Sailing...Sailing...

I'm back! Or maybe it should be 'I'm gone!', or maybe Hi again! Anyway, I sailed away from Ft. Lauderdale last night and we are on beautiful calm seas. It's been 3 months since my last trip and it was a long 3 months. I had a hot water heater leak that flooded the house at night, needed 4 new tires on the car and a new garage door! I had surgery and my dear 18 year old bird, Quiggly died. Yep, time to get away again! And people wonder why I don't spend time at home??? That answered the question. However, at the end of July I will become a working girl again, part of the real world!

But the fairy tale isn't over yet and I am going to make the most of every minute left! I am on the wonderful transatlantic cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Copenhagen, via 8 other wonderful countries. This is the same itinerary I've been on before, for my first European trip so I know the wonderful things to come, and this time it is so different! I will be visiting friends in some of the ports which still seems amazing to me.

We have 5 days to enjoy the Atlantic crossing and I plan to read and write a lot. There are interesting lectures and classes that will keep me busy. The food of course is delicious and a nice, although not needed, diversion. Today I will be taking a computer class on making movies from picutres and I wish I would have brought along some to work with, but I have a few from Florida to use.

I flew into Ft. Lauderdale a day early, the best plan to save yourself from exhaustion! I had enough points to stay at the Westin Beach resort so I planned on another enjoyable night of luxury. I arrived at the hotel at 9 at night and went down the street for dinner. I was told that the lights on the beach, which was literally across the street from the hotel, were off because it was sea turtle nesting time. Now that was an unexpected delight! I love sea turtles and taught about them for years in my ocean unit at school so of course I was excited about the possibility of watching a sea turtle nest. I was told the sightings were rare. I planned to walk along the beach after my late dinner but the rain started and made it impossible, it was quite a downpour, much needed I was told. So I went to bed and unfortunately I was unable to sleep, there was a very loud rattling noise coming from the air conditioner, making it impossible to sleep. Finally at 1AM I called the front desk and was moved to a beautiful ocean front room, my other one had been an ocean view, which means if you squeeze your head against the window you can see the ocean! They also bought me breakfast for the inconvenience. I have to say I splurged on lobster benedict and enjoyed every bite! From my room the next morning I could see an area of beach marked off with the yellow tape which my friend had said marked a turtle's nest and rushed over to see it and take pictures. I was thrilled to see that, even if I hadn't seen a turtle. That is the way they mark the places the eggs have been laid and the people are very respectful of leaving these alone. From March 1 to October 31 the lights are kept off that are along the beach for the sea turtles. The high season is in June and July and although that would be incredible to see, I am not sure I could handle the Florida summer heat and humidity. The concierge at the hotel found a number to call for turtle information and I enjoyed speaking with that man. I learned a lot and the area I had seen was the nest of a leatherback turtle, the largest of the sea turtles and the earliest nesters. He said there were probably between 100 and 200 eggs and those turtles bury the eggs over 18 inches deep. If you wonder what the big deal about tha tis, look it up on the internet, they are huge creatures, not made for digging holes like that. They can lay up to 3 times a season and out of those 3 nestings, maybe one baby will make it and live! And the sea turtles swim thousands of miles and return to the place they were born to lay their eggs! A truly amazing feat of nature, I think! In the sand I could see the flipper marks and after all the years of teaching and watching videos with the kids of this amazing ritual, I was thrilled to be standing there looking at the real thing. So with my new information from the park ranger, I will be able to develop a nice unit on sea turtles, and maybe I'll go back in the summer to take an evening walk along the beach watching for sea turtles. I had a delicious dinner at a little outdoor restaurant across from the beach and the server talked me into the local favorite, grouper. It was delicious! Great choice. I spend the morning with my good friend Carole, who drove in from Boynton Beach and we walked and shopped and enjoyed our time together. Interesting that we met in France and walked on the alabaster beach of Etretat together and there we were in America together at the Ft.Lauderdale beach. I took a shuttle to the ship and am now on my next big adventure!

This adventure may be the same cruise as the first one I took, but it will be a different experience. I have my favorite places and know what I want to do in each port. I get to see friends along the way too! César will be picking me up from the ship in Lisbon and we will have our first little road trip, we will be driving to Vigo, Spain, to the next port where I will meet the ship. Wish me luck for that! It will be fun and I will see n. Portugal which he has wanted to show me since we met. I'm sure it will be 2 days of laughter! I will get to see friends in England to spend the day with and then at the end of the trip, Tue,the young man I met on the first trip, has arranged for me to stay at his hotel and he is going to take time to show me around Copenhagen. Then I fly home. But what fun!

More later and thanks for reading about my adventures!