Quartzsite Cruiser

We're back from DH's PT session. After the therapist did an evaluation, that will be the last one. Until DH can get treatment for the NPH, therapy won't really improve the balance and walking issues. We're waiting for a call from the hospital in Dallas, and of course, it's Friday afternoon. Thank you, Jim. We enjoyed watching Norm Crosby on TV. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World is one of DH' favorite movies. Brenda, I'm sorry your DH had such a rough time yeaterday, and I hope they got it all. Glad he is better today. That little church is lovely and peaceful looking. That happened to us in April, but Covid cases were down. I waited in the waiting room, masked, while DH waited in the car. Now, we would have left too. The doctor in Texas does blood draws in the office. He has one staffer who does all the draws. Sorry you still got hives after the injection. Hope the doctor can help your knee. Enjoy the irthday dinner with your BFF. Oh no on the exposure to Covid. Hope you test negative. BTW, since you were exposed Tuesday, Saturday could be the fifth day, two days less for you to worry. Hope your cousin has a mild case and recovers soon. Lenda

I have a few more pictures from our various cruises to Kauai and from our drives around the island. Most are from areas that the tours do not visit. A church in Hanalei, and IIFC, it is the oldest church on Kauai. I believe these are taro fields And this colorful bird was sitting on the fence The Kilaueu Lighthouse on the north shore of Kauai An abandoned sugar mill on a back road on the way back from Poipu Duane's Ono Char Burger is north of Kapaa. We try to stop there and split a burger and an order of onion rings. A friend recommended it, and he was right, they are great burgers. There are tables under the trees, along with the resident chickens. Lenda

Good morning from a somewhat cloudy central Texas. Since it was already 85F at 8:45 am, it will probably be humid today. Not much on the agenda except DH's PT session, and trying to stay cool. The weather map last night showed that our area is beyond extreme drought conditions. We are listed as exceptional drought conditions, the highest (worst) designation. 😒 Hammock day and summer leisure day seem to go together. We had a Pawley's Island hammock for many years. We left it when we moved from The Woodlands. Spoonerisms are interesting. Thank your @grapau27 Graham for the explanation since I couldn't quite remember what they were. Today's quote seems to promote dishonesty in being creative. We'll pass on the meal drink and wine. We have been to Nawiliwili many times beginning in 1996. IIRC, we have only missed the port once because of high winds. In 2018 on the Westerdam, Captain Vincent Smit cancelled the port when the weather predicted very high winds. Instead, we had a third day in Honolulu. @MISTER I like the new and very appropriate avatar. @kazu Jacqui, thanks for more pictures of your wonderful plants. If you don't get finished by the time of Shadow's early arrival, everything will still be there later when you have time to get back to sorting. By then, Shadow may be able to "help" you. @cat shepard The meme is another winner. @smitty34877 How nice of your neighbors to let you use their pool. Too bad there is not a way to get Tana over to the pool. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, sending positive thoughts the Tigers win the semi-final game. I saw the cat face in the clouds too. @marshhawk Loved the cat cloud picture. @jimgev The comedian you were thinking about is Norm Crosby. No, my memory is not that good, but I did remember such a comedian. Google came to my rescue with the name. @mamaofami Carol, I'm sorry your son is sick on his big birthday. Please wish him HAPPY BIRTHDAY for us with the hope he is negative soon. These are some of the pictures I posted on August 11, 2021. I do have some pictures from our various visits to Kauai, and I don't think I have any repeats. BTW, the Hollywood tour is a great tour if your like movies and tv shows. All of these pictures relate to the Hollywood tour and our Na Pali coast tour in 2007. The Coco Palms was featured in Blue Hawaii, but unfortunately, it was very badly damaged by about 30 years ago by Hurricane Iniki. On July 27, it was sold in a foreclosure sale, and it's fate is unkown. One interesting fact about the movie is the movie company expected the owner to tell her guests to leave while they filmed the movie. They were thinking the could stay there and not have to make reservations. The owner had other ideas, and refused to ask her guests to leave. Elvis had stayed at the Coco Palms before, and knowing the owner, had wisely reserved a bungalow for himself. Since they could not film in the bungalows, they had to use the one Elivs had rented and redorate it for the shots set in other bungalows. Coco Palms in 2007 The barge from the wedding scene without the outriggers Coco Palms in 2018 when we made it to Nawiliwili on Coral Princess that fall. The other iconic movie site was the pier on Honalei that was used in South Pacific. In 2007, it still had the roof from the movie before it was destroyed by a storm a few years latrer. Without the roof in 2013 With the new roof in 2014 Some views of the Na Pali coast and caves that can only be accessed by boat Some of these views were featured in Jurassic Park. I hope this posts since CC has been cutting in and out this morning. Lenda

