Almost Home

Thursday - A very windy travel day with both cross and head winds. So the gas mileage has dropped to about 7mpg. This RV is much less stable than the class A in the wind. And, much noisier as it would downshift a lot just from the headwind. We stopped for lunch just east of Del Rio near the Air Force base and noticed this in the median. 

I’m not exactly sure what it is maybe the logo for the flight school. It is really only visible from the air. 

At this point, we were less than 100miles from the SKP park so we forged ahead into a 35mph headwind. At least it’s fairly flat and there isn’t a whole lot of traffic. Bridget is driving now even with the wind. It’s nice to have a second driver. 

No issues with dry camping last night though I really would prefer more information. I already ordered a Victron shunt and plan on an inverter. 

We arrived back at the SKP park around 3:30 fighting a quartering headwind for the last hundred miles. It didn’t take long to unpack then move the RV into storage. 

Fort Stockton, TX

Wednesday - We left Deming around 9:30 after a cold-ish overnight low of around freezing. The propane furnace works fine but the thermostat doesn’t actually show temperature. It just has a slider for warmer or cooler. We left with a full tank of propane and I’ll get it refilled when we get back to Hondo. Bridget doesn’t seem to mind driving this RV. As long as it isn’t in the city. El Paso was, as usual, a pain to drive through. Lots of construction, traffic, and narrow lanes (due to all of the construction).

I’m not sure if the tank sensors actually work so I emptied the tanks in Deming since we were at an RV park. We’ve identified a few more things that are needed for more functionality and they have been ordered.

We stopped at the Fort Stockton rest area around 4pm. We lost an hour of travel time due to the time zone change. It’s a nice rest area and Texas allows overnight parking. Once we pass Fort Stockton, there aren’t many places to stop especially not this nice. We really want to see how things go dry camping in this RV. Only 311 miles to go.

Mesa, AZ

Monday - Sitting in the dealership this morning waiting. A lot of waiting. The dealership needs to fix a leak in the kitchen sink drain and convince us that there is no real damage to the wood floor underneath the cabinet. Plus, we are waiting to hear back from the credit union in Fairbanks that they received our wire transfer request and that they can process it as soon as possible. 

We were on the road around 3:30. This RV has a harsher ride and noisier than the class A. More like driving the truck. We filled up in Eloy, AZ, at the Love’s and the gas pumps are much slower than the diesel pumps in the truck lanes.

We stopped at a friend’s home in Tucson leaving the RV on the street in front of their home. 

Tuesday - After picking up some groceries, we headed east towards TX. It was windy for most of the day but it was mostly from the west so more of a tailwind. There was only one time that the dust storm was on the highway and only for about 1/4 of a mile. 

We stopped at the Escapee park in Deming, NM. We had stopped here before back in November on our way to California so it is familiar. The only “problem” is the city water connection is really worn so it’s somewhat challenging to tighten the hose. 

I filled up the gas tank here in Deming even though it was just under an half tank. I was wondering about the gas mileage. We are getting just under 10mpg which is about what I expected. That’s with me driving around 63mph mostly with the cruise control engaged. All gauges readings were nominal for the entire trip. The ride is harsher than the class A and it’s much noisier since the engine is up front and runs at a higher rpm. Plus, there was a lot of rattling from the stove burners and the almost empty cabinets. 

Mesa, AZ

Friday - We had dinner in Mesa, AZ, at a Denny’s and arrived at our hotel after 1am. It was a long day and the day really reinforced my dislike of flying. I was up and about in time for the free hotel breakfast. Nothing special but more than adequate. 

We then headed to Cruise America, which is a business that rents RVs. We are considering purchasing one of the former rentals that they refurbish. The exterior looks almost new and the interior, while not pristine, looks to be in decent shape. 

Saturday - This morning, we had an RV inspection done to identify current and prior issues. She was very thorough and identified several minor and one major problem which need to be addressed by the dealer. 

We then headed down to Casa Grande to visit with friends Kevin and Charla at the Encore RV Park. We had stayed at the park numerous times over the years. We had dinner at Black Bear Diner in Eloy, AZ, before checking into our hotel in Casa Grande. 

Hondo, TX - SKP

Monday - It's warm again! In fact, the A/C just kicked on at 11:30am! I was testing the "Auto" function on the thermostat which switches between the heat pump and the A/C but since you have to pick a one temperature, it either has the heat too warm or the A/C too low. So I'm forced to learn how to program the thermostat. It's now set to switch to "Auto" at 9am at 72°F and the heat pump at 9pm at 68°F. We'll see how that works over the next couple of days.

