THE CRUISE

While I do feel somewhat guilty about telling you about our Wingers' Cruise to the Caribbean when I read you just "suffered" through a nine inch snow storm, I did promise to keep you informed about our journey South.  We have now completed the cruise and are ready to check into our condo at Panama City Beach.

We had a great time on the cruise with all of our Gold Wing friends from all parts of the country, but for such a large ship (one of the largest in the world--6,000 passengers) it seemed to be a lot more crowded than the other two smaller ships we sailed on before.

At our dinner table in the evening we had couples from Arizona, California, Virginia, and Alabama.  We also met up again with Wingers from previous voyages from Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee.  For group activities we played Pictionary (our team won), Trivia (we weren't too good) and had a 60's dance party that was a lot of fun.

Our route through the Caribbean started from Port Canaveral in Florida.  Our first stop was supposed to be Nassau in the Bahamas, but a storm with very strong winds forced us to change out route to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Even then we were delayed by strong winds and could only stay there a short time.  Julie and I did get off the ship and enjoyed a pina colada at a sea side bar.

After our stop in San Juan, we sailed off to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.  There we took a bus tour all around the island and then stopped at a beach for swimming or just relaxing.  After St. Thomas we set sail for St. Maartin, a Dutch and French colony.  There we drove Jeeps all around the island and again stopped at a beach.  This one was on the French side and was a clothing optional beach.  (Sorry, guys, no photos!)  After our visit to St. Maartin we spend two days at sea and arrived back in Port Canaveral on Sunday morning.  We then had to pack and unpack for the trip to the condo.  Being a tourist is a lot of hard work!

Here's some photos from the cruise.  Hopefully they will help shorten your winter a little.  The Gold Wing group from Panama City already called me to make sure I knew about a ride coming up this Saturday.  I'm looking forward to putting some miles on the "new" trike and not having to be the "leader".

HOW DOES SOMETHING THIS BIG FLOAT?!

SAN JUAN HARBOR

A NEW NOVELTY AT THE BEACH

PART OF OUR "SIXTIES" GANG

OUR SHIP AT NIGHT

WE WON A TOUR OF THE SHIP'S GALLEY
JULIE WITH THE CHEF

A CREATURE SNUCK INTO OUR CABIN

OUR JEEP RIDE
THE WINGER FROM CALIFORNIA WAS OUR CHAUFFEUR

TO FLORIDA

We arrived in Port Canaveral, Florida, today and board our cruise ship tomorrow morning.  Here's the lowdown on how we arrived here.  
We left Waukon about 7 AM on Wednesday morning.  The roads were OK until just outside of Oelwein where we ended up on some glare ice.  Why the DOT hadn't been there yet is anybody's guess.  We did make it OK, just really slow until we were out of Oelwein.  The rest of the way was fine.  We spent our first night in Jackson, TN (home of Casey Jones), about 650 miles from Waukon.
We left Jackson on Thursday morning headed for Altoona, AL, in pouring rain.  Near Altoona is KD Cycle, the largest Gold Wing trike builder in the US, but you'll need a gps to find him.  They had a trike there that I saw on their website that seemed to be just what I might be interested in trading for.  As it ended up Kevin (the owner) shot me a price that Julie just couldn't refuse, so we are now the proud owners of a 2013 GW Roadsmith conversion trike with only 12,000 miles on it.  This one has the independent suspension, the red color, heated grips and seat, navigation and weather, and a music system that lets me play all my downloaded music.
After loading up the "new" trike we headed out for Phenix City, AL (yes, I spelled it correctly) for the night.  Since we had a spare day, we decided to do a little tourism in the area on Friday.
  Phenix City is actually right across the river from Columbus, GA.  When we were in Columbus on a previous trip we visited the Infantry Museum located at Fort Benning.  This time we decided to visit the Nation Civil War NAVAL Museum also located in Columbus.  We made a great choice!  We, probably like most people,  had no idea how big a role the Union and Confederate navies played in the Civil War.  This museum was well done, so if you are ever near Columbus, GA, I highly recommend both the Infantry and the Civil War Naval Museums.
After leaving Columbus on Friday afternoon, we paid a visit to Andersonville, GA, where there is a historical site depicting the Confederate POW prison located near there.  We were able to tour the cemetery where many Union soldiers who died while imprisoned at Andersonville are buried.  We wondered why the graves were so close together.  After visiting the museum located there, we found out that so many soldiers died at once, that they had to be buried in trenches.  The museum there also pays tribute to POW's from all the wars.  We were then able to drive around the prison grounds and saw the markings for the stockade that was designed to hold about 3,000 union POW's, but ended up with over 30,000 before the Civil War was over.  I have been to several Civil War sites now, but a visit to Andersonville was probably the most humbling of the experiences.  Again, the Nation Park Service has done an excellent job with preserving the grounds and telling the story that goes with the prison.  If you ever have a chance, you need to visit here!
We left Andersonville and passed through Americus, GA, the hometown of Jimmy Carter.  We didn't see him, but we sure saw a lot of peanut fields!  We spent Friday night Lake Park, GA, and rolled into Cocoa Beach (Port Canaveral) today (Saturday).

Here' some photos of our journey so far.  I will try to do more posting after the cruise.

Julie and her "new" ride outside of the Civil War Naval Museum.  The Water Witch, a Civil War
gun boat is in the background.

the remnants of the Jackson, a Confederate gun boat

STANDING NEXT TO MY HERO
ANOTHER CANON "POWDER RUNNER"

THE IOWA MONUMENT AT THE ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY

PART OF THE SIXTEEN ACRE STOCKADE
WHERE 13,000 UNION SOLDIERS DIED

WE'RE OUTTA HERE!!

Finally the ice storm has passed, and thanks to Chuckles and Dennis for helping me with the trailer and trike, we will be departing for Florida tomorrow.  Right now my trike is sitting on the trailer in my driveway getting snowed on!  We need to be in Cocoa Beach on the 22nd to catch the cruise boat for the Caribbean.  There should be well over 200 Gold Wingers from all over the country accompanying us for seven days.

As an update on the knee, when I visited the surgeon last Monday, he seemed to be pleased with the results.  Extension of the knee is above what he expected, but flexion (bending) is coming around much more slowly.  As long as I am able to tee up a golf ball and throw my leg up over the trike, I can live with it.  I go back to see him when we return.  He says if I'm not satisfied with the flexion, they will bend it.  Owww!

I'll try to keep you posted on our adventures down south this year by posting on this blog when I get a chance.  As it figures, the minute we are leaving Iowa, January thaw comes.  Hopefully it will keep thawing for you guys, because I know of at least one WNR who is real anxious to get the new bike out of the barn.

In the meantime, I'll share a neat image that Chuckles sent to me and also some more photos of warmer times.  Reminder--keep the 15th of March open for our annual PMS get together. 

SHE SAID "NO" FIRST AND "YES" SECOND

While in Missouri at a resort listening to a time share presentation, Cathy had the good sense to say "NO".  However when they arrived in Arkansas at Russelville Honda, she also had the good sense to say "YES".  And she is now the proud owner of a new Gold Wing.  That should spice up our Wednesday night rides!

Shown below is Cathy with her new bike and her chauffeur.  Congrats, and spring can't get here quick enough!