I have one official junk drawer here and one in Quartzsite . I say official because some other drawers tend to be junky if I'm not careful. Years and years ago, several neighbors gathered at one house to wait the owners return for a surprise birthday party for the husband. While we waited, one of the wife's friends showed us the extremely neat, organized kitchen drawers including the junk drawer. No one could ever compete with her for neatness. Lenda

I thought maybe that some of us could use some cheering up. I found these on FB. This is for all those who are sufferings in the heat. I think we've all felt like this lately. Advertising pays And finally, our legacy to our kids. Lenda

My errands were done quickly, and now I just have to get the chicken ready to go in the freezer.. After changing the sheets and folding the first load of clothes, I'm taking a break until the second load comes out of the drier. @ger_77 Welcome home. It sounds like you had a great time at the lake, and that's a great picture of the four of you. When I get into my 90s, I hope I look as good and can do as much as your friends. Loved the pictures of the sunset over the lake. I hope your DH is better quickly and there is not a big problem. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, Catalina Island is an interesting place, but it was very dry when we were there. Even with the golf cart, we could not see everything in an hour. There were places with signs that said "Rental Carts Not Allowed". While I walked down the pedestrian street, I did not have time to explore some of the stores. I'll save that for next time, but I probably won't buy anything as I imagine it is an expensive place. @irishjim Thank you, Jim. @1ANGELCAT It sounds like you got some answers, but not all of them. I hope the doctors can agree and come up with a treatment plan. @Overhead Fred I've never seen a white squirrel before. Thanks for the picture. @durangoscots Susan, I hope the birds are all right. We've had a couple of nests on our lights in Quartzsite, and boy were the doves messy. We now have something over the lights to prevent the birds from building a nest. Glad Monty is settling in, and hope he trains you well. 🤣 Our Brandy had all her humans trained. If she wanted something and we ignored her, she'd sit up on her rear end, flap her front legs and talk to us. We could tell she was unhappy with us (angry actually), and we were glad at those times we did not speak dachshund. I'm pretty sure she was using cuss words, and probably better than a sailor. @Cruising-along Great picture of DGS and Rouge. Lenda

An early good morning from sunny central Texas. I need to make a quick trip to the grocery store and want to get there and back before it gets too hot. We'll celebrate the day of the dog in memory of our two dachshunds. We celebrated junk food day yesterday with hot dogs and chili cheese Fritos last night. Now the Fritos are the only junk food in the house. I try to be someone every day. An interesting quote today. We'll pass on the meal (I don't like meatballs) and the drink. The wine sounds nice, but very pricey. We were in Avalon on Catalina Island in March on Koningsdam. @Sharon in AZ 🎂 HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY, CRAIG! 🥂 @bennybear Brenda, sending good wishes that your DH's surgery today goes well, and that they get all of the melanoma easily. @aliaschief Safe and sane travels today. @smitty34877 Terry, cute picture of Fred. @marshhawk Glad you are feeling better today. @cat shepard Great meme the girls picked out. @grapau27 Pauline looks lovely as usual. @Heartgrove Safe travels tomorrow. Enjoy the wedding. @StLouisCruisers Good luck wishes to the Tigers tonight. We were in Avalon on March 25 and again on March 28. It was a sunny, pleasant day on the first stop and windy, rainy with rough seas on March 28. We only went in on the first visit, and we rented a golf cart for a quick tour of the island. The walk from the tender dock and their Veterans memorial. Starting our golf cart ride. Looking down at Avalon from the hilltop viewpoint. We passed the pet cemetery The Casino, which we did not have time to visit since we only had the golf cart for an hour. DH dropped me off at one end of the pedestrian street while he took the golf cart to the other end. The Wrigley house on the hill top. We drove by it on our golf cart ride, but this is a better picture. Lenda