Tuesday - The mount for the dashcam had broken a while back and I was just going to replace the camera. But I have all of these bits and pieces for the GoPro. There must be something that'll work. i did find some pieces that I "modified" with a Dremel and I think that it should work. Probably better than the original mount as the GoPro bits are much sturdier.

BTW, did I mention that it’s hot again. Quite the change from last week. I’m not sure how long it’s going to last but, hopefully, it’ll stick around for at least a week. 

Thursday - Today was the coop annual meeting. Right after the meeting was over, we were off to the airport. The cheapest flight we could find was on Frontier where they charge for everything. If you need to talk to an agent, that’s $20.  It took a while to figure out how to check in and get a baggage tag printed out ($55 for the first bag as long as it’s under 40#. The counter staff didn’t even show up until the 2 hours before the flight. At that point, the line was almost the full length of the concourse. 

Renting a car at the airport yesterday afternoon to return today was a reasonable, cost-saving strategy. It was less than long term parking and less than Lyft/Uber. And much more convenient. More later on the reason for the trip. 

Still Cold

Thursday - Another cold morning. It didn’t get as cold as was predicted, which was 21°F, but cold enough for this area. I believe the park was planning to shut off the water last night but I don’t know if they did. A number of people here aren’t set up to use their own tanks such as broken pumps. I’m not sure the park models even have tanks. 

I did do a quick check around the RV and no obvious leaks. I still have the water turned off at the pedestal but still have everything hooked up. The pedestal was nice and warm as was the wet bay. I can disassemble all of this on Sunday as the forecast is for highs of 75°F. Texas weather is fickle…

Friday - Another cold day here at the SKP park with an overnight low of 30°F. Not really that cold but you must realize that around here, water pipes are buried maybe 1”. In many cases they are on the surface. Freezing temperatures aren’t the norm. Pictured is our water line with the main line running near the top of the picture. I believe that the park has the water turned off or at least I hope they do.

Saturday - A wet, cold morning. Not a lot of rain but at least it was above freezing. It's on 40°F at 10am but the forecast for tomorrow is 70°F. I think that winter may be over (finally!). There is no more wind in the forecast so I put out the awning to allow it to dry off. When I put it away last week, it was raining. 

Right now, I'm waiting for the morning test session to start. By morning, that's Alaska time so for me it's late morning. I won't be sitting outside for the test session.

Errands & Cold

Monday - Another Costco run partly to pick up corned beef. I’m making St Patrick’s Day dinner next month and Costco had some nice, large flats. 

Tuesday - A morning trip to Uvalde to pick up a prescription for a sore knee. And while I was there, I finally got around to my flu shot. Probably a bit late but the Dr said that I should get it every year. After the Walgreens was H-E-B right across the street for essentials such as ground coffee! 

Not really sure what the knee issue is but I did visit the clinic last week. They took some X-rays and prescribed some medication. 

Wednesday - Winter has arrived again. The temperature was barely back up to freezing by 10:30am and the forecasted high is mid-40s before dropping back to 21°F tomorrow morning. The whole state is cold with northern TX dropping in negative single digits. Plus, the wind isn’t helping much with gusts to 25mph. 

Fredericksburg

Wednesday - I rode the Ural into town today but it was hard to start. Usually, it starts on the first compression but everything was wet from last night's rain. Maybe that had something to do with it. But it did eventually start and I made my morning appointment. UDF after I made it back to the rig. Someone with a lot of questions. 

Thursday - I drove into San Antonio and picked up our friends from Fairbanks and we headed to explore Fredericksburg. On previous trips, the Nimitz Museum was closed but it was open today. It is a huge museum with a lot of exhibits. We didn't even get to all of the sections of the museum. It was pretty cold at 45°F with a north wind.

We had lunch at a small German restaurant and the food was delicious. The German bakery that we visited in the past was closed (on Wednesday and Thursday) but we did find another small bakery down the street was open. We then headed to Hondo as they wanted to see where we were living before heading back into San Antonio to their new hotel. The first one had some sort of conference so they couldn't extend their stay. We had dinner at Rudy's Barbecue and the food was delicious. The place is in a repurposed gas station so not a deluxe restaurant location. Tables and chairs were set up in what used to be the garage. 

