes and belts off. Liquids in plastic. Electronics check.

I will state this . Tahiti Airlines is no Fiji Airlines. Shitty food and hot hot in cabin. It didnt help I had a plugged nose so no sleep. ZERO sleep. Stuffed nose is my nemesis. I could not breathe out of any nostril and felt like I was suffering from lack of air the entire trip. It was my worst air trip that I remember. I was also trapped at the window so blowing my nose and needing more Kleenex was an issue. 3/4 of the way I switched to the outside seat and wow cool air and I cleaned up a bit, A bad trip and very tired now though.

Landing at LAX. This airport is mickey mouse. We land and walk a long ways to customs. We arrive and there must have been over a 1000 people in line. Back and forth like at Disneyland. I thought we may be at the wrong airport as 900 of the people were Asian. Three Japanese airplanes must have landed at the same time. It took quite awhile to get thru. We get thru and with very little instructions go to our gate for Westjet. We have to exit the airport and walk outside for at least a mile and re-enter to find our check in counter. Then we have to clear security again. The airport is so outdated and antiquated it should be blown up. It is bad.

On our Westjet flight we had premium plus seats which were awesome. Mega leg room.

Ok an overall synopsis of our trip.

Absolutely one of the most beautiful parts of the world. The waters can only be compared to the Caribbean and Greece but are much warmer and lively with the reefs and fish. Very happy friendly accommodating people with the same attitude of island time. The countries are poor unfortunately though. The beaches, the sand bottoms,  amazingly crystal clear waters,  aqua colored,  unique history and customs and some great excursions made it for us a once in a lifetime trip. My favorite one was the aqua safari under water dive.  Unique and very cool.  NCL as I said before was awesome. Love the small ship . I never complain but I will state this.  Their WiFi system SUCKS and we heard many people not happy with this.  We had great entertainment and varied which was perfect .  Alan would say he didn’t like getting woke up each morning by the speakers but he got unlucky having the speakers right at his door. I could comment that even though the food was delicious the choices in the main dining was weak for my liking.  A Canadian chef thinking everyone likes fish. He must have been at sea to long.

Other than the long flights the trip was absolutely wonderful and we had a great time with Alan and MaryAnn. I cannot see going back even knowing how wonderful it is only due to the flight time involved.

NCL-

• Food a 9 out of 10. More dining options than any ship we have been on. Fantastic specialty restaurants, excellent choices at the buffets. No chicken wings or nachos at the sports bar is dumb and the Canadian going away overboard on fish dishes is the only reason not a 10 out of 10. Fantastic

Service a 9 out of 10 . One staff to every two passengers is unbelievable. Everyone beyond friendly and helpful. The customer service desk personnel were a little off their game.

The ship a 10 out of 10. At 1800 passengers it was the smallest ship we have sailed on and i LOVE it. Not so many floors and easy to get around in. More dining options that any other ship. Smaller theatre and casino which worked out well.

Entertainment a 8 out of 10. They had some great shows, some decent shows and some bad ones. There were good singers in bars and there were screecher’s. It is entertainment but not high level but not so much worse than any other. The poles in the theatre are a pain in the butt.

Room a 9 out of 10. Funny as it is just slightly smaller than our motorhome. It had one bottleneck at the entrance to the bathroom/closet/bed but workable. Very very quiet with a unbelievably comfortable bed. Easy access patio door and nice sized patio.

Communication– NCL gets a 9 out of 10. They did a pretty good job of letting us know on everything. The towels available on the pier needs to be addressed. I was disappointed that our own travel agent this time let us down a bit after doing so well the first 5 times we cruised. I may go with some one else next time. I like to know far in advance any details to make my journey easier and am not convinced that happened.

Technology – a 2 out of 10 . Here is my only complaint on NCL. They are far behind other cruise lines in the technology. There app is only mediocre. But the system they have for wifi is a joke. You have to log into their app and then the wifi and depending on the plan have to log out or be charged continuously. I gave up and used my phone for a camera and Jackie gave up and bought an expensive package to circumvent the hassles.

Weight I would say we walked at least 15k steps per day, went up and down at least 20 flights of stairs per day. Jackie came home gaining only ONE pound. I gained SIX pounds but today dropped back down to just Three pounds over my leave weight which is not a realistic number to be at. My weight is exactly my target weight. I would say we are very pleased as I felt I have never had so much to eat in my life. Life is good.

