Day 9…Henderson, Nevada.. Posting photos from “White Night” on Azamara Journey…One day and counting…

We won’t post more photos from our Norway cruise going forward other than today’s posting from the fabulous “White Night” aboard Azamara Journey, as shown on this post, not in a separate post. I appreciate your patience while we shared photos from our first cruise when the WiFi signal was too weak to post photos. We excluded a few ports of call for expediency.

The decor by the pool was decorative and festive for the occasion of “White Night.”

Day 11…Norway Cruise…Last night’s fantastic “White Night”…Today…Alta, Norway…

We were looking forward to posting the photos from the Azamara “White Night” but had decided to post them after we’d posted them from the ports of call on the Norway cruise. Now that it is completed, I can relax and return to preparing one post each day.

This was my delicious plate! It was amazing that there were many items I could eat.

We hope you enjoy the photos from that night, which we consider our favorite event on the two cruises. It wasn’t so much about the socialization, which was great, but more about the festive atmosphere on a night that put the Azamara staff to work on many aspects of the event.

There was plenty of seating for the ship’s 578 passengers.

Officers were serving food, and it appeared most of the staff was in attendance, ensuring it was a memorable night for each one of its passengers. It was flawless, with every aspect prepared and executed to the most finite detail. We couldn’t have asked for more.

The food was not only delicious but also presented beautifully.

We’ve had a busy morning. We slept until around 8:00, and by 9:00 am, we were comfortably seated in a booth in the restaurant for our usual delicious breakfast. There’s only one more breakfast, and we’ve both loved our delightful meal. Over the years, it has been a real highlight for us when we’ve stayed at the Green Valley Ranch Spa Resort and Casino in Henderson, Nevada.

There were more options than I had room for.

Once we finished breakfast, we headed back to our room to put together a pile of clothing to donate to the Goodwill store close to the DMV, where we went on Tuesday to renew our driver’s licenses. The licenses will be sent to our mailing service in a few weeks, and we’ll have them forwarded to us at the hotel in Minnesota where we’ll be staying for the next month.

We didn’t eat any of these items.

Next, we headed to Richard’s office to scan a pile of documents left from the mailing service pickup a few days ago, none of which we needed to keep hard copies. We don’t carry “papers” with us, adding to the weight of our bags. After we left Richard’s office, we drove to the Goodwill store, a 15-minute drive. Then, we filled the rental car with petrol and returned to the hotel.

Neither of us selected cheese with so many other exciting options.

Once back in our room, I completed communication with the owners of a house we’re renting in Ecuador, beginning on October 24, after the Galapagos cruise. Negotiating a reasonable price, details we’ll share with photos tomorrow. We’re excited about this new place where we’ll live until January 8, 2024.

Mouth-watering offerings.

From there, we have nothing booked at this time. However, in Ecuador, we’ll decide on future plans in South America or wherever we may travel. It’s all up for grabs. Since the pandemic, we feel comfortable not booking too far into the future, based on the hassles we experienced when we had to cancel many trips, flights, cruises, rental cars, and holiday homes.

The white theme was visually appealing to everyone.

I picked up a copy of our hotel bill so far and found an error this morning. They hadn’t credited us the 50% off we got on the resort fee when we first checked in. A few minutes ago, I received a call from the VIP reception staff, and she’s since made the corrections that will show up on our bill when we check out tomorrow at noon.

As we looked around, we realized how many wonderful people we’d met, all of whom were having a great time. Six sat at our table for more lively conversation.

Late this afternoon at 4:30, my son and his girlfriend will pick us up at the entrance to the resort to head to Summerlin for dinner and a movie. It’s been fun hanging out with them several times since our arrival. This has been a fantastic stay in Nevada, with quality time with family and friends. I am getting a few things done and enjoying this lovely resort.

There were many items I didn’t try when I didn’t want to bother the staff enquiring about ingredients.