Saturday - I had an early morning test session today and noticed it rained last night. I also participated in the regular late-morning session. There are some sub-freezing temperatures in next week's forecast I had removed the "winter water" setup a bit too early. Putting all that back in place will be this afternoon's activity. It had warmed up to 78°F by late afternoon. Quite a change from the last couple of days. I did need to run into Hondo for a new short hose. The old one was leaking at the fittings. I couldn't find repair parts at the hardware store so I ended up picking up a new 10' hose. I now have two hoses that just need the brass fittings replaced. Another Amazon order...

Dinner was at the small Mexican restaurant in D'Hanis. Very tasty dishes and huge servings. 

San Antonio Touristing

Monday - Not too much exciting going on today. After the morning test session, we picked up some groceries and printed all of the paperwork for our taxes. 

Tuesday - This morning, we drove into San Antonio to meet up with Ron and Connie from Fairbanks. They were on a cruise and decided to do some sightseeing around TX. Since it was sprinkling, we drove to a couple of the missions. This is Mission San Francisco de la Espada, the one furthest south from San Antonio. We had also stopped at Mission Concepción but I didn’t take a picture. 

Before heading back to the River Walk area, we stopped at a local Mexican restaurant for lunch. In San Antonio, we parked at the Houston Street parking garage. At $10 for all day parking, it was more reasonable than most of the other parking options in the Riverwalk area.

We also visited the Alamo as it is the iconic tourist destination in San Antonio. The site has changed quite a bit since our last visit but there is still a lot of restoration work being done at the site. 

Minor Ural Repair

Wednesday - Another grocery run to the much larger H-E-B in Uvalde which is a town around 30 miles west of here. Not as hectic of a drive as heading towards San Antonio. 

I finally installed the exhaust gaskets on the Ural. They fell apart when I pulled the heads back in November and it took quite a while to get a couple of replacements during the Christmas holidays. Plus, when I received the order, they shipped the wrong order. So I now have some new fuel filters and fuel line courtesy of Raceway. 

Thursday - I took the Ural for a short ride into Hondo to see if the exhaust gaskets quieted things down. Not really and there is still an occasional “pop” in the exhaust. This usually suggests an exhaust leak leaking fresh air into the exhaust. There is slightly more power now than yesterday and the only change was the exhaust gasket install. Full throttle now gets you to 65+ mph. When I rode it to Pipe Creek, it would top out at around 60mph. 

Friday - A morning test session today. It's only 71°F right now (11:30am) though the RH is 84% so it feels kind of muggy. 

RV Tasks

Monday - My attempt at fixing the chip on our windshield. I should've taken a "before" picture as this looks like it'll do the job. The challenge was that the repair kit was designed for a regular, angled windshield. The RV windshield is almost vertical so the repair liquid didn’t pool on surface of the windshield on the chip.

It hit 82°F by mid-afternoon so I’m glad we have the new A/C unit installed. 

Tuesday - It's an overcast, humid (81% RH) morning. Fortunately, it isn't too hot yet, though the forecast is for highs in the low 80s! I'm outside for the morning test session. I packed away the winter water insulation as it had gotten wet when it touched the ground. I noticed that the short hoses that I've been using for years have slow leaks where the fittings attach to the hose. I like the short ones for when we are in the park as it's only about 6' from the spigot to the RV.

After the morning test session, I rode the Ural to Pipe Creek which is east of Bandara. About 95 miles round trip. I just needed to open an account at the propane business so we can easily get our tanks filled without needing to wait for the tanker truck. It was a nice ride. This was the first long-ish trip since we’ve been back this year. 

Warm Day

Sunday - Clear and sunny. I neglected to check the dip switches on the A/C unit yesterday so the thermostat didn’t know there was a furnace installed. The heat pump worked just fine. This morning, I pulled off the covers to access the dip switch and enabled the furnace. Then reset the thermostat.

RMarx helped again to lower the old A/C unit and dismantle the scaffold. Still more projects and I can no longer use weather as an excuse. 

Next task was de-wintering our water inlet. Packed up the heated water hose, pack up the fiberglass insulation I had wrapped around the water spigot, re-install the water softener, etc. I probably need to regen the softener as the last time was at Bay Landing. I’ll need two containers of table salt for that task. 