I may be one day older than I know as we had to do a remake of Sept 9th due to the International Date line. It is odd.

Now to get over my man cold and get back to this warm summer like weather. Hopefully some visiting and some golf in before the dreaded snow hits.

Some random pictures:

Jackie’s birthday was at the end of our trip. A little off on the timing. But I hope she feels a little spoiled. We booked this cruise specifically as it was her 65th birthday. She was gifted a traditional full body massage from a local at our mud bath event by Alan & MaryAnn. We went to the Brazilian Steak house in her honor and even convinced the waiter to break protocol and sing a birthday song to her. She was gifted another Swedish massage on the ship on her last day aboard. She received gifts from her Mom, money from my Mom, and a Tim’s card from Alan & MaryAnn plus i left a card and gift on the bed for her on her return to open. You would think 65 was special.

Here is hoping for close to 30 more years. It just seems odd to me to have known Jackie now 50 years. Happy Birthday Jackie !

Thought of the Day

I was meant to be rich. I can tell by the way I spend money.

September 21st–22nd

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 22 degrees, Calgary 25 degrees, Mesa 36 degrees”

Gorgeous fall weather. I hope it stays until Nov 1st.

My cold still has not gone away. I had to whip and pick up some Nightquil. Nasal congestion affecting the ears. I know when we landed my ears were very painful. That dead head feeling with a blocked head is never fun. I rarely catch anything but the cold virus got me this time

Daisy is getting back to her routine and we are getting got up on our TV shows like Big Brother.

I whipped out to the lot. Quite a mess with leaves and bird shit. I am going to need to power wash but did not feel up to it. I used the blower, fixed up the flowers and cut the grass along with a lot of cleanup. I then worked on the fridge as the ignitor for the propane was not operating properly. UTUBE to the rescue and after an hour all is perfect in the world again. Just hate the feeling of being tired with a stuffed head. Oh well soon.

Lots of Big Brother to get up on.

Flu still lingering for Jackie and I . Unusually long. Not bad by any means but annoying.

I whipped out to Sobey’s this morning to fill the fridge as being away for so long there is lots needed. The shelves are still full which is good.

Drove over to AMA and they were busy ! Took awhile but got the insurance all done for another year.

Fixed up some computer things, and downloaded the new Alberta app. I like this and hopefully they will QUICKLY get more use of it. Currently it is just the Alberta Health Care card but I would like to see Alberta Drivers License, and Blue Cross card and a Alberta Fishing License on the app. It will be interesting to see how they tie this app with health care booking etc.

“MY RANT “

A short and sweet rant about things that are happening. My Grandad years ago said unions would break this country. We are lucky in Alberta limiting them but lately they are out of control again.

Currently affecting or will affect us, we have the Sobeys Distribution strike/lockout, the Canada Post Strike, the potential ATA strike/lockout, and the potential Air Canada Flight attendant strikes. Out of these 4 mentioned the ATA strike is the only one that is of urgency and I like the stance of not bending to a wage demand that is fair but being open to discuss other objections. Leave the Sobey workers on strike and automize the plant fully and eliminate or reduce another group of greedy workers. Shutter Canada Post and completely dissolve the corporation. We have numerous other private well run companies to pick up the slack. A company losing millions and the employees not happy with a fair wage increase is insane. The air industry in Canada had been destroyed by consistent demands. We pay more to fly to Toronto than American’s pay to fly to Europe. We limited our air space to help Canadian companies and laid the high fare rates onto the customer. Again a job were some one can be replaced easily and they were offered a very very fair compensation package including preloading and off time and they refused. Between NavCanada, and the CAA we need to relook at “rules to keep Air Canada in the air even if understaffed on flight decks.

Best case scenario is a mass firing and rehiring of individuals that want to be self thinkers not puppets but that is against the law. Countries like France that is heavily unionized are an example of the debt burden the everyday citizen must bear.

A great a BBQ meal tonight. I love roasted beets and how can you go wrong with a Sirloin steak. Wonderful supper ! While meals being made for you are wonderful they are not the same as a homemade meal.

