At Kenwood - finishing up pics and story on the cruise.

Here we are - in Kenwood, La Feria, TX.  72º now at 11 am with predicted high of 80º.  It was 57º with a cool wind at Galveston when we got off the ship. Got here about 6:30 pm Saturday after stopping for supper at Panda Express in Harlingen.

A little cooler in Marengo, IA - GGD Jessica

Couple tomato plants bloomed while we were gone!

 Stopped at Buc-ee's travel center in Texas City, TX after leaving Galveston.  Huge place - here is some of what wikipedia has to say about them:
Co-Founders Don Wasek and Arch "Beaver" Aplin opened their first store as partners, which is still open as of 2020, in Lake Jackson, Texas, in 1982. Aplin formed the name Buc-ee's by combining his childhood nickname; the name of his Labrador Retriever, Buck; as well as the appeal of Ipana toothpaste's animated mascot, Bucky the beaver. Aplin was born in Southeast Texas, with his father originating from, and grandparents residing in, Harrisonburg, Louisiana.
Buc-ee's expanded and opened its first travel center in Luling, Texas, in 2001. Buc-ee's are large stores with fuel pumps that range from 80-120 fueling positions for gas and diesel (some stores include Ethanol Free and DEF) and a large selection of jerky, pastries, fresh sandwiches, tacos, Dippin' Dots and fudge and other items.
In 2012, Buc-ee's opened its largest travel center in New Braunfels, Texas, on Interstate 35. The New Braunfels location is the largest convenience store in the world at 68,000 square feet.^[6] The store features 120 fueling positions, 83 toilets, 31 cash registers, 4 Icee machines, and 80 fountain dispensers. It also offers tubing and water gear for enjoying the nearby Guadalupe River.
The New Braunfels, Texas store was named the 2012 "Best Restroom in America" by Cintas.  They now have stores in Louisiana and Florida.

Well, now you know more than you maybe wanted to know about Buc-ee's.

 Before disembarking ship we had last meal on Lido - 10th deck

We were docked before 6 am.  Had to wait for our deck to be called to disembark.  We were on 6 and they started with the top and bottom decks and worked their way to the middle--so we were the last to be called for the "taking your own luggage" group.  Then there were the decks that had their luggage picked up from their hallways the night before.

Waiting for the call -- we were soon asked to leave the cabin so it could be cleaned for the next group to come aboard -- so spent some time wandering on 4 and 5 before finally getting call to go to 3 where the gangway was.

I didn't count, but probably 4 ramps on the moveable area between the ship and the dock.  Here is coming into the building itself.

Probably 20 minutes or so waiting in the lines in the building, wending around the various luggage area that were carried off the ship.

Finally coming up to the final area where the Passports were checked.  They didn't really inspect the luggage.  After this area you walked by one area where they asked if you had any alcohol  to declare for taxes.

Used the Sam Houston Tollway going to and coming from Galveston - two $1.75 tolls.  Going up last Saturday had a long wait at one, but otherwise sailed through them easily and was much faster than taking the roads with stoplights.

Some of the entertainers we listened to

Had a heart walking down the way on Valentines day!

Got barbeque from outside grill

one day - wish we had discovered

it earlier.

The entertainment by GoldWing and the other 3 acts got squished into a small room the last day.
The video from it is HERE

 Appitizers on last night.

 Phyllis' desert on last night.

Every evening the waiters had a dance.

The last night they added a special

song.  Some of it can be

seen/heard on this video

that I took of various things

that day 2-14-20 Day on ship CLICK HERE

Group we listened to into the evening on Firday the 14th.  Below shows the table we were sitting in at that time.  Some of this group's singing is on the Day on the ship video.

Some photos of the Baldridge family
in the main dining room.

A representative part of the 1600 crew

were presented on stage on Friday

and received accolades for their

services during the week.

I have almost 800 photos taken during February, including the cruise.  I have only put a small
portion on this blog.

Will close off for now.
Lynn

All day Thursday at sea

On ship at sea all day today - Thursday February 13, 2020  74 degrees and real humid outside.

 These are some photos taken at supper (Dinner) this evening.

Uan (pronounced Juan) is our main waiter guy.  61 years old and wants to retire soon.  Very jolly and always joking.

