Greg and I got to take a business/pleasure trip to California in August. Brian took the train down from Orange County to meet us and we had a great visit and got to see wonderful things in the state of California.

 

 Our first stop was Coronado Island off the coast near San Diego. We rode the ferry and took the free shuttle bus around the island. We walked on the beach near the Hotel Coronado and had lunch at an Irish Pub.

Awhile back, 1987 to be exact, we were in Palm Desert, California at a Christian conference with our former denomination. The purpose of our being there was to be commissioned as missionaries. Many things about that event are still fresh in my mind but today I am thinking about one thing in particular. There was a speaker who showed an extraordinary video while playing Neil Diamond’s song “They’re coming to America.” The speech was about missions and the point was that God is bringing the nations to us in the USA. This reality is most obvious to me when I am in the cities of America. Rarely has it been as clearly seen as it was yesterday in my home city of Philadelphia.

We were invited to take part in a block party at Mifflin Park in the south of the city. This party was sponsored by several churches in the city and we were  part of a team put together by Child Evangelism Fellowship. It was an extraordinary experience of God and how He is working among the nations in the city right here in America.

The “park” is a square city block with some trees, benches, playground equipment, grass and a fountain. It is bordered by a densely populated section of row houses, a few corner shops and restaurants and a Buddhist Temple. The “party” included free hot dogs, water ice, popcorn, cotton candy, bouncy castles, face painting and other children’s games. There was entertainment including puppets and gospel music in several different languages. Our part was talking to anyone who was willing to sit with us for a few minutes and their reward was a free T-shirt. With the people that talked to me, I did my best to discover what they already understood about God and salvation. Then I tried to fill in the gaps, to be encouraging and to pray with each of them. I also gave out loads of T-shirts with Christian symbols and verses on them.

At one point my husband and I took a break and walked around the neighborhood. Our thoughts and our conversation were all about what God is doing there in that place and how impossible and astonishing the task is. Along with the temple and the mosque, there are churches everywhere in that section of the city. The church that sponsored the event was holding services all day for one language group after another. The cultural clashes are evident including a huge brawl that broke out at one point in the “party” between young men of different ethnic backgrounds. There is such diversity that we lost count of how many language groups are represented.  It is evident that reaching anyone there with the truth of the gospel  is a daunting God sized task.

An experience like that can be very eye opening and humbling. It could also be downright frightening. Consider how you would react if you could not understand most of what was spoken around you and you were aware that the ones speaking could not understand you. How would you respond if someone folded their hands and bowed to you? What would you think if an Imam and his friends were filming you and everything around you at the event? Overwhelmed? Scared? Yet God is not at all troubled by the size or impossibility of the task. Although we may be afraid or downright discouraged by the situation, sometimes all we have to do is show up and hand out T-shirts. Our reward is to experience God working in extraordinary ways among the nations right here in our nation.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”    Psalm 46:10

It has been ages since I have added a blog here and I just wanted to begin small and see who I still know on here. A poem for the first day of November
November

No sun – no moon!
No morn – no noon –
No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member –
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! –
November!
Thomas Hood

You might think all I do is travel. Not true but it is what I mostly post on here. This trip was technically business but also so much fun. I work for a company called Thirty-one Gifts whose mission is to Celebrate, Encourage, and Reward and they do a great job of it. It is a direct sales company that is growing by leaps and bounds. Just look at this comparison chart from 2011.

Our conference took over the city of Atlanta.

Meetings were at the World Congress Center and Phillips Arena.

We were “Living It Up” with over 15,000 strong.

 

Here are a few shots of downtown and the Aquarium which is awesome.

I liked this tall building.

Olympic Park which is very pretty and has grass like a golf green.

The world headquarters of a well known brand.

Beautiful doorway near our hotel.

I Looked up and saw these window washers dangling precariously.

There are some interesting sculptures around town.

My favorite street near our hotel.

Underground Atlanta.

Inside.

Some cool old cars.

Doesn’t he look real?

At the aquarium. The dolphin show was the best but we were not permitted to take photos.

Lion Fish are taking over the sea!

My thirty-one sisters know how to have a good time!

