Oregon for the Summer

After our fantastic time Australia and New Zealand, life in AZ seemed kinda mild.  The weather was even mild, somewhat cooler than we normally have and even wetter than normal.  Again the time flew by so fast it was hard to keep up with what day it was.  We did the usual park things: dinners, pot lucks, games with friends, happy hours, evenings out to various entertaining venues, and even found a lot of time to do just nothing!  Every Monday, we had a morning coffee gathering to catch up with the weekly events and past happenings.  Ken would spend Monday afternoon monitoring in the Lapidary Shop while I got my weeks worth of reading done.  Ken would also work in Lapidary Shop on Wednesday's and Thursdays getting his own stuff done and then later work on his jewely line.  Every Friday we took off with the park's Jeep group (Rough Riders) for a fun day Jeeping out in the desert.

Alas, the winter quickly wound down and it was time for us to head back to Oregon.  Just as we were packing up and planning our departure, I was notified that my sister passed away.  She was 13 plus years older than me and had been in a care facility for a couple years with severe dementia.  I was so thankful that we were ready to head home and would be able to make her memorial service on June 2nd.  It was a sad, but joyous, occasion knowing that she was finally at peace and in the arms of our Lord and her dear departed husband.  Rest in peace sister, I will always love you and miss you!!

The month of June is our month to get all of our medical stuff done before embarking upon any other adventures and this June is no different.  While in Arizona, I started having vision problems in my left eye.  Once back home I saw my eye doctor and was informed I have a Retinal Pigment Epithelial Detachment in my left eye (right eye is fine).  This is a form of "wet" Macular Degenration.  I was also told that this is a fast moving degeneration and that if left untreated, I would lose vision in that eye in one year.  So, after that appointment, I then had another appointment to have Fluorescein Angiogram to see where the leaks were coming from.  After that test, I had another appointment to start treatment (Intravitreal Injection).  The injection is in the lower left part of the left eye and will need to be done every 4-6 weeks up to three times before rechecking (so not fun).  I was told that these treatments have been successful when eye problem is caught early and will maintain and sometimes make better the vision in the affected eye.  Since having the first treatment and catching up on all of our other medical and dental appointments, it looks like we will be in Oregon till very late in October.....even that is up in the air because I may need more treatments up into November.  After that, we have no idea what will happen.

We still have our Alaska Salmon fishing trip scheduled for September and talking with the eye doctor he said he can work around most all of what we have scheduled including our next cruise(s) in late March to May 5 of 2016.  As it stands right now, we are scheduled to leave Fort Lauderdale March 27 on a ship for 14 days that ends in Barcelona.  Once in Barcelona, we will stay 3 nights, then fly to Rome where we will stay 5 nights.  On April 18, we board another ship out of Rome for 12 nights ending in Venice on April 30.  Our plans are to stay on in Venice till May 5 then fly back to Phoenix.  After that, it will be up to what I have to get done for my eye as to how long we will stay on in Arizona.

Hopefully, I will be better at keeping this up in the future!!  I know, I have said that before and usually end up forgetting.....but I really hope I will be back soon with more news on what we are up to.

Australia & New Zealand

It's been ages since I was last on here, and I have no idea how the time got away from me.  It seems that every time I think about writing something down, I get carried away on something new and forget about writing on this blog.  Anyhow, after we finished our Alaska Cruise trip, we decided to set sail on another cruise in October 2014, but saw the air flights were going to cost an arm and a leg, so decided to use our air miles getting us to Australia and getting us back from New Zealand.  All I can say is "What an experience"!!!

Our flights to and from Australia/New Zealand were to die for as we flew business class both ways.  I have never been pampered sooooo much!!  Our seats were very luxurious recliners that completely went flat for a very comfortable sleep.  Quantas Airlines even provided a quilted pad for extra comfort.  We flew a Quantas 747 to Australia and a Fiji Airlines Air Bus back to the U.S.  Both airlines were fantastic and the seats were so comfortable, we had no feeling of being on a plane for 14 plus hours each way.

On Oct 13, we flew into Brisbane (via Phoenix & Los Angeles) and after a short layover flew into Cairns where we stayed for 6 days.  Because of crossing the date line, we lost a day so were in Cairns October 15-21.  We had a great time playing on the Great Barrier Reef, touring the quaint town of Kuranda (via skyrail over the rain forest), spending a day at a Crocodile Preserve where Ken got to feed a Croc, and visiting an Aboriginal Cultural Center……even learned how to blow on a Didgeridoo, but couldn’t master playing it. 

On Oct 21, we flew to Sydney and toured the city before boarding our Holland America ship on Oct 24.  Sydney is very large city with some beautiful harbors.  We mostly toured the city via a Hop on Hop off bus and got our bearings before visiting the Toranga Zoo (across the bay) where we saw Kangaroos, Koalas, Wambats, Cassowarys, and the so very mean (but cute) Tasman Devil.  Also saw the usual animals, birds, and reptiles that are in most zoos, but the Taz and the Koalas were our favorite.

Our big adventure was 14 days on the Holland America ship “the Ms Oosterdam (Oct 24-Nov 7).  We sailed out of Sydney on the Tasman Sea to Melbourne, where we were able to tour the city and beaches on another Hop on Hop off bus.  With only one day there, it was the only way to really see the city.

Our next stops were to be Hobart and Milford Sound, but as we were leaving Melbourne, the Captain said gale force winds (upwards of 100mph plus) and high seas (50 feet plus swells) were predicted, and he didn’t want to put the ship (and passengers) in danger, so he planned to out run the storm and head for the Cook Strait that goes between the north and south New Zealand Islands…. We were at sea (Tasman Sea) for 2 ½ days and stayed on the edge of the advancing storm.  Even being ahead of the storm, there were still some very rough and windy (75 mph winds) seas.  In fact, one day and night the Promenade Deck was closed off because it was too dangerous to be out there.  We had a Verandah room on deck 6 (Upper Promenade) and did step out a few times, but it was just too windy to spend any time out there.  Once we were on the Pacific Ocean side of New Zealand, the seas were much better…..still windy in many ports, but nothing like what we experenced at sea...

We stopped at 6 ports before ending our cruise on November 7 in Auckland, New Zealand.  We toured the Cadbury Chocolate Factory in Dunedin, took a jet boat ride and 8 wheeler high country ride in Akaroa, and saw the Glow Worm Cave (and the worms) and Kiwi Birds in the Kiwi House while in Tauranga (Rotorua).  In Napier, we visited a Maori Village to learn of their history and culture.

Once in Auckland, we extended our stay for two more days and had fun seeing the sights of the city.  We saw hundreds of Penguins at the local sea aquarium and even watched the Stingray(s) being fed.

Just around the corner from our hotel was the Sky Tower of Auckland.  The tower stands over 1,000 feet tall with a viewing platform at 770 feet.  There is also a revolving restaurant on one level and a bungee jumping platform on another level (no, we didn’t jump).  It took every bit of my courage just to get up to the viewing platform to look at the city below.  It was quite fantastic, but I was so glad when I was back down and on solid ground.

We left Auckland on Sunday, Nov 9 via Fiji Air and flew through the night to Los Angeles where we actually landed on Sunday, Nov 9 before we left Auckland (now that is a very strange feeling).  In reality, we had two Sundays that day.  Instead of flying back to Phoenix where our coach was at, we flew into Portland where our kids picked us up and we spent two weeks at home in Salem before driving our Grand Cherokee Jeep back to Arizona.

We had a grand time and are now looking at doing another cruise in 2016….Destination TBA.