Bad Lands

So now onto the Badlands National Park

This place is Awesome you have pretty little flowers that we found out were not dazes, but a prairie flower that doesn't usually come out unless they get a lot of rain.

 This view shows you the Homesteads that made it the one earlier didn't.

 Every corner we turned there was another view.

This really shows you why they called it the badlands, that and many bandits hid in these hills and you can see why.

The sun was not in our favor, to get the kind of pictures you get when it is just  right, and you see all the colors. but still awesome 

This was an overlook at the end of our travel and we were so glad we stopped as we saw our first and only glimpse of animals in the park.

A family of Big Horn Sheep

Dad a ways away

More on another part of the cliff

The view in the same area.

More coming up the side of the cliff

Leaving and we are still way up there

Then we went to Wall Drugs to get a burger and fries, pretty good but a tourist trap over all.  So we didn't stay long and it was on to Mt Rushmore!

Butte, Big Arm, Coeur d' Alene

It has been an exciting few days.  So now, that you know some of what happen we will do a flash back to where we were when, I didn't get on the web.

View from the car

 The receptionists at our Best Western in Murdo told us how we should do our time there so we took her advice and drove to the Bad Lands.  It was awesome and much greener then I remembered this area being.

 So the first stop was to see a homestead house, that was really used at the time period.  Tell you what this is NOT the good old days, we sometimes don't know how lucky we are to be alive now.

This is the front yard,,, ha ha, just full of Prairie Dogs

I think this house was a lot like the one my mom grew up in, in Montana..

How would you like to get up in the night and use this.. ugh

I am posting this large so you can read the sign.

This is the barn, looks familiar.

 So then it was on to the Badlands National Park.

More catch up

So we made it to Coeur D' Alene in the afternoon, and it was our anniversary so Ed snagged us a suite in the Holiday Inn. The Holiday Inn has really surprised me, as it meets all our needs, better then the other brands, and they are really well appointed. This room is huge, and has a jacuzzi tub and shower! And free high speed internet!
Then last night we went to a GREAT local restaurant BarDEnay and distillery, great place. We set outside, and had a wonderful dinner, trout for me and fish and chips for Ed. I could go on and on, but I will spear you. 😍 So it was all very romantic and just right!

jeep

More catch up

While I am waiting to get the photos into the blog I will try to catch you up on the things that happened yesterday!
Every since we started this trip the car we rented, has been a problem, as the tire in the front, would lose air, and the light would come on saying we needed to check it.  We should have turned it bacteria to Interprise in Clear Lake, but thought it was just a little air. Well yesterday we got in the car and it was almost FLAT!  So we aired it up and pryad we woul make it to Masollua, and we traieded it in. That was another story!  So now we have a red Jeep Compass.

Montana

Good morning, I know it has been a few days since I have updated this blog, but I haven't had a sea day to catch up! We have been going and going. Last night we were in Butte, MT very pretty area. We are now headed to Big Arm to visit with Marsha and Vin Rubino.
Yesterday, we saw where the battle of the Little Big Horn happened, it was very HOT, so we didn't stay long.

I am going to do more updates on the Mac, so I can show more photos!

Just left clear lake Iowa

It is 62 outside and I am in shorts! The warmer clothes are packed in my other bag that we don't take out every night,, who knew.

Any way, if you saw the news this morning you know that since I am writing this, we dodged the bullet! The storm that hit Cedar Rapids we went through in Waterloo. It was awful! Ed and I could barely see the road. Peggy if you remember when we went through Maryland with the horse, it was worse yesterday!

Today it is cloudy and I haven't checked the weather between here and Murdo SD, but I will. So back later.

In the mid west

Well it has been an interesting morning. It is sunny right now, but we/Ed just drove through some hellish rain. Little hairy to say the least. Now we have a break until we get around Peoria. Which is coming up soon.

Ok so we made it. So now we are in the clear for a while. 😎

Now I have to show you what the farm a lot out here besides corn!

YUP windmills! There were tons!

Now we are in blue skies, and we have gained an hour, so it is only 10:26 am, but we have been driving since about 8 east coast. We were very pleased with the hotel last night holiday inn express and a local eatery called Creekside lodge, not a lodge now if it ever was. 😜

We enjoyed the dinner of fish & chips, and Ed had a drunken shrimp martini, I had wine. 😁

Not at sea at land

Ok ok, I know I am behind,,, we were just enjoying Lee and Coleen, and all the good food. To much good food. 😁

On our way out this morning we stopped at the over look at Hawks Nest state park, it was so beautiful 😎

Now we are in Indiana, we just stopped at the rest area ate our lunch, of wonderful crab cake sandwiches, Lee made the crab cakes as part of our dinner last night. I'll show you dinner later 😁

Right now, Ed is driving in rain, ugh

NOT AT SEA, AT LAND CAST OFF

Ok we got out a we bit late,, so what is new? Most of our ships leave late, so I guess it is just in the blood. We are on our way now,, finely. And you think we pack a lot for a 49 day cruise,,, well see what a 30 day land cruise looks like.