Kate and me next to a giant thirty-one OUT tote

Here are my roommates. Elizabeth, Kristy and Kate

Some of my team all in our purple T-shirts with purple balloons

Melissa our fearless leader with two of her new directors.

They gave us giant beach balls to toss around the arena LOL!

There are thirty-one new items in the fall catalog out September first. A spoiler

Thought Greg would really like these. We have started carrying some college emblems.

Great time and great company! I am blessed!

 

 

 

 

 

Last port of call was pretend Haiti. It is a part of the island operated by Royal Carribean and kept nice by them. It is like paradise. RC pays the Haitian government something like $6. per person. There were over 3000 on our ship alone. I wonder where all that money goes? Anyway…we wanted to stay there because it was so relaxing. We had a barbeque on land and the water was clear, warm and gentle.

 

There was a police presence on the island.

Many Hatians are employed in Labadee. Some are craftsmen. This man was working in metal.

 

This one was painting.

There were loads of beautiful paintings and other crafts to bargain for.

Some of the workers arrive in colorful little boats like these.

Here is our boat…looks far away….

Relax in a hammock or a beach chair.

I had my own palm tree

Look at that clear water!

Too soon it was time to return the the ship for a two day voyage home.

 

 

 

Life gets so busy sometimes! Back to reporting on the vacation. Next stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico. We spent the morning exploring Old City on foot. It was really hot. First we walked outside the city wall. There are a load of photos…..

Here is the San Juan harbour and part of the wall.

A watchtower in the wall which dates from the early 1500′s.

There were a zillion cats around the old city. Apparently they are protected and people feed them.

Nice porch… like the color too…

Look at this tree!!

This is the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista where Ponce de Leon is buried. (he of the exploration to find the fabled Fountain of Youth)

A hotel with a funny name..

Cultural Center

The road to the fort… the oldest building in Puerto Rico

The gateway …

View from the gate back towards the city… there is an old cemetary near the sea

One of the towers in the fort…

 

From inside the tower

This lighthouse has been rebuilt several times..

Another tower

The Chapel

This window is looking out towards a small island which used to be a leper colony

Walking around town… we always check out grocery stores for things to bring back…got some coffee

Very like street signs in Spain

The is the White Mansion… former home of Ponce de Leon and family

In one shop we met the sweetest little dog … he played sock with Greg

Greg wanted a photo of the Stop sign

Christopher Colombus

We ended up here to escape the heat and buy a mug

On the way back to the ship we saw these….

The Explorer….

Leaving San Juan

Back on the ship… they change these every day in all the elevators… helps to be reminded what day it is

And this was our room decoration that evening… not sure if it was a snake or a swan but it was cool and the room attendant put Greg’s sunglasses on it

Last stop….Labadee, Haiti

 

 

 

 

We sailed all through Sunday. On board we enjoyed the trivia games, the pool, and the food. This funny bat was waiting one evening when we returned to the room after dinner.

We left it there the rest of the voyage.

One night our waiters joined together and sang to us.

We explored the ship and found a sports center where the youth were enjoying themselves playing table tennis, basketball, mini golf and this rock climbinb wall.

Monday afternoon we arrived in St. Maarten. This is the port.

This was where we signed up for our only excursion which was a bus ride over to the French side of the island. Our tour guide was an islander called Danny and he was very funny. On the way we saw three very large Iguana. This is a view back to our ship from the bus.

From this lookout point one can see Dutch, French and British Islands. It was a really hot day so we were glad to be on an airconditioned bus.

A nice timeshare complex on the Dutch side.

My travaling companion.

This is the border crossing between the Dutch and French sides.

The markets on the French side are very colorful.

This little one was tired.

A church on the French side.

According to Danny, “This is the worlds smallest international bridge.”

A very old house.

Back on the Dutch side, Phillipsburg Front Street.

The Court House.

We enjoyed these beautiful bright red poincianna trees.

Along the beach where we waded in the water a collected some shells before catching the water taxi back to the ship.