Graham, thank you for the good wishes for DH and for the kind words about my pictures. I always enjoy visiting Malta. Lenda

Glad to see that everything is going well after your hip replacement, and that it's been an easy recovery. Sorry your niece has covid. Hole it's a mild case and she recovers completely. Lenda

In 2019 on Veendam, we took the Ho-Ho to see other areas of Malta. There were two routes at the time, and we took the one that did not go to Mdina. The tour took us to the area across from the cruise ship dock. We then went into the countryside before following the coast along the bays on the north side of the island. Unfortunately, I do not remember the names of many of the places we saw. Pictures from our drive around the island. There are many towers around the island that were used for defense in the past. Steve Berry's book The Malta Exchange is set partly in Malta, and some of the towers and chapels around the island are featured. We drove to the Blue Grotto which was one of the stops. Some of the area on the north side of the island before reaching the coast road. There are several bays on the northside of the island west of Valletta, where there are a lot of apartments. It looked like the area was really growing with a lot of new buildings. After retiring the old Leyland buses, some were converted to souvenir shops. A nice park An old area near St. Elmos that was being renovated. Once off the Ho-Ho, we took the elevator up to walk around Valletta. The memorial to Daphne Caruana Galizia was still there, but the area around it was back to plantings. Since we were going to Gozo then next day, we spent the night in Valletta. Lenda

Good afternoon from a very hot central Texas. One piece of good news today. We are a little closer to the appointment with the neurosurgeon in Dallas. The surgeon in Waco office called this morning to tell DH that they had sent the referral in yesterday, and the hospital in Dallas acknowledged receiving it. A step in the right direction. Our trip to the PT session took longer than expected. Because of the NPH, DH can't tell that the PT is helping a lot. He and the therapist talked about it today, and frankly the therapist is not sure if the PT is really helping. They decided if DH got an appointment in two weeks or so, they'd continue the PT until the appointment. If it's not until September or later, they will discontinue PT. @JazzyV Glad you were able to pair the car and garage door opener. In Quartzsite, most of the time everyone just hopes the post office gives out the mail, forget about lollipops. Things may change since they have a new Post Master now. @bennybear Thanks for your pictures. Sending positive thoughts for your DH's surgery tomorrow. @marshhawk I'm sorry you're having such a bad reaction to the booster. Hope this means it is really working. In 2017, our second day in Valletta on Prinsendam, we drove to Mdina. It is a fortified city in the northern part of Malta and was the capital from antiquity to the medieval period. Mdina sits atop a tall hill with commanding views. St. Paul's Cathedral, which was built between 1696 and 1705, is the oldest church in Malta. From the Cathedral, we visited the museum in the same plaza. It was interesting to visit. From there we walked around the small walled town of Mdina. We came to an open area with views of the island. St. Nicholas Chapel The main gate After leaving Mdina, which the locals pronounced M-dina, we headed back to Valletta. After turning the car in, we took the elevator to the Upper Barrakka Gardens. Boy, is that elevator worth the cost. The view from the Barrakka Gardens. The cannon battery below the gardens. These would play a big role in our sail away, but more about that later. We walked around Valletta, and came across this memorial. Shortly before we were in Malta, Panamanian journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who exposed political corruption in Malta was killed by a car bomb. This is the spontaneous memorial to her. A lovely flower display near the gardens. One of the narrow streets we drove down. The Prinsendam waiting for our return The city as we sailed to the next port. Now, about the cannons. This was CD Cess Tesslar's last visit to Valetta before his retirement the next January. Captain DD and the Port Agent arranged a cannon salute to Cess as we sailed. Cess was on the bridge wing with Captain DD when we sailed. BTW, in one of my earlier pictures, the beach area with all the buildings is called Popeye Village. Lenda