Heading to LA

I am writing this from the iPad this morning, as the internet is not working right. I finely got on so I am not letting go.

We had a productive day in Puerto Vallarta yesterday, didn't see much, except Walmart, it was right across the street, where we bought a nice small tote for our goodies, and had Ed's glasses fixed, and I bought some stockings. Would you believe that this ship ran out and have never restocked! And with 9 formal nights what were they thinking. 😱. We brought the bag back to the ship and went two ships down, there were three ships in port. A Carnival, and a Holland America. Did I say that three ships is a long ways? Well it is, and it was hot! When a guy driving a curtesy golf cart came by and gave us a ride, we were very happy.

So now we went to the market they had over by where the Carnival ship was moored, and started shopping. We didn't shop long as the prices were high, these vendors were all spoiled, with ship traffic. So,, what to do? Set down at the cafe, and have a Margareta, and nachos, what else?

After that we went back to our ship, and were getting ready for our last sail a way when the maintenance man came on our balcony and started putting varnish on the railing of the balcony! They had informed us there would be maintenance earlier, but we thought it would be over by now. So, that sort of blew the last sail a way! Well the group came anyway and we had fun anyway!

John and Carol came and they were both much better! The meds are working, the both had strep, ugh. But they said the Doc's were great.

So now today is the last formal night, and we have reserved a table for eight of us. It should be a fun evening.

At Sea, March 31, 2014

OK not sure this will ever go out from the ship,,, we have had internet problems for the last 3-4 days.  It is aggravating, oh well as I have said the fact that we have it at all is something.  So I will keep trying.  

Today is a sea day, the last two days have been in port so I will tell what happened at those days, some of it boating and some of it exciting

March 29, 2014  Puntarenas, Costa Rica

We arrived at this small town early on a Saturday Morning, there was a looooooong walk down the pear to get to where the port was.  It appeared that the pear was new.  The Balmier a Fred Olson, Cruise line,  was parked next to us, I was up early and took pictures of her coming in with us.  We did have a tour here, but had canceled as we decided to do some shopping instead, and just walk around and see the sights.  There wasn’t a long of sights, but there was some descant shopping.  Lots and lots of little tents were set up under the trees along the water, which was nice as it was going to be a hot day (90s).  I am glad we got out early.

So after our lovely breakfast, we went down, with lots of sunscreen and hats, well Ed had a hat, it was so windy mine wouldn’t stay on, and we took our iPad so that we might get some internet, as the ships internet has been totally down for two days now.

About 10, we bumped into Ken and Claudia and we all decided that we were finished shopping, and decided to have a beer and some meat on a stick, God knows what we were eating, but it tasted good.  We found a little place that had free Wi-Fi and ordered a coke, and french fries as they didn’t sell beer, but the guys could go across the street and get the beer and bring it back.  

All and all we had a good time and we had sail-a-way from our balcony and canceled our reservations for dinner and brought butter fried shrimp down to the room.  It was only the 4 of us, Carol and John went back to the Dr’s, they are still sick.

March 30, 2014  San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

This was a tender port, so coming in we didn’t see a whole lot as we were quit a distance from the shore.  We almost didn’t get off the ship, but with the Wi Fi still down, we went ahead and made the tract.  Again we canceled our tour here, it was to go to the Volcano, but to be honest we are toured out, as it all happened we are sure glad we did, because we heard later that one of the buses to the Volcano broke down, and the people on the bus were out on the road for and hour and a half before anyone found them.  In the heat!!!  They finely found a school bus, to take them back to the ship, they never did get there tour, and it took more time 5 hours.

This was not as nice a port as the one in Costa Rica in our opinion, there were dancers when we got off the tenders, but it was just not as clean.  This time we skipped shopping as we were not going to try to bring a pice of ceramics home, and that was pretty much what they had for sail.  So we found a restaurant, with free Wi Fi and ordered a couple of beers and French fries and proceeded to catch up with emails etc.  And looked at a pretty view, if you didn’t see the feral dogs running around humping on the beach.  Lots of families out as today was Sunday, and if you thought I was bad with beer, in the morning there were women right below the restaurant, drinking shots of Tequila, and they were my age!

The big excitement from this port came at sail-a-way, Ken and Claudia came over and we got a few snacks and were watching the town sail off, we were late, some one had to be med-evac out to the town, and that took two hours.  Trust me we all said we would not have wanted to be left in that town, for medical reasons! 

Any way because we were late, leaving it was getting dark, and I spotted a funny light in the mountain and WOW it was the volcano erupting, WOW and double WOW as Ed says.  I took some pictures, but they are blurry as we were so far away, and moving at 22 knots.  

So now I will try to post this and see if I can get it and the pictures out.  Wi fi is back, but VERY slow.  Next stop and last stop before LA is Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.