 Sharon and Sandy- our table mates.

They have a dance of the waiters near the end of the meal time and they always get some guests up to dance with them.  Grandma went at it tonight with our waiter.  Video of this and some more entertainment we watched later  HERE

Pops (Bob Baldridge) and his wife Joyce, seated.

 Susilajana- waited our table tonight and was very congenial in answering questions about his work and traveling to Indonesia for his few months off.  Says 27 hours in the air in many different flights - has two children 15 and 10 years old.  He has been working cruise ships for 22 years.  After their 2 month break they very seldom come back to the same ship, but have to report to Carnival office in Miami and then are sent to whatever ship they are next assigned to.

Listened to this couple for an hour or so tonight.

Alex Leach had his wife come up and sing a couple songs with him.

One of the gals in the crowd came up and did a song.

 Gold Wing Express finished their set today with their Indian feathers.   Got video of all of today's show uploaded HERE

Caught up with Steve Baldridge and his son along with our table mates in the Red Frog Bar.

Listened to this duo for some time tonight.

11 pm and hitting the sack.  Girls are already asleep.

Lynn

In Ocho Rios, Jamaica

84 degrees with very bright sunshine at Ocho Rios (8 Rivers) Jamaica at 1 pm Wednesday.  We have been too busy to do much blog posting.  Have recorded about 2.5 hours each day of the music with Goldwing Express performing with their guest performers Alex Leach, Alan Sibley, Denny Yeary & Shelia Reine Yeary. Goldwing Express is made up of Bob (Pops), Paul, Steve, and Shawn Baldridge.
One of the days is HERE      and another days is HERE

This photo and photo below are one evening at supper.  The two ladies at our table are cousins from near Toledo, Ohio and the girls all get along well.

 Got off the ship at Grand Cayman Island on Tuesday by riding in and back on a tender.  Walked around quite a bit and watched a group get ready for diving

 This church was open; it had 3 or 4 denominations listed on their sign.

 About a dozen people getting ready to get in the water.  They had a long introduction by two instructors and we didn't stay until they got out into the water.  Had watched for about 45 minutes.

 Talk about fresh fish.  There were two guys cutting up fish that just came out of the water and taking them to a couple of the restaurants there on the beach.

Back on the ship we were waiting here for the music to start.  Pops (Bob) and his wife Joyce are in this picture along with one of the entertainers Alan Sibley from Mississippi.

Our main server is Uan, from Indonesia and he has quite a giggle.  He is 59 and considering retiring next year.  Says he works 8 months and then has 2 months off.  He had been working ships for 20 years.  He had an 8 year old and a 15 year old at home.  He is really short and bounces all over the place - said he has 6 tables he is responsible for.

Beef tongue I had last night as an appetizer.

See how short Uan is; they hand write our order and then put into the computer so when they go to the kitchen it is ready to be picked up.  Phyllis, Pat and the two ladies from Ohio did a kitchen tour yesterday and said it was amazing how everything is set up. They serve 5,000 meals a day including passengers and crew.

Photo taken at breakfast this morning.

Photo of Pat taken this morning at breakfast.  Light in windows behind her make it a little dark for her face.

I had smoked salmon on Bagel then broccoli and cheese with scrambled eggs. Different, but good.

Walking along the pushy exhibitors along the pathway both from and back to the ship at Ocho Rios Jamaica.

We hired a driver for a couple hour tour away from the ship through some of the town and up onto the hillside.  There are some mountains on this 30 mile long by 10 mile wide island that are as tall as 7,000 feet.  Lots of natural water impediments and rivers with waterfalls.

Looking down at a waterfall.

We had walked down some very steep rough path that was covered, roughly, with cement.  A guide held onto Phyllis most of the way and then he took our photo.


I took video during the drive and the walking down this trail, which I will upload and give you a link tomorrow.

This is Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville that he owned and played at here in Jamaica

The girls were given flowers at the path going down to see the waterfall.  This photo was taken after we were off the tour and at, guess what, another big tourist sales area.

The videos, photos take a lot of time editing and uploading.  This blog, when uploading photos, takes several hours to make.  Hard getting them all done along with the other activities we have.

More tomorrow, probably.  We just left the port at 5 pm here on Wednesday and will be at sea until Saturday morning about 7:30 am.