Author: donhall930

                        As you can now tell, we survived the Great Vallartan Escapade and Land Tour.  Just for fun, go back in time to the Archives and visit January 17, 2023. That was the Post of the last time that we were here. Yesterday the weather was better, we were not on a Tour with forty of our new best friends, and we were far more confident than those Beginner Tourists that we were back then.

                        We ambled out of the Official Cruise Port, crossed the street and walked past the busy (fenced and gated) Walmart (pay for parking). Our goal was to find the local “market” that another couple had told us about. We really didn’t know exactly what kind of market we were seeking…. was it a many-vendored affair or a single tent in an abandoned lot….???  What we found was an open-sided version of a fruit stand/grocery store. It was obviously in business for the locals as it was far from the “sanitized” shops that cater to the Tourist Trade. In hindsight I should have snapped a few pics, but we felt a little conspicuous as it was. Admitting that one is just a Touron is harder than it would seem even though it was obvious that we were Gringos and that was exactly what we were!

                        Our first task was to try and figure out the local exchange rate. How many Pesos to the Dollar? We looked at the posted signs in front of the merch and were a tad puzzled. The prices were stupidly high! For example, cans of vegetables were in the $40.00 range! Being the savvy idiots that we are and sensing that this was impossible we did a little on the spot homework and found out that Pesos is a thing of the past and that the correct denomination of currency is the Mexican Dollar that uses the same symbol as ours…. $$$.

                        Then we found out that the Rate was 20/1 or Twenty Mexican Dollars equals One US Dollar. That made that can of vegetables come in at around $2.00 US…. now we’re talkin’! We didn’t even need a calculator from that point!

                        Some items were obviously similar enough in price to what we are used to until we came to the quarts of pure vanilla… here they were approximately $8.00 US and back home a bottle of just four ounces averages around $15.00, which brings the equivalent price to $60.00 a quart!

                                    We bought some.

                                    The produce was crazy big…. radishes as big as apples, giant heads of nice-looking broccoli (I’m sure that they looked good because Paula said so, I do not look at broccoli), but again, you’ll have to take my word for it because there is no photographic proof to back it up. Wait! Paula did snap a quick photo of the radishes….

                                    After we left there we stayed in the same local area and walked into a Farmacia (Pharmacy) to procure Illegal Substances that can be had for the asking down here,,,,, antibiotics and my personal fav Prednisone! These have Over-the-Counter availability, and they are not expensive either! You know…. just in case I need to get a few weeks work done in a day or two…. a few Monsters and a regime of Prednisone will do the trick! (Just kidding!)

                                    After we stashed our ill-gotten booty in a deliberately clear shopping bag (to discourage shoplifting), we decided to try our hand at going to the Centro. This is the Old City, the area that we were in the last time that we were here. Hailing a cab and finding out that our 15-minute ride would be $120.00 ($6.00 US) we clambered in and had a somewhat adequate conversation with the driver who knew a little English and I knew a little Spanish. Anyway, it was definitely satisfying on a certain level and helped pass the time until we were dropped off right where we wanted to be. This area has the older buildings and a very nice esplanade (Malecon) along the shore where seaside restaurants and shops abound. Throw in a few street entertainers and you’ve got a great spot to spend some time.

The walk along the Malecon was perfect…. fabulous weather, not too crowded, and just the right number of festivities that were ongoing, it all kept us delightfully amused. When we arrived there Paula looked down the coast and said, “Look, a parasailer!” This activity is a must in this area of the world. As we got closer and saw that this guy was not moving, we realized that it was a Spiderman doll at the end of a kite string, just suspended in the wind!

                        We found a shoreside restaurant that had everything that we wanted which really was just a few Tacos. Friendly is an understatement as we really hit it off with Alfredo, the Manager/Hawker who corralled us into his establishment.

All was good. Some (pollo) Tacos, a (strong) Margarita, and a (regular) Pepsi later, we found ourselves another (friendly!) taxi to get us back to the Port.

                        Puerto Vallarta has come a long, long, way from the mid-sixties when John Huston shot “The Night of the Iguana” here with Richard Burton. They both liked it so much that they each bought a home down here and soon the world followed. Jump another ten years and have the Love Boat make this Port one of its destinations on its weekly cruise down from Los Angeles, and you can see how, and why, this is such a popular vacation spot. There are numerous condo/hotel establishments (all the big guys are here), the weather is fantastic, and the people are genuinely nice.

And they have a Walmart.

Today we sail into Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. In a few hours we will rattle down the gangway and find our way to a local market. Local markets are tons of fun, in these days the goal is to find genuine items that are not imported from China! This is the only Port on this Itinerary that we have been to before, so we are throwing all caution to the winds of the Pacific and forging out on our own with no regard for personal safety. There is a Walmart directly across from our berth in the harbor so if things get dicey, we will seek refuge in this Familiar Haven.

For today I have assembled a few photos for your Traveling Pleasure.

See below for details.

Well, it’s time to rouse the Crew from their sleep, so I’ll leave you here pondering the outcome of our Unescorted Foray into the jungles of Puerto Vallarta. With any amount of luck there will be a Post tomorrow morning detailing the same. If not, send out the Mounties and raise a search party!

                                    Today is Embarkation Day, or in other words, the day that the rest of you say to us… “Shove off!”

                                    And that we will, at around 1500 hours (3pm) this afternoon. I’m fairly sure that our assistance will not be needed during this procedure but just in case we will be up on deck with the rest of the ship’s complement, umbrella drinks in hand, waving to those  throngs of waving well-wishers that line the docks when cruise ships depart.

