Back to Routine

Well, I guess it is obvious that I still can't access my photos...I have tried. When Nathan is here next I will see what he can do. College started up again for Graham, Joy, and Nathan (Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Motlow Community College) so it is back to work for them! They have been off since before Christmas. I imagine it was a bit hard to get back in gear! Not being able to post pictures has messed with mind as to how share our trip. I had planned to share parts of the cruise, etc. by the photo Inpost each night...well...that is obviously not going to work! I will start with the weather going, during, and coming back. We started out last Wednesday and that day we happened to have a cold front coming through. We managed to actually drive through the cold front when we were less than 50 miles from home...strong winds, heavy rain, which before we were through the front had turned to a slushy mix...slush being pushed off the windshield by the wipers. For a little while Nathan was concerned that the slush was going to affect the roads. By the time we came off Monteagle Mountain we were pretty much the front and had gotten in front of the front. All that meant that temperatures were going to drop. Which they did. The photo I wanted to post last night was all of us at Port Canaveral with our ship, The MSC Grandiosa, behind us...we all had jackets on...not the attire expected for sunny Florida! The first night at sea was very windy and very chilly. The wind had the ability to blow one around the deck...or make it very hard tonwalk if walking into the wind. We didn't spend a lot of time on the deck or on our balconies that night...pretty chilly. All our rooms did not originally have balconies...but by the time our rooms became ours, they had all turned into balcony rooms. Joy and I were on the deck below the others. And, we were unique in that our room was on the very back of the ship...so we could look down at all the water churned up by the ship...the photo that I was able to post Sunday night was taken from our balcony. We had fun watching the ship pull into the dock and watch them tie up to the dock. All the others joined us on our balcony at times to watch dockings, etc. All the rooms were in a bit different location so each had different views, that we took advantage of looking from. Weather had calmed down by the time we docked at Nassau and the temperatures were in the 70s...nice walking around weather. The clerk at the store where I bought a hat to block the sun from my face and neck said she was sorry that the temperatures were so cool! We told her that they felt wonderful to us...that 70 felt good compared to what the temperatures had dropped to in TN! On Ocean Cay, the MSC cruiseline's private island, it was also sunny and pleasant and in the 70s, though Nathan and I both observed that it felt much warmer than that as we hoofed it back to the ship after visiting the beach! Our trip back to Port Canavaral was again smooth sailing. Our next problem with weather was going home...when...once again, we crossed a cold front. This time in Florida...mainly just rain with that front. It rained on us until we got to Baxley, GA, where we stopped to visit with Kathy's mom for a little while. We stopped at Arby's and got lunch to take to her house. It was Kathy's birthday and her mom's birthday had been a couple days before. So we visited for a little while, are lunch, and were then back on the road...but we now had sunny skies for the rest of the way home...well, sunny skies till it got dark! So that reports on the weather for our trip...pretty nice for the most part, except for the two cold fronts that we encountered both going and coming! Today my reality was that I really needed to go to the grocery store...which I did. Another reality is that Christmas decorations need to come down. I didn't start before we left because I knew I couldn't finish before we left and didn't want to face the mess coming in the door from the trip. I have boxed up a few things today, hopefully will be able to get underway more tomorrow when I don't have to fit in list making and grocery shopping! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!