I still need to repair the chip in the windshield and install the SS slide skis on the living room slide. The RJ45 pass through for the StarLink still needs to be installed … somewhere. And the replacement slide topper for the kitchen slide is still waiting to be installed. And I’m sure that there are many more things such as Ural exhaust gaskets.

Back in the SKP Park - New A/C

Friday - For most of this week, this is what the weather has been like. Drizzle to rain almost continuously. Yesterday, it started to clear up but the wind kept the temperature in the upper 60s (°F). It was even warm enough for me to participate in a test while sitting outside!

The new front A/C w/heat pump arrived on Wednesday afternoon. It’s around 100# and the biggest challenge is getting it up onto the roof. The park has scaffolding available which I picked up yesterday afternoon. This is the first time I’ve needed the trailer since we arrived.

I have the first 5’ of the scaffolding assembled and need to figure out where the best location for it. I might just move the kitchen slide in and set it up there. Maybe I’ll replace the slide topper while I have the scaffolding set up. 

This morning, we drove to the outskirts of San Antonio to an urgent care for Bridget. It just happened to be near Costco so a visit may be in order.

Saturday - This morning after I helped with the park “dump run”, RMarx helped me to add the second level to the scaffolding and lift the new A/C unit up onto the roof. I then disconnected the wiring and unbolted the old unit from the roof. I’m in the process of lining it up with the roof opening before finishing up the wiring. There are dip switches on the control board that need to be set before testing. The final task is moving the old unit back down to the ground where I plan to salvage some parts.

It’s a very pleasant 72°F right now with a light breeze. Very pleasant. It would’ve been a great day for a motorcycle ride to just about anywhere. 

Later - The new A/C unit is mostly installed. It’s running right now as the RV was almost 80°F. The air from the A/C unit is 48°F so it appears to work. I still need to tape some foam into the ductwork to isolate the intake and outlet from each other.

Day 7 - Sea Day

Saturday - Today the ship is heading back to Galveston into a 35kt quartering headwind. The net result is an apparent wind of around 45kts according to the status screen. You can feel some movement but this ship is pretty stable due to its size. You can hear the empty hangers rattling in the closet as a reminder that the trip is almost over. It really has been a nice vacation. To me, the most enjoyable part have been the sea days. I could really take or leave the ports and excursions. We’ll arrive sometime tomorrow in the early morning and our departure window opens at 8:45am. The picture was actually taken at lunch but it was the only picture I took all day.

Breakfast was in the main dining room with Bill and Casey from the park. I don’t have much planned today besides packing. We need to vacate the room by 8am tomorrow and we opted out of the crew moving our luggage. This gives us more flexibility but we will need to carry our luggage off the ship. Hopefully we can get most of it into luggage with wheels. 

Mid-morning was spent in the solarium. Supposedly a quiet place but there are a few loud people but it’s generally pretty quiet. I heard that there is slow WiFi available in the card room. 

Later - Sigh, No WiFi on the card room. We had lunch in the main dining room. I think we both decided that we like someone bringing us the food instead of fighting the crowds at the buffet. On sea days, they serve lunch so we took advantage of it. 

It seems like I came down with a fever today. And an annoying cough. Bridget brought me dinner from the main dining room. It was a delicious lamb shank! Fabulous flavor with some mint jelly and pearl onions!

Since I’m feeling sick (tired, cough, aches) we opted for the crew to take all except our carry on bags.

Day 6 - Cozumel, Mexico

Friday - Today’s adventure started early. We met Gail, one other member from the park, for breakfast at Park Place. The toasted onion bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon, onion, and capers was delicious. We had an excursion scheduled which started with a bus ride to some Mayan ruins followed by a couple more stops. After signing waivers we headed out. Travel on the road system here seemed much more controlled than Roatan. Traffic signals!

The Mayan ruins at San Gervasio were less impressive than expected. Then again, Cozumel is a small island. No pyramids. Several foundations for a temple, palace, and other limestone structures. The commoners lived in wooden structures. Many of the buildings had their stones taken by conquering Spaniards for their own buildings and churches. 

It was interesting and the guide did a fantastic job. One thing that surprised me was the lack of any writing but that could have been due to the site being picked over in the past. While we were there, I did pick up some more extra-strength Ibuprofen for less than we paid yesterday. $35 for 100 tablets versus $20 for 50. Still more than Los Algodones. But I now have enough to last for a while. 