Tomorrow, we fly to Minnesota and will attempt to get a new post uploaded before we fly away at 3:45 pm. Thanks for “traveling along with us” on these past journeys. We look forward to more in the future.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 8, 2013:

Our new vegetable stand in Diani Beach, Kenya, is a short walk from our holiday home. Notice the motorcycle. The produce is delivered by motorcycle each day! For more photos, please click here.

Day 8…Henderson, Nevada.. Posting photos from Trondheim, Norway continues today…Two days and counting…

Not our photo, but what a great shot of the Northern Lights in Norway in the winter when they can be seen.

Yesterday afternoon, we watched another movie at the movie theatre in the resort, one Tom didn’t like, Meg 2, The Trench. I’m less picky about these types of movies, and although it wasn’t worthy of many stars, I was moderately entertained. I looked at him several times and hoped he was napping since I knew he was struggling. Finally, it ended, and we were returning to our room to make plans for the evening.

On our walk through the casino, we stopped and made a reservation at Borracha, the Mexican restaurant in the hotel. With our VIP coupon of 20% off all meals (not drinks) at any restaurants in the resort, we thought this would be a good choice. Once we returned to our room, we got a message from my son and his girlfriend that they had made a reservation at Borracha for 6:30 for the four of us. What a coincidence!

I texted the hostess to let her know we’d be canceling our 6:00 pm reservation since we were already included in a 6:30 reservation. Before dinner, while still in our room, I worked on setting up my new Fitbit, which we’d picked up from the mailing service. I charged it and installed a new band I’d purchased with it, a decorative stainless steel band instead of its usual ugly black band.

Since I’d dropped my old Fitbit, breaking the face, I was anxious to get it replaced. With my heart condition, I need to track my heart rate and perform occasional ECGs, provided accurately using the watch with an FDA approval feature. Since we arrived in Nevada a week ago, I haven’t had a single bout of Afib, which makes me hopeful after many episodes in the past month on the two cruises.

Focusing on getting plenty of sleep, which I think was a trigger when staying up too late too many nights, I may have discovered an additional important factor in preventing this awful irregular, fast heartbeat, often lasting for hours. I’ll continue to focus on sleep and lots of walking, which seem to help so much.

In this hotel, it’s a long walk from our room to the restaurants, and we leave the room several times daily. No, my legs can’t walk 10,000 steps a day, but for now, I am managing to get 5,000-6,000 steps per day, quite an improvement from when we were in Florida. Gosh, that seems like a long time ago.

Anyway,  by 6:30 pm, the four of us were situated at the comfy booth in the restaurant and had another fantastic time together. The food was mediocre, and Tom was disappointed he couldn’t get a blended Margarita in a Mexican restaurant. He doesn’t care for the non-blended versions. I had trouble finding something to eat and ended up ordering the equivalent of a taco salad, without the shell, topped with a small sliced flank steak. It was good but not great.

In two days, on Saturday, we’ll fly to Minnesota in the afternoon, arriving at 8:45 pm. It certainly has been fun being here. Couple that with feeling better and visits from our friends; our time here in Nevada has been delightful.

Speaking of visits from friends…around 11:00 am, our friends Marilyn and Gary from Utah will arrive to have lunch with us. We didn’t go to breakfast this morning since we’ll be having lunch before too long. We’ll probably have a late dinner tonight since, after eating lunch, we won’t be hungry for quite a while.

The only task we have left to accomplish while here is to go to Richard’s office tomorrow to shred a stack of papers from the mail we picked up yesterday at the mailing service, most with some confidential information. We don’t have a lot of tasks to do in Minnesota other than to go to a Minute Clinic to get a prescription for an altitude sickness medication, acetazolamide, for our arrival in Quito, Ecuador, in a little over a month. It’s 2859 meters (9350 feet) above sea level.