                                                Not!

                                    Who’s kidding who here….. ever since the Cruise Lines and The Government stopped the practice of having friends and relatives being able to come aboard with you, see the ship and your quarters, and then beat a hasty retreat before the gangway was retracted….

                       So….no streamers and confetti raining down on the reluctant landlubbers as the jubilant maritime-merry-makers yell and scream to their loved ones still stuck on shore… no unintelligible renderings of ‘so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, and good-byes”  echoing between the hull and the docks…..

Well, those were the old days.

Nowadays we’ll be lucky to spy a few disinterested seagulls sitting on the pier…. the nautical version of ‘hearing crickets’.

But be that as it may, our collective Voyage starts today just in time to queue up for dinner. This is the night the Matre’d and waitstaff hate. The start of a new voyage with a new set of passengers, some of whom don’t have a clue as to how this all works, and the rest of us, the ‘Experienced Ones’, who do know how it all works but still there is always a handful of that insist on throwing their “experience” around and make things difficult for the Dining Room team. If everyone would just be patient and let them be the professionals that they are and realize that they really do want to make you happy….. they just can’t make everyone happy at the same time! But time will tell….. So, if we all agree to meet in front of the Symphony Dining Room, let’s say around 1700 hours (5pm) , I think that we can all be accommodated nicely.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

                        Well, that didn’t happen.

Sorry, never got to post any of this yesterday.

Embarkation went well, Linda and Dan (my son-in-law’s parents) dropped us off after spending a great few days with them after our flight from Texas, and even though the line was long, everything worked out nicely. We even received our luggage in a reasonable amount of time!

We were about 2 hours late leaving Los Angeles. It is quite an undertaking to empty  a big ship and then turn it around in just a few hours, needing to clean all the rooms, check in the thousands of new passengers, load their luggage, take on supplies, fill the fuel tanks, etc. I’m surprised that they can do it as fast as they do!

When we finally embarked it was around 5pm and we were not in the Symphony Dining Room (my apologies to those of you who were meeting us there) but in Concerto where we had a nice table for two by one of the ports with a view. We hope to retain this table for the duration of the voyage.

                        We shall see.

That First-Day-Dining-Fiasco never seemed to rear its ugly little head last night. My premonition of Doom and Gloom was greatly exaggerated and for the most part, the process seemed to work out fine.

Dining aboard ships is constantly changing with the morphing of the ages of the passengers. It was not too long ago that firm dining times (seatings) were the law of the sea but that changed with a newer generation of passengers who either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, conform to the norm. So, now came along “Anytime Seating” which sounds good until mostly everyone wants to eat at 7pm. Well guess what! Everyone cannot eat at 7 pm because there is not enough room, servers, or kitchen staff to feed everyone simultaneously! So, someone has to wait and/or be unhappy.

            If you take into account the average age of the passengers that are currently on board you can predict how and when these people will want to dine. If the age group tends to be on the more “mature” side, the earlier (and at the same time) every night will rule the room. These folks (us!) were brought up on dinner being at a certain time very night whether it was prepared by Mom in the Kitchen or Jacques in the Galley.              

            I don’t know about the other Cruise Lines, but I can relay to you how Princess is currently handling these scenarios. (I say currently because the process has changed again since we were on the World Cruise last year). The Ships have three Dining Rooms, Symphony, Concerto, and Allegro. Each venue handles a different seating style:

                        Symphony handles the Traditional Diner, same time, same table, same waitstaff for the duration of the Cruise.

                        Concerto is for walk-in dining, just show up and you will be seated accordingly, just like walking into a restaurant.

                        Allegro is kind of a combination, you make a reservation for whatever time you would like to, and you will be seated without a possible wait. You will probably not get the same table or waitstaff from night to night.

                        I can speak only for us, and I will tell you that having the same waitstaff every night for a Cruise is part of that experience, for all the right reasons. If you are on an extended Cruise, then that reason becomes even more obvious as the waitstaff become even more familiar with your wants and/or needs and anticipates accordingly. Plus, there is added benefit of getting to know them to the point where your kids and grandkids pictures come out, they show off their families, and you get to know them on a personal basis. We are still in contact with Nidia, our server from the Baltic Cruise we took back in 2017 😊

                        So that is the way it is all laid out for Dining….

                        Until….

                        Until an extended Cruise comes along

                        A Cruise such as the one that we are on or the World Cruise. These are Princesses’ two longest Cruises at 51 and 111 days respectively. Who goes on Cruises this long? Old folks like us! Now let’s go back to those three choices for Dining….

                        Oops!

                        “We (The Cruise Line) better be flexible now because we have way too many passengers that fall into one category….”

                        The Traditional one!

So, the intelligent Dining Department makes room in the other Dining Rooms and those rooms kind of get a mixed diner base and everyone is happy. Us for example! There was no room  left (except at 7:30 which is waaaaay too late for us!) in the Symphony (Traditional) Dining Room, so accommodations were made for us in Concerto where they will just set a table aside for us (and others like us) again, keeping everyone satisfied.

                                    Our Stateroom is as cookie-cutter as it gets, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all, except maybe the big suites, and those are from another universe! On this Cruise we opted again for an Inside Cabin. Obviously less expensive, but remember, everything else is the same! We were quite satisfied with our inside cabin on the World Cruise. For us, it made the difference between either going around the world or staying at home. You know which one we chose! As for this Cruise, we again selected an Inside Cabin.

