The Tour Begins

The nice, warm weather was a pleasant surprise as we entered the country of Montenegro. I guess that I packed for fall or winter. :) What a lovely day of wandering the cobblestone streets and peeking into the next narrow alley or street. We found a quaint little outdoor restaurant to order a wood fired pizza and a glass of wine before heading back to the ship.

Our next day was spent at sea which gave us ample time to explore the Legend of the Seas ship. We also took advantage of a little exercise and chose to support a cancer walk. Around the ship we walked and talked. We even chose to keep walking knowing how we would enjoy our dinner.

The island of Sicily was next with more beautiful sunshine! The town of Messina did not have much to offer, other than the famed church with it's large steeple that housed many statues and figurines. The crowds gathered as noon drew closer. As the clock struck noon, "Santa Maria" began to play and people started to point to the steeple. The lion began with it's roar, followed by birds flapping their wings, bells ringing, and the Apostles rotating around the path. Nancy and Ak hoped onto a bus as Rick and I walked. Our walk turned into miles as we got a bit confused with our curved path. But, we successfully found out way back to the ship.

Saturday was an excursion trip to Pompeii. We chose to follow our guide as we tried to imagine the life and living style of people so long ago. Many pictures were taken! John in the red hat seemed to have wandered from the group and got lost causing our tour to return a bit late.

Happy Birthday to Rick on Sunday! Yes, 59 years old :) Since Rome is a good hour away from where our ship docked, we chose to do another excursion trip. Our first leg was spent on a bus getting to a train which would take us to Rome. We entered the Vatican area, but were unable to tour as the Pope was preaching at noon. Rick suggested that we take a taxi four miles to the coliseum, and then walk back from there. Good idea, Rick!!!

Who said the economy is suffering? Who said that this was not tourist season? We stood in line for over an hour to get tickets to enter the Coliseum! Once inside, we wandered on our own as we took many pictures to help capture the ancient Roman history. The Roman Forum was a bit confusing, and we had trouble finding our way out! Once exited, we started our four mile hike back enjoying the streets of Rome.

Our last planned excursion was the next day to the town of Pisa, Italy where we ooohhhed and ahhhed over the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We walked the streets to find an ATM machine, and bought some pasta to take home. Our last treat of the trip was some more gelato! Yum! That pistachio flavor is marvelous. We hopped back onto the bus and headed back to our boat.

Summer Update

After  many months of weighing the pros and cons of, "Pet or No Pet" we started the looking process. We really did try to do the adopt a pet plan, but after searching many animal shelters, we decided that this was not going to work for us. While in Nappanee, Indiana we searched the Internet and ended up at some pretty scary puppy mills! I now understand all of Karen's concerns! The local vet steered us to a lady who raised Yorkie. We called and made the visit, only to be met at the door by Bailey! The cutest little 2.5 pound mix of Maltese and yorkie. That would be a designer dog :) Of course, we could not resist and ended up owning this adorable and charming guy! Little did Bailey know that he would become the Land of Memories Camp Assistant.

Rick and I started our new job of host and manager at Land of Memories Campground in Mankato, MN in April. We entered the park in a snowstorm! Cold and dark skies kept us company for a few days. When the weather finally broke, we started the clean up the park process. A little problem of NO WATER made it a bit difficult. But, the day before the camp was to open, a makeshift water system was in place. It was one busy day of cleaning restrooms! We were wet from head to foot! But, the bathrooms were clean! 

Our job had some definite benefits, and one of them was seeing Autumn, our grand daughter and family! I loved being on call to babysit and help out. Luke and Kendall were so gracious as to let us wash clothes and shower at their home. As we became familiar with the town, we found things to do and places to visit. Rainy days were meant for movie theatres. Other days Rick was busy with many situations. 

Our summer job was full of adventures! Drug deals to prostitution, car shows and Indian Pow Wow, and meeting many great families kept was on our toes. Our boss, Erik said the park has not looked so good in 25 years! 

We will hold fond memories of the college kids who worked for us. Vanessa and Rick had a few head to head disagreements, but in time became very close. Bryce was dependable and great to work with. He even babysat Bailey while we flew to DC to help Jess and Rob move into their new row home.

As summer became fall, the time came to move on. We left Land of Memories Campground mid October to come back to our home in Wisconsin. The renters have moved out and Rick would like to stay in our home or sell it. With one week home, we pulled out the few pieces of furniture that we had kept and cleaned the house! We purchased a couch, TV, and two beds. It was now time to pack suitcases for a preplanned cruise.

Cruising from Venice, Italy to Barcelona, Spain would be our next adventure. We left two days early as we were flying stand by with Nancy and Ak on Buddy Passes. Getting from JFK to Venice proved to be a challenge! So, we flew into Milan, Italy and from there took a train into Venice. Always remain flexible! 

Two days were spent exploring Venice and the island of Murano.  We even took advantage of a scalper giving us a free and private water taxi ride to the Murano Glass Factory. I am sure he had hoped on making big bucks on the Americans. We enjoyed the close up tour and oohhhed and aahhhed over the very pricey pieces of art work in the upstairs studio. But, we did leave empty handed and wandered down the street to buy some glass souvenirs. Rick and I really enjoyed this quiet laid back island as we sat and enjoyed our coffee near the water. 

On October 21 we boarded The Legend of the Seas cruise ship. This Royal Caribbean ship would be our home for the next 9 nights.