The last time I was at that high an altitude was skiing in Colorado in the 1980s. Tom hasn’t ever been that high. This drug is supposed to prevent the symptoms of altitude sickness. At this point, we don’t want to take any chances with our health.

That’s it for today, folks. We’ll be back with more tomorrow, including a photo from today’s get-together with Marilyn and Gary.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 7, 2013:

Today, we met Nancy, one of the daytime support staff, at our guarded gate in Diani Beach, Kenya. She was so sweet, holding my hand the entire time we chatted. We love being able to talk to the locals. For more photos, please click here.

In reviewing the photos we hadn’t been able to post, it appears it will be very time-consuming and complicated to return to each post and add the photos we couldn’t post. As a result, we are posting some of the photos under the heading of each town over days, which can be found after each new day, listed as Part 1, Part 2 Norway, for example.

The new post with the photos is located below:

Part 6…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Trondheim, Norway…

Part 6…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Trondheim, Norway…

View of Trondheim from the ship. Lovely scenery. The city has a population of over 182,000.

Note; Under the weather that day, we didn’t get off the ship, and thus, there are few photos, none of which are ours.

Not our photo. Pretty street on a quiet morning.
Not our photo. The waterway in Trondheim is lined with colorful buildings.

Here’s the post we wrote on the day we arrived in Trondheim, Norway:

Day 14…Norway Cruise…Trondheim, Norway..Final port of call…Another great evening of conversation and entertainment…

Day 7…Henderson, Nevada.. Posting photos from Tromso, Norway continues today…Enjoying times in Nevada…

Trolls are famous in Norway. What Are Trolls from Norse Mythology? Norwegian trolls are believed to be mythical creatures that live in isolated rocks or caves. They are believed to live alone or in small families and are hostile towards humans. As per the troll legends, they are believed to be evil and dangerous beings that prefer the wilderness.

We’ve run out of photos of Las Vegas and may not have time to take more local pictures while we’re here. As a result, we will only post one main photo on the regular daily post from one of the two recent cruises. Once we get to Minnesota, we will try to take photos, but it’s not always possible when busy with family events. Not all family members want their photos posted online. We always respect that.

Yesterday, when Tom’s old railroad friend Mark responded that his wife could not join us for drinks or dinner, I suggested Tom go on his own for some “guy time.” It’s a rarity that he has time to commiserate with friends without me there. Instead, I stayed in the hotel room and chatted on the phone with my friend Kathy (Kathy and Don), who lives in Hawaii. It was great that the time difference worked out when, so often when we chat, we’re dealing with substantial time differences.

Tom returned shortly after 8:00 pm when we headed to the restaurant for a nice dinner. Later, back in our room, we streamed a show and got to sleep by 11:00 pm. Twelve hours later, we were back in the restaurant, having breakfast, and now, close to 11:00 am, I’m making an effort to put a dent in today’s post so soon we can drive to our mailing service to pick up our mail.

Once we get the mail, we’ll be busy for an hour going through everything. We don’t have any big plans for today but have begun to book times to get together with our kids and grandkids in Minnesota. We’re starting with a busy Sunday, hoping to see all three of our kids in one day.

From there, we will have over a month to spend plenty of time with everyone, including time with Tom’s siblings and other family members and several friends we hope to see. It will be a fun and busy time until we finally leave for South America in October. It will be tricky managing the use of the rental car when we each have separate families to visit, and sometimes we each have to go our own way. But, as always, we’ll figure it out.

At least this time, we won’t be sick and can see everyone. When we had COVID-19, we spent weeks in Minnesota and never were able to spend time with the family for fear of infecting them, even after we tested negative. We were still coughing and wondered if we could infect anyone regardless of testing negative. There were mixed reviews on this topic.

It’s hard to believe we leave Nevada in three days, but we’ve got a lot done while we are here and spent quality time with family and friends who’ve come to visit. The surprise of Rita and Gerhard flying in from the state of Washington for six hours was quite a treat.