                                    But…..

            Princess has this new “Bidding” option.

            When it gets closer to the sailing date they kind of know from experience how many of each type of stateroom they will have left (unless they are totally sold out) and they allow passengers to bid for a potential upgrade. This is a way for passengers to maybe get a better cabin and the Cruise Line to get some more revenue. It doesn’t cost them any more to take care of a Balcony Cabin than it does an Inside Cabin, so the potential to grab a few extra dollars works just fine. We were awarded an Outside Deluxe Cabin for probably a quarter of the actual difference between these two cabin levels.

                        So, on those Days of Turbulent Seas, I can observe these rogues from the comfort of my own cabin instead of needing to be strapped to the mast like Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump!

(Or….. “Round the Horn in December”)

                        In case you were wondering why we are going on a Cruise over Christmas instead of being home with family and friends, I will ‘splain to you our story…….

                        It was a dark and stormy night……

                        Oops! Wrong story!

                        (But….. there is an evil part of me that secretly longs for this scenario)

The real story is that since we will be sailing around the most southern part of South America, Cape Horn, we (the ship) are best suited for accomplishing this in milder weather. This is where our timing fits in as we need to remember that the Seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere. Summer starts on Dec21 (when our Winter starts up in the North) that also means that we will get to experience two Longest Days of the Year in one calendar year!

As the days up here are getting shorter and shorter, we exit and head south towards the Equator (where there is not as much difference between hours of sunlight anyway) and keep sailing southward where the days will get longer and longer the further South we sail!

Get It?

That is why this particular Voyage has to occur during these months of the year. A better example would be trying to take an Alaskan Cruise during the Winter. They are only available during the summer months for the same reason.

                        Luckily for us some bouts with inclement weather should be lessened significantly during this time period. But the proximity to the convergence of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and its relative closeness to Antarctica makes for interesting weather and sea pattern, to say the least.

                        I say luckily because most people would not be looking forward to being included in of one of those internet videos entitled “Huge Waves Encountered by Cruise Ships.”

                        If you noticed in that last statement I said most people.

                        I, for one, would not mind a bit of tossing and turning amidst an angry sea. I need to say that very quietly as the other half of this expedition is not looking forward to any sort of wavy action even though “The Patch” has proven to be a significant deterrent to “Chumming” as it were.

                        I cannot remember a cruise where I did not encounter another passenger’s regaling their story of “the time we need to string ropes across the dining room for passengers to hold on to in order to get across.”

                                                Yes, that was a true comment that I heard. Meanwhile, we were steaming along on the proverbial millpond, with nary a wavelet in sight! I even have my own Home-Made Handy-Dandy Inclin-O-Meter and Rolling Guage which merely consists of a weighted string and an upside-down semicircle scribed on a piece of paper (think upside down compass) with degrees noted on the arc.

                        I’ve never had the occasion to put it to use ☹

                        Yes, I know…… Be careful what you wish for!

                        And I have had some “inclement” weather on the water, but only in smaller boats. And yes, I will also admit that I have a healthy respect (and admiration) for a good blow-up. I wish no one to get hurt, no damage to the ship, etc. but c’mon(!) just ripples? Can’t we get a little motion going, something to write home about? Those stupid “Stabilizers” work way too good! Magellan was quoted as saying, “Stabilizers? We don’t need no stinkin’ stabilizers!”

                        Maybe I should book a voyage with him.

                        If you are so inclined and have an extra three (3) minutes…..

Google: Irving Johnson Cape Horn Storm

                        For all of you “mature” folks that can remember when National Geographic had an occasional TV Special (or you actually subscribed to the Magazine) you may remember Captain Johnson and his boat the Brigantine Yankee. Captain Johnson had spent his life at sea and when he was a youngn’ he sailed around Cape Horn on the Peking, a four-masted, steel hulled, barque (or bark, these look similar to a Clipper Ship.) He was also an avid movie maker and his filming of going ‘round the Horn’ and filming it from a masthead during a big storm is one of the most famous clips of filmmaking of its kind.

                                    If you do “Google” the above, scroll down to hopefully the first item:

 Movie Night “Around Cape Horn” narrated by Irving Johnson

 and just push the little “time slider” at the bottom of the video all the way up to the 40:00 (40 minute) part and watch for a few minutes.

                                    Hmmm….maybe I should have been on his voyage!

Only a few more days until the embarkation of our (this is the collective ‘our’, as all of you will be aboard, at least in spirit) 51-day South American Voyage. Many of you were on the World Cruise with us and this one looks just as exciting, albeit a tad shorter that that 111-day world-circling behemoth.

            But…… there are quite a few new readers that are relatively new to this Travel Blog (forty-seven to be exact) who have joined us since that time. This means that we all get to endure another lesson in cruise ships, their history, and relative sizes, and other mundane facts that probably only I find exciting. But, my fingers need to keep sharpening their typing skills, so on with the stories of the Cruising Ships of Yesteryear!

