I enjoy early mornings aboard a cruise, well before most of the people stumble out of bed and start looking for the first feeding opportunity. I only got up early one morning while we were aboard Norwegian Prima, and it happened to be the morning of our arrival in Roatan, Honduras. While I was able to watch as we approached the port, for the most part my favorite photos are the ones of different ship details, especially those lit up by all the LED lighting.
We spent two nights in Galveston before our cruise, and took advantage of the proximity to visit Space Center Houston. Known famously for “Houston We Have A Problem” it is the home of Mission Control, specifically the The Christopher C. Kraft Mission Control Center, from which NASA led Gemini and Apollo missions, including the momentous first lunar landing mission as well as early space shuttle missions.
As a space geek from childhood, having the opportunity to visit Mission Control was a bit of a thrill. NASA has completely restored the center to look like it did during the moon landings. They sourced manuals, binders, furniture and even ashtrays from former workers and have turned it into a bit of a museum. The tour took us into what had been the VIP viewing gallery, where we could look through the windows while re-enactments of various scenes from Apollo 11 played out on the screen, including the tense moments of landing at Tranquility Base.
Another highlight of the center is Space Shuttle Independence, which is on display on the back of one of the converted Boeing 747 aircraft which were used to transport the shuttles from California back to Florida between missions. Both craft were open to walk through, with plenty of information displays. The size of the combined vehicles is quite impressive!
The overall museum is very well done, with actual Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules, a space rock you can actually touch, information on the upcoming Artemis missions and lots of other space memorabilia. It was a great visit. Having been to space centers at Cape Canaveral, Huntsville and now Houston, NASA have done a commendable job preserving these bits of history.
Houston, We had no problem. 😉
Kathy & I visited the Space Center Houston Complex, including a tour of the Christopher C. Kraft Mission Control Center, which was the Mission Control made famous with the saying, but also for the center used in all of the Apollo missions and many Shuttle missions. The center has been completely restored, down to the butts in the ashtrays on the consoles. The idea was to make the center look like the workers just got up and went home for the day.
The presentation included snippets from the Apollo 11 mission which landed on the moon. For a long-time space buff it was truly a memorable visit!
This photo also looks pretty good (possibly better) in B&W:
Most of the travel that Kathy & I do is by ourselves, but many times we arrange to see some friends along the way. We have started doing a pretty-much-annual “Friends & Family Tour” each summer, since for some reason a lot of our friends won’t travel to see us. Likely because we’re “never” home! 😉
We do have a few couples who we can count on to let us know when they are planning a trip and who ask us it we want to come along, or come along with us on a trip we are planning. Most of these friends are retired and travel nearly as often as we do. We did a river cruise in October with three other couples and it was great. We all did things that suited our interests and went different places in different combinations. Our travel agents – who have also become friends – even booked a cruise after they found out we booked it, and we’ll be cruising with them in February! Other friends arrange to meet for a weekend or a few weekdays in an equidistant location.
We enjoy travel with friends because it sort of forces us to change up our routines, perhaps look at places or things a little differently, and sometimes we just end up someplace we haven’t thought of. Group photos are fun, too. Although more often or not we’re having so much fun we forget to have someone take them. I do take a few photos with my camera, but then I’m never in them! Selfies are okay, but we do like the occasional group photo taken by someone else. Especially if it is a large group – my arm isn’t long enough for a selfie!
The final stop on our recent cruise was the island of Curacao. Together with Aruba and Bonaire, it forms the ABC islands. Collectively, Curaçao, Aruba, and other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean. Curacao is the largest of the ABC islands in both area and population as well as the largest of the Dutch Caribbean.
For our time on Curacao we booked a private tour with Henry Plaate, a taxi driver who I found on a Curacao tourism website. Henry and I communicated multiple times prior to our visit, and he did a fantastic job in showing us the highlights.
The waves along the northeast (Atlantic) shore were pretty incredible!
I sometimes have problems with caves, but this one was not too deep, and the photo ops made me forget about any issues. Very cool!
Beaches and boats, some of my favorite scenery!
As hard as it is to believe, Kathy & I will soon be celebrating 6 years of retirement. Time has flown by, for sure! When we contemplated retirement, we talked about what we would do, and occasionally talked about some kind of volunteer activity, like reading to grade school kids, financial counseling or something to use our former work skills. Interestingly, that has never transpired. Why? Most likely inertia or lack thereof, although we’ve rationalized a bit with the idea that our frequent travel would prohibit us from committing to a regular schedule and that anyone looking for volunteers would probably want a more reliable attendance. I have no idea if that is true because we’re never checked. But we keep thinking that we could be doing more without compromising free time or travel.
For the last 10 years, Kathy & I have lived in a 55+ neighborhood. When we first moved here, we were barely 55 and still working, and even after 10 years we are still among the youngest residents. We have struck up a nice friendship with a few other couples of similar ages, although even they are a little bit older than we are. We have had rotating dinners at our respective homes and recently did a holiday progressive dinner. We find it much more fun to drink and eat at our and our neighbors’ homes as opposed to overstaying our welcome at a restaurant and then having to drive home. Much safer to walk!
Kathy & I have had peripheral involvement in our neighborhood, with Kathy participating on the Social Committee and me on the Finance Committee. We have mixed feelings about participating more, such as board membership or committee chair. We’re pretty protective of our time at home, generally preferring to mind our own business and stay out of the way. But we’re also aware that we have skills and knowledge that would allow us to contribute more.
Kathy & I were talking recently about how so many of our neighbors are old enough to be our parents’ ages. Many of our neighbors are widows or widowers, and although they have children and other family around, they spend a lot of time on their own. For the most part they’re nice folks and we enjoy spending time with them. Like all of us, they have their foibles, but they have been a source of encouragement and inspiration. Encouragement because many of them have been travelers themselves, and are quick to tell us to “go while you can” and “don’t wait.” Inspirational in both positive and negative ways, unfortunately. Positive as in having done things we aspire to do, negative as in seeing the unfortunate result of years of not taking care of their health or finances.
Since we no longer have living parents, I mentioned that maybe we should try and get to know some of these older folks individually. I still cherish the memory of time spent with my grandparents, and feel that some of our neighbors would probably appreciate the attention, and we would undoubtedly enjoy the conversation. Group activities are okay, but once the group gets to be more than 5 or 6 people, “conversations” are more challenging, especially for those with difficulty hearing or being heard. I’m a little leery of a friendship evolving into some kind of surrogate caregiver role, but I think it’s possible to be aware and set limits if necessary.
Anyway, this whole thought process revolves around my idea that we all have various roles to play. Child, parent, spouse, worker, traveler, customer, friend, mentor, etc. Just because we aren’t “working” doesn’t mean we don’t have something to contribute. Helping others is a lot more rewarding than watching the news or playing video games, and it behooves all of us to spend some time considering our place in this world. It’s an evolving concept and I’m looking forward to seeing where it leads.
Monte’s recent post reminded me of this sign I came across on the island of Curacao. Litter, and trash in general, is a problem everywhere. This particular sign was in a national park, which thankfully appeared to have its litter problem well under control.
I need to get a sign like this and post on the road in and out of our neighborhood.
We spent an afternoon doing a walking tour and generally exploring this wonderful town. Our group stopped for drinks at a little cafe and enjoyed some of the local tasty treats!
This will be the last of my postcards from our river cruise on the Danube. Anyone interested in more photos can check out my Adobe Portfolio site, where I have posted a bunch of photos in several galleries.
We passed this quaint village along the Danube in Slovakia. We didn’t stop but it still made for an interesting scene.