Thought of the Day

No restaurant can compete with a home cooked meal

September 23rd–24th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 20 degrees, Calgary 26 degrees, Mesa 37 degrees”

Wow what a beautiful day. Jackie took Daisy for her long morning walk. Sunny, no wind and gorgeous.

Today was fire alarm testing day which goes on all day floor by floor and suite by suite. The alarms and flashing lights cause Daisy to get very anxious. So Audrey graciously allowed us to drop her off with her early as we had afternoon golf.

Jackie was working like made getting caught with her work which was good we had a later afternoon time. I didn’t think we would finish but lo & behold we did and just in time.

Jeff & Wendy and us golfed McKenzie Meadows today. First time in about three weeks. Overall not bad but not great. I lost three balls which kills the score but not bad with lateral penalties only. The course was in exceptional shape. Hopefully the rust leaves but I was not upset. Jackie did very well with a decent score and some wonderful shots. Wendy seemed to have a decent game with less do overs and missed shots. I don’t know the finals scoring for Jeff but he had a very good game with great drives today, some great chips and a few very long putts. it is nice to see his swing speed increase.

Fun day golfing . I was worried about Jackie getting tired as she kept walking instead of riding but she did well considering she is not feeling well. I took Dristan in the nose, a Tylenol Flu pill, ear drops and NightQuil residue and many many pieces of Kleenex. I actually was surprised I never felt tired at all. Maybe not hitting the ball as far as strength was sapped a bit. But pleased.

Interesting enough Wendy was also stuffed up and had her nose running. Must be something in the air. ( or snorkel) lol. I think after tonight I should be back to normal or close as possible.

A fun day !

A very unusual day for me and I still smile about it. I have not put even as much as a scratch on my vehicles for at least 40 years or more, that I remember, never mind a golf cart. I have seen numerous golf carts incidents multiple times with Wendy, Jenny, Keith and others especially when marshalling but today I actually hit a hole marker. I pulled into shade for Jackie ( I normally want to stay in the sun) and when I went to leave forgot the marker was one foot in front of us. Bam ! but luckily so close and no speed so no damage but funny.

Dancing with the Stars this year has some amazing people. Quite a mix and especially talented. Really only three weak groupings.

Thought of the Day

Accidents really aren’t accidental but arrivals of circumstance at the wrong time.

Sept 24th /25th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 16 degrees, Calgary 17 degrees, Mesa 41 degrees,”

Looks like time to leave as the colder air hit Alberta. I have to figure out my days I am allowed.

Random Thoughts

I love the differences in everyone. It is what makes the world go around. There are sayings that couples start to look like one another after a period of time and I would say that is perhaps only in a limited amount of cases, But couples do start to think like one another quite often. So many give up their own identity and assume the likes or dislikes of the other. I remember one year when Dad and Mom were voting for different political parties and the interaction. I like the fact Jackie and I can have complete different perspectives on things and enjoy the welcome that fact.

I see so many people influenced by trends and fads and I see people over and over gain falling for gimmicks. Everyone wants an easy fix, quick remedy, or to believe something works or is good for you. I think common sense, I think normal everyday rationalization of a product or idea is gone, as people are trusting media, hear say and gossip. Years ago we had the snake oil gimmick. Today we are inundated with products or ideas that promise the holy grail. I absolutely believe in the placebo affect but I don’t want to be part of a trial that requires me to be in that place. I would rather use common sense, logic, normal reasoning and confirm my own belief without the trust in a celebrity, social influencer or even someone within a profession telling me it is the next best thing in the world. I don’t care what industry we look at but it is happening in them all. But in the health care world as it is a lucrative arena due to fear on the partakers part not only has the big pharma going overboard but the whackos and nuts have come out and are all making unheard of profits. It has been happening for years but much more pronounced now. Some of these gimmicks have a small impact on what they are trying to accomplish but most are just fads, trends and ideas that gullible people are willing to try. We have a pill now for everything. EVERYTHING.

I dropped off Daisy for her haircut today as Jackie was running errands with Audrey today in between working.

When I picked her up and went into the salon there was hair flying everywhere as a Lassie was on the table getting a do.

When I got her home and she had supper it took her 2 minutes to get food in her beard. But she sure does smell good.

She even looks guilty. lol Wrecked her looks, now her Mom will have to brush her to get her looking pretty again.

