Day 3 – January 1, 2010

The pictures are:

1. On our way shopping.
2. Barb now wants a new PT.
3. The deli for lunch.

We woke up late to a very overcast day with rain starting to come down. So, we did what anyone would do in this situation – we went shopping, shopping and more shopping. What a way to start 2010.

We left at 10 and got back a 5 and went to the two largest malls in the area. In between, we ate at a little locally owned deli.

Dinner was a gourmet meal at the Waffle House and then we went to the new George Clooney movie, Up in the Air. It is the first time that Barb and I have been to a movie since Tom Hanks in The Castaway. We may not go to a lot of movies but we can say that this is a very depressing movie with a few funny lines. We should have seen something else.

We have had fun in Cocoa Beach but we wouldn’t want to vacation here, it is just a way station on the way to a cruise.

Tomorrow we head for the new Carnival Dream and it should be fun. This ship is 1004 feet long and is 158 feet wide. That is over 3 football fields long! The Dream has 13 guest decks and can accommodate 3646 passengers. This will be the largest cruise ship we have ever been on and it is brand new.

Day 2 - December 31, 2009

The pictures are:
1. Part of the Rocket Garden.
2. A “little” alligator. He thinks that the bus is his meals on wheels!
3. One of the space capsules.
4. The Vehicle Assembly Building. The stripes on the flag are each 8’ wide.
5. Part of the cargo for a future space shuttle being assembled.

We awoke to partly cloudy skies and it was going to be 70 so it looked like it was going to be a good day to go to the Kennedy Space Center.

We arrived at Kennedy at 9:00 am just as they were opening and timed it right for a walking tour of the Rocket Garden. These are actual rockets of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Just amazing that the early rockets were made to deliver a bomb and instead these delivered a person(s) into space. It was also incredible to realize how small the capsules were. The first two seat capsule was described as being in a small bath tub with a close friend. One of them orbited the earth for 14 days and they basically could not even stretch their legs out – it was fascinating to see these rockets and capsules.

We then boarded a bus for a two hour tour of the Space Center. As there were no rockets or shuttles being launched, we were able to drive around and see the entire facility. We saw the actual launch sites up close and all of the major buildings that play a part in the launchings of the space program, then and now. We saw the vehicle assembly building, the final stop before the space shuttle rolls out to the launch pad. We could not see inside this enormous building but did see outside the tractor that takes the shuttle to the launch pad. The size of everything is just huge, very huge. This building’s base covers 8 acres and is 525 feet tall. The doors on either side are 456 feet high and it is one of the largest buildings in the world! We also saw the external fuel tank for the shuttle sitting on a boat a few yards away waiting to be moved to the assembly building as a shuttle mission is schedule to go up next week.

The Space Center complex is on 140,000 thousands acres and only a few thousand acres are used. As we traveled from stop to stop it was neat to see all the wildlife there. We were told by our guide that they estimate that there are over 5,000 alligators on the property and we saw at least 15 while we were traveling. And they were close and not behind any fencing of barriers. When the bus driver would see one, he would slow the bus down to a crawl and they were within 10 feet of the bus. All of the buildings had chain link fencing around them that curved at the top to keep the alligators from climbing over the fence!

It was amazing how close we were able to get to view things. We were taken into the building that assembles all of the components that are being sent up to complete the construction of the International Space Station. They allow viewing from the second story inside a glassed in walkway.

We finished the day with two IMAX films, the last being a film showing the construction of the International Space Station. The films were in 3-D and they were great.

This trip is a must see for anyone who visits Florida to see what the United States and others has accomplished. This is a real, up close and personal experience. The people who have accomplished what has been done in space are truly American heroes.

Dinner was at Milliken’s Reef one on the many fish restaurants on the waterfront overlooking Port Canaveral and that was our New Years Eve – a really fun day.

Day 1 - December 30, 2009

The pictures are:
1. We made it.
2. The living room, bedroom to the left.
3. Walking to the beach.
4. Barb at waters edge.
5. A Disney ship leaving port.
6. Dinner – crab cakes and shrimp to start.

It wasn’t fun waking up at 3:30am to get to the airport for a 5:47am flight but we made it and arrived at the gate with 5 minutes to spare. The security lines were longer than we have ever seen, but they moved pretty well.

The AirTran flights were uneventful and we made it to Orlando by 12:30pm. We put in a call for the shuttle and the driver with a van was there in less than 10 minutes. It was about an hour drive to Cocoa Beach and then on to pick up our rental car. The clerk took one look at our luggage and said no way it would fit into the convertible. Well it fit; we just had to be careful going around any corners!

Fortunately, the hotel was close. We checked in and they gave us a king suite - two rooms with two balconies. We unpacked quickly and went down to the beach for a nice walk. The beach was nice and wide, the waves were beautiful and the water was cold but it was wonderful being down in the warm weather. It was about 65 degrees when we arrived.

For dinner, we went to Cape Canaveral and to the south side of the bay that the cruise ship travel and ate on the waters edge watching some cruise ships leaving for port. We are at Rusty’s Seafood and Oyster Bar and it was fun and the food was nice.

Then it was on to Wal-Mart to pick up soft drinks to take on the ship and then back to the Marriott where we are going to crash very early.

Ed is using his iPhone, his Christmas present from Barb, and it works great. He was able to check e-mails very easily in Atlanta and then on the ride over to the beach. What a time saver.