            Let’s go back to Freshman year in high school and that favorite class of everyone’s…… World History! It all started way back in 1357 BC and the Phoenicians.  Once upon a time there were two brothers, Belshazzar and Ahiram, and they operated a shipping company, B&A Trading. They had a nice, flourishing maritime trade going between the ports of Tyre and Byblos. A few years later, Belshazzar married Anath. Along with getting a new wife, Belshazzar also got a new Mother-in-Law, Melita. Melita sat at the dinner table week after week and listened to the exciting stories of coasts far away and decided that she wanted to see all of this for herself. She pestered Belshazzar until he finally gave in (much to the dismay of his brother, and to the delight of his wife) and let Melita tag along for a voyage. Phoenician ships resembled the Viking Longships that we all know. Belshazzar was tempted to put his MIL down with the rowers, sail handlers, and cargo but he did not want to get his crew upset. Nor could he stash her in the bow (where he was tempted to put her) because she would get drenched in heavy seas. So, Belshazzar kept her in the stern along with his brother Ahiram (Arrrg!), but he hastily built a small enclosure for her with a view to the outside. This was the first OceanView Stateroom (balconies came much, much later!).

            And the rest we say, “is History.”

            Fast-forward two thousand years or so and we find early explorers leaving the safety of the coastlines and trying out a new-fangled device called a compass. Couple that with the art of celestial navigation and we now find our “old salts” plying the oceans all around the world.

            The Melita’s of the time were ecstatic!

            Mankind has moved cargo by sea for a long, long, time and with it, the occasional “Melita,” a passenger that’s tagging along to see the sights. It took another few hundred years for everyone to realize that one could have a ship just for that purpose, no transportation, just for fun…. just for a “Cruise.” And that’s where we are today.

                        The End.

                        Well…not really, that was the Beginning,

The beginning of the purpose-built “Cruise Ship” era.

            So, “Cruising” would not enter the mainstream until the1950’s. Up until then, most ships were used for transportation. Ships like the Britannic, Lusitania, Queen Mary, or Andrea Doria were not traveled on for “fun,” although due to their exemplary service in the Upper Classes, it was “fun” to travel on them.  During the winter, some Liners were pulled from their regular routes in the Atlantic and would serve temporary duty as a cruise ship with exotic Ports. All of this worked well because intercontinental air traffic would not become really available until the late ‘50s with the debut of the Boeing 707 in 1958. That is when the travel trend started to shift from sea to air. The last regularly scheduled trans-Atlantic crossing was sometime in the early 1960’s, hence the selling of the RMS Queen Mary to the City of Long Beach in 1966.

                        The Age of the Ocean Liner was dead, but the Rise of the Cruise Ship was starting to blossom.

                        A lot of you folks are baby Boomers, like me. Remember the ads from Life Magazine, Look, National Geographic, Readers Digest, and I could go on and on…. these ads extolled the virtues of “Cruising” for fun. Lots of palm trees, beaches, umbrella drinks…. these images were strewn about the pages with reckless abandon until our parents couldn’t take it anymore and booked a Cruise.

That was a really big deal!

Cruising was still in its infancy using converted older ships re-purposed for weekly itineraries in romantic climes. But new Cruise Lines such as Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, Carnival, and Norwegian were all born in the years between 1966 and 1971 and unknowingly waited for their guardian angel.

The angel arrived in September of 1976.

That was when ABC Network debuted a new TV series…. The Love Boat.

This TV show singlehandedly turned the Cruise Industry on it’s ear and it hasn’t looked back…..

……ever!

The Cruise Lines multiplied, and the ships began growing almost exponentially to the point where anyone can afford to go on vacation on a Cruise Ship!

The original Love Boat, the Pacific Princess, was a real cruise ship plying the waters from Los Angeles down to the Mexican Riviera, which included Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco , and Mazatlán. This is where we can really visualize the genesis of the evolution of cruise ships because the Pacific Princess even in 1976 represented the norm for these ships at her time.

The Pacific Princess was 545’ long and a registered Gross Tonnage of a little over 20,000 tons. Cruise ships are sized by Gross Register Tons which is a measurement of volume not cargo These were the days when Captain Stubing, Julie, the Doctor, Gopher, and Issac the Bartender could really know everyone on board (and seemingly run the ship all by themselves!) because there were only a little over 600 passengers on board. My first cruise was in 1984 (?) on the Volendam of the Holland America Lines, New York to Bermuda.

She was small enough to pull into the harbor at St. Georges and into Hamilton. I remember seeing some of the “newer” and “larger” ships there that needed to anchor offshore because they were too large for the existing docks at the time. The Volendam came in at about 750’ long, 23,000 GRT and could berth 739 passengers. We loved the fact that we could dock right at the local docks and not need to “tender” in from an anchored ship! Besides, the newer, larger ships resembled floating barges with a hotel plopped onto them.

            Ok, by now I’ve probably lost half of you due to too many specifications, i.e. length, tonnage, etc. so we will jump to the present day and see where all this was going. As you may imagine, things did not get smaller, in fact, that exponential size increase is still evolving with some genuinely massive ships still being built.

            For illustrative purposes we’ll look at the RMS Queen Mary 2. I sailed on her in 2007 when she was just three years old. At that time she was the largest cruise ship and the only Ocean Liner (more on that maybe later) in the world at 151,000 GRT. And she is a pretty ship, one that harkens back to the days of sleek liners.

            Nowadays, she is just average in size. On this upcoming voyage we will be on the Majestic Princess, which comes in at around the same size, at 145,000 GRT. The Majestic Princess is just one of this size ship that Princess operates in the Royal Class of seven different ships. The Princess Cruise Line has sixteen different ships in their fleet.

            Now let’s jump Cruise Lines and visit the really big ones…. Royal Caribbean holds the top spots on this list. MSC, and P&O have some scattered down in eighth to tenth place, but Royal Caribbean with its “…….. of the Seas” branded ships is by far the largest fleet of sizable ships. So, lets just concentrate there and head right to the top of the list where we see the Icon of the Seas. Now, don’t abandon me just yet as I need to put some numbers to her for illustrative purposes….. the Icon of the Seas comes in at a whopping 249,000 GRT and almost 1200’ long. She will hold 5610 passengers and an additional 2350 crew members!