Lovely day …. next stop San Juan, Porto Rico

 

 

 

 

There is plenty to do on a ship as big as The Explorer. Shows, ice skating, rock climbiing, trivia games, casino, music of all kinds, dancing lessons and art exhibits. There are two pools and six hot tubs, a fitness center and a spa. Room service is 24 hours and free. Every night we had a sit down dinner with a varied and creative menu that changed every night. There are all sorts of excursions at each port. In Bermuda we decided to explore on our own. We had been there 25 years ago and we were anxious to visit again.

 

It was a bit rainy in the morning but it cleared off and we had a nice day walking around Hamilton. Bermuda is like Britain with palm trees.

 

Hamilton high street

It so happened they were having a parade to honor the Queen’s Jubilee

Roundabouts

Boats

This is Waterville, the oldest house in Bermuda which is now home to Bermuda National Trust

Interesting flora

Watch out for that first step!

Goverment building

On top of the spire is a copy of the Sea Venture which is the first ship to wreck on Bermuda. There were many after due to the reefs around the island.

The church

Lovely colours in the buildings

Liked this sculpture

Pretty big beach chair

Had to include at least one door

Oh, the color of this water!

We were fascinated to watch the harbour pilot being picked up while we were moving. He jumped out onto this little boat and waved!

The end of a very beautiful day.

Next up … St. Maarten

 

 

 

 

 

 

It surprised me to see that I have been away from xanga for just over a year! I decided to come back because some things are only fit for a blog. We recently celebrated out 35th wedding anniversary. Every five years we have tried to do something extra special. We spent the whole year trying to decide what to do for this anniversary and finally agreed on a cruise. This was no small decision since I had to first overcome a great fear of oceans and boats but it was an economical way to do something novel for us and to add four islands to our collection. As it turned out, this was the right decision because it was as near to perfect as a cruise can be and like a second honeymoon for us. We know we were blessed because the week before, we were told, it rained the entire cruise. Let me introduce you to our ship, Explorer of the Seas. She is like a floating resort hotel. There were over 3000 passengers on this trip along with over 1000 crew members! One of the things we enjoyed about the cruise was the diversity of ethnicity onboard both in passengers and crew.

We departed from Bayonne, NJ where we had a spectacular view of NYC. The Statue of Liberty is in the middle and the tall tower with the black top is the new Liberty Tower on the site of the former World Trade Center.

With advice from experienced cruisers, we booked a middle of the ship stateroom with a window onto the grand promenade. It was so nice and comfortable.

 I ordered some special treatment as a surprise for Greg which included champaigne and cupcakes on arrival, special canapes and desserts on the first formal night and a framed portrait.

On the way out of the harbour we had a close call with the Verazano Bridge. In the 1960′s when this bridge was built, it was the longest and highest suspension bridge in the USA. Everyone was out on deck and applauded when we made it under the bridge.

We experienced beautiful weather nearly the entire cruise.

 Our stateroom attendant, Kassandra, gave us excellent service and delighted us with her folded towells.

 We cruised Thursday and Friday arriving at our first port of call Saturday morning.

Next blog … Bermuda.

Gosh, it has been an age since I have been over here and the only way to update quickly is in bullet form.

First and really great news … our son returned home last week. After insisting he was never returning we had to leave it in God’s hands and suddenly he phoned and asked if he could come home. It has all been good so far. I just keep pinching myself! Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes during a very difficult time in our lives.

I have been keeping busy painting and decorating and gardening. I am loving getting out in the dirt LOL!  We finished our dining room and got to use it for the family on Easter Sunday. I am getting bunches of free plants from friends which is really good since there was  next to nothing that survived.

We scored a free month at the local posh gym so we have been trying every class they offer and using the pool while we have the chance. Pilates is my favorite. It is like self chiropractic. Fridays I get to do Zumba, which is dancing to Latin music and very fun. Afterwards I love going in the jacuzzi. It is so nice to have this month long treat.

We went to some of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. They had really nice free jazz evenings and the finale was a street fair on Broad street. They actually had it blocked off and turf laid down so the street was like a garden you could sit in. There were three stages with different music and at the end (we did not stay for it) wa a high wire act. I took some photos but have not downloaded them yet…. next post.

The weather has been seesawing up and down so I have not gotten the pink bike out yet. Looking forward to that!

I have to get around and get caught up a bit which is possibly impossible since it has been several weeks of posts and I know you are all so prolific!!!!!