Tomorrow, friends Marilyn and Gary arrive at our hotel at 11:00 am, and we’ll have lunch together. We’re looking forward to seeing the two of them and are grateful they are driving the long way to see us. We are lucky to have such fine friends in many places.

Otherwise, we have a quiet day today with not much going on. We just returned from the mailing service and picked up all our packages and a small stack of mail, nothing too important. I’m anxious to set up my new Fitbit, but I will do that after everything else is gone through and when I finish today’s two posts.

This afternoon, we’re heading to another movie at the Regal Theatre here in the resort. It’s such fun for us to go to a movie after not doing so for a long time while living outside the US.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 6, 2013:

The goats in the rear yard of this property in Diana Beach, Kenya, posed for us when Hans‘ two small dogs, Gucci and Jessie, chased them into their goat house. For more photos, please click here.

In reviewing the photos we hadn’t been able to post, it appears it will be very time-consuming and complicated to return to each post and add the photos we couldn’t post. As a result, we are posting some of the photos under the heading of each town over days, which can be found after each new day, listed as Part 1, Part 2 Norway, for example.

The new post with the photos is located below:

Part 5…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Tromso, Norway…

Part 5…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Tromso, Norway…

Yes, reindeer are real animals found in Norway.
Statue in Tromso.
It was a Sunday, and the streets were quiet.
This little train-like vehicle is a tourist attraction…
This was a government building.
A pretty church at the end of the road, Tromso Cathedral.
A view of the street from the top of the hill.
A pharmacy in the town of Tromso with a population of 72,000.
The Tromso Bridge.

Here’s the post we wrote on the day we arrived in Tromso, Norway:

Day 9…Norway Cruise…Tromso, Norway…Why is Norway called, “The Land of the Midnight Sun?”…The Troll Fjords…

Day 6…Henderson, Nevada…Posting photos from Svolvaer Norway continues today…Fantastic dinner with family…

The Venetian Las Vegas.

Yesterday afternoon, we stopped at a liquor store for wine and beer on the way to Richard’s home for dinner. I found a low-carb, low-alcohol wine for me and a bottle of William Hill Merlot for them, along with some beer. We arrived promptly at 4:00 pm and had a lovely evening, chatting, laughing, and later enjoying a delicious chicken dinner with mashed cauliflower, salad, and au gratin potatoes for Tom.

We’d brought three loads of laundry and got all of them done and folded in no time. It was a relief to have clean clothes once again. We’ll wait until we arrive in Minnesota on the 9th to do laundry again when they have self-service at the hotel. Easy peasy.

More and more structures line the strip each year.

After dinner, we watched a movie, but I slept through half of it, nuzzled up with a comfy blanket on the recliner sofa chair. I couldn’t have been more relaxed and couldn’t help drifting off for a while. I always get teased when I do this, but a movie must be engaging to stay awake after a big meal and glass of wine.

Back at our hotel by 10:00 pm, we put the laundry away and headed to bed, knowing today was the day we had to renew our driver’s licenses at the DMV in Henderson. We have an 11:00 am appointment for both of us. It’s a chaotic place and necessary to have appointments; otherwise, one could wait in a queue for a few hours.

Casino Royale Resort.

We just returned from the Henderson DMV after our 11:00 am appointments. The DMV is a bustling place, and we were relieved we’d made appointments instead of waiting for hours as we had last time we renewed the licenses in 2019. It appears that we can apply online next time rather than have to appear in person.

In all, the process went smoothly. We filled out the forms and waited for our assigned numbers to be called. We both were processed in less than ten minutes of one another and after our eye tests and photos were taken, we were on our way out the door. It was a relatively painless process.

The Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas.

Tomorrow, we’ll head to our mailing service and pick up whatever mail we have there, including a new Fitbit I purchased a few days ago when the face cracked after dropping it on the asphalt when we were exploring at a port of call during the first cruise in Norway. It was almost three years old, and I’ve found they don’t seem to last any longer than that anyway. I purchased a newer version of the Sense model, a Sense 2. I am anxious to see the new features, if any.