Tomorrow is the Space Center – neither of us has been there.

Our Next Trip - New Years - 2010

We leave after a wonderful Christmas on December 30, 2010 at 6:00am and fly AirTran to Orlando where we will go to Cocoa Beach for a couple of days.

At Coco Beach we will be staying at the Marriott Courtyard Cocoa Beach, Dec 30 – Jan 1

Saturday, Jan 02 Port Canaveral (Orlando), FL Departs 4:00pm

Sunday, Jan 03 Nassau, Bahamas 8:30am - 2:00pm

Monday, Jan 04 Fun Day At Sea

Tuesday, Jan 05 St. Thomas, USVI 10:00am - 8:00pm

Wednesday, Jan 06 St. Maarten, NA 8:00am - 6:00pm

Thursday, Jan 07 Fun Day At Sea

Friday, Jan 08 Fun Day At Sea

Saturday, Jan 09 Port Canaveral (Orlando), FL arrive 8:00am

We return to Bloomington on Saturday January 9 on AirTran at 6:14 pm.

From Barb – in her own words – Europe 2009

This is really difficult; first of all, my limited vocabulary has been reduced to one word: WOW!!!!! REALLY, that’s all I was able to utter between weeping!
Rome was wonderful, Greece better than before and Turkey I just love…there is NO way to explain Israel and Egypt, you have to experience it! You’re in the Holy Land, walking where Jesus walked, lived, preached, was crusified, and your overwhelmed just by being in these places, BUT the wars, the conflicts, the hatred, the mistrust, it’s indescribable.

And there’s the filth, the trash everywhere, the children begging, the little kids swimming in such conditions, actually in waters (the Nile) with dead horses right beside them. The streets of Cairo where there’s horses, camels, donkeys, buses and cars all side by side in streets that are so congested you think no one could ever get through and somehow it all
moves.

Guys this trip has been soooooooo special in so many ways, filled with such emotion I can’t really explain, and such sadness………everyone of us should experience these places and realize how lucky we truly are!

I am homesick, I miss you all sooooooo much, I can’t wait to catch up with everyone and hug you all real tight! Don’t misunderstand, this has been a GREAT cruise, the ship is probably the best ever, and the staff fabulous. Our tablemates are great and we are looking forward to sailing with then again as we have and will again with Bob and Shelia.

We have experienced places way beyond our wildest dreams! A trip of a lifetime, we are sooooooo blessed!

So, sweet dreams give each other hugs from us and know how much you are all loved and appreciated!

Love, Gram, Mom, Aunt Barb, me

Europe – 2009 – day 15

The pictures are:
1. Part of the engine control room
2. Packing

3. Our wait staff

4. The last sunset

Well since we were up until 4am last night, we slept in. Today has been a very relaxing one.

After Ed ate breakfast, and it was up on deck to lay out in the sun for a couple of hours. We came in at 12:30pm because we had a tour to go to.

This tour was on the engine control room – a lot of computers and very complicated instruments.

Then we went and picked up the pictures from last nights formal night, cashed in some chips at the casino and up to the room to pack.

We have to have everything but our carry-on bags outside the door tonight so the best thing is to pack is in the afternoon so after we eat and see the show we will have time to go to the casino for the last time.

Packing took almost two hours, there is a lot of trash and treasures that we have obtained from the last couple of weeks – but hopefully none of the suitcases are over 50 pounds, but I am sure they are close.

We had probably the best dinner of the cruise, said goodbye to the wait staff and our new friends and went to the casino for one last time. Barb broke even and Ed lost a little, but we are way ahead for the cruise.

We are ready to go home and it has been a great trip.
That is it from Europe – see everybody at home – we are on our way.

Europe – 2009 – day 14

The pictures are:
1. Second Officer on the side bridge.
2. The Captain.
3. The bridge.
4. Brunch
5. Into a storm

6. Ready for our last formal night.

Well we got up slowly as we had to get ready for a tour of the bridge at 11:00am.

First we went to the photo area to pick up and pictures that we had not gotten from the previous four days. They are really very low key about pictures and take very few compared to Carnival. Our photo bill will probably be ½ of what it has been in previous cruises.

Promptly at 11 a security guard checked our ID’s and took us to the bridge. We were met by a young second officer who gave us a tour and an explanation of the workings of the bridge – what a sight to see all the control systems, including the radar.

Then after we had been there of about a ½ hour all of a sudden the Captain walked up behind us and started talking. We then stood and listened to him talk about the ship and everything for quite a while – that was a real treat.

After the tour we went to the giant brunch that they were having in the main dining. On the way we meat doctor and his wife that we had met while playing blackjack so we went to lunch together. The doctor is from Canada and is a Muslim from Pakatistan and his wife is a Christian who is a nurse. We had a great time talking about our experiences both in Israel and in Egypt.

Next was the slot tournament where neither of us did any good. We were then going to lay out in the sun but it was overcast so we played a session in the casino. Ed had a good run and Barb had fun!!

Well as you can see from the picture, we sailed into a storm. The good news was that it didn’t rain hard but the ship started about 5pm rocking back and forth. It should be a fun even

ing!!

Dinner and then a really great show and on to the casino. It was an up and down evening and finally at 4am they closed the casino and ran us out. The net for the night was -$30 but we played a lot and had a lot of fun with friends and we are setting the alarm for 10am to enjoy our last day at sea.