San Pedro, California

San Pedro is the seaport for Los Angles. This walkway is near the cruise dock, and an old-fashioned street car runs parallel to it. We sailed from here to Hawaii.

So you plan to travel?

Here are some facts that you need to remember if you plan to travel:
1. New England and New Mexico are part of the United States.
2. Bermuda and the Bahamas are not in the Caribbean.
3. Hawaii is not just one Island. It is a bunch of islands. Honolulu is not on Hawaii. It's on Oahu.
4. California and Los Angles are not synonyms. California is a whopping big state. Los Angles is a whopping big city, but only a very small part of California.
5. New York is more that just a big city. It is a medium-size state with lakes, mountains, and forests.
6. Europe is not a country. It is a bunch of countries with different languages. It is the western part of a land mass called Eurasia. The other end of that land mass is Asia, and it is OK to refer to Europe and Asia as "continents."
7. Australia is the only continent with only one country, also called Australia.
8. Antarctica is a continent with no countries.
9. West Virginia and western Virginia are two different places.
10. Tennessee shares its boundry with eight other states.
11. The North Pole is not in Alaska. It isn't even on land.
12. Haiti is not an island. It is a country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.
13. Africa is not a country; it's a continent.
14. The Nile River flows north toward the Mediterranean Sea.
15. In the Pacific Ocean, it is possible to travel east into tomorrow or west into yesterday.

Oil Well Burning

Not long ago an oil well caught fire in Morgan County, Tennessee. Here is the plume of smoke from about 40 miles away. Fort Loudoun Dam is hidden behind the trees at right.

House

A house in Cochran, Georgia.

Save gas.

You can save gas by walking or riding a bicycle. That kind of exercise is good for you. It will strengthen you heart, increase stamina, and make your legs hurt. Oh! Well I guess two out of three ain't bad.

Stay tuned

I haven't been posting here much lately, but stay tuned. We are going to Alaska next month. I plan to take my camera.
Howard

Do you know where this is?

If it looks like the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, that's understandable. However, this isn't Greece, and it may be closer than you think. Would you believe Nashville, Tennessee? No wonder they call it the "Athens of the South." This replica of the Parthenon is in a lot better shape than the original in Greece.

Carnival Glory docked at Port Canaveral

As soon as I got on board I ran up to the top and took this picture. Carnival's trademark Y-shaped funnel identifies their ships even at a great distance. This was our cruise number 17, June 2007. It was our first time on Carnival.

Clouds Over the Cruise Terminal

Heavy clouds hang over the Port Canaveral cruise terminal building, but it didn't rain.

Glory Sails Down the Channel

One of my favorite moments of any cruise is when the ship first begins to move. Here, the Carnival Glory begins to move down the channel that connects Port Canaveral with the Atlantic Ocean.
(Note: Somewhere down there this will come to a stop and you will need to scroll back up here and click on June 2007 in the archives. That how blogs work.)

Whitecaps and Clouds

Whitecaps indicate a choppy sea, but waves that size don't bother a ship that weighs 110,000 tons and has stabilizers. Notice low cumulus clouds and high sirrus clouds. There was a shuttle launch at the Cape a week later, so nice weather was a good thing. We missed the launch by just a few hours.

Leaving Florida

As we left Florida, I took this shot of the coast. Coco Beach is over there somewhere. We had good clouds that day. Just click the picture and you can see the coast better.

Waterslide

If this picture is a bit blurry, it's because I had to shoot fast to catch a slider on the waterslide. There was always a long line.

Downpour at Sea

Some where in the Straits of Florida, we ran through a tropical downpour. We were going west, and it was going east, so it didn't last long. Passengers in the pools and hot tubs got out and ran for shelter. I guess they didn't want to get wet.

Arrival in Cozumel

This is the view as we arrived in Cozumel. It hardly resembles the old Cozumel before the hurricane.

Sun on the Water

Sunlight reflects from the water in Cozumel, Mexico.

Going Ashore

Larger ships dock at a new pier about a mile from downtown. Smaller ships can dock across the street from shops and restaurants. Glory is very impressive in this view. She is a really big ship.

A Post-Hurricane Building

After a hurricane almost destroyed Cozumel, everything was either built new or extensively repaired. Everything was freshly painted. In the end, Cozumel is much nicer than it was. This is an island off the Yucatan Peninsula, but it's very Mexican.

View of the Ship from the Tender

If the water is too shallow for a big ship, or if all of the docks are full, you may have to go in by tender. It's a nice little boat ride.

Glory from the Pier

Glory's stern as seen from the pier.

Costa Maya

Costa Maya from the ship. The L-shaped pier was so long they had tram service. Once ashore, there was plenty to do within walking distance.

Pool and ship

This is the fountain side of the saltwater swimming pool with the ship in the background.

The Salt Water Pool and Fountain

This salt water swimming pool wanders around all over the place. You might want to take your bathing suit ashore in Costa Maya. That's a swim-up bar at right.

Beach Facilities at Costa Maya

You can get very comfortable with facilities like this. I think this is one of those places I'd like to visit again.

A Rocky beach

Not the best for swimming, but a nice rocky beach.

Observation Tower

This observation tower was located on top of the shopping center at the cruise terminal complex. Inland, the jungle stretched to the horizon.

Heavy Clouds and Heavy Surf

A storm moves down the coast leaving behind some big waves to crash into the rocks.

That Red Building

This picture has not been doctored. Those are the real colors. The red building stands out like a cherry on an ice cream sundae, but I have no idea why the roof of the shopping center is painted red. Those clouds produced two brief showers.

The Fountain

This fountain graced the cruise termainal complex. Picture taken from the tower.

View Down the Coast from Tower

I don't like high places, but I climbed to the top of the tower for this view of the coast. It was worth it.