Now, back in our hotel room, I aim to finish today’s post and post photos from the next city on our itinerary in Norway on the Azamara cruise. I hope many of our readers have had a chance to review the added posts for the next town on the Norway itinerary.

The Wynn Las Vegas has 2,716 hotel rooms.

We realize many photos were exciting, but these small fishing villages didn’t necessarily present the best photo ops. If we’d gone out on excursions, surely we would have seen a lot more, but at a typical cost of about $400 per day for such outings and with so many ports of calls on that cruise, we could easily have spent another $5000 which wasn’t in our budget.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the cruises to Norway and the second cruise to Greenland, which gave us an entirely new perspective of what life may be like in these oceanfront villages in these remote locations. We didn’t find that the winter weather would be any worse than what we experienced living in Minnesota for Tom, all of his life, and for me, over 40 years.

Every corner is an opportunity to advertise and promote the many venues in Las Vegas.

After considerable research, it appears the winter weather in both Norway and Greenland was warmer and with less snow than in Minnesota. It’s no wonder we chose to move away.

That’s it for today, folks! We’ll be back with more tomorrow.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 5, 2013:

The gate from our veranda in Kenya, our only living room, looks out to the yard. There were no screens, so we were constantly dealing with insects. For more, please click here.

In reviewing the photos we hadn’t been able to post, it appears it will be very time-consuming and complicated to return to each post and add the photos we couldn’t post. As a result, we are posting some of the photos under the heading of each town over days, which can be found after each new day, listed as Part 1, Part 2 Norway, for example.

The new post with the photos is located below:

https://worldwidewaftage.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=54629&action=edit

Part 5…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Svolvear, Norway…

The scenery couldn’t have been more beautiful.

Here’s the post we wrote on the day we arrived in Svolvaer, Norway: https://worldwidewaftage.com/day-8-norway-cruise-svolaer-norway/

Another fishing village in Norway.
We couldn’t believe how close we came to the sides of the narrow waterways.
It was delightful to see many waterfalls along the way.
Me in the evening before heading to dinner. With so few clothes, I keep wearing the same things repeatedly.
Bless his heart! Tom held my little bag and glass of wine while I took his photo.

Here’s the link for the post we wrote on the day we spent in Svolvaer, Norway.

Day 8…Norway Cruise…Svolaer, Norway…

Day 5…Henderson, Nevada…Posting photos from Norway continues today…Fantastic day and evening with Rita & Gerhard…More friends coming to visit!!!…

Last evening, while at the Green Valley Ranch Spa Resort and Casino with our dear friends Rita and Gerhard, who flew from Washington to join us for dinner, returning a few hours later. What a joy it was! Such good friends!

It was a pleasure to see Rita and Gerhard waiting for us curbside at the Las Vegas McCarran Airport yesterday afternoon at about 2:00 pm. The six hours we spent with them sailed by so quickly it felt like a blink of an eye. We caught up on everything in our lives over the past year since we’d seen them and dreamed of plans together for the future.

Performers with painted-on breasts walked down the boulevard advertising a show.

Hopefully, we can figure out the timing to meet them somewhere in the world over the next year. With somewhat flexible plans after the first of the year, we should be able to plan something that works for all of us. Also, we look forward to spending more time together in Marloth Park in the next year or two.

But life is in flux, this life we live, and one never knows what may transpire in months/years to come. They are about ten years younger than us and in good health, much better than me. With many recent bouts with Afib, I’ve begun to wonder what the future holds. Getting good sleep seems to be a factor, and I am doing well with that right now and haven’t had a bout since we arrived in Nevada on August 31.

Check out how busy the strip was yesterday, on the Labor Day holiday weekend.