There are twenty decks and numerous amenities strategically placed thereon. Water slides, mini golf, go-kart tracks, swinging chair rides, and the list goes on from there to the point where you think that you are sailing on a theme park that is put to sea. In fact, that is exactly what is going on. The days of Cruising, just for cruising’s sake, dressing for dinner, and the like are a thing of the Past. There are still some smaller ships that cater to the passengers that are not interested in a carnival-like atmosphere, but the numbers speak for themselves. Royal Caribbean would not spend upwards of $2,000,000,000 (Billion!) dollars (per ship!) if the consumer public did not want to use it.

                        I’m assuming that most of you have been on a cruise. Most people enjoy themselves immensely and most cruise lines do a good job at what they do best…. taking on passengers, treating them nicely, and bringing them back home again about a week later.  My only comments here could be taken as advice, but I don’t like that word, I prefer suggestions….

                        If you have never cruised before and can find your way to NYC, take a seven-day cruise to Bermuda. It is the perfect cruise for first-timers, a day and a half on the water, several days on a top-notch island, and then a day or so back to NYC.

                        If you are a fan of cruising and do not want that GIANT ship, carnival-like atmosphere, then Princess or Holland America may be for you. If you’ve got kids (know that all ships have kids/teenagers programs) maybe these larger, fun-filled, jam-packed with activities would be something to consider (because we all know that an unhappy kid can take down a whole vacation with just one pouty face!) Norwegian Cruise Line is a good compromise in this department and Carnival is pretty much what it sounds like, it has a reputation of a “Party” boat, with all of the good that signifies. No one allows really rude or rambunctious behavior on their ships, its just not good business, nor is it safe.

So now you know that you will be on just a “regular” sized ship (Ho-Hum) for this voyage, nothing noteworthy except that you will be aboard! Speaking of weight and Gross Registered Tons, please note that our goal for this cruise is to maintain our GOB weight (Getting On Board). We will be very happy if we do not add to that number, like we did on the World Cruise where we gained an average of four (4) pounds!

Yes, Paula gained zero and I gained eight (8)!

(No Other Title Needed)

Yes class, it’s culture time again!

Oh no Donny! Not another Art Museum! We’re tired of all that Andrew Wyeth stuff! Why can’t you just take us to another beach or mountain?

Well class, it’s simple. You all get to go where we go, and soon enough, we’ll all be on that 51-Day Cruise around South America so be patient those beaches and mountains (and lots of penguins!) are soon to come, but a few nights ago we attended the Houston Symphony.

No! Not that! We hate classical music! Why didn’t you go to an Adele or Michael Bublé concert?

It was because the Houston Symphony had a One Night Only presentation of one of the finest pieces ever written, directed by one of the worlds’ most renowned Conductors.

Oh…. well then…… that’s a little different, maybe we can sit still for a while and listen. Hey! It better not be Opera! Can we at least get some popcorn?

(Sigh…..)

As most of you already know, I drag you guys to the occasional Art Museum, especially when it has something to do with Andrew Wyeth.

Today we are going somewhere different albeit just as cultural. Instead of filling your eyes with scrumptious art, we will be filling your ears with incredible sounds. And you know how this goes, we don’t just settle for just any run-of-the-mill, mundane audio clips, we head directly to the top, the pinnacle of the category, we visit a Symphony!

Now before you just click off because Classical Music is not your thing, I beg of you, just hear me out as I am sure that this will bring a smile not only to your ears, but to your face as well!

This is a Promise.

The other night we went into Houston to hear The Houston Symphony present what is definitely one of the most famous works by any composer, Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony. It was performed flawlessly by the Symphony Members and was guest-conducted by Micheal Tilson Thomas, a world-renowned luminary in this genre. He is now 80 years old, and he conducted like he was still in his younger years. This was a One-Night Only Performance and Houston Symphony’s home venue, the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, was filled to the rafters.

Beethoven was deaf by the time he composed this masterpiece, and you may have other favorite compositions by him or any other composer, but there is no denying that his 9^th Symphony ranks as far up the scale as anyone’s. Especially when you single out the 4^th and final movement of this hour-plus long masterpiece. The choir sits patiently through the first three movements as do the four soloists. The fourth movement starts off with a very recognizable introduction and then teases us with little snippets of what is to come.

The performance that night was both thrilling and magnificent. But there comes a time though when one needs to admit that there may be something better. Perhaps better is a poor choice of words because that diminishes the current item. Possibly different, on a loftier scale, would best describe my analogy here. There is nothing like hearing a piece of music conducted and performed in its original habitat. Yes, like a living, breathing being, pieces of music have homes, and these homes are where they should be, where they began, where they were written. For example, is there anything better than hearing Arthur Fiedler conduct the Boston Pops giving us Stars and Stripes Forever?

            I doubt it.

In that vein we must admit that Ludwig von Beethoven’s Symphony #9 might best be administered by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by the one person who will forever be linked to it, Herbert von Karajan.

            The Master.

So, if you have 23 minutes or so I highly recommend this recording and film (not video as it is from 1968) of the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Herbert von Karajan presenting the 4^th movement (Ode to Joy) in its entirety. Well worth twenty-three minutes of your time, even if you listen while doing something else.

This is where my “Promise” to you comes in…. it is Impossible to listen to “Ode to Joy” without a smile coming to your face!

