Hope

     
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~~ Emily Dickinson

Last Day Asea

It's the day for packing, for good-bye, for remembering those last-moment things one wants to do before closing out an adventure. One of those things is getting in on the last laughs and fun things that help to make one's time memorable.

Take bidding old Harry a pleasant journey back to his Colorado. And there's cheering on Wendy and Jared during their 'scrapheap' boat race at the swimming pool. Then there's my final question: What good is an 'automatic' telephone that must have directions printed all over it?

Yep. A fun trip.

Formalities

The final formal evening of this trip is behind us. Well, some will stay uppity until late, but we've doffed the duds and settled in. We will gain back one of the hours stolen from us during the voyage - going to Eastern Time Zone during the night.

Above are shots of some new acquaintances. At top is (r. to l.) wistful Wendy, her son Jared and her father Aubrey. Wendy has been a real and memorable kick throughout. Next is (l. to r.) Marcelino, Angela and Richard. There are two others whose photos didn't turn out at all. I'll try to locate them tomorrow.

At moment we're slipping somewhere between Cuba and Haiti. Of course, everyone's watching for news of weather in Ft. Lauderdale for Tuesday. So far we've heard only sour news.

Stateroom Statement

First must report: Danny did make it back to the ship. Yeah, sure -- in time for cocktail hour.  (Let's just say he didn't do too badly during his 2-1/2 hours at the Orangestad casino.)

So - it's bedtime for him, and my time to play myself tired. Decided to try to photograph the stateroom interior from outside our window. Not too good a shot. (Notice Dan, all naked and comfy, in lower right.)

While I was out on the deck I enjoyed viewing a crystal sky, with my hunter friend as directly overhead as I've ever seen him. Of course, I've never looked while this far south. Perhaps I'll now take a stroll to the highest deck to get an even better look.

Meantime: this may be the last entry for this trip. We have only the transit to Ft. Lauderdale now, to be marred only by the third Formal Night tomorrow evening. Ughh! Come to think of it, that may be a good opportunity to upload a photo or two of our table mates in their silly regalia (as well as to bother everyone with more parenthetic interruptions).

Aruba with Champagne Sunday

Every bit the delight we expected. Orangestad's shops begged us to drop in, and we dropped all over the place. Of course, we dropped some money here and there, but who's counting? The stores are so uppity, who could resist?

Weather is nearly perfect -- about 90 degrees and windy when we left the ship. It warmed up as the breeze settled down, so it was nice to get back to the ship.

One problem though: Danny didn't get back. He was last seen entering the town's casino. Sure hope he makes it in time so I don't have to find another Team Trivia partner tomorrow.

Following this stop, we won't be traveling with Champagne Sunday again until about April. Wishing them well ...

Oh. By the Way ...

Our stateroom is one of only two on Coral's Deck 8 at the extreme aft of the ship. In this shot, Danny's waving from the nearly private deck just outside our room's window.

G'Bye, Cartegena. Next update will be tomorrow - from Aruba.

Cartegena Brief(ly)

Not yet at the equator, Cartegena is far enough. Really warm and humid air kept our land visit short. We did enjoy a shady spot where we located a guy who had several beautiful macaws. That made the trip for me. Has to ... with refrigerator magnets selling for $20-upward. Playing with the parrots, priceless.