We walk a lot in this massive resort, getting as many as 6000-7000 steps daily. As mentioned, walking isn’t easy for me, but shorter distances seem easier than long ones. We’ll see how it goes.

As for yesterday, when we picked up Rita and Gerhard, our hearts soared with delight over seeing their faces and embracing them both in big hugs. They’d wanted to see the Las Vegas Strip, and Tom drove slowly, following in the traffic on the busy strip, enabling us to take many photos, which we’ve included here today.

The Encore, luxury hotel rooms, and casino.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a high of in the low 90s, a far cry from the typical 110s or higher this time of year. Of course, we didn’t spend much time outdoors. Once we returned to the hotel, we gave them a tour of the hotel and showed them our room, where we sat and chatted for a bit.

With many unforgettable memories to share along with our travels and activities over the past year, the conversation flowed as easily as it always had. It was almost as if we’d never been apart. Our mutual memories of times we spent in Marloth Park were a point in the conversations we kept repeating. Perhaps we’re all meant to be back there together at some point soon.

Palazzo at The Venetian…

They will spend about six weeks in Marloth Park at the end of October. They will share their stories and photos of our favorite animals at our favorite house, the Ratel house, where we’ve each stayed at different points in our travels but never at the same time.

While we were with Rita and Gerhard at the restaurant, I heard a beep from WhatsApp on my phone. I took a peek at the message, knowing only a select few special people ever contacted me through WhatsApp. It was a message from friends Gary and Marilyn, another wonderful couple we met from our site who came to Marloth Park and with whom we became great friends, asking if they could visit us while we’re in Nevada. They live in Utah, the next state over to the east.

Colorful signs along the strip.

Rita and Gerhard also came to know Gary and Marilyn while we all were in Marloth Park. They shared in our enthusiasm over the prospect of them coming to visit us in the next few days. We wrapped up our plans with Gary and Marilyn, and they will drive here (over two hours) to see us this upcoming Thursday for lunch! Another fantastic get-together with friends.

We feel so blessed to have made friends from all over the world with whom we stay in close touch. No words can express our appreciation for Rita and Gerhard spending a day traveling to see us. Who flies from the state of Washington to Nevada for dinner, returning the same night? We love this! But only they would be so adventurous! They often bestowed big surprises on us, and this one fits right in!

Our favorite TV chef, Gordon Ramsay.

Now, we look forward to the arrival of Gary and Marilyn in three days, where, once again, we’ll be reminded of how fortunate we are to have such amazing friends. And then, of course, there’s family, and in a few hours, we’ll be heading to my son’s home for dinner, which they are making for us. It will be another memorable day filled with lively conversation and shared experiences. Plus, we’ll do our laundry at his house!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 4, 2013:

A different view of the veranda than yesterday’s posting. With a huge room upstairs without furniture and no living room on the main floor, we’ll have no choice but to spend most of our idle time outside both day and evening. Finally, wearing my African pants last night was appropriate, just spraying my arms and feet. Gee…those pants work well! I wish I’d known about BugsAway clothing while living in Minnesota. The bugs are nasty. For more photos, please click here.

In reviewing the photos we hadn’t been able to post, it appears it will be very time-consuming and complicated to return to each post and add the photos we couldn’t post. As a result, we are posting some of the photos under the heading of each town over days, which can be found after each new day, listed as Part 1, Part 2 Norway, for example.

The new post with the photos is located below:

https://worldwidewaftage.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=54629&action=edit

Part 4…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Stavanger, Norway…

Down a quiet street in Stavanger…
A histoirc museum in Stavanger.
The port of Stavanger.
Boardwalk in Stavanger.
The historic Stavanger Church.
Reindeer pelts and boots for sale on the street.
The outdoor marketplace.
A live goose checking out the wares for sale in the shops.
The local Burger King.
The colorful buildings lined up along the boardwalk.
A tower in Stavanger.
Our ship, Azamara Journey, was docked at the end of the road.