Summers back. What a gorgeous day to golf. No wind and sunny. Today as my league ended early I was golfing with Larry & Rick. We decided to play a interesting game called 6’s and a hole match game. The potential was to lose $16 if you lost everything on the 6 game and $6 on the match game. It ended up Larry owed me $2 and I owed Rick $4. It was a little tense as every hole playing was at money at stake.

As I said it was one of the more fun days playing but we all played poorly. I started off decent with four pars on the front nine but away to many errors resulting in a 9, 8 and 8 showing up. Still a wonderful day. Some bad luck, some horrible shots.

I smiled tonight while watching the news. The govt is downsizing Canada Post. I think it should have been dissolved but at least they are on the right track trying to right size it. The perfect example of the stupidity of a union with unrealistic demands especially with a company losing money, The right sizing will result in a drastic reduction of the workforce. And they go on strike again. Amazing.

The same news showing the population growth in Alberta mostly caused by the Federal govt immigration policy and our success and we have teachers and nurses wondering why the schools and the hospitals are full.

It seems easy to figure out but everyone just wants governments to spend money and the NDP just keeps making promises that will bankrupt us but make every union employee happy. Luckily only 24 % of the labor force in Alberta in unionized with it being mostly public workers.

September 27th-28th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 16 degrees, Calgary 17 degrees, Mesa 31 degrees”

What a great weekend. The perfect fall weather. Cool nights and sunny warm days.

We went out to the lot on Friday night and stayed all weekend. As fast as thi summer went it was nice to have a weekend just to do nothing without any appointments, meetings, golf games etc. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire weekend.

Relaxing to me is doing landscaping, beautification of the lot and dicking around. Until Jackie arrived I fixed up things, cleaned up things and sorted things.

I love sitting outside eating in the gazebo. I made roasted potatoes, BBQ’d 1 in thick pork chops and fresh picked ( out of our garden ) carrots along with a salad with fresh lettuce out of the garden.

We pulled all of the carrots out and cut the rest of the lettuce out. Carrots were slow growing but we did plant late but at least 6 inches long.

In between cleaning and relaxing we managed a couple of Wordle games. Tough weekend with Jackie getting one in 6 and 4 and myself a fail and 3. Fun game !

Visiting with lots of neighbors. Our neighbor two down for the second year in row is our Turner Valley ladies team challenge champion. That is quite a feat !

The typical lawn cutting, weed pulling, flower picking and dusting.

The nights are so wonderful as they are DARK and so quiet it is unbelievable. Add to that the natural cold nights and sleeping is heaven, In fact it was so cool this morning that in a rare occurrence Daisy actually spent time under the covers.

The NightQuil and Dristan still has to be used which is dumb. That is 10 days of having a cold. Rare and weird.

The WID which controls the irrigation canal for the farmers and where we draw our irrigation water from closes the use Oct 1st. So our system shuts down tomorrow. Sooo I spent the morning blowing out the lines for the winter . It is a shame as the flowers are still looking great but it doesn’t long with with no water to start to wilt. I will try to go out often enough to keep some alive until a frost hits them. If we weren’t having Thanksgiving out there I would shut down the RV and place but have to hold it open until then. Potable water goes off on the 13th. A RV can withstand evening temperatures of about minus 5 maximin for a few days. If the weather forecast shows this it will be a rush job out to winterize. I will pick up antifreeze tomorrow to beat the rush along with mouse poison. Yes I poison these pests. We have so lucky that in owning a RV for close to 40 yrs we have no mice in any unit. I will poison them again this year. Not as easy any more as the do-gooders made pellets not available anymore as it was considered mean to the mice.

It is such a shame as they are looking pretty good right now.

Daisy just waiting for someone, anyone to walk or drive by.

Jackie & I spent a few hours, power washing and brushing and using the Chamois to clean the motorhome. The irrigation system is supposed to be on 7 to 11 and 4 to 7 everyday. I missed the morning time as we were enjoying our cool, quiet sleep so I readied everything for the 4 pm start. Takes a bit be ready as hoses, electrically cords and connections have to done.

