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Well Monday, November 24 started early with Karen getting up at 2:30 AM to take her "special" shower before her hip surgery. I was out of bed by 3:00 AM and we were on the road for Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas, Austin by 3:30 AM. Her check in time was 4:45 AM and we arrived early after parking the truck in the garage structure. Following the check-in process we were escorted to a pre-op room were she changed and began the lengthy pre-op procedures. By

Once again home at the RVICS Village in Smithville we settled in unpacking and loading up the laundry baskets. We have spent the past week reliving some wonderful memories of our time away. Getting back to a regular routine has been an adjustment since returning from our whirlwind journey. Here are some of the closing highlights; Our last Saturday night aboard was spent at dinner with our shipmates: Skip and Karen from Nebraska and John and Sandy from Connecticut. We really e

I don't know how often you reflect on life. I find myself doing it more often now that I'm older and retired from my professional life. It has always been a part of my adult spiritual life to be thankful for the many blessings God has given me. I'm thankful for my faith in Christ and salvation, my wife and her unconditional commitment to me, my children and grandchildren. Thankful for my friends, some whom I've had since childhood. All of these things would certainly make any

We departed on the evening of November 4 traveling through the Straits of Gilbraltar from the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean. In the passage we could see the lights of Moracco in Africa. The Strait of Gibraltar, also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles ( 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. The strait lie

When Karen and I started thinking about this trip our biggest concerns were packing, the length of our trip and the distance. The packing challenge was addressed after educating ourselves on the virtues of using only carry-ons. YouTube became our go to resource on types of luggage, clothing materials selection, like Merino wool, and packing cubes. Honestly, after what we have learned, we will almost always pack this way in the future with the only exception being a scuba divi

We landed in Barcelona at 11:45 AM on October 30 after two legs of a flight. From Izmir we returned to Istanbul to clear immigration and customs before leaving for Spain. The Turks are amazingly efficient at moving people through the airport process. We had only an hour and 20 minutes before our second flight would depart and we got to our gate fine and our bags made it to our plane. Because we were flying a smaller carrier we had to check our carry-on baggage because you can