In 2016, Captain DD extended our day in Valletta to two days due to rough seas, which meant we would not be able to tender in Gozo the second day. We rented a car the first day and drove to the ferry terminal and took the ferry to Gozo. These pictures are of our drive back to the port from the ferry. We took the long way back to the port. A couple of beaches and the scenery of the coast and interior. An interesting church we passed. It's time to get ready to go with DH to his PT session. I finish the 2017 and 2019 pictures when we return in a couple of hours. Lenda

There are a lot of pictures of Valletta from our five stops covering six days there. This first set is from our 2002 and 2004 stops on Noordam III and our one non-BHB stop on the old Regal Princess in 2003. In 2002, we did a tour to the Tarxien Temples and then walked around the upper part of Valletta. Twenty years ago, we were up a lot earlier than we are today, so we saw the sail in to Valletta. The Tarxien Temples On our first visits to Valletta, they still used Leyland buses for their public transportation. The bus "depot" was outside the city gates in a plaza at the top of some very steep stairs from the dock. The new port complex and elevator were built sometime after 2004. A few pictures from our walk through Valletta in 2002 Valletta as Noordam sailed to the next port In 2003, when we stopped in Valletta, we decided to take one of the city buses to the Gozo ferry terminal on the other end of Malta. It was an interesting ride, but the bus was noisy and hot since the engine compartment was by the driver. The ferry terminal. By the time we reached it, we knew we did not have time to go to Gozo and get back to the ship in time for sail away. The bus ride took longer than we expected. Our bus back in Valletta In 2004, after climbing those steep steps, we walked around town. That year, we toured the C0-Cathedral of St. John. The main altar. You can see the graves of the Knights of St. John on the floor. One of the graves We also toured the museum at the Co-Cathedral. The walled courtyard. The Knights of St. John amassed a collection of Belgium tapestries, which when hung on the cold stone walls helped keep the buildings warm. This is a small part of their collection. A dry dock we passed on the way to the next port. Lenda

Good morning from sunny and breezy central Texas. An interesting collection of days and all related to the F&B department in some way. I prefer root beer floats to ice cream sodas. We have hot dogs occasionally, and maybe tonight. It's been a long time since I had a lollipop. The best ones I ever had were the ones the company my father worked for gave out. He worked for the electric utility company in our area, and the lollipops were cherry flavored and shaped like Reddy Kilowatt's head. Boy am I dating myself. Today's quote is very good, and as a reader I can relate to it. We've had Pork Chili Verde years ago at a Super Bowl party. I haven't made it, but would definitely try one of the recipes. @0106 Tina, another great job, and thanks for the explanation of the different types of chilis. We'll pass on the drink and the wine. We have been to Valletta at least five times, and all but one on BHBs. I'll look for my pictures in a few minutes. @kazu Loved the pictures of the garden, especially the one of Jose with his dahlias. Great memes too. @cat shepard Ann, the girls had another hit with today's meme. @smitty34877 I'm glad your niece and her DH are now testing negative. @kochleffel Good to know the futon/daybed question is solved. As I said when you asked for suggestions, the trundle bed we with got with the daybed gives us room for two guests without taking up space in the day time. It turns our our DD's SO needs it since he is 6"5' or 6"6' and he couldn't fit on the daybed because of the arms on the ends. @lindaler Fingers crossed 🤞 they accept the offer on the house for DS. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, glad the Tigers won. Hope they win tomorrow against the LA team. @aliaschief Safe travels tomorrow and the next day. Enjoy your time in Scotland and on your cruise. We enjoyed touring the royal yacht Britannia, and were surprised it was not very formal, but comfortable in the décor. @rafinmd Roy, I appreciate the mention of DH's neurologist on the care list, but had to laugh when I saw it. I really think he is a good doctor, but as a neurologist he thought his in-office tests pointed out the problem, not realizing they were symptoms of the problem. Still, we believe he dropped the ball by not ordering the scan. I think a neurosurgeon would have considered the brain CAT scan right away. @durangoscots Susan, I'm glad to hear you are over the worse of the fall and that there was no damage to the eye. Glad you got a medical alert device. Thank you @kb4683 Kay, @Cruzin Terri Terri, @StLouisCruisers Sandi, and @Cruising-along Carolyn for sharing your pictures. Lenda