I was annoyed a bit when after doing this it wasn’t started. I have to say between irrigation and the store, Oasis has been consistently inconsistent. They could increase the store sales a lot by committing to and staying with a set hours of operation. The irrigation has been off and on a way too sporadically to trust the timing. Luckily it started at 5 and we started working like mad. We did the motorhome and then worked on cleaning the gazebo, sprayed the shed and decks. The screens came out great.

Another awesome BBQ supper. Daisy is loving the action in the park. Not only the path in front of us but all thru the park.

Quite a day in sports. The Blue Jays winning the division title is excellent. Two more series to win. Tough competition coming up with the Boston or NYC so good ball ahead.

Now golf another story. Two things. I am disappointed in the NY fans and Rory. The fans showed no respect and should know better as there are rules and etiquette that needs to be followed. They did not. No excuses. Having said that the whining, crying, little leprechaun once again showed his class. This guy should be kicked out of the PGA. It seems he consistently is involved in controversary. The entitled arrogancant posturing is hard to watch. There is a HUGE swing away from spectators liking this guy which is good. I have never liked him as his type just rubs me the wrong way and nice to see the majority of the fan base is feeling the same. I thought Scotty, Bryson and Keegan all handled themselves professionally. Not without incidence but not like a foul mouthed Rory. He misses a putt and slams his putter in the greens wrecking the surface for others should be a penalty stroke. Fan engagement with foul language should be reason enough to kick him off the course. Same goes for the inconsiderate fans. The fan that threw the beer should be charged with intent to injure. Stupid. !

Europe players all played very well and were well deserved in the win.

We have Rory in golf and McDavid in hockey from the same cloth with Rory winning the race of spiraling down.

After supper we went to start the dishwasher. Hiccup as it would not start. Now our appliances are now 19 years old as we moved in here in 2006. They all are still perfect with the odd repair here and there. Today after a difficult length of time and between Jackie and I after resetting and resetting it started once again. Hopefully its life is extended again. It is the hassle more than anything of removing and installing. Utube is a wonderful thing.

Love that Westjet is removing the option to recline your seats in economy. You want to recline pay for a premium seat with more spacing so it doesn’t impact the passenger behind you. Good idea.

Watched the finale of Big Brother and a little surprised at the winner as the jury voted on likeability not playing skill. Still fun to watch.

Thought of the Day

You know if nipples didn’t exist boobs would be pointless.

Sept 29th–30th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 24 degrees, Calgary 27 degrees, Mesa 33 degrees”

Some beautiful weather in Alberta. Basically October and summer like temperatures.

Not so much for Mesa. Now they are getting needed moisture, even though flooding is happening but along with it haboob winds. Viewpoint had a fair amount of damage again with carports being blown off and scattered over the golf course.

As far as I know we did not have any damage but my plexiglass with the wind load makes me a little tentative.

Today was service day for the Jeep. As you know I believe the auto repair industry is fraught with crooks trying to make a buck and often are over zealous and just about blatant thieves. The industry has even had W5 and others investigate and concur with my thoughts of unscrupulous business practices happening.

I bought my Jeep with a LIFE TIME free oil change. It is now 13 years of free oil changes. Take two oil changes per year x 13 at $100 each time that has saved me $2600 in oil changes. It hasn’t been the perfect deal. First they started a environmental fee charge of $10 each claiming it was a government regulation. I said my contract says free but after a long battle I lived with the ten bucks. Then they had pulled out a clause that service had to be at their shop. So I gave them the odd nickel and dime service and they left me alone.

My EXPRESS Oil change today only took 3.5 hours. It is their way of breaking me. I buy Tim’s breakfast and the Sun paper and watch TV in their lounge. I will not fold. I actually find it funny. I would love to see the notes beside my name on how they handle it. LOL

I did have them do a 4 wheel alignment as I felt a bit of movement in the front end. I told Jackie watch a $4K bill for front end parts to do the suspension. Surprise the components all were good but the alignment was out by 26 degrees on one side so good to get it fixed.

And today only a $3100 bill to bring the truck up to their standards. This drives me nuts as they base everything on their own repairs and mileage not actually checking anything. I follow the manufacturers guide and record every repair with mileage. My diffs were all done at 150K but on the list today it showed. LOL Along with dumb other stuff that has all been looked after. One thing again like what happened years ago with my tire tread depth measuring low and then high the next oil change a item they said last time needed to repair this time was perfect. Crooks. !