Here’s the link for the post we wrote on the day we spent in Stavanger.

Day 3…Norway Cruise…Stavanger, Norway…

Day 4…Henderson, Nevada…Posting photos from Norway continues today…Friends from Washington coming for dinner today!…

Slot machines in one area of the casino at Green Valley Ranch Spa Resort and Casino in Henderson, Nevada.

Yesterday afternoon, we purchased tickets online to see the movie “Oppenheimer,” which was playing at the Regal Theatre attached to our resort. We were able to get Tom a free small popcorn for signing up for the Regal app, which he used toward the purchase of a giant tub of popcorn that he consumed before the movie began.

The matinee for seniors was $12.50 each, which we thought was reasonable. His popcorn and large Coke came to a total of $8.75, less than what we expected. We hadn’t been to a movie in a long time, so we had no idea what to expect. We picked out our seats in advance and had a good time.

Since there was nothing for me to eat at the theatre suitable for my diet, I didn’t order anything or taste his popcorn. It would be hard to stop at one bite, so I abstained, as I always do. When the three-hour movie ended at 6:36 pm, he wasn’t hungry for dinner, which we expected.

When he was too full for dinner, I’d planned to order a salad-to-go to take to our room, but when the movie ended, I wasn’t hungry and decided not to eat. I didn’t eat again until breakfast this morning, 24 hours later, and felt fine doing so. Tom ordered his usual breakfast of ham and eggs but couldn’t finish it all. He’s still full today from that massive bucket of popcorn.

If you haven’t seen the movie, “Oppenheimer,” we won’t provide any spoilers but can suggest it as a good movie worth sitting still for three hours. We were never bored during the long movie and savored every moment since we seldom go to a movie unless we are in the US for a visit.

This morning, I felt good after my “mini fast” and perhaps may make a regular habit of fasting for 24 hours from time to time, which gives the body a rest from digesting a big meal.

We were able to reserve a comfortable booth in the Lucky Penny, where we’ll have dinner with Rita and Gerhard this evening. They don’t usually take reservations, but I asked the manager if he could reserve the booth so we’d have plenty of room to eat, relax, and catch up without feeling rushed.

We haven’t seen Rita and Gerhard together since 2022, except when Gerhard came alone to Marloth Park to sell the vehicle they’d purchased to use for their time in Marloth Park. They are heading back for a six-week visit next month and will rent a car as we always do. Gerhard had dinner at our place that evening and then took off the next day to return to Bali, in the same villa where we’d stayed years ao.

We are undoubtedly excited about them coming to Las Vegas for less than one day to have the afternoon and evening with us. Before retiring, Gerhard worked in management for an airline, and he and Rita can travel on stand-by when seats are available. They decided Sunday would be a good day to fly here since holidaymakers in Las Vegas are here for the long holiday weekend, ending this Monday after Labor Day. Few would be traveling today.

They’d like to see our hotel room in case they ever decide to stay here, so this morning, we tidied up and are now waiting for the housekeeper to come to clean. The flight they’re hoping to board arrives at 1:00 pm. They will text us when they know they can board, and we’ll be waiting for them at “arrivals” when we know their flight is in. They won’t have any bags since they fly back tonight when we return them to the airport.

How fun! We’re certainly looking forward to a special day with our friends.

Sorry, we don’t have any major photos to share today. We were preoccupied with the movie and going about a typical day at the resort.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 3, 2013:

Goats, a typical local food source, littered the highway as we zoomed past from Mombasa, Kenya, to Diani Beach. For more photos, please click here.

In reviewing the photos we hadn’t been able to post, it appears it will be very time-consuming and complicated to return to each post and add the photos we couldn’t post. As a result, we are posting some of the photos under the heading of each town over days, which can be found after each new day, listed as Part 1, Part 2 Norway, for example.

The new post with the photos is located below:

Part 3…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Olden, Norway…