We then stopped at a honey bee place to give us an opportunity to buy more stuff. I think it was associated with the tour company. The claimed reason was to allow a shaman to “bless” the obsidian pendants that people purchased at the previous stop. The next stop was scheduled and listed on the itinerary. A chocolate demonstration at the Mayan Cacao Company. They gave us the history including how it was used by the Mayans. They did a demonstration of grinding the cacao nibs and adding honey, allspice, cinnamon, and a few other things to make Mayan chocolate. Their traditional drink is mixed with water. Using milk was a European thing after the cacao was brought back to Europe by the Spaniards. 

We arrived back at the ship around 2:45 and we hit up the hot dog place again for a quick snack as we missed lunch. This excursion was fairly long time-wise and we ended up traversing the entire road system of the island. 

Tomorrow is a sea day as we head back to Galveston. 

Day 5 - Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico

Thursday - We arrived around 7am and were moving very slowly towards the dock. The picture is of the forward view on the TV. You could see also tell that it’s raining again. The port “town” looks pretty small and probably composed of the cruise owned shops and restaurants. There are also replica Mayan ruins not too far from the cruise terminal. Very touristy. After breakfast, we disembarked from the ship to wander around the port and, possibly, the town. 

Later - The port area was a zoo. There were two other ships docked so it was packed with people. I was looking for a drug store to pick up some ibuprofen. The closer you were to the ships the higher the price. I did get some but it was 4x the price as Los Algodones. The area around the port was much better economically than Roatan. 

There were a number of tourist oriented businesses that seemed to be doing well. We were told that the residents and businesses have been successful in keeping out the cartels. After a couple of hours I headed back to the ship. 

Lunch was at the main buffet as there isn’t a lot of choice on port days. On sea days, the main dining room is open for lunch. To me, a better food choice.

Dinner was in the main dining room and was Mexican themed. I ended up having the mac & cheese from the kids menu as an appetizer. It was good. The carne asada was alright but could’ve been marinated longer. The carne asada from Sprouts in Tucson is the one to beat. So far, nothing else has come close. Tonight’s event is a show in the aqua theater at the rear of the ship. 

Even later - The show in the aqua theatre was excellent. Lots of acrobatics and aerial work with water, dancing, and thumping music. And this was on a moving ship and a 45kt apparent wind. Though the theatre was partially shielded by the ship itself. The water in the pool was sloshing from side to side and by the end of the show, the rain picked up enough to drive some people to leave early. The person next to me had seen it multiple times and mentioned that they will modify the show based on how rough the seas are and the wind. A couple of nights ago, it was cancelled. On that day the wind was blowing from the stern which would be right into the theatre. 

Definitely one of the most nerve-wracking parts of the show was the tight rope walker. It was windy and the ship was moving from side to side. Granted, he was tied in but still, Im amazed that this part of the show wasn't cancelled.

Another port day tomorrow in Cozumel. 

Day 4 - Roatan, Honduras

Wednesday - I think we arrived at Roatan, Honduras, very early this morning as at around 1:30 am or so, I couldn’t feel any movement or vibration from the engines. Roatan is on an island quite a way from the mainland. And, we are as far south as this cruise goes. We will head north after making two stops in Mexico before heading back to Galveston. 

It is warm and wet today with light rain in the forecast throughout the day. We had breakfast in the large buffet. It was less “zoo-like” than other times but still busy. Most people were focused on getting in and out in time for their shore excursions. 

We left the ship around 9:30 and I spent some time wandering around the port including about 1/4 mile in each direction from the cruise terminal. Not much outside of the terminal area and all of the shops and restaurants in the terminal area charged cruise prices. It was raining for most of my walk so I headed back to the ship and headed for the hot tub in the solarium. It was nice. A light breeze, some rain, and only a couple of other people. On my walk outside of the terminal area, it really felt third-world. No traffic signs of signals. Sidewalks were barely there and all of the sideroads were mud. 

I had stopped by the room earlier and they were cleaning it so I headed elsewhere. Lunch was a make-your-own salad (or more accurately you tell them what you want and they make your salad) and a tuna-provolone grilled panini from the Park Cafe. Sitting outside in the park was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the buffet. And the salad was just what I needed after too many multicourse dinners and buffets.

The dinner theme is Caribbean. So coconut shrimp and jerk seasoning are on tonight’s menu. The jerk pork chop was the star of the meal. No picture of the meal but it was very tasty.