Anyway another fun day and they will not win. I should keep this truck for 20 years to just to bug them for oil changes. LOL

I then whipped to Golf Town as I have one club that needs to be repaired that the hosel came loose on. Nope, not until Wednesday for a 10 min repair job. I was told about a great shop on 114 Ave so I whipped there and these guys will have all of my business plus I will tell everyone to use them. A small shop, super customer service, lots to offer, maybe a little more price wise, but more than worth it. THE LEADING EDGE on 114ave is the place for club fitting, new grips, golf accessories and screen time. Use them. I know it is my go to place.

All fixed up and made some new friends that I will use for sure.

Happy Birthday to Camaro. The first Gen Camaro being the best looking muscle car of all time. First Camaro of the assembly line 59 yrs ago. Still better looking than new car,

I always like to be ahead of the game. Be prepared . So the teachers decided they want to have an extended holiday so as a responsible grandparent and preparing the kids for time off we headed to a movie. This movie Demon Slayers is likely the best movie we have ever seen. Three hours of Asian animation and as described by a movie critic, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle follows protagonist Tanjiro Kamado and his Hashira allies—the most formidable warriors in the Demon Slayer Corps—as they are ensnared in a trap laid by Muzan Kibutsuji, the quasi-immortal King of Demons and Tanjiro’s nemesis. Mere moments from being defeated, Muzan teleports Tanjiro, along with every member of the Demon Slayer Corps, into the impossible, recursive depths of his stronghold, the titular Infinity Castle. Beset by hordes of ravenous, man-eating demons led by Muzan’s lieutenants, and bewildered by this non-Euclidean pocket dimension, Tanjiro and his allies must regain their footing and fight for their lives as they make one last stand to defeat Muzan once and for all.

We could have gone out to Boston Pizza for the cost of popcorn and pop and treats at the movie theater. Odd enough the theatre wasn’t full considering the impact this movie had on everyone.

I can’t speak for everyone else but it was action packed. A love story combined with non stop action. Jackie, Jessica, Atticus, August, Jackson and I at the movie house.

It was a long movie close to 3 hours.

After the movie we took the kids to Mac’s to pick up some treats. The oddest thing these kids and their choices. I went in with them expecting chocolate bars, chips and Slurpee’s and we come out with Ramen noodles, chocolate milk, gum and no snacks. What !!

The shirts are in recognition of Fiji’s Independence Day that we brought back

Don’t tell anyone but I DID not understand the plot of this movie. I was just kidding about it being the greatest movie ever. I just didn’t get it. Must be made for kids I guess.

Jackie & Jessica polished off a bottle of wine, the kids played until midnight and then we had a house full of sleeping people. Slumber party.

A late morning near dinner time really so we decided to have a family brunch. What better place than Debby’s for breakfast. Jackie whipped to pick up Audrey and readied to get ready and ended up at Denny’s about 11:30. Missed the breakfast rush and beat the dunner crowd. We all got Slammed. You can not beat Denny’s. We had French Toast, We had Pancakes, bacon, sausages, hashbrowns, toast, eggs scrambled and fried and with hollandaise sauce. It was all wonderful tasting and a fun gathering. Even Diet Coke and milkshakes showed up for breakfast. It is one of my favorite meals.

“Memories”

Has to be 30 yrs ago now we took Mom & Dad to Hawaii on a trip. Every morning for two weeks we walked across to Denny’s and I had the American Slam. Loved it then and loved my Canadian Slam today

A few more games after and then the Hicken’s left to head back to Raymond, A fun gathering. Next time with Turkey we will be together.

Hey with a postal and teachers strike maybe we could get the kids to deliver the mail. Gives them something to do and we get mail service.

I was looking at Canada’s debt to GDP ratio and we are looking bad. Carney even though thrown a loop with the tariffs has made us even worse than when Trudeau was the PM. It is like NO ONE knows what a budget is. You can’t spend more than you make, you can’t give money to countries when you can’t even pay your own bills, you can’t give raises to anyone when there is no money. It baffles me why a portion of the left leaning population can’t see this.

The weather for September this year was spectacular. Now we were away for a lot of it but it is lovely when it happens. One more month of good weather please. LOL

Thought of the Day

One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter. Mesa I hear you.