Just Google:

Beethoven symphony 9, 4th movement, Conductor (Herbert Von Karajan) ,Ode to joy.

(Just copy and paste into Google)

On the right side of the page, you should see a larger intro into this. This is the 4^th movement only, the 23 minute one.

If…. You don’t have 23 minutes and can spare just a few, here is where you can listen and see about three minutes of the most exciting part of it.

Just Google:

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / Karajan · Berliner Philharmoniker

          Scroll down until you see the one that is 3:02 minutes long.

          Tip: These are best when you have the guts to turn your volume up… way up!

I promise you that it is worth your time!

Traveling around like we do affords us chances like this. As great as the Berlin Philharmonic is, we had the opportunity to attend that same performance in Houston, in person. Just as in sports, there is nothing like actually witnessing a world class performance of an athlete, or a renowned orchestra, or a Broadway show, or a High School production, and even a small local theater group.

                   Whatever it is, and whenever you can, do it in person, support what makes you happy and you will be doubly rewarded.

                   Thanks for hanging in to this point, I promise that Travel Related Posts are on their way as we only have fifteen more days until embarkation!

This Post is directed at any of the newer readers of the Blog.

Of course, anyone else may tag along, but this is mostly procedural in content.

You have received this Post via your email inbox rather than having to log on to the blogsite (www.muchadoaboutnothing-dp.com) and scroll. This way is far easier, but you do miss out on The Archives which can be fun to read when you’ve got a spare minute or two.

                                    If you take a look at the upper right-hand corner of this Post you will see a line listed as  Read on blog. This will take you to the actual blogsite if you are having any difficulties viewing it in this format. For example, if you cannot see any photos, then just click there and you will be able to see them. Or…. If you just want to access The Archives, click there and scroll down to the bottom of any Post and you will find them all posted there.

                                    That’s pretty much it for now, that is, until we get going on the South American Cruise. So, get your swimmies on and be ready for Umbrella Drinks by the Pool as we circumnavigate South America for 51 days. As of this writing there are 22 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 15, 14, 13, 12…..  seconds until embarkation… But who’s counting!!!

                                    Oh, and by the way, we will be gone for Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years so make sure that you pack something appropriate to wear to the Dining Room on those nights!

                                    See you on the Gangplank!

This will probably be the last installment of Motorhome 101 as I feel that I am scraping the bottom of the barrel (as will be plainly realized in a few moments) for the dregs of anything that may be of interest on this topic. Living in the motor home in-between Travels is just like living in your house except that in our case, we need to pull up anchor about every eight days or so and travel four miles down the road to the local State Park where the Dump Station is located.

                        This is the subject that most people want to know about (just like asking the astronauts “How do you go to the bathroom in space?”) but are hesitant to ask. In our case, we are more fortunate than the astronauts because we have gravity working for us and a “regular” facility, a.k.a. “bathroom”, works just fine. In our case we have two of them on board. One is a half bath located in the center and the second is a full bath (shower) and it also holds our washer and dryer. All of these attributes do make it a bit easier to live full-time in here.

                        “Hey Don, we noticed that you skipped over the part about where all the you-know-what goes!”

                        Well alrighty then all you members of the local Sewerage and Sanitary Facility Committee, here, to satisfy your inquisitories is your answer!

                        We have Holding Tanks.

                        Two of them to be exact. One is the “Gray” Water Tank which holds the used water from the sinks, shower, and washing machine. The second is aptly named the “Black” Water Tank which hold the “water” and other “stuff” from the toilets. These two tanks obviously have a “Holding Capacity” which is roughly half of what our Fresh Water Tank holds for each one. So, if we were totally out on our own for a few days, the 90-gallon fresh water would eventually end up in the 45-gallon Black Tank and the 45-gallon Gray Tank.

                        “Ok, got it Donny, but then what? Where does all this stuff ultimately wind up?”

                        That, my friends is the million-dollar question with the $10.00 to $25.00 answer. Because that’s what it costs us to utilize a Dump Station if we are not staying in an RV Park. Or there are some free ones, usually at a few Rest Stops on the Interstates. Alabama takes First Prize in the Most Awesomest Rest Areas competition not only because they all have Dump Stations but because they are staffed 24-hours a day and manicured to the hilt when it comes to Groundskeeping.

                        Now comes the yucky part but if you’ve ever changed the diaper on a baby you’ve got nothing to fear my friends as this event uses long tubular hoses to accomplish what you did with Wipes and a smelly diaper pail. Just rinse things out when you’re finished, wash your hands, and be on your way. It’s that simple and definitely not a big deal.

                        Next let me show you the layout of our particular motor home. While there are similarities in motor home layout, there are obviously ways to design things differently depending on the size, it’s primary usage, and of course, the manufacturer.

Ours is fairly standard and has two slide-outs. One is just the width of the bed, and the other is one of the largest in the industry and it takes up almost the entire length of the passenger side of the vehicle. This is the one that’s actually too large as its size makes it inherently heavy, therefore putting undue strains on its motors. We make sure that ours is brought in and out only while we are “leveled” as a kanked motor home would just bind up the system. This is the one that makes us nervous! But look at the extra room it provides!

                        Back in the day, before the slide-outs were developed (early 1990’s) only the width of the motorhome could be utilized for anything. This was not as bad as it seems as the interiors were designed for those space constraints. I was in an impressive 1986 Bluebird (the bus manufacturer) Wanderlodge a few months ago and it was excellent! Actually, it was to the point where I did not really miss the slide-outs because the design of the interior was really functional and easy to be in.

