Blogs from Pacific, Oceans and Seas - page 29

Guangzhou to Beijing to Seoul to Atlanta to Tallahassee. I shudder at just the thought. 24 hours door to door best case possible, meaning no delays. Delta in the mix, as the last flight on the 9:41 p.m. to Tallahassee, which means definite delays. About three hours worth, as it turned out, first due to mechanical problems, then weather, then mechanical problems, then weather again (no just kidding about the last one). Two toddler boys. Do the math. Crazy antics on the flights and on the ground. Boys were actually pretty good on the long flight from Seoul to Atlanta, although, I suppose, it had to do with that they were pretty much sleeping except for the time spent eating. Bao did take a short break from these activities to watch the movie "Cars" without headset ... read more

Entry #5: 5/24/2010 The Longest Flight I have to write a thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Noemer for driving Kevin and I to the airport this morning at 4:00 am. Wait, was that this morning? I can’t even tell anymore. I haven’t seen the sun set in an unusual amount of time, with the whole traveling forward in time as we flew west. I think we literally skipped an entire evening. Neat. Anyway, we saw a ridiculous amount of traffic for 4 in the morning on a Monday, so thanks for putting up with that guys. Oh, also for the free bagel. So far, everything has gone much more smoothly than expected, given how much of a pain all the planning was. At the time of my writing this, we are sitting in one ... read more

I have family on board with me! My Aunt Renee and Uncle Allan booked a cruise with me this past December, soon after I arrived here on the Spirit. For a Christmas gift, my cousin Kelsey got to come with them too. For months now we’ve been emailing back and forth and counting down to their arrival. Finally their cruise has arrived! They flew into San Diego the day before their cruise. That last sea day, it felt so exciting to know I was cruising towards my family. The next morning when the ship was docked in San Diego, I went out and met them at their hotel across the street. As I approached the hotel room door, I could hear their voices inside before I even knocked and I was just grinning away. We got ... read more

It always amazes me how immense the Pacific Ocean is. You can travel for days and not see land or even another ship! So, once again, we left San Diego for a six day sojourn across the great Pacific knowing we’d see nothing but water for days. We have a really spectacular corner room on the back of the ship this year, with a wrap around balcony and windows that make for some really terrific views. I can sit mesmerized for hours just watching the water churn behind the ship, displaying a beautiful array of deep blues, turquoises, and white foam. The further south and west we go, the brighter the blues, the warmer the temperature, and of course the dreaded humidity … lots of bad hair days running around on this ship! We’ve had many ... read more

We are fortunate that the Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world’s four seas because it takes a while to cross this vast expanse of water. Thus we get to begin our cruise with six sea days. This is just perfect planning by the maker of the world and the cruise line. After all the last minute frenzy of getting ready to go on a four month cruise, it is heaven to board the ship and have plenty of time to unpack, settle into our stateroom, meet our passengers and get into the rhythm of shipboard life. With so much luggage, it does take a bit of time to get organized. We figured that we probably brought too much stuff, but then again this is our home for four months and we want to be ... read more