Bruce's Travels

Dawn and I had been planning this little overnight to Key West since December, when the Key West Express was offering round trip travel vouchers for $99 apiece, almost $50 off the full ticket price. So now it is time to cash in! Monday Jan. 25 We arrived at the dock by Fort Myers Beach a little after 7:30 a.m., and there was already a line of passengers waiting to board. We exchanged our vouchers for tickets, and got in line. The ferry's inside seating will hold up to 400 passengers, and every seat was sold out. We secured a couple of seats at a table of six, sharing with four other people, which allowed us to play cards and have a place to set down snacks and drinks. We departed promptly at 8:30, and once we cleared the harbor sped through the water at an amazing 40 mph. The wake that this ship throws up is amazing! We got some pretzels, and I had a Bloody Mary from the bar. We played gin rummy, read, and watched the ocean. We pulled into Key West port about noon, but by the...

It is Thursday Jan. 28 as I write this, the second day in a row of wet, soggy weather. Most of the streets have big ponds of water on them and we have standing water on most of our little back yard, with the water coming right to the edge of the lanai. Guess it's a good day to update the blog. Monday Jan. 18 -- Julie Back to Wisconsin I cooked breakfast for sis-in-law Julie, Dawn and myself. Dawn and I drove Julie to the airport by 8:30.  We parted and did a big grocery run. First to Sun Harvest Citrus for oranges (the Honey Bells are in!), then to Publix for deli, then to Walmart for the bulk of the groceries. We got some good news via email today that our lease application for Summerlin Trace has been approved by the home owner's association there. Hooray! Julie texted from the airport to say her flight was delayed three hours. Figures. Must remind myself not to to use Frontier Airline again next time I book. But, then, what airline is good these days? I made  chicken q...

The Caribbean Cruise It is Friday Jan. 15 as I start this blog entry, finally having some time to do so since starting this adventure a week ago. We departed our final port of call – Phillipsburg, St. Maarten -- yesterday and are steaming … er, dieseling … back to Fort Lauderdale and will arrive early Sunday morning. I have found a comfortable writing spot here at Café Promenade, Deck 5, along the Grand Promenade of shops and bars. It’s the closest thing to a Starbucks that the ship offers. But unlike Starbucks, the coffee and pastries and other assorted nibbles are complimentary! The crowd varies from scant to packed, but right now it is a light crowd because most people are out on the pool deck soaking in the last couple days of sunshine and warm temps. The ambient noise is pleasing, and only occasionally interrupted by some ship’s crew member out on the Promenade barking into a microphone about handbags on sale for $10, and various other equally inane announcements designed to ...

 Hi all: Sending this update a couple days early because sis-in-law Julie and I are leaving on our cruise Jan 9, and I won't have easy access to the Internet. Tuesday Jan. 5 -- Dawn and I found out today from our new landlords that our lease is not valid until we fill out an application from the homeowner's association (HOA) at Summerlin Trace and have it approved. This came completely out of left field, and I don't think John and Kim (our landlord's) knew anything about it either, since we signed the lease with them back in November, and were just hearing about this HOA thing now. So anyway, we filled out the four page application, and indicated to John that we felt the fees involved ($100 application fee and $75 for each Dawn and I for criminal background and credit report) should be paid by him and not us. He agreed to this. So now we are waiting while our application is processed. Why can't anything ever be easy?  Also today, I started showing cold symptoms,...

Happy New Year to everyone. May 2016 be a bright, beautiful year for you all. I resolve to pay less attention to the madness and mayhem happening in the world (and on which the media feeds) and to focus more on what's happening within my own immediate "sphere of influence." Help a neighbor. Pet a kitty. Be nice to someone I don't necessarily need to be nice to. Want a friend? Be a friend. Worry less, play more. Strive for these things, but be forgiving if I don't always achieve them. I gotta get off the Google News Page. Every day, it's more of the same ... violence, shootings, North Korea, Syria, Iran, the latest rantings of Donald Trump, my God it's the election year now. Does anyone know a website that reports good news? It's been fairly quiet here the last week in anticipation of the New Year. We've been mostly relaxing, taking naps, eating out and cooking in, couch binging on episodes of "Brooklyn  99" and "Parks & Recrea...