                        But we do have slide-outs. Ours, and all the newer ones, are designed to utilize these space-extensions to the max. It really does make a difference, especially now that we are used to having them. A few weeks ago, you may recall our Slide-Out Issue when we were up in Montana which did not get rectified until five weeks later when we pulled into Country Classic Auto and RV Repair in Sussex, New Jersey. We squeezed by each other, walked sideways around the front of the bed and were not able to open the fridge door all the way. All of this was a bother, none of it decreased our travel plans as we were still fully functional.

                                    That just about wraps up our Motorhome 101 class for the foreseeable future. (I can hear the sighs of relief coming through the speakers on my laptop! ) But just in case any of you are contemplating a purchase of anything like this, please feel free to contact us and we can help you with any questions that you may have.    

                                    And then we can say, “Hey, let’s meet in Tucson this winter!” We promise you’ll like it there!

                        A couple of weeks ago I presented to you Motorhome 101, a primer for a look into how we live in and work on our 40’ Winnebago Forza and I promised a second installment in this series about actually living inside of this house on wheels.

                                    As promised, presented here, for your collective enjoyment and because, (as the National Enquirer so simply put it) “Inquiring Minds Want To Know!”

                                    The facts: at least the ones that come to mind….

                        Downsizing. This was a real issue as we do not have a condo or apartment or anything else like that to keep “stuff”. We do have a small metal shed at our pad in Texas next to the corral. In it we have some random items like paint, umbrellas, car ramps, bicycles, and just the odd item that is not needed inside the motorhome. That’s it. The only other place we have anything is in the trailer that I bought in the beginning to hold my Library (books, artifacts, furniture, etc.) for when the day comes that you don’t want a couple of old withered senior citizens wheeling around a 28,000-pound behemoth of a vehicle running over peeps in the Walmart parking lot. This trailer is parked in Colorado at my daughter’s place as the humidity there is in the negative numbers 😊(or so it seems!) which is wonderful for books!

                                    Deciding what to bring along with us was actually made easier by the fact that practically nothing else will fit except the bare essentials!

                                    When you have an initial X amount of internal cubic feet of space and obviously some of that will be used by things like seating, bed, bathrooms, kitchen counters, washer and dryer, etc. you quickly find out that your CFOSFUBFS (pronounced see-fos-foo-boofs) or Cubic Feet Of Storage For Unnecessary But Fun Stuff is nowhere near what you were hoping that it would be! This leads to the wailing and gnashing of teeth as you try and separate the items (that you had hoped to bring along!) into yet more piles of decisions.

            This process requires certain negotiating skills usually reserved for the AFL-CIO and Solomon. Deal-Breakers soon become obvious and how you make sure that you obtain the Allotted Space For Your Favorite Items, ASFYFI (pronounced as-fife-ee) will determine how happy you will be for the rest of your life.

                                    Paula’s Non-Negotiable Arena included practically everything that was contained in her kitchen in the house, including the kitchen sink! (which fortunately, the motor home was equipped with already!) Luckily, we found a model that exemplifies the Utilization of Confined Spaces, and we were able to bring every item from the kitchen that she wanted! Except the dishwasher, and for that I was re-commissioned Director of Post-Culinary Suds Implementation. Luckily for me I was brought up in the restaurant industry and I possess a Ph.D. in this area. Paula used every available cubic inch of storage in the kitchen area to the point where we can have even the largest pots, pans, mixers, crock pots, and the like along with us. NASA has been studying her techniques for better practices aboard the International Space Station.

Happy chefs make exquisite meals!

            For me, it was a little more difficult.

            My aforementioned Library is something that transcends what would be considered a normal relationship with a defined space. So, in order to “negotiate” what I wanted to bring along, I proposed that we gut the motor home, re-do the interior with nice oak shelves, a tongue and groove wooden floor complete with an oriental rug and furniture. It would have been very comfortable!

                                    What I got was one (1) book affixed to the wall and eventually I found some here-to-for unknown space that the engineers missed, and I converted that into a few shelves!

                                    I was a little more successful when it came to bringing along my tools. I had an incredible workshop contained in the garage. It was full bay and a half of (it’s a guy thing) equipment that was organized to the hilt, and I could produce or repair just about anything out of it. Now, carrying tools along with us is quite essential and there are some regular maintenance items that I take care of, but there is always something else that needs fixing. Just like a home where a door gets sticky, a window jams, trim needs painting, (the list is as long as any terrestrial home, but ours moves constantly making these tweaks needed more frequently) all of these types of items need to be dealt with more sooner than later as they really get bad as we bump along the roadways.

                        This is where the basement comes in.

                        Yes, we do have a basement and that is exactly what it is called in the vernacular of the RV industry. And this is where what type of unit you have, Class A, B, C, (Diesel or Gas), 5th Wheel, or pull-along makes a difference because only a Class A Diesel Pusher has the room for a large area underneath. They all have storage and some more than others, but by design, the Diesel Pusher Coach has the most. And we use it!

                        On my side of the basement is the Tool Area and that is jam-packed with essentials (at least in my mind they are). Mind you, not all of it is used in the maintenance of the motorhome. Some of the items are used because I seem to find “projects” to do or help with wherever we go and having just the right TBT (testosterone boosting tool) can make all the difference!