Thank you, Graham. The really frustrating thing is this could have been found last September IF the neurologist had ordered a head CAT scan then. He told DH last month his findings did not indicate a CT scan was needed. After today, we feel we are on the right track. Every symptom our PCP listed for NPH, DH has. He also said a shun should relieve the symptoms. Lenda

Roy, I agree, and I wish they would be more people wearing masks on the ship to help curb the spread. Yes! Lenda

Before I forget, I have enjoyed all the pictures of Saguenay today. Thank you, @rafinmd Roy, @kplady Laura, and @Cruising-along Carolyn. When we cruised the Saguenay River, it was very overcast and hazy, so even those pictures are not very good. Neither one of us is very happy with the health care system at this moment. We saw the neurosurgeon two weeks ago, and they were sending the referral to the hospital today for the normal pressure hydrocephalus evaluation. We saw our primary doctor for his opinion, and he recommended the same hospital as the best neurological department in the area. He also said he would push from his end for an appointment. Our insurance does not require a referral, so DH also called to see if he could get an appointment sooner. It turns out, the hospital requires a referral for appointments. So now we sit and wait some more for the wheels of the medical system to grind slowly. Sorry for the rant, but I just needed to vent to someone besides DH. Thanks for "listening". There was some good news out of the visit today. Our PCP seemed to think dealing with the nph first is the way to proceed.. He thought that could solve most if not all of DH's problems. The only people who are recommending back surgery are the two back surgeons, naturally. The doctor, his PA and the physical therapist are all saying try to shunt first and avoid back surgery if at all possible. Sandi, I totally agree with your\. As I've said before, Sarah is very lucky that @grapau27 Graham and Pauline are her real parents even if not by birth. It is always sad when parents basically disown their parents and their children. The three of your are a great and loving family. I'm happy you found us and no you don't post too much. Some days we all post more than others. Sandi, that is great news about Ren's team winning. Sending positive thoughts they keep up the good work, and that there are no incidents like the last time. Jacqui, with all the doctor and PT appointments, we both got the second booster when we were eligible. We feel there will be a new booster this fall to cover the new variants, and the new vaccine that was announced last week sounds promising. I hope the neighbor's door camera captured the drunk driver hitting the cars, and that it can be used to identify the driver. That is good news that they would give her a third booster. Thanks for answering my question about emergencies on the island. I was not sure how big the island is and what the population is. Good to know that you made it home yesterday. Hope the new garage door opener works well. We had to replace our 19 year old a/c unit in 2018. A capacitor went out, and naturally, they stopped making the part the year before. We decided to have the a/c, the heat pump, plus the unit in the attic replaced at the same time. That way we only had one day with workers in and out of the house. Luckily, that year, the weather was mild the day the did the work, so having the house open was not a problem. The upside was that when the workers left, the attic was neater than when they arrived. Lenda

Good morning from sunny, windy and hot central Texas. New Friends Day will be celebrated with the new friends I've made here on the Daily. Not normally fond of raspberries, but would try a slice of raspberry cake. I do not play Words with Friends. The Albert Einstein quote is very true, and I try to treat everyone the same. The meal sounds interesting, but I don't have most of the ingredients. We'll pass on the drink and the wine. In 2004 on the old Regal Princess we sailed part way up the Saguenay River. In 2013 on the Veendam, while docked for three days in Quebec City, we rented a car and drove to Saguenay, but for some reason I did not take many pictures. Yesterday, I read an article that Princess Cruises was likely to open bookings for unvaccinated passengers. With the new variants, I hope HAL does not follow Princess any time soon. @MISTER 67 Another good day on the golf course shooting one better than your age. @Cruzin Terri Terri, I'm glad you made it to Williamsburg safely. Enjoy your visit with your friends. @dobiemom Welcome home. I'm glad you finally made it home yesterday. @grapau27 Graham, thanks for the pictures of your flowers. @smitty34877 Terry, thanks for the new picture of Camilla. She isn't a baby any more. I'm glad her grandpa will be going home today. Glad you both are not having a bad reaction from your booster. @0106 Tina, I enjoyed learning more about Thai cuisine. @mamaofami Carol, I hope you son feels better soon and can enjoy his birthday. Lenda