Tonight, we saw an ice show. Yes, there is a small ice rink on the ship. The show was based in France in 1887. At least that’s was the start. There were several jumps back in time but since I don’t understand French, the story was hard to follow. But the skaters were fantastic with multiple spins, jumps, and lifts. And a variety of costumes. 

This post was done on the computer rather than the phone. So much easier...

Day 3 - Sea Day

Tuesday - Quite a change first thing in the morning. It was 75°F at 7am with scattered clouds. We were passing just to the east of Cancun in much shallower water. The TV reports water depth as well as location, speed, heading, temperature, humidity, and air pressure. At one point yesterday, the depth was almost 4,000 m as opposed to 30 m this morning. 

Breakfast was the complimentary continental breakfast delivered to the room again. Very convenient. My first activity of the day was a guacamole class offered at Sabor Taqueria and Tequila Bar. I was reluctant to sign up as it wasn’t free. But, last night while waiting for Grease to start up, I succumbed and signed up. My guacamole attempts have been inconsistent at best. 

The guacamole class was pretty good. I hadn’t realized that it included a margarita, an appetizer, and couple of tacos. The guacamole recipe was pretty standard though the quantities supplied for some of the ingredients were on the high side. Basically, ripe haas avocados, finely diced onions, garlic, jalapeno pepper, salt, some pico, and lime juice. A pretty basic recipe. I got some good hints on quantities and what to avoid.

Lunch today was at Jamie’s Italian, a signature restaurant from Jamie Oliver. The lunch prefixed menu was less than half of the dinner price. All of the food was wonderful though the standout was the Aubergine Parmigiana aka eggplant Parmesan. The appetizer was a charcuterie board and the side dish was pasta carbonara.

If it sounds like all we are doing is eating, you’d be pretty close. There was a seminar scheduled on diabetes and Chinese herbs but it was canceled as the presenter was busy. There are a ton of other activities including trivia, sports, water slides, the FlowRider surf simulator, three pools, a splash pad, game shows, music, dancing, rock climbing, karaoke, soccer, ice skating, mini golf, and lots of bars. Oh yeah, almost half of one deck are casinos. You name it, it’s probably available. 

Next up, dinner in the main dining room. Seared beef carpaccio for the appetizer, New York strip steak with green peppercorn sauce with mushroom risotto on the side for the entree, and a lemon curd tartlet for dessert. A lot of food but, fortunately, there is no mandate to clean your plate. 

Day 2 - Sea Day

Monday - We had coffee delivered to the room first thing in the morning. In addition we had breakfast in the main dining room. I guess I prefer food brought to me as opposed to a buffet. After breakfast, I tried out a couple of the hot tubs in the solarium on the front of the ship. The lower pool was kind of windy and cooler than the upper, more protected pool.

There is a quartering tail wind of 30kts so you can feel side to side movement of the ship. The ship is pretty stable even with 9 foot seas. 

Bridget signed up for a port shopping talk but the focus was on jewelry and other higher end items. They did hand out a free pendant to every attendee. 

Bridget wanted to locate one of the other couples on the cruise that weren’t using the app due to technology challenges. I got them on the free non-Internet WiFi that allows them to use the Royal Caribbean text function.  I found them in the buffet area trying to find a table. It was crowded.

It was “formal night” in the main dining room so that meant a suit coat. The menu was French inspired so French onion soup and escargot for appetizers, tenderloin with a green pepper sauce for the main, and a cheese plate for dessert. All wonderful and delicious. After dinner, it was a nice to sit out on our interior balcony. There was a talented guitarist performing in the park. Later in the evening, we went to see a mini-Broadway production of the musical Grease. 

Grease was performed in the Royal Theatre which is a 1,400+ seat theatre in the front of the ship. It’s huge with two levels of balconies. No pictures were allowed during the production. 

Later - The show was phenomenal! The singers and dancers were exceptional especially given the limited space on the stage. 

Real time update - The weird formatting is what you get when pasting from notepad. I wrote these posts during the cruise in notepad as we didn’t have Internet. The first one from the cruise was posted from Mexico where i think I had Internet from AT&T. But I never received a text like I normally did so I didn’t stay connected. 

It’s good to be back in Hondo. Though I’ve been sick the last couple of days. The Covid test came out negative but with so many people, catching something was almost inevitable.