                        The final major area of shoehorning came with a need (mine) for a hobby center of sorts. There is a practical side to this space as it is not used exclusively for model building and the like. It is also the Repair Center for anything that breaks in the motor home to random grandkids favorite toy fixed or someone’s priceless Ming Vase that needs repair. This was planned from the beginning in that we knew that we needed a motor home that had “bunk beds” as one of the features. I had seen some articles on how these beds were removed and the space converted into an office (for full-timers that still worked) to our preferred Hobby Center.

                                    I must say that I think that we did an outstanding job in the conversion of this space!

                                    Anyway, we only lost two sleeping berths that were never going to be used anyway! The brochure says that this motorhome sleeps eight.

Eight what?

Gerbils?

Could we squeeze more folks in here?

Sure we could.

Would any of those folks (especially us) be happy?

Absolutely not!

The reality of this scenario would have someone sleeping with their head inches from the paper-thin bathroom door and someone else curled (?) up in what was once the dinette that barely holds the two of us. So, in case you are thinking about an RV-type vehicle, and you have anyone in your family over the age of twelve, you should probably opt for extra tents or just go to a Resort where you have gobs of room!

But for two…… this works just fine!

                        Father Damien stopped by after we pulled in yesterday, more on that in a minute.

                        We’re back here in Texas after three full days of traveling and two nights spent in two new spots. Yes, we can now add the Walmart Parking Lot of Vicksburg, Mississippi and the Cracker Barrel of Abingdon, Virginia to the list of Parking Lots We Have Known.

 Both were nice and quiet.

Usually the Cracker Barrel lots are, but it is uncommon for the Walmart Lots to be so still. It seems that in order to qualify to be a real Walmart Parking Lot, one must possess several attributes, among those being:

• located adjacent to a railway that runs all night
•  have the overnight Walmart employees drive vehicles with bad exhaust systems that rival NASCAR racing cars on the decibel rating scale,
• and of course, be lit by parking lot lighting that equals the sun in ability to flood an area with lumens. This last one is obviously not bad, it’s just hard to find a position that won’t have those intense little light particles finding their way into our windows. We love to sleep with the windows directly next to our heads open allowing those sleep-lulling breezes to infiltrate our room.

Anyway, this Vicksburg Walmart has been relatively quiet since the Battle back in 1863 and had only the aforementioned lights to contend with, so as Mr. Meatloaf sang, “two outa three ain’t bad!”

When we stop in these places, or in an Interstate Rest Area, there are a few taboos that must be acknowledged, and the most important one is….. Don’t Set Up Camp! We do not run out our large slide-out, put the awnings down, drag out the folding chairs and cook on the BBQ when we’re there. The MOST that we do is run out the small slide-out that basically just holds the headboard of the bed and those nice little windows.

That’s it.

We are there only to “overnight” and to do anything else would violate the understanding between the Establishments and the Traveling Public.

            The daytime portions of the trip went flawlessly.

Well, kind of.

If you take out the “Get Off the Interstate and Detour Down a Very Narrow Country Road with all of the Tractor Trailers Coming the Other Way almost causing Our Collective Side Mirrors to Collide” because there was an awful crash on the other side of the highway (that closed the entire Interstate 81 for over twelve hours) then all went well! The fuel stops were efficient, and the roadways were relatively smooth as we are now getting to experience the fruits of all the roadway projects that have been holding us up over the last few years. We cannot extend to you the seeming endless construction projects that we travel through from Point A to Point B ….. and they are all sorely needed! As comfortable as it is to drive Miss Biggie, we need to remember that she is basically a Freightliner Truck underneath, not a Lincoln Town Car, and behaves accordingly. Sometimes I wonder how she holds it all together as we pass over Potholes of Magnificent Proportions and the like.

                        So, now back to Father Damien.

                        We backed into our dedicated spot here at Danny and Kaitie’s homestead, dropped anchor and went outside only to find our little patch of well-cared for lawn all askew.

We were scratching our heads and trying to figure out what’s going on, when this old guy wearing an old brown robe and sandals, saunters up to us, looks over the affected area, shook his head and said,

“Don’t ya worry, just don’t kiss ‘em.”

                                                            What?

                                                “Yea, just don’t kiss ‘em or anything like that and you’ll be jes fine.”

                                                            Kiss  who?

                                                “The ‘dillas, don’t handle the ‘dillas an’ ya won’t get it.”

                                                            Get what?

                                                “Leprosy, ya can’t get the lep unless ya handle ‘em.”

                                                            Handle what???

                                                “The dilla’s…. the Arm-a-dill-a’s!

He then walked away saying that he was on his way back to the island of Molokai and wished us well with dealing with our new Invaders of the Lawn.

                                    It seems that armadillos are the only animal species besides humans to be able to host the bacterium that causes Leprosy.

And they’re here in Texas.

Of course they are!

Along with giant spiders and scorpions, and tornadoes, and wild boars that invade like locusts, and…. well, you get my drift!

But have no fear! Only 20% of armadillos carry this baddie and 95% of humans have an immune system strong enough to combat it, so add those numbers together and the chances get pretty small for contracting Leprosy.

                                    Still…. we will not be handling the little cuties when we try and thwart their efforts to decimate the remainder of our lawn!

                                    So back we are, ready for numerous doctor’s appointments and my List of Important Things keeps getting longer and longer as I remember what those jobs/maintenance items are that need to be done (mainly on Miss Biggie). If you would like to help just show up any morning, I’ve got all the tools so no need to drag them along. Today’s lesson will be “How to Sand Off Rust on the Chassis and Apply Rust Inhibitor to Help Prevent Future Issues.” Wear old clothes.