Except for seeing Tustumena in port in Homer and Kodiak over the years, our only time on her was in 1992. All my information is from that time. The Kennicott might have been on the drawing board then. In 2011, we took the Matanuska from Haines to Prince Rupert. I'm glad they do have another ocean going vessel. Lenda

Tustumena is the only ferry in the AMHS fleet that loads with an elevator. In 1992, it was also the only one rated as ocean going. It does the run down the Aleutian chain while the rest stck to the inside passage. Laura, congratulations on your upcoming retirement. Lenda

I thought you might have it, but you'd be surprised at how many people don't know about it. It can make a difference, and we've found that our local grocery story pharmacy is generally cheaper than W-M for most things. Taking that into consideration and the fact we don't have to drive 22 miles one way to W-M, we are coming out ahead. Lenda

Good afternoon from at very hot, dry central Texas. Currently, it is 105F, but as they say, it's a dry heat since our humidity is 24% and the dew point is 61F. With a dry heat the air doesn't feel heavy, but it feels like you are walking in an oven, even with our breeze. @irishjim Thank you for both your nice comments about my pictures. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, since we like to do longer cruises, doing b2b2b2bs is not a hardship. It is especially nice in Alaska since the weather is so changeable. We can usually count on at least one good day, and that's a day with clouds and no rain in each port. Sunshine and warm weather are an added bonus. @grapau27 Graham, thank you for your nice comments about today's pictures. Lately, our temperatures at about the same time in the evening are between 87F and 93F. I still don't know how we made it growing up in Texas without central a/c, but I don't think our highs were this high most of the summer. @marshhawk Good you got a nice walk in this morning, with the bonus of seeing a stag and butterflies. Hope your DH has good results from the biopsy next week. Love the cat meme. @Seasick Sailor Joy, I don't know what type of grass you have in your yard, but we planted Bermuda. It tolerates the dry weather better than St. Augustine. Right now, it is dormant and brown along with the rest of the lot that is native grasses (mostly weeds). We are under water restrictions to twice a week, and right now, I'm not even doing that unless the bushes need water. Once we get rain, 🤞 the grass should turn green again. The up side is I don't have to mow very often in this heat. Enjoy the good weather in Maui while you can. @bennybear Thanks for my flower fix today. @JazzyV Vanessa. I'm glad someone is getting much needed rain. @Horizon chaser 1957 Sorry to hear about the ferry problems. What happens if there is an emergency? @Cruising-along Carolyn, great news on the A1C numbers. @kazu Jacqui, it's not dumb to feel sad and for it to be hard to donate the things you are. You are in the process of giving physical reminders of your life with Jose to people who need them. Naturally, it is a sad chore, but think how much people will benefit from your efforts. And we are here anytime you need cheering up. @aliaschief Bruce, that is good news that the walk in clinic was able to help your. Now, you can enjoy your trip. @1ANGELCAT That is good news that the hand doctor could help you and could schedule the test so soon. It sounds like he has plans in place depending on the outcome of the test. That was good news that CVS would transfer the prescription. BTW, have you ever checked out Good Rx. It's not an insurance program, but they will let you see what different pharmacies are charging for a drug. They have discount coupons that will get lower prices at the pharmacies. We use it all the time for drugs that are not on the so called $4/$10 lists. Unless you join their premium plan, it doesn't cost anything. Lenda

World hug your Kids day is one I wish I could celebrate in person. I'm not a fan of sour candy, just give me chocolate. Listening day and music are important parts of life. I really like the Victor Hugo quote. I just wish I could make music that sounded worth listening to. We like guacamole, but we'll pass on the drink and the wine. @kazu Jacqui, great memes today. @grapau27 Graham, I hope you and Pauline can stay cool during the unusual heatwave. @smitty34877 Terry, I'm glad Camilla's grandpapa is improving. Congratulations on getting the second booster. Hope you don't have a bad reaction. @0106 Tina, another great job today. Thanks for the history of guacamole. Living in Texas, I should have known it. @1ANGELCAT I hope the hand doctor can help you with your hands. @Vict0riann Ann, I'm glad the cruise is going well. That's a great picture of both of you on dressy night. @HAL Sailer Melisa, congratulations to your nephew on a great race. I like the idea that your DB is thinking of unretiring for next year's race. Sorry that DSIL is now positive. It's nice that you can go get your DN and be careful on that long drive. @luv4cruises Hope you are staying cool. This heatwave is one for the record books. We don't remember 100+ days in June, and remember only a few in July. I'm not looking forward to August. @dobiemom I hope you make it home today without any more drama. The airline situation is a mess. Lenda

These are pictures taken in 2010 and 2012 on Kodiak. The Orthodox Church on a sunny day, and some of the broken bells from the church. In 2012, as usual, we rented a car. This time we were in port long enough to drive out of town to the Pacific Spaceport Complex. On the way back to town, we drove to Chiniak where we found an inn and café at the end of the road. I found this explanation of the spaceport on line, and this is how it looked when I copied it. The Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA) on Kodiak Island provides responsive, flexible, and low-cost access to space for small- and light-lift vertical rockets and stratospheric balloons. PSCA has been launching rockets since 1998 and was the first FAA-licensed spaceport not co-located on a federal range. The coast near the spaceport Part of the spaceport in the distance Some of the animals near the spaceport who did not seem to mind the weather What awaited us at the end of the road to Chiniak Lenda

Good morning from hot central Texas. Enough said about that. We have been to Kodiak 14 times, and all but two of those were on BHBS. Our first time was in 1992, pre-digital, when we put out motorhome on the Tustemena, one of the fleet of the Alaska Marine Highway, for an overnight trip to Kodiak. The motorhome fare cost way more than the fares for both of us and our DDs, and a room for four with a bath. Since our first dachshund, Brandy, was with us, we had to take the motorhome for her to stay in. Also, on the return trip, we left the Trusty Tusty in Seward. We were only in Kodiak one night due to the ferry schedule, but we packed a lot of sightseeing into that day. We did the 14-day out of Seattle 12 times by doing b2b2bs in 2010 and 2012 on Amsterdam, 2015 on Statendam and 2018 on Zaandam. Also 9n 2018, we stopped in Kodiak on Coral Princess on the Circle the Northern Pacific cruise. We have had great weather on several of the stops, cloudy, misty weather on other stops, and pouring rain on a few stops. When it was pouring rain, we just stayed on the ship and watch the people trying to stay dry waiting for their tours. On December 5, 2012, while we were on Koningsdam, this is what I posted about Kodiak. I found a few different pictures of Kodiak on DH's tablet. They are from our various trips except the one in 1992 in the pre-digital age. @rafinmd, Roy, this first picture is for you. I didn't find a good picture of the Tustemena in Kodiak, but this was her sailing out of Homer, bound for Kodiak. I guess that counts. For those who have never sailed on her or seen her, the tall structure near the stern is how vehicles are loaded on the ferry. You drive onto the platform between the uprights, and are then lowered to the parking deck. Once on that deck, a turntable rotates the vehicle so it can be driven to its parking spot. A Kodiak bear looking for salmon in a stream. Eagles near town looking for fish A WWII bunker and remnants of guns in Fort Abercrombie State Park. This bunker is a museum that is worth a visit. Another bunker The plaque marking the high water level reached by the tidal wave after the March 27, 1964, earthquake. The plaque is near the fire station near McDonalds, quite a way above sea level. Finally, the